Chapter 11

Greg worked part time at the commissary at Fort Bliss. His father had pulled some strings, of course, to get him the job. He hated it, but at least it was money which he needed to care for his car and take Marianne out. For her spending money, Marianne babysat for several of the Marine families that her parents knew. It took up a lot of her Friday and Saturday nights, but they paid well, so she did it. Greg hated when she babysat, because her parents forbid her to have him there and she wouldn't disobey them. But they managed to see each other at school, after school and as much time on the weekends as they could.

Christmas came and they both wanted to find great presents for each other. Greg was invited to her house for the traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner which consisted of seven different types of fish. They decided that they would exchange their gifts to each other after dinner.

At the Gregory house, Christmas was a magical time. Greg had never experienced anything like it. First were the lights. Joe Gregory had decorated the little house with as many lights as he could manage. Inside, the tree dominated the living room but there were twinkling lights around the doorways and windows as well.

Not only was the house full of Christmas, it was also full of people. Marianne's older brother, Vince, had come home for Christmas. He was a marine as well, stationed in California, but he had leave for the holidays. Of course, her younger brother, David, age twelve, was there as well. Her aunt Lily was also visiting from New York. Her grandparents were expected later in the week because they wanted to be home on Christmas.

Dinner was a wonder to him. There was fish served that he had never even heard of, let alone eaten. Baccala (dried cod) which had been soaked for three days and was breaded and fried; calamari (squid) cut into rings and cooked in a marinara sauce; scungilli (conch) in a salad with celery and olives and dressed with olive oil, garlic and lemon juice; fried smelts; shrimp and mussels over pasta and a white fish baked with garlic and lemon.

Everything was amazing and delicious. What was more amazing was how Marianne's family interacted with each other. They were boisterous and loud and tried to out shout each other. They fought over how the food was prepared, who should sit where and everything they could think of. And anyone could see that they loved each other. Greg had never been around a family like this.

After the fish, Mrs. Gregory brought out bowls of fruit and nuts. The family ate them while the espresso was brewing. It was poured into little demitasse cups and served with a little piece of lemon peel in the cup. Then they brought out platters with Italian pastries that her aunt had brought from New York – cannolis, napoleons, rum babas. There was also a large cheesecake. Greg ate until he couldn't stuff anything else into his mouth.

After dinner, everyone moved into the living room and started exchanging gifts. Greg watched in wonder as the family passed gifts back and forth, fought some more, laughed a lot, and had a wonderful time.

Eventually, Greg and Marianne slipped out of the room and went to the basement where they stood by the washing machine and exchanged presents. He handed her a small box while she gave him a larger one.

When she opened the box, she smiled. It was a silver chain with block letters in the middle that spelled out M E G.

"Oh, Greg, it's wonderful! I love it. Thank you! Can you help me put it on?"

She took it out of the box, handed it to him, and turned around. He put it around her neck and fastened it. Then he kissed the back of her neck. She turned around with a smile and put her arms around him and kissed him on the mouth. He was getting into it, when she broke away.

"Oh, you haven't opened your present yet!"

"I thought this was my present." He said, as he moved in for another kiss.

"No, I mean your gift. Come on, Greg, open it!"

He took the package that she gave him and unwrapped it. Inside was a record album. It was the new Eric Clapton album, No Reason to Cry. His blue eyes shone as he looked at it.

"Wow, I was going to buy this last week, but I ran out of money after doing all my Christmas shopping."

She smiled, happy that he liked the present. He put the album down on the washer and pulled her close to him again.

"Now for the other present…" he said as he bent his head to take her lips with his.