thanksgiving

this year thanksgiving involved and unusual, joyous surprise...

you and i went to thanksgiving lunch at my school. we got a little dressed up and got in the car to drive in to the center.  we parked on the lungotevere after driving around in circles several times and when we got out of the car, you were so excited to be anywhere but school. it was a crisp autumn day.  the fall had been strangely warm until now but the week of thanksgiving, things started to turn around.

'mommy, look at the boats! look at the birds! and the leaves!' you were giddy with excitement.  we walked along the river and you looked at all of the leaves on the ground; connecting what you had learned at school about 'autunno' and what we were seeing together then. you picked up a huge perfect leaf from the ground and i quashed the urge to tell you to put it down because it was dirty.  you were too happy.  we walked a little more and you realized that i didn't have a leaf, so you picked one up for me too. the day was beginning beautifully.

when we got to ponte sisto, you ran up the bridge to the middle, laughing and screaming the whole way. street vendors were on each side of us trying to distract us from the simple fun of running. the way down was even more fun for you, but my mothering instincts kicked in and i envisioned you tumbling and rolling into traffic with the momentum you had picked up from the downhill run. i told you to slow down, that the big cars wouldn't be able to see you, and so you unhappily but very obediently did.

across the street we walked through campo dei fiori and down via baulari. we alternated walking and me holding you.  you are heavy now and i got tired fast. strangers smiled and said hello to you.  we held our leaves all the while.

we stopped for a coffee at my usual bar. the barmen fawned over you as i drank a cappuccino and you a glass of water. then we went on to my office.

my boss was waiting for you and she showered you with gifts upon your entrance.  you spoke to her and said some amazing things for a two year old-as usual- and so the day went.  you met jnb and you were enchanted by him and he by you. Perhaps he reminds you of your uncles: tall, thin, english speaking.  We prepared our dishes, I made apple pie, which we did not get to eat in the end, jnb made fruit salad and arf a pasta al forno. And then we waited for the 'boys and girls' to come.

It was a long day just for a lunch, but it was thanksgiving and i have to try my hardest to make you know you are american and feel it too.  you had a great time and so did I.  I was so tired that we didn't even stay for apple or pumpkin pie (something I desperately wanted you to eat ;-)). You were tired too and so I had to carry you almost the whole way back to the car. Nothing tasted to right to me that day: the stuffing, the sweet potatoes, the cranberry sauce, hell, even the one nice bottle of wine which we had been treated to tasted less than a 'two buck chuck'. I chalked it up to student cooking but in the back of my mind I added all this to the fact that my daily cappuccino was tasting horrible recently.

You conked out in the car almost immediately as we drove home.  I was so happy to have spent the day with you.  It certainly wasn't a typical American Thanksgiving but it was a good start. I had also finally gotten to show you all the sights in centro that I never thought would be possible. It was a very good day.

We finally got home and the evening was off to a normal start. Daddy came home, Nonno came over, and the house took on its evening hum: you giggling with Nonno, me desperately trying to make something for dinner and daddy puttering around the house doing things here and there.  I took the opportunity to duck into the bathroom, and pulled out the pregnancy test I had bought a month or two ago.

When it was ready, I laid it on the bathroom counter and sat on the toilet to wait. The stick slowly absorbed my pee pee (as you say) and I was reminded of doing litmus tests  in high school or electrophoresis in college, ,then as if by magic THE second pink line appeared. I didn't wig out, as I had when I found out I was pregnant with you, but instead felt a wave of calm happiness come over me and a huge grin spread across my face.

I opened the door to the bathroom and called for Daddy. When he came, I closed us both in the bathroom and said 'Eva is going to be a big sister!' We hugged and kissed and looked at each other with stupid grins for a while before we exited the bathroom and continued our typical week night at home. All the while,  Daddy and I grinned at each other with special glints in our eyes.