More guests had arrived and were gathered to help around making the final touches to the party. The iconic red and white checkered tablecloths were flapped open, the soft drinks fizzed in their ice-laden coolers, and as the sun was making its descent into blankets of soft reds and oranges in the sky, the guests lined up for the trademartk highly processed, calorie heavy, and sodium laden meals of hot dogs, hamburgers, and barbecued ribs.
Feli thoroughly enjoyed the smoky scent that drifted through the doors of Alfred's gigantic home and the grills, but she craved some pasta at the moment. Again, Italian was the epitome of the world's best comfort food.
"Ah… I should have packed the 15 packages of fettuccini noodles Grandpapa gave me…" she inwardly sighed, regretting her pre-departure decision. Sadly, it made her craving that much more stronger. She decided to make her way into the kitchen to ask Alfred for some tomatoes and noodles.
As she walked in, it had not been many steps when she bumped into Francis who was trying balancing a tray of beautiful drinks in wine glasses. She instantly recognized the fizzy beverages as Francis frantically tried to regain his balance.
"Wow! These limonatas look very refreshing! They are so pretty! Did you make these, Francis? Oh, and, I'm very sorry for bumping into you!"
"It's okay, beautiful Italia. They are in fact limonatas! As expected of a native of Italy. Oh, ma cherie, will you do me a favor? I'm quite busy right now with little time to deliver these. Take my drinks and serve them around to that table over there" – he pointed to Antonio and Gilbert's direction – "and I will be checking on those ribs! Thanks, Italia!"
"Yes Francis, please go ahead!" A startled Feli replied as the tray was promptly shoved into her hands as Francis briskly flew past her and into the kitchen area. Feli admired each of the dozen properly garnished drinks and made her way to the table.
The table was quite noisy as Gilbert, Antonio, and Romano were arguing about something. Feli cautiously set the drinks on the table, not wanting to disturb them. She handed them out, going down the row, until two limonatas were left. She set the second to last one down and went to return the tray when-
"Thank you." A recognizable voice responded, a voice that was deep and very alluringly husky.
"Eh…?" Feli stopped in her tracks with the tray. Could it be him, the owner of that voice?
It was indeed Ludwig, the person she had been nervously expecting.
He was looking at her oh so gently. A smile graced his face, illuminating his ice blue eyes. He was so handsome up close! Feli could not help but hold his gaze a few seconds longer.
Ludwig swiftly motioned to the empty lawn chair across from his seat at the table. "Would you like to have a seat and keep me company? I'm feeling a little lonely." There was that heart wrenching smile again!
"Sure! Well it's nice to see you again, Ludwig!" Feli tried her best to keep her usual tone of voice. She hoped it wasn't too squeaky and high pitched from excitement and nervousness.
"Same to you, Feliciana." Ludwig said politely, and went back to eating his barbequed ribs.
Feli sat down and decided to treat herself to the remaining limonata. She felt as if the tray was going to be a barrier between her and Ludwig, so she pushed the tray aside. She took a sip of the festive limonata and felt it cool her warm throat. From the taste of the first few sweet thirst quenching drops, all thoughts of her impromptu pasta plans were aborted immediately.
"Excuse me for asking, but where is your food?" Ludwig asked after wiping his mouth with a napkin.
"Ve… I prefer the Italian cuisine to the American cuisine…" Feli mumbled. "I'm not a fan of the salty and greasy foods here so I'm planning to cook some pasta later," explained Feli.
Ludwig nodded. "I agree. German bratwurst is more promising to us Germans than the hot dog sausages the Americans enjoy," his head shook in disappointment. Feli giggled. This conversation wouldn't be so bad after all.
The rest of the evening continued in this manner- Ludwig and Feli conversed. An occasional joke lightly thrown in would make them laugh. Feliciana felt butterflies in her stomach whenever Ludwig would smile or laugh in their conversations, which she took as a sign of delight and acceptance of her clumsiness and curiosity, ash she had regarded these traits of hers as insecurities.
A nagging thought had made its way into her mind as the evening sun said its farewells. There had been a few shy glances and subtle smirks from Ludwig here and there, but he hadn't blushed. Feli worried about this and gulped down the last of her limonata. Was Ludwig interested in her like she was in him? Was it too early to be sure?
"Oh will you look at that? It's getting pretty dark!" Alfred looked into the now darkened night sky and pulled out several packages of explosives for the highlight of the night. "That means it's time for… FIREWORKS!"
After dinner many were wading into the pools with their swimsuits. The lanterns that strung above the wide party area glowed like gigantic fireflies. They provided an adequate glow, and in their brightness, Feli waved to her female friends who seemed to be enjoying a game of Categories with the Nordics in the large pool. Others were holding lit sparklers and creating shapes in the air.
Feli sensed Ludwig come up behind her and whirled around to see him with two beautiful white sparklers in his hands. Their sparks flew, flickering and bursting white gold.
"Would you like one?" He asked her. Feli jumped up and down with glee, took the glowing aluminum rod, and bounded about the grassy lawn as she created graceful shapes and movements. After a few moments, she looked over her extended arm to see Ludwig standing still, watching her joyful skipping in awe all the while his sparkler was wasting its light away.
She pretended she was a fairy and tiptoed over to him. She stretched over and tapped her wand on the air over his head. "I command you to move your wand!"
There was an unreadable expression on his face and Feli could not figure it out. It wasn't one of disgust or pain. She stepped closer with her sparkler held close to her heart with both hands so that she could examine his equally enigmatic blue eyes in its flickering flames. Ludwig seemed to have fallen into a trance also, looking down into her curious eyes as well, and his hand was starting to slowly reach a strand of hair on her face…
BAM! A firework exploded suddenly.
Feli yelped in surprise. "Eeeek!" Her reflexes told her to fling her arms around the nearest thing to her.
Well, the nearest "thing" to her was Ludwig's torso.
He was likewise startled by the sudden explosion, but he was more startled by the unexpected gesture he had never expected to get from the attractive lady in a million years. And it sure showed on his face.
Feli realized the embarrassing situation she had gotten herself into with her arms wrapped around Ludwig's body in a hug. She looked up to see the bewildered fellow and smiled giddily up at him.
She didn't feel the nervous butterflies in her stomach at this moment, surprisingly, and it only confirmed her confidence she felt in a flash. She decided that she was going to make him realize her feelings. She got up on her toes again, wrapped her arms around his neck, and closed her eyes gently. She hoped he could taste the tangy lemon on her breath from the limonata and to catch a whiff of freesia on her neck…
Feli and Ludwig became enraptured in their lip locking as Ludwig dropped his sparkler to gently put his hands on her waist. Feli didn't realize the fireworks were now bursting loudly. She didn't seem to hear the screams of joy from the firework spectators and the eventual screams of horror as some of the guests hurled water at the fire from both of their forgotten sparklers in the grassy lawn a few feet away from them. She may not have been kissing him long enough to hear Romano's jaw hitting the ground at the sight of them, or to see Elizabeta snapping pictures of them while Gilbert and Francis fist-bumped, or to enjoy the magnificent display of colorful brocade, chrysanthemum, and strobe firecrackers.
But what she did know was that her feelings were answered swiftly with Ludwig's lips in that moment. Maybe it was the bravery of her initiated kiss and the fireworks behind them that were reasons exactly why they became a couple.
Thank you for reading!
