"Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be landing in Florence very soon. Please get back into your
seats and fasten your seatbelts." Raymond's ears perked up at the calm voice that broke
out over the speakers. "Signore e signori, saremo di atterraggio a Firenze molto presto. Si
prega di tornare nei vostri posti e allacciare le cinture di sicurezza." The voice repeated in
Italian. Raymond knitted his eyebrows together, trying to pick up any one word from the
sentence. He now understood the full meaning of the phrase 'it's all Latin to me.'
'Rosetta Stone is a lie…' Raymond cursed the foreign language CD's."Finally, we can get off this hunk of metal and back on land." Raymond sighed.
"what, you don't enjoy air travel, love?" Parker grinned to his lover.
"I don't mind flying, I just don't appreciate sitting in one spot for ten hours straight."
Raymond huffed. "I told you before that you could walk down the aisle to stretch your
legs." Parker chuckled before continuing to munch on his bag of pretzels. "I can't walk
down the aisle, I'd look like an ass. Besides, that guy up there has been gawking at me
ever since we got on." Raymond nodded his head in the direction of the said man. Parker
peeked around the seat in front of him to see a man with spiky black hair and enough
piercings in his ears to set of the metal detectors back at the airport.
"I can see why he would stare at you, you're divine." Parker purred.
Raymond self-consciously fiddled with the collar on his sky blue button-up shirt,
remembering that Parker had told him to wear light colored shirts while staying in Italy.
'Be sure to wear light colored shirts while staying there, the sun's heat is attracted toshades closer to black. The lighter your clothing, the better.'
"Don't be nervous, love. This is our vacation, so enjoy it." Parker patted Raymond'sthigh comfortingly. A light blush crossed Raymond's face in response. Parker yawned
and laid back in his seat. "We still have a half hour before we land, I'm going to take a
little nap." Parker crossed his arms and closed his eyes.
Raymond couldn't help but smile at Parker's serene face as he slept. He envied his
lover's calm and relaxed disposition, totally opposite to his impatient and easily stressed
personality. The redhead desperately wished that he could lay his head down on Parker's
shoulder and fall asleep. But he was shy and easily embarrassed at public displays of
affection, being in a same-sex relationship only made it harder for him to relax.
Raymond chuckled and brushed off a few stray pretzel crumbs from Parker's green
button-up shirt and black slacks.
'You can be such a pig sometimes…but I still love you.'
The young redhead decided to look at the scenery outside his window, courtesy of his
ever gracious lover. He still saw a lot of the ocean, beautiful in all its simplicity.
But then he could see from the far corner of the window that there were was a cluster
of buildings, a blot of brown and tan over a blue ocean…
He could recall the day that Parker had come home, plane tickets in hand.
The Italian man was rather blunt when he had told Raymond that they were going on
vacation to his homeland. On top of that little shock, Parker wanted Raymond to meet his
whole family while they were vacationing in a foreign country.
It was all so sudden, not unpleasant, but unexpected.
The redhead was still puzzled as to why Parker wanted Raymond to go on this trip, but
was curious to see where Parker grew up as a child.
Raymond took out a little English to Italian book, hoping to learn some more phrases.
But he never got very far in any of his self-taught language lessons. Of course, he
could've just asked Parker to teach him some basic phrases, but he wanted to impress his
lover. "ciao, il my-mi..mio no..nome è Raymond." Raymond softly mumbled to himself,
trying his hardest to pronounce the words from the book. If he was going to be meeting
Parker's family, he wanted to make a good impression.
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"Ahh, it's good to be back home." Parker stretched his arms above his head as theywaited outside the airport for a taxi. "How long has it been since you've been home?"
Raymond asked as he popped his neck. "hmm…well, I haven't been back since I left for
my training in London. So, it's been about...five years." Parker's eyes widened at the
realization. Raymond gawked at his lover in shock. "five years? You haven't seen your
family in five years?" Parker rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly with a short laugh.
"Well, it's not like I haven't sent them post cards or anything." Parker tried to justifyhimself. "But you're right, it's been a very long time." The brunette sighed as he rolled
his shoulders, groaning at the stiffness in his muscles.
"Do they know we're coming?" Raymond stared out at the bustle of people ahead of him.
"Of course! I called them beforehand and told them I had a surprise for them." Parker
winked at Raymond. "…what surprise?" Raymond didn't want to jump to conclusions.
"I'm bringing you, of course!" Raymond snorted at the expected answer.
The redhead glanced at his feet, tapping a foot impatiently. "Will they like me?"
Raymond whispered. Parker cocked his head to the side curiously before grinning.
"Of course they will, Ray." Parker's fingers itched, wanting to grab onto the redhead, but
held himself back. "I'm..not the easiest to get along with." Raymond blushed.
"pfft, nonsense! You have a sharp tongue, my father would find that amusing. My mother
would love you because you're so damn sex-!" Raymond cocked an eyebrow at his lover,
warning him of his language. Parker rolled his eyes at Raymond's shyness.
"Oh, I should also mention that I have three siblings." Parker deadpanned.
"w-what? Three siblings?" Raymond stared at his calm lover. Parker nodded with a
chuckle. "yeah, I have an older sister, a younger brother and sister. You would get a kick
out of my younger brother, Antonio." Parker laughed at the memory of his cheeky
brother. "What are their names?" Raymond cocked his head to the side.
"there's my younger brother Antonio, or as we like to call him 'il diavolo sarcastico.'"
"what does that mean?" Raymond pushed his bangs away from his face.
"The Sarcastic Devil. True to his nickname, he's a sassy fella." Parker laughed.
Raymond smiled at the man's fond name for his brother.
"Then there's also my oldest sister, Sicilia, oh she'd love you. She has a thing
for..pretty men." Parker stuck his tongue in his cheek and looked away, knowing that
he would receive a dirty look from his fiery haired lover.
"Go on.." Raymond chuckled at Parker's comment, shaking his head.
"Finally, my youngest sister, Rosetta. She and Antonio tend to scheme together."
"What about your parents?" Raymond covered his mouth when he yawned.
"My father, Giovanni, is a very friendly man. Be forewarned, he likes to hug." Parkergrinned at Raymond. "and I know just how much you love hugging." He chuckled
sarcastically. Just as Raymond was about to ask about Parker's mother, a taxi finally
came by to pick them up. The couple placed their luggage into the trunk and got inside.
"So, where do we go first?" Raymond glanced at Parker. "We'll be going to visit my
family first, then we can go do some sight seeing."
"but we just got here, shouldn't we check into a hotel?" Raymond suddenly felt tired.
"Sorry love, you must still be running on American time. We're in Italy now and it's the
afternoon here." Parker smiled sympathetically at his lover.
Raymond slumped in his seat and rubbed his face as he groaned. Parker chuckled at his
lover's discontent. "It'll be awhile before we get to the house, so you can take a nice long
nap right here." Parker winked. Raymond yawned as he laid his head against Parker's
shoulder, the brunette jumping a little in surprise. 'Screw it, I'm tired…' Raymond
reasoned with himself, throwing out his reservations and relaxing with his lover.
Parker smiled warmly as he stroked Raymond's silky hair, lulling the man to sleep.
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Raymond felt himself begin to wake up, snuggling closer to Parker's warm body.
"Hey there, sleepy head." Parker whispered softly, squeezing Raymond's shoulder.
"Mmm, Hey…" Raymond yawned, glancing at the window.
The bustle of the city was gone, replaced with trees. "Where are we, Parker?"
"My family lives closer to the beach, we're in Marche." Parker smiled.
Raymond rubbed his eyes and sat up, waking up more. "How long have I been out?"
"Oh, about three hours or so." Raymond's eyes widened at his lover.
"Well, none of the airports here connect to our airport. We had to fly down into
Florence, which was the closest city that we could fly to."
"I guess I can't complain. We don't have to do much walking, right?" Raymond
smoothed his hair back into place. "No, unless you want me to carry you the five yards it
takes to get to the porch?" Parker chuckled. Raymond snorted with a grin.
"No, that won't be necessary." Raymond stretched as far as his arms and legs could go.
"You must be hungry." Parker stated simply. "yeah, starved." Raymond rubbed his neck.
"Good, my mother is a fantastic cook!" Parker beamed. "It'll be nice to taste her cooking
again, it's been too long." He frowned slightly. "What did she used to make for you?"
"She was always good at making pasta, I always loved her lasagna. Every special
occasion was even more special when she made canolli." Parker nearly drooled at the
memory of the confection. "What's a..Cano..li?" Raymond chuckled at his failed attempt
to pronounce the name. "Cannoli. They're like cheese filled cookies." Raymond leaned
away from Parker and looked at him as if he were an alien. "No no, it's not as bad as you
would think. Think of them as..um..crunchy crackers with cheese, they're sweet." Parker
fumbled with his words. "That sounds better, but I still think it's weird." Raymond sat up
straighter. "You need to try one, they're good!" Parker chuckled.
"Well, knowing that you're coming home after all these years, your mother's going to
make them. isn't she?" Raymond smiled. "I hope so." Parker licked his lips.
The taxi began to slow to a stop, pulling up to a two-story, cream colored house.
"Bene, eccoci qui!" the taxi driver suddenly spoke up, causing Raymond to jump.
"Ah, bene!" Parker responded back happily. Raymond began to feel a little left out.
Parker pulled out his wallet and paid the elder man in the front seat.
"grazie, mantenere il cambiamento." Parker then opened the door on his side. "Let's go."
Raymond nodded and slid on the seat until he planted his feet on the ground and stood.
The trunk of the taxi popped open and Parker began to pull out their suitcases.
"Are we staying the night here?" Raymond asked as he stacked his bags. "No, we're just
here for dinner and then we'll check into a hotel." Raymond frowned to himself.
It was apparent that Parker hadn't thought this all out ahead of time, and it irked him a
little. 'I knew we should have checked into a hotel first…' but Raymond held his tongue,
not wanting to say anything that would hurt his lover's feelings.
Parker shut the trunk with a slam, making Raymond cringe at the sudden noise.
The Italian obviously forgot how strong he was, he could've broken the damn door!
"Ahh, Parker!" A voice suddenly rang out. Raymond looked at the house and saw a
woman running out from the door to greet them. "Mama!" Parker opened his arms wide,
accepting his mother in a tight embrace. "Ohh, Parker, è stato troppo a lungo." The
woman cooed to her taller son. "Mama, mi sei mancato." Parker smiled.
Parker released the woman and suddenly remembered that Raymond was with him.
"Ah, mama, questo è il mio fidanzato Raymond." Parker placed his hands on Raymond's
shoulders, an obvious sign that Parker was introducing Raymond to his mother. Raymond
could only smile in response. "Um..Ciao." Raymond blushed.
"Raymond, you didn't tell me you spoke Italian." Parker peered at his lover with surprise.
"I still can't, but I'm trying." Raymond rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Ahh, so you're Parker's other half. So nice to finally meet you!" Parker's mother
grabbed onto Raymond's face and pulled him in close to her's, taking a good look at him.
"You have such soft skin, and beautiful eyes." She smiled. Raymond blinked and felt his
face growing hotter. "Benvenuti nella famiglia." She kissed both of Raymond's cheeks
before releasing him, causing Raymond to place his hand on his face sheepishly. "I
thought it was just your father I had to worry about." Raymond mumbled. Parker burst
out laughing. "Raymond, this is my mother, Maria." He gestered to the curly haired
woman. Maria wore a red and orange sundress and gold hoop earrings, her light brown
hair flowing about freely. "um..piacere di conoscerti, mucca." Raymond smiled at Maria.
Maria made a weird face and giggled. Parker bent over and held his stomach, trying so
hard not to laugh. "what? What did I say?" Raymond placed his hand on Parker's
shoulder. "y-you said 'nice to meet you, cow." Parker wiped a few tears away.
Raymond's eyes widened as he realized his mistake, hoping that Maria didn't take any
offense to what he said. "I-I'm sorry!" Raymond fumbled. Maria patted Raymond's
shoulder reassuringly. "it's alright, Raymond. Forget about it." Maria grinned. Raymond
bowed his head in embarrassment, vowing to never speak Italian again.
"Tutti, Parker è qui!" Maria suddenly called out loudly in the direction of the house.
Suddenly two young women and a young man hurried out the front door to greet them.
"Parker! Parker, sei tornata!" the oldest girl wrapped her arms around Parker tightly.
"Sicilia, come sei stato?" Parker hugged the girl back with a smile. "Bene." she smiled.
"Raymond, this is my older sister Sicilia." Parker placed his hand on his sister's shoulder.
Sicilia wore a long white sundress, her long black hair tied back in a ponytail.
Raymond smiled and held his hand out to her to shake. Instead, Sicilia grabbed onto
Raymond and pulled him in for a hug. 'dammit! Why so much hugging?'
"Hey fratello, è stato un lungo periodo di tempo." The young man hugged Parker.
"Antonio! hai più alto!" Parker laughed as he hugged his brother tighter.
"Ray, this is my younger brother Antonio." Antonio took Raymond's hand and shook it.
Raymond was relieved that someone in Parker's family didn't hug, for once.
Antonio had short black hair, and he wore torn jeans and a yellow shirt.
"Grande Fratello, sei a casa!" a young girl hugged Parker tightly.
"Ahh, Rosetta, stai diventando una bella signora giovane." Parker sighed sadly.
"And this is what used to be little Rosetta, my youngest sister." Parker cooed playfully.
"I'm not so little anymore, Parker." Rosetta scoffed with a smile.
Rosetta wore jeans with a black and white blouse, sporting silver bracelets.
"Ohh, who's this cutie?" Rosetta smiled at Raymond. "il mio amante." Parker
deadpanned. All three siblings gawked at Raymond when his true identity was revealed.
"what the hell did you just say?" Raymond glared at Parker accusingly. "oh nothing."
Parker grinned as he wrapped his arm around Raymond's shoulders. Raymond huffed at
his lover's secrecy. "chi è quell'uomo strano nel mio vialetto?" a loud voice called from
the front door. 'Great, more of the Luciani clan…' Raymond glanced up to see a tall, lean
man with short black hair with white streaks. "Papa!" Parker grinned and hugged his
father tightly. "ohh, figlio mio, sei diventato così forte." The man sighed and patted
Parker's back. "Raymond, this is my father, Giovanni." Instantly, as expected, Giovanni
grabbed onto Raymond in a tight embrace and patted him on the back. "Welcome!"
Giovanni pulled back from the embrace and smiled at the redhead. "Hello.." Raymond
was beginning to feel overwhelmed with all this hugging. It certainly didn't help that
everyone was staring at him. "Come come, let's go inside!" Giovanni wrapped one arm
around Parker and the other around Raymond and guided the men into the house.
Raymond noticed that the house was comfortably warm, he wanted to curl up and fall
asleep. The house had wooden floors and there were various framed pictures and potted
flowers and plants everywhere. Raymond managed to get a quick glance at a picture of
Parker when he was a young boy, noticing that he was a little pudgy.
Raymond smiled at the adorable picture. "You played soccer?" Raymond
glanced at Parker. "Yeah, when I was younger." Raymond chuckled.
The whole family gathered in the backyard, a the smell of barbecue wafting in the air.
"Well, I guess we're having chicken tonight." Parker beamed.
"Parker, venire qui e dare questa ragazza vecchio un abbraccio!" a raspy voice called out.
"Nonna!" Parker gasped and hurried over to an elderly woman slowly getting up from her
chair. Raymond walked over to the both of them, curiously watching them.
"Nonna, non mi aspettavo di essere qui." Parker murmured to the woman. "Ray, this is
my grandmother, Anita." Parker smiled warmly. "hmm..chi è questa bella donna,
Parker?" Anita adjusted her glasses as she analyzed Raymond. The whole family burst
out laughing. Raymond cocked his head to the side at her, wondering what she just said.
"S-she thinks you're a woman, Ray." Parker laughed. Raymond blinked in disbelief.
"bene, è un po 'come una donna." Antonio mumbled to Rosetta, both of them giggled.
"No Nonna, Raymond is a man." Parker patted his grandmother's shoulder.
"really? You sure?" Anita glanced at Parker curiously. Parker chuckled and nodded.
"Can he still bear children?" Anita looked at Raymond. Raymond's mouth dropped open
wordlessly. "No, Nonna, he can't." Parker's body shook as he continued to laugh.
"Well, how should I know? Times have changed since I was your age. Men can get
together now, so I assumed that you can grow a uterus too." Anita chuckled.
Raymond turned his head away in embarrassment. This woman certainly wasn't afraid to
say what was on her mind, now he knew where Parker got his humor.
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"Are these cucumbers cut right?" Raymond glanced over at Sicilia as he stopped
chopping. "They look great." Sicilia smiled warmly as she stirred the stew on the stove.
Raymond thought it was particularly strange that they were making so much food for the
barbecue, but he only assumed that the Italians loved variety. "So, Ray, how did you and
Parker meet?" Rosetta asked as she arranged the fruit and vegetable platter. "Oh, we met
at work." Raymond replied simply. "Well, sure, but how did you two meet." Rosetta
leaned into Raymond, pestering him for a detailed explanation.
"Um, well…" a warm blush crossed across Raymond's face, trying to rack his brain
for a fitting answer. "We officially met when we were assigned to work together.."
Raymond trailed off as a shy smile crept up his face. "He fell asleep on the job and I
escorted him home, we started going out after that." Parker butted into the conversation
as he wrapped his strong arms around Raymond's waist, nuzzling his face into the
redhead's neck. Raymond jumped at the sudden contact and bowed his head in
embarrassment. "Is that so?" Sicilia arched a brow mischievously and smiled coyly as she
watched the couple in their one-sided embrace. "Yeah..something like that." Raymond
cleared his throat, remembering that night all too well.
Rosetta giggled as she carried out the tray of vegetables, earning an exasperated look
from Raymond. "Parker…" the redhead warned as he crossed his arms. "Oh come on,
Ray. I want to cuddle." Parker gave a slight pout. "We can cuddle later, but not in front of
your family." Raymond whispered. "Alright.." Parker sighed in defeat.
The brunette sauntered out of the kitchen and back into the backyard to help Giovanni
with the barbecue. "Has Parker always been like this?" Raymond looked over at Sicilia
before setting to the next task, cutting the onions. 'I hate onions..' he thought bitterly.
"Oh yes, he always loved to hug people, ever since he was a little boy." Sicilia chuckled
as she took out a bottle of wine from the cupboard above her. "I remember when he used
to say 'if people hugged more often, there would be no war.' That was when he was in
grade school, I think." Raymond cocked an eyebrow at that. "So..he's a hippie?"
Raymond snorted. "No, he's a pacifist. There's a difference." Sicilia replied absently as
she searched for the corkscrew.
"Corkscrew's right here, Rosetta got it out awhile ago." Raymond pointed at the metal
object on the counter beside him. "Ah, good. I was afraid we lost it again." Sicilia
laughed. Raymond looked up at the ceiling as tears welled up in his eyes, stinging from
the cursed onions. "Oh, sorry, are the onions bothering you?" Sicilia walked over to
Raymond. "I was never good at chopping onions." Raymond admitted with a sour look.
"Here, let me teach you a trick." The brunette took the knife from Raymond and turned
the water faucet on, letting steaming water run on the blade. "If you let hot water run on
the knife before chopping onions, sometimes it helps prevent them from hurting your
eyes." She then gave him back the knife. "Try it now." She smiled as she turned the water
off. Raymond quickly chopped all the onions, wanting to get it over with. "It's a little
better, I guess." Raymond nodded his head. "Good, now all that's left is the carrots. The
stew is almost finished." Sicilia walked back over to the stove to stir the concoction.
Raymond began to chop the carrots, every so often looking up to watch Parker outside
the window. Parker was talking to Giovanni, laughing at something his father said in
Italian. Antonio brought a soccer ball to Parker, Parker stretched his back with a grin.
Then the two men were further out in the yard, kicking the ball around. A small laugh
escaped the redhead's lips as he watched Parker play with his younger brother.
'He can be such a child sometimes. I swear, he's just a big kid!'Surprisingly, Rosetta joined in their game. She could certainly take on some of the best
soccer teams. "Rose has always been a bit of a tomboy. She really looks up to Parker as a
role model." Sicilia stood beside Raymond and watched the game in the yard.
"It's strange, I'm seeing a whole new side to him now." Raymond thought aloud.
"Oh, what's he like back in the states?" Sicilia cocked her head to the side curiously.
"He's friendly, just as always. But he's so much more relaxed here than back home."
Raymond grabbed fistfuls of the chopped carrots, dropping them onto a plate. "The
carrots are finished." He mumbled. "Good, thanks for your help." Sicilia beamed as she
took the plate of carrots and poured it into the stew. "Why don't you go join them,
Raymond? I've got it covered here." She winked at the young man. "Are you sure? I can
stay if you need more help." Raymond offered. "No no, it's fine, really." She insisted.
"Alright, well, I'll see you outside in a bit then." Raymond looked back at her as he
exited the kitchen, welcoming the smell of grass.
"Ah, Raymond, you're finally outside!" Parker called to his lover. "Yeah, Sicilia didn't
need me anymore." Raymond chuckled as he slipped his hands into his pockets.
"Credo che la regina non può cucinare dopotutto, in quanto sorella maggiore non ha
bisogno di lui." Antonio whispered to Rosetta, earning a giggle from her.
"Hey hey, si comportano." Parker chastised his younger brother.
Antonio stuck out his tongue playfully in response, giving the soccer ball a kick.
"Let's sit and rest for awhile, Raymond." Parker wiped his forehead, tired from the game.
Raymond sighed as he finally got to sit down in a lawn chair, folding his hands in his lap.
"It's good to sit, isn't it?" Parker chuckled as he sat in the chair beside the redhead.
"Yeah, it's what I've been wanting to do all day." Raymond crossed his legs, getting
comfortable. Raymond and Parker watched Antonio and Rosetta as they continued to
play their soccer game together. "I can't believe how much energy they have, I haven't
felt like that in years." Parker sighed as he brushed his bangs away from his face.
"I think I may have to retire earlier than I thought." Parker grabbed the front of his shirt,
partially peeling it off of his sweaty skin. Raymond chastised himself for letting his mind
wander, forming dirty thoughts. 'Well, it has been awhile…' he mused.
"Parker, don't say things like that, you're not old." Raymond chuckled.
Parker arched an eyebrow playfully, disbelieving the redhead's argument.
"You're only thirty-five, that's not old." Raymond leaned back against the chair.
"Well aren't you sweet." Parker chuckled, suddenly shifting uncomfortably.
"What's wrong?" Raymond cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, nothing. Just something that's in
my pocket that's pressing against my ass." Parker replied bluntly. "thank you for your
honesty." Raymond rolled his eyes at Parker's crass language. Parker grinned widely in
victory at annoying his lover. Before Raymond could ask what was in Parker's pocket,
they were called to dinner.
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Raymond had assumed that this would be a nice, quiet dinner. But he should've known
better than to assume much of anything that was even remotely considered normal.
First, the family insisted on joining hands at the table and giving thanks.
Raymond only participated out of respect for the family's beliefs, but inwardly cursed
since he was never a religious man. Parker took Raymond's right hand, winking at him in
victory of being given an excuse to touch him. Raymond snorted in response.
Sicilia took Raymond's left hand with a gentle smile. 'She's a saint. She's practically the
sane one in this family, or at least the quietest.'
"Signore, rendiamo grazie per il pasto che così generosamente fornito per noi questa
sera." Maria began in Italian, making Raymond feel left out, again. But he kept quiet.
"ma forse ciò che siamo grati per la maggior parte viene a trovare un bel-"
"Regina." Antonio interrupted, earning a disproving look from Parker and Maria.
"-uomo gentile e educato per il nostro caro figlio, Parker." Maria finished her sentence.
Parker smiled proudly and glanced at Raymond lovingly, earning a confused look.
"Esse possono condurre una vita sana felice insieme. Amen." She finished
"Amen." The family murmured in unison. They released hands and began to eat.
"Grazie mama, che era bello." Parker smiled at his mother gratefully.
"What did she say?" Raymond leaned in and whispered to his lover.
"She gave us her blessing, basically." Parker began to cut the roasted chicken.
A smile crossed Raymond's face, knowing that he was on good terms with Parker's
mother. Although, it was a completely different story with Antonio.
'I've got my eye on you, boy. Don't try anything.' Raymond peered at Antonio from
across the table. The said younger man ate his meal quietly, not a care in the world.
"So, Raymond, how did you and Parker meet?" Maria asked after she sipped some red
wine. "Oh, Raymond already told us, mother." Sicilia nodded in Raymond's direction,
knowing full well that he wouldn't want to play a game of twenty questions. "Yeah, they
met at work." Rosetta continued as she grabbed a bread roll from the basket. "And then
what happened?" Maria pushed on, curiousity getting the better of her. Raymond looked
to Parker with a helpless expression, hoping that he would get her to shut up.
Parker stopped eating when he saw Raymond staring at him out of the corner of his eye.
He put his fork down and swallowed his mouthful of food. "Well, we met at work. Then
we..eh.." Parker waved his hand in the air, hoping that it would help him move the
conversation along. "You banged him first, didn't you?" Antonio deadpanned.
"Antonio! guardare il vostro langauge!" Maria pointed her finger at her son.
Raymond choked on the wine, sputtering and coughing from the shock of Antonio's
sudden response. Sicilia patted Raymond's back comfortingly, glaring at Antonio for his
perverse remark. "Antonio, it's none of our business!" she chastised her youngest
brother. "Yes, and I don't really want to know what they do." Rosetta sipped at her water.
"Enough, just leave it be." Giovanni waved his hand, clearing the air.
Parker shrugged and gave a nervous laugh, trying to make the best of the awkwardness.
"Well, if Parker's going to carry on the family name, we deserve to know-"
"Instead of wondering how we met, shouldn't you be worrying about getting a girlfriend
yourself?" Raymond countered Antonio's statement defensively.
"Actually, he's gay too." It was Rosetta's turn to shock the 'audience'. Parker choked on
his glass of wine, spraying the contents of his mouth across the table. "Rose!" Antonio
glared at his sister. "Shut up, Tony, they were bound to find out eventually." Rosetta
replied with a bored expression. "fratellino, tu sei gay?" Parker stared at Antonio in
disbelief. Antonio huffed and nodded, giving Rosetta another dirty look for revealing his
secret. Raymond couldn't believe his ears. All this time Antonio had been giving him a
hard time, only to find out that Antonio himself was gay too!
'Well, welcome to the club newbie…' Raymond mused sarcastically.
"This cannot be! The both of you can't be gay, a man has to carry on the family name!"
Maria was close to becoming hysterical, this was news to her too, apparently.
"Mother!" Sicilia stared hard at Maria, failing to calm her mother.
"Maria, darling, don't worry about it." Giovanni placed his hand on Maria's arm
comfortingly. "But..it's tradition." Maria sat back in her chair, rubbing her head.
"Parker or I could always adopt, mother." Antonio tried to reason. Maria gave an
exasperated sigh and a string of Italian fell from her lips. For all Raymond knew, she was
praying. "Maria, your brother has children too, you know. The family name has already
been carried on, think nothing of it. Parker and Antonio deserve to be happy and loved,
let them live their lives how they want to. Times have changed, traditions will change
too, sweetie." Anita leaned forward on her cane, nodding her head as she spoke.
Raymond's eyebrows raised in surprise at Anita's selfless words. He had assumed that
she would be the most opposed to his and Parker's relationship, being from an older
generation with different customs and beliefs.
Maria looked up at her mother and slowly began to regain her composure.
"You're right, mother…I'm sorry for overreacting, everyone." Maria sat up straight
in her seat and sighed, finally calmer now. "Let's just try to enjoy the rest of our dinner.
After all, we won't get to see Parker and Raymond for a long time, so let's make this a
pleasant visit." Maria smiled, carrying on a conversation with Rosetta and Sicilia as if the
crisis never happened. Raymond blinked several times in confusion.
'What the hell just happened…?'
The redhead looked over at Anita with awe, inspired by her acceptance.
Parker seemed just as disoriented as poor Raymond, exchanging confused looks with his
lover before slowly picking up his fork, munching on his chicken.
'Why can't we all just get along..?' Parker sighed in distress.
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"Ahh, we're going to miss you so much, Parker!" Maria hugged Parker tightly.
"I'll be sure to call you, mama. I'm sure we'll come and visit again sometime." Parker
chuckled as he hugged his mother, not wanting to let her go.
"And it was so nice to meet you, Raymond!" Maria hugged Raymond and patted him on
the back. Raymond blinked but hugged her back. "It was nice to meet you all too.." He
mumbled awkwardly. Parker got their luggage loaded into the taxi, getting ready to check
into a hotel. Sicilia ran outside and hugged Raymond, tightening her arms around him.
"Take good care of him, he needs you." She whispered in the redhead's ear, taking him
by surprise. "I will, don't worry." He gave a small laugh as he hugged her.
"Ready to go, Raymond?" Parker called from the side of the taxi. "Yeah, I'm coming."
"I wish I had a sister like you, Parker's so lucky." Raymond smiled at Sicilia.
Sicilia laughed and patted Raymond's arm. "Well, maybe someday…" she trailed off.
Raymond looked at her, confused as to what she was implying.
'Someday? What does she mean..?'
"Come on, Ray. The sun is already setting, we should go before it gets too dark."
Parker called over to his lover impatiently. Raymond arched an eyebrow at Parker's
uncharacteristic attitude, he was usually the patient one…
"Alright alright, I'm coming." Raymond laughed as he jogged over to the taxi.
"I didn't think you'd be so eager to leave." Raymond chuckled as he slid into the car.
"Well, we've still got plans, love." Parker grinned after shutting the door.
"What? There's more to do before we get to the hotel?" Raymond was taken aback.
"Yeah, thought we would do a little bit of sight seeing before calling it a night." Parker
winked at the redhead, chuckling at his surprised expression. "Alright, if you say so."
Raymond sighed and shook his head in disbelief, going along with whatever Parker had
in mind. 'I just hope that it's not as crazy as the visit with his family…'
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After a three hour drive back into Florence, Raymond found himself walking alongside
Parker on the brick lined streets. Parker actually felt bold enough to wrap an arm around
Raymond's shoulders, feeling that they were practically alone on this warm evening.
Surprisingly, Raymond allowed Parker to hold him like this, laying his head on Parker's
shoulder with a smile. "So, what did you have in mind? What are these 'plans?"
Raymond looked up at the brunette. "You'll see.." Parker chuckled.
The pair continued to walk along the street, admiring the beautiful cathedrals. The walk
seemed so majestic and surreal with the bright stars that had formed in the sky.
"I never imagined that this was how Florence looked, it's so…amazing." Raymond
breathed in awe at the sights, noticing that Parker was guiding him closer towards a
water fountain. "We're not going to go swimming the fountain, are we?" Raymond
raised an eyebrow at his lover in suspicion. "What? No, never." Parker laughed and
shook his head. Raymond chuckled and stood up straight, not leaning so closely now.
"Alright, here is good." Parker suddenly stopped walking and let go of Raymond.
The brunette stood in front of Raymond, taking something from his pocket.
Raymond's eyes widened and his heart sunk, his mind jumping to all sorts of
conclusions. 'He wouldn't…would he?'
Parker finally brought out a small black velvet box, briefly glancing up at Raymond.
The box opened up to reveal two silver rings. Parker took Raymond's left hand and
slipped one of the rings on his ring finger. "Ray, tonight is a very special night, for the
both of us." Raymond couldn't speak, couldn't think of anything rational in this moment.
"It's our one year anniversary, Ray. It's the night we cultivated our relationship." Parker
brought Raymond's hand to his lips, kissing the soft skin.
"Are you..asking me to marry you?" Raymond swallowed hard. "Italy isn't as accepting
of our kind, that's why we'll be getting married in the states." Parker grinned.
Tears welled up in Raymond's eyes as a lump formed in his throat, making it hard to
speak. "So, love, will you marry me?" Parker asked softly. A sob escaped Raymond's
lips as he hugged Parker tightly, stubbornly refusing to cry.
"Si." Raymond managed to reply, his voice cracking. Parker chuckled at Raymond's
answer in Italian, hugging him back.
Raymond let go of Parker, taking the box from his lover's-no-his fiancee's hand, taking
the other ring and slipped it onto Parker's left ring finger. Raymond dropped the ring box
and grabbed onto Parker's face, kissing him deeply. Parker was taken aback by
Raymond's sudden advances, eliciting a small gasp in response.
Parker's hand cupped Raymond's cheek as he kissed back, his other hand slowly sliding
down Raymond's form. The hand drifted down his hip and grabbed onto his ass, giving a
firm squeeze. Raymond moaned and ground his hips into Parker with need, one hand
tangled in Parker's hair and the other rubbing circles on Parker's chest. The brunette
slipped his tongue into Raymond's mouth, their tongues meeting. Raymond sighed as his
body began to grow hot, the front of his pants suddenly feeling tighter than normal.
Parker growled with lust and bit Raymond's lip before breaking the kiss.
"We need to go to the hotel now." He grabbed Raymond's hand and led him away.
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The door to their room slammed shut, knocking a picture off the wall.
Raymond slammed Parker into a wall and kissed him roughly, unfastening his belt.
Parker growled hungrily and changed their positions so Raymond was against the wall,
his hands on the redhead's hips while he licked and nipped at his neck. Raymond's hands
tangled in Parker's soft hair, his strong cologne turning him on even more. It took a great
deal of restraint to keep Parker from ripping Raymond's blue button-up shirt off his body,
undoing the buttons sloppily. Raymond unbuttoned Parker's shirt, instantly dropping
down to his knees and undoing Parker's pants.
Raymond took Parker's hard cock into his mouth, bobbing his head along the throbbing
shaft. Parker leaned back against the wall as he moaned loudly, bucking his hips into his
fiancee's mouth. Raymond massaged Parker's balls, causing the Italian's knees to
wobble. "Yes…that's it, Ray. Hahh…mmm.." Parker closed his eyes as he ran his hand
in Raymond's hair encouragingly. Raymond hummed as his hands latched onto Parker's
ass cheeks and squeezed. Parker began to buck faster into Raymond's mouth, his body
growing hotter. "Nggh..No, stop Ray." Parker suddenly pulled out of Raymond's mouth
before he could climax. Raymond looked up at Parker with confusion, wanting to please
him some more. Parker leaned down to kiss Raymond, helping him stand up.
"Come, let's get to the bedroom." Parker grinned as he pulled on Raymond.
Raymond removed his shirt, stumbling a bit when he tried to remove his shoes and socks.
Parker chuckled and helped Raymond out of his black slacks, giving Raymond's cock a
few enticing strokes, causing Raymond to moan and buck into Parker's hand.
"Tsk Tsk, it's been much too long since we've been alone like this." Parker grinned at
Raymond's blushing face, kissing his chest.
Parker finally got his pants off, tossing them aside before pouncing on Raymond, the both
of them landing on the bed. Parker nibbled on Raymond's neck while he pinched his left
nipple, his other arm wrapped Raymond's back for support. Raymond gasped when his
nipple was played with, he kissed Parker's shoulder lovingly.
"Lay on your side, love." Parker purred, giving Raymond a gentle push.
Raymond obeyed and laid down on the bed, curious to the Italian's plans.
Parker laid down on his side, taking Raymond's cock into his mouth. A sharp cry escaped
Raymond's lips as his member was suddenly engulfed in the brunette's hot mouth.
The redhead then realized that he was also leveled with Parker's libido and took the
initiative, taking him back into his own mouth. Both men were a mess of hot, tangled
limbs. Parker sucked on Raymond more, scraping his teeth on the tip before deep
throating him. Raymond moaned louder, the vibrations from his throat pleasing to
Parker's manhood. The brunette suddenly stopped bobbing his head, letting Raymond's
cock slip from between his lips. "Stop." He said simply. Raymond stopped and glanced
over at him, waiting for directions. "Now we get to the fun part." Parker purred as he sat
up from the bed, licking Raymond's precum from his lips. "But I thought this was the fun
part." Raymond chuckled as he sat up, hugging his knees.
"Good point, but this is even better." Parker winked at the redhead.
Parker got the bottle of lube and uncapped it, squeezing the quickly warming gel into his
hands. Raymond laid down on his back and smiled coyly as Parker winked at him.
Parker slipped two fingers inside of Raymond, already loosened from their past activities.
Raymond purred and his insides seemed to flutter at the intimate touch.
Parker kissed Raymond's stomach as he fingered the man, dipping his tongue into his
belly button. "You remember that night?" Parker whispered. "I could never forget it."
Raymond's breath hitched when Parker's fingers slid over that one spot inside him.
"And I don't care if we didn't have a candlelit dinner or a romantic walk on the beach,
it was our first time, and I'll always treasure it." Raymond caressed Parker's hair.
"I'm glad, it was special to me too." Parker smiled as he sat back up, positioning the tip
of his member to Raymond's entrance. "You ready?" Parker glanced up at Raymond.
Raymond grasped onto Parker's shoulders and licked his lips in anticipation.
"Always." Raymond purred as he stared into Parker's eyes with the utmost love and trust.
Parker grunted as he slowly slid into Raymond, being careful as always, despite their
history together. Raymond held his breath as Parker slid inside of him, feeling fluttery
feelings well up in the pit of his stomach. Parker leaned down and kissed Raymond,
tugging on his bottom lip before settling into a steady rhythm.
Raymond wrapped his legs around Parker's hips, tightening his grip as their pace
increased. Parker began to stroke Raymond's cock, alternating between stroking his
member and his balls, causing the man to moan. Raymond's fingers began to dig into
Parker's shoulders, part of him thankful that he remembered to clip his nails.
"P-Parker..! aahh! Ah! Ahhh!" Raymond continued to cry and moan as Parker still
pumped into him with a knowing smile. "Ray…mm…hahh..hah! ahh! Ohh..!"
"I..! I'm-! hahh! Ahhh..!" Raymond's back arched as he reached climax, his hips bucking
up into Parker. "Guh..aagh..Ray..!" Parker groaned as he reached orgasm.
Parker laid down on his side, bringing Raymond in close to him. Raymond snuggled with
Parker and purred with content, kissing Parker once more. "I love you, Parker." Raymond
smiled warmly, brushing Parker's hair away from his face. "I love you too, Ray." Parker
chuckled as he kissed Raymond's forehead. The Italian pulled the blankets over them and
sighed happily, quickly falling asleep.
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Raymond woke up to Parker still hugging him, smiling lovingly. "Morning, love." Parker
nuzzled his nose into Raymond's neck. Raymond laughed when Parker tickled him.
"Morning." Raymond stretched his legs and sighed.
"Well, it's only our first day here and already we've met my family, got engaged, and
had hot sex." Parker arched his eyebrows suggestively. "What shall we do with the rest of
our time here?" he asked as he hugged the redhead tighter.
"Hmm…good question. How about wine tasting?" Raymond smiled thoughtfully.
"ooh, drunk sex. Love it!" Parker chuckled with a devilish smirk.
"It's not always about sex, sweetheart." Raymond snorted with a grin.
"I know, but it's part of the fun." The brunette winked, earning a laugh from the redhead.
"Ok..how about we go to the beach? I saw it from the plane and it looked gorgeous."
Raymond suggested as he laid his head back into his pillow. "Sex on the beach?" Parker
pleaded with those big blue eyes. "Hmph, never had sex on the beach before…"
Raymond replied. "Can we? Please…?" Parker begged as he bounced on the bed slightly.
"Alright, if we can find a private spot, we can give it a shot." The redhead sighed.
"Yes! this will be the best vacation ever!" Parker rejoiced gleefully.
"What am I going to do with you?" Raymond snickered with a shake of his head.
"I can think of a few things, I'll make a list!" Parker grinned openly, earning a playful hit
from Raymond's pillow.
(end)
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Finally, a ParkerxRaymond story that has fluff!
I was tired of writing stories that had drama in them, so I decided to take a break and
write something that was much happier. So what better than to write about lovable
Parker's family in Italy?
This has to be the longest story by far, I swear. twenty-five freaking pages long!
That's a new record…sorry if it's too long for you guys.
I've personally been to Japan, took four Japanese classes and hosted four
Exchange students, so I know how Raymond feels when he's surrounded by a foreign
culture and has to adapt himself to the new environment. To help give you all that feeling
of hopelessly misunderstanding every single thing that comes out of someone's mouth, I
had Parker's family speak in Italian during most of the story. Feel free to copy and paste
their sentences into Google translate!
This actually took me two days to write, simply because I was a little busy and I was
Writing into the night and got too tired to finish. But I finally finished it this morning!
On another note, thank you so much to everyone for all your kind words and positive
Feedback on my other stories-it really means a lot to me!
I'm sorry that the font seems tiny and squished together, I'm still getting used to writing
on Fanfiction and sometimes my stories don't transfer to 's server very well.
Sometimes sentences that are supposed to be in italic font are in roman font instead, some
exclamation marks are missing and so on. But I think it's going to have to be this way for
awhile, until I get used to everything. Sorry!
I plan to write more ParkerxRaymond stories, so don't worry about me running out of
ideas! Also, I'd like to thank Danny for giving me the encouragement to write some
KeithxQuint stories, I'll get started on those straight away!
Lin