Old Me

38 - Goodnight

We had played a round of Scattergories before putting on a movie in the living room. Some of my family members slowly began to leave until it was just us 'kids' and Marco with my parents. I sat on the floor with Michael and we held hands beneath the blanket that covered us. My parents and Cat laid across one section of the sofa with the rest of the cousins squeezed onto the other side. The Avengers wasn't even halfway through when Mikey's head slumped onto my shoulder. I looked over to see that his eyes were closed and his breathing was slow and heavy.

He was asleep. Poor thing, he had only gotten a couple of hours of sleep no thanks to me.

I looked over and my mom caught my eye. I silently asked her what to do and she whispered for me to wake him up so he could drive home before it got any later. I nodded my head and waited a few more moments before reaching up and stroking his cheek. It took a moment before his eyes fluttered open and he jolted up rubbing his eyes.

He cleared his throat as he looked around to see who had caught him asleep.

"Sorry," he whispered to me groggily.

I squeezed his hand that was still in his under the blanket and shook my head.

"Don't be sorry, I only woke you up so you could drive home. I don't want you to have to drive super late when you're so tired."

He sighed and squeezed my hand before releasing it, pulling the blanket off of him. I stood up and gave him my hand to help him up.

"Are you leaving?" Gio asked as we moved out of the way from blocking their view of the TV.

"Yeah, I've gotta get home," Mikey said, "but I'll see you soon," he smiled.

"Thank you so much for having me Val and Mr. Oscuro."

I wrapped my arm around his waist as I led him to the front door. I slipped on my coat and shoes while he did the same and we headed out to his car.

"Where'd you park?" I asked as he grabbed my hand down the pathway.

"Three houses down," he said, his voice still raspy from falling asleep.

"Okay," I said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led the way down the hill to his car.

We slowly made our way to his car and he grabbed his keys from his pocket to unlock it.

He pulled me into his chest and I got a good whiff of his cologne. I wrapped my arms inside his jacket around his back and he kissed the top of my head.

"Thanks for having me over," he said softly.

"Thanks for coming and not getting sick of my family. And please don't feel pressured to come on the trip or ask your friends if you don't want to. I know we kind of put you on the spot."

I pulled away just enough to see his face.

"No, it really does sound fun. Your parents won't be mad though right?"

"Um, as long as we let them know none of the boys are sharing rooms with the girls, it should be fine," I said.

"Okay," he smiled, "Well I guess I'll text you...girlfriend."

"Sounds good...boyfriend," I said smiling like a goof.

He leaned down and kissed me softly a few times before separating our lips and engulfing my body into a warm hug.

I took one last deep breath of his now-familiar scent and detached our bodies.

"Bye," I waved as I walked back towards my house.

When I got inside everyone was still on the sofa awake and watching the movie. I was getting pretty tired myself, so I went upstairs to get ready for sleep. After I was finished and into my pajamas I grabbed my pillow and a blanket from the hall closet to cuddle downstairs.

I joined Matteo on the floor and watched the movie while I waited for Mikey to text me that he had returned home safely.

I must have fallen asleep because I jolted up when my phone vibrated in my hand. I swiped it open to read Mikey's text.

(Michael): Goodnight beautiful. Have sweet dreams. I'll talk to you in the morning.

(me): Goodnight. I hope you get some good rest. 😙

I locked my phone and smiled to myself knowing that someone out there was thinking about me.

I hope he dreams about me.

I must have dozed off again because I felt like I had only blinked before Lucia woke me up by gently rocking my shoulder.

"Bea, we're gonna head home. Talk to you later okay?"

"Okay, ciao," I said half asleep.

I could barely keep my eyes open, but I climbed on the couch with my pillow and wrapped the blanket around me falling back to sleep instantly.

---

I opened my eyes to look up at Mikey who was stroking my hair as I laid in his lap.

"What?" He asked, smirking when he caught me staring up at him.

"Nothing, I just love you...and your cute dimple," I said smiling and wrapping his arm across my chest.

"And I just love you, and your cute dimples..." He said poking my cheek.

I giggled and swatted his hand away rolling off his lap and onto the blanket we had spread across the sand. I caught my breath from laughing and stared up at the blue sky.

"I like it here in Australia," I sighed breathing in the warm salty air.

"Really?" He asked in Italian, causing me to scrunch my face at his attempt at the Italian accent.

"Yes, really," I responded back in Italian.

"Would you like to raise our kids here," he said speaking fluidly in Italian.

"I think you mean, figli, i nostri figli. And I would have to think about it...raising our kids so far from my family would be hard. But at the very least, I think we could have a summer home here."

"Yeah'," he shrugged.

"Your Italian is getting really good," I complimented.

"Thanks! I've got to be fluent before the baby comes," he said reaching out to rub my belly that was starting to protrude.

He pecked my lips and returned to playing with my hair.

"I hope the baby has your eyes," he said, "and your olive skin..."

"Sissy! Sissy!" I turned my head to looked down the beach where the voice was coming from.

Why is my little sister here?

---

I sat up and squeezed my eyes shut only to open them and find Cat inches from my face.

I groaned and she took a step back.

"Good morning sleepy head. Mamma said to get up. And I think you're sitting on the remote," she said exasperated.

I rolled my eyes and got up off of the sofa so she could search for the remote.

What a crazy dream...

Do I really love him? This early on?