The First Boy

My mom and Zia Maria had a weird tradition when they were little that has kind of stuck in my family for a long time. On every Sunday, the whole family had to participate in a karaoke challenge. After dinner, they would set up a fake mic and a non-working boombox to make it look like a karaoke stand. Everyone would sit in the living room and watch each family member preform a song. My Nonna and Nonno loved the idea and joined in on their girl’s tradition. My grandparents loved having the family together and would do anything to keep it that way.

My mom and Zia could not stop the tradition, so when they had kids, they decided to carry on the family fun. Since then, my mom had upgraded the fake karaoke stand into a brand new one. Unfortunately for us kids, we did not enjoy it very much. Besides my cousin, Emma, and Giovanna, no one had musical talent at all. My grandparents would grab the microphone and sing old Italian songs that no one really wanted to listen too. My mom and dad always did a duet to a classic Celine Dion number or some other romantic song. Stella and I would pick a song that we knew no one would approve of. Everyone else, didn’t care very much and thought it was a waste of time.

Although my brothers and sister dreaded Sunday’s, it was still my favorite day because my whole family was together. It was the one day where I truly felt like I had the best family in the world. I was comforted by the notion that no matter what happened to me, I would still have my family. Giovanna and Gino would come home just to sing karaoke with the whole family, even though Gino was forced to come by Gio. Marco was too far to come home, but when he did, he always stayed late enough to sing a song.

Karaoke Sunday used to be strictly for family only, no exceptions. As the years went on, my mom and Zia loosened up and anyone who wanted to sing along with us was welcomed into the home. No one was ever bold enough to ask their boyfriend/ girlfriend to come over because no one wanted to be embarrassed that badly.

The first person that brought someone to Karaoke Sunday was Stella and I. Even though Cassie is practically family, we never wanted to tell her what we did on sacred Sunday’s. Cassie would get extremely jealous that we couldn’t hang out with her on Sunday’s and we never told her why. One day she came over on a Sunday and heard my Nonna singing on a microphone. She loved the idea of the whole tradition and ever since then she has never missed one.

As time rolled on, it was 4:30PM and my whole family was scattered around the house. Karaoke was always held at my house because my Nonna and Nonna lived the closest to us. My Zia didn’t want her parents to travel far, and their house was too small for all of us to fit. The women of the house were usually in the kitchen, while the men were in the living room watching football. Football has just started up again, and the men usually gave the women a hard time because karaoke messed with their football schedule. My mom and Zia did not care what they thought because they knew in the end that they had to do karaoke. No exceptions.

Stella, Cassie, and I were sitting on the kitchen counter with our moms, talking about the weekend. I told my Zia all about my Saturday, but never mentioned what happened to me on Friday night. I always told my aunt everything because she never asked questions, my mom always did. My Zia Maria was that cool mom that everyone wanted to be when they were older, she made being a mom look like fun.

Although I didn’t mention it to my Zia, I also didn’t mention anything to my cousin or Cassie about Noah. The truth was that I wasn’t sure what Noah and I were, and I didn’t want to talk about it. If the words escaped to my family, then that means my feelings were real. I wanted to protect myself from all the questions and comments that my family would have to say. Although they all meant well, I knew that they would get the wrong idea about Noah and me.

“Tell us about Noah,” Stella says welcoming a sip of red wine onto her lips.

Stella was nowhere near the drinking age, but the one thing our family allowed was drinking a glass of wine or two with our family dinner. Stella loved to drink wine and champagne, where I didn’t like it very much. A simple glass of white wine was fine, but Stella usually took it too far. Our parents weren’t stupid people though, and they knew that we were going to drink with or without there approval. My family always said that they rather us drink with them, than our friends, and because of that I never needed to sneak around and drink.

“Noah!” My mom screams. “Why didn’t you tell me!””

“Because she knew you would react like that, Giulia!” My dad screams from the living room.

The Giants game is blasting through the surround sound, but my dad still manages to make us laugh. My mom doesn’t find him very funny, but I knew she wanted to laugh too. My dad loved and adored my mom very much, but he knew how dramatic she could be. Whenever my mom would react to something so simple, my dad would just laugh and move on. She is a great woman, but most of the time she could be a handful.

“She hasn’t told us either, Zia” Stella says finishing off her glass.

She definitely needed to slow down, especially in front of Nonno. My Nonno loved wine and used to have a winery in Italy. If anything, he would give us bottles, and bottles to give to our friends. The one thing he did not like was when Stella drank around JP. He had the mentality that if a woman drank too much, a man would take advantage of her. He was not wrong, but we all knew JP and we all knew he would never harm Stella.

“So,” Zia Maria says, “tell me, do you like him?”

My Zia was super chill, but also the kindest soul I have ever met. Out of all my aunts and uncles, I clicked with her the most. She always understood me, even when I wouldn’t say anything at all. I liked talking to her, and she was never judgmental, she just listened and gave her best advice. I really wanted to talk to her about Noah, but I couldn’t have this conversation with everyone else listening.

“Zia, I don’t want to talk about it,” I say take a piece of bread and putting some butter on it.

JP comes in from the living room to join in on the conversation. I’m sure after he heard Noah’s name he had to come in and get the scoop. He was the person that knew things were going to happen, before they even happened. If you wanted a good, drama filled story, he was the guy to go too. JP was a good guy, but he definitely craved some drama in his life. He loved to know everything about everyone, and so did Stella. I think that’s why they make such a great pair.

I finished setting the table and the food is all displayed in the kitchen to be served. Everyone grabs their plate by their usual seat and heads towards the kitchen. Since my dining room table had too many people sitting down, there was never enough space to place the food. My Nonna usually served all of us in the kitchen like we were children. After she is done serving everyone mounds of food, everyone makes their way back to their original seats.

As we are just about to pray, the doorbell rings and the chimes fill throughout the house. It was strange for the doorbell to ring when everyone I know is already at my house. My dad makes his way to the front door to open it when I hear him scream for me. I get up from my chair and grab my crutches to walk to the door. I was baffled as I made my way to the foyer not knowing what to expect. I see Noah Carlo standing under my chandelier holding my favorite flowers, lilies.

He is wearing a white button up with a few buttons undone with black slacks that are tight in all the right places. He has on brown dress shoes that compliment his black belt. His brown eyes carry light golden specks and his light brown hair is pushed to the side. He looks so handsome that it is impossible to look at him without a blush hinting my cheeks.

“What are you doing here?” I say.

After my dad sees that Noah and I need a moment alone, he makes his way back into the dining room where everyone else is probably on their second plate of food. I haven’t smiled this wide since the last time I saw Noah on Friday. He is the only person that can get me to smile this big. Without answering my question, he comes inside and gives me a big kiss hello. I welcome his kiss and return it with my own.

“I’m here for my date,” he says grabbing me by my waist.

He kisses me again, but this kiss is eager than the last time. This kiss has the sparks that you read about in novels and see in movies. This has been my favorite kiss. I lose my balance a little, but Noah keeps me grounded with his tight embrace. For being only 18, he is very strong and can handle anything that comes his way. I am attracted to his manliness and the way he holds me; I could stay like that forever.

“I told you, I can’t go out tonight. Maybe tomorrow?” I say.

“I know you can’t go out tonight. That’s why I brought the date to you,” He says walking into my home like he was invited.

I take my crutches and walk as fast as I can into the dining room where everyone has almost finished their pasta and meatballs. When they see Noah and I standing there they all look up and smile a cheesy smile at us. He places the lilies that came in a vase on the side table that is near the kitchen. Everyone looks at the lilies then look at me again. I feel like I am on a stage, and everyone is waiting for my next move.

“I’m sorry I am late everyone, I got stuck at work,” he says.

From the wealth status of Noah’s family, I didn’t think Noah had a job. With his father being a corporate lawyer, and his mother being the editor for a publishing company, I figured he never needed a job. It was wrong to think, but I thought his mother and father supported his every expense and he didn’t need to work. Also, with football season here, I didn’t think he would want to work when he had so much more going on.

“Oh please! You’re just in time! Have a seat,” my mom says going into the kitchen.

Noah sits down in the empty seat that is right next to mine. I look around and everyone continues on with their meal and talking about something I don’t care for at the moment. JP, and Stella, are on the other side of the table talking to Noah. Everyone seems relaxed and chilled that Noah showed up for dinner. It is starting to feel like I am the only one that didn’t know he was coming over.

“Can someone explain what is going on?” I say.

As I grabbed everyone’s attention, they all look at me like I have twelve heads. I didn’t mind that Noah was here, I loved having him around and, in my home, but not when I am not expecting him. My hair is in my natural curls, and I barely have any make up on to cover some of my imperfections. I didn’t get dressed up like I should’ve for a first date. A simple sun dress doesn’t cover a date with Noah Carlo, and I am surprised that Stella did not prepare me for this.

“And you guys say I’m dramatic,” my mom says handing Noah a plate full of food.

Everyone starts to laugh, besides me. I wasn’t getting what was going on, and why it was going on. I thought it was a great surprise to see Noah here tonight, but I wasn’t expecting him to stay for dinner and hang out with my family, especially on Sunday. If my family wasn’t so odd, I wouldn’t mind it so much, but my family can be a lot at times, and I didn’t want Noah to see how crazy it could get. My parents love to drink wine, my Zio Luke takes drinking beer seriously during football season, and basically you end up surrounding yourself with funny drunks.

“Noah called earlier and explained to your mom that he wanted to take you on a date tonight. He knew that you couldn’t go out and asked to come over instead.” Dad says inhaling his pasta with red sauce.

“I told him it is Sunday dinner and to come with an empty tummy. You are always welcomed here Noah,” she says giving him a simple wink.

“You actually did that?” I say barely able to speak.

By now, I shouldn’t be surprised by all of Noah’s sweet gestures. I should be used to having him around and seeing him in my house, but I just couldn’t seem to get over it. Noah and I were always friends, but never like this. We were never friends that kissed a lot either because I never thought we would get to this point in our relationship. Here I was, on my first family ‘date’ with Noah and my stomach flipped in joy that he liked me this much.

“Yes Isabelle, I told you I wanted to see you,” he says looking at me with his kind eyes.

Everyone says a little awe and I make my way to my empty seat. I sit down and start eating my pasta and meatball slowly. I usually could eat much faster, and much more food, but I don’t want Noah to see me eating like a pig, yet. I feel like that is closer into the relationship then you start out with. I see my dad looking at me with a gentle smile. My dad would never admit this to me, but I know he was happy to see me with someone like Noah. He has had his moments when I have questioned if he liked Noah, but after the night he was over I think my dad was starting to warm up to him.

Dinner goes much smoother than I thought it was going to go. My family doesn’t interrogate him with serious questions, but instead invites him into the conversation. Noah is the utmost respectful man that I could have possibly ever brought home. He says please, thank you, and is so well mannered that I am taken back about how sweet he really is. He starts to talk to Gino about football while Stella and I talk about cheer practice.

“Have you been doing your ankle exercises every day? I need you back now more than ever,” Stella says in a panic.

I don’t think Stella realized how much I was ready to take my ankle brace off and not use crutches anymore. I had one week left with feeling like I had no control over my body and then I was done with the crutches. Even though they were annoying, I got used to them and don’t know how I am going to walking without them.

“Yes Stell, and I have been trying to walk on it a couple times a day. I’ll be back next week,” I say taking a sip of water.

“Good,” Cassie says looking at Noah and I, “just in time for getting to pick your football player.”

The blush creeps on my face once again. Every year, a cheerleader is assigned a football player to do little things for the player throughout the season. Before the first home game, you have to decorate the front of his house, make him his favorite baked goods, and do other little things. The football player you get assigned is usually your boyfriend or your crush.

For the past three years, Lina has had Noah as her assigned football player, and no one else even tried to pick his name. This year was different because Lina and Noah were not together anymore. I know Lina was still going to want Noah, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get him. Unless Lina had a change of heart for Noah Carlo, I was beat and would probably get Leo instead.

“You better pick me, Belly,” Noah says putting his arm around my chair “or else.”

“We will see,” I say taking a piece of pasta off of his plate.