I get up from the floor but don’t follow them. Instead, I sit on the couch, and my head hangs forward. “I wanted a princess bed,” Avery starts to tell him, and I look toward her bedroom, “but Momma said maybe when I turn five.” I sit back on the couch, putting my head back.
“That sounds like a good present,” Stefano replies.
“I don’t think you can fit in my bed,” Avery finally declares to him, and all he can do is laugh.
“No, I have my own house,” he replies as they come back out of the bedroom. The sound of her
plastic shoes echoes throughout the room.
“Do you have a princess bed?” Avery asks him, and he shakes his head.
“Not yet, but I think I will soon,” he tells her and I stand, hoping my legs don’t give out on me.
“We should get dinner,” I start to say when my doorbell rings.
“That should be dinner,” Stefano states, walking to the door and pressing the button. “Who is it?”
“Delivery for Stefano,” the man replies, and he presses the button but doesn’t move from the door.
He waits for the guy to knock on the door and then looks out the peephole.
“You know who it is,” I tell him, and he just looks over at me.
“And I wanted to make sure,” he says, opening the door just enough for him to grab the food and then he closes it back with his foot.
“Who’s hungry?” he asks, and Avery tries to jump, but she’s afraid her shoes will come off.
“Me!” she shouts, walking over to the round dining table in the middle of the living room/dining room. “I’m very hungry.”
“Why are there three pizzas?” I ask as I make my way toward the table. He puts the three boxes on the table and then takes the brown bag that is on top of the boxes off.
“I didn’t know what toppings you like on it,” he admits, a bit flustered, “so I got one that is just cheese.” Taking the first box off the pile, he goes on, “Then a pepperoni, and I got one that has everything.”
“I like cheese,” Avery says as she tries to get onto her chair. One of her plastic shoes falls to the floor. “Did you get french fries?” she asks him, looking up at him.
“I did,” he confirms to her and all I can do is stand here, stuck in my shoes as if there is cement inside them.
“Yay!” Avery claps her hands.
“I’ll get the plates,” I finally say, walking over to the little kitchen counter and opening the cupboard. The four flat plates are piled next to the four soup bowls that sit next to the four small plates. I grab three plates and turn back around to put them on the table before walking over and grabbing three forks and two knives.
“You have to cut my pizza,” Avery tells him as he opens up the first pizza box, “’cause I can’t use the knife yet, or I’ll cut my hand off.”
I close my eyes, really wishing she would stop repeating the things I’ve told her. “I’ll cut your pizza,” Stefano says softly to her. “Which one do you want?” He looks at me as I pull the chair out that faces him and I sit down.
“Anything is good,” I reply, my mind still reeling this is happening, that he is actually here and it’s not part of a dream.
“Momma,” Avery calls me. “Can I have some water,” she asks me, “in my pink cup?”
I get up and walk over to the dish rack near the sink, grabbing her pink sippy cup. “Um, would you like some sweet tea?” I ask him over my shoulder.
“Is it special sweet tea?” he asks, and it makes me chuckle. “If so… no.”
“It’s not Billy’s sweet tea,” I assure him. “We keep that at the office.” I turn to put Avery’s pink cup on the table and then two glasses before walking to the fridge and grabbing the jug of sweet tea and the pitcher of water.
I sit down and the table has never been so full of food before. “Um, we should clear some room.”
Stefano looks up at me. “How about I move the pizza to the counter?” I grab the three boxes of pizza, picking them up and turning. “There, that is better.”
I sit down and look over at Stefano, who is cutting Avery’s food as if he’s been doing it for her whole life. “This looks good, Momma,” Avery says to me. “I love pizza.”
“It does look good,” I agree, waiting for him to finish cutting her food before starting to eat.
“This is good,” Avery says, picking up a piece of pizza with her fork. “The best pizza ever.”