La Serenissima

A Love Story

Austin had not let her hand go until they got to Santoli's later that night and Ally didn't know if it was so he wouldn't lose her through the flood of tourists that came out of nowhere or because he just liked holding her hand. She had silently hoped it was the latter because she liked holding his hand as well. His entire hand engulfed hers, holding it tight and making it warm in the cool winter weather. When he ultimately let go after dropping her off at her home, it felt like he took all the heat with him. Now, it was three days later and she was still feeling cold; and telling Mercede and Paola about it all was not helping. It only made her miss Austin more.

In the three days since her visit, Ally had headed straight to the embassy for a preliminary interview and Austin, the last she checked with him, was finishing up more songs, which made her happy. The more songs the better, in her opinion. She still couldn't get one of them out of her mind and found herself humming the tune around the house. It was Sunday afternoon now and while Silvana had enlisted Seraphina's help in the kitchen for dinner later that night, she was with the other daughters and watching as Gianna put her younger brothers through Carnevale tests, also known as the tenth layer of hell.

It was funnier as time went on, she determined. Rico had downright turned the paintbrush on his sister after she dolled up his face in black and white to see just how his and his brothers' costumes would look. Lazzaro, on the other hand, was oblivious to everything going on and only paid attention to the game on the television that his dad was watching on the other side of the room. After breaking up Rico and Gianna for the third time, Ally was now helping Paola in her very full, very frilly, and very pretty, blue gown for the first ball in just a few days.

She stared at the roses that popped out at every corner of the skirt and the details that Gianna had put into her sister's garments. It was gorgeous shade of blue - not quite sky and not quite sea but somewhere in between. The top of the gown was a corseted top that was encrusted in aquamarine stones all around and the laces that Ally had pulled and pulled on to make sure were tight had almost disappeared into the fabric. While her mask was a traditional Colombina mask that was plain white with the same aquamarine stones surrounding the border, Paola's headpiece matched the skirt, with a giant rose popping out of the side of it. Ally stepped back to take all of Paola in and took a deep breath. This would be her. In purple.

"How does it look, Ally?" Paola turned slightly, lifting the skirt with her hands as if it was air.

Ally kneeled down, fixing the skirt so it laid just right and looked up at the younger of the twins. "Sei bellissima." She watched Paola blush a bit and push Rico out of the way for the mirror that Gianna had stuck him in front of. She twirled and double checked the dress, making sure it fit her just right. It was beautiful and Ally could hardly believe that in between her job at the national bank, Gianna had time to make all the costumes for the first ball. For the second, however, she had to rely on her mother's expertise and help.

Mercede was up next, in the lightest shade of yellow that you could find. She had labeled it limone gustoso...or lemon yummy in English as soon as she saw the gown. As much as Mercede was against being in yellow, and red, she actually looked stunning in both colors. In contrast to her twin, Mercede's hair was more beigey than the golden Paola had going on and the combination of her hair with the makeup that Gianna had picked out for her, Ally was convinced she was going to be the prettiest of all of them. She wouldn't admit that to anyone, but she knew it was true. The layers in the gown were different from Paola's too. It wasn't all bunched together with roses, even those were still there - they were a bouquet of roses, after all.

Mercede's dress had more ribbons and was tiered and in between the tiers, there were laces and petals of yellow all over. It was gorgeous and she silently hoped her own dress was more like Mercede's. The corseted top was just like Paola's though, dotted with yellow sapphires that dazzled when she spun around and hit the lights.