Chapter 01:
"Nipote! Are you even listening to your old Nonna?" Signora Esposito grumbled in her typical grandmotherly manner, looking at her over-zealous grandson. He was just always so busy! First with his toys – when he came to visit her as a child, she remembered him spending hours all by himself playing with everything and nothing. Then as he grew up he got busy with his school, the far-flung one his father had attended before him. Why, she still remembered how the then Zabini patriarch, paternal grandfather to her lovely grandson, back then was so smitten by his fair English wife, that he had sent both his sons so far from home to study! Hogwash or something, that place was called, if her memory served her right. Yet, why someone would want to study at a place so named, she'd never understand! A prospect so preposterous no one had even heard of any such thing back then, when magic was considered so sacred that all the families passed their own spells, charms and potions down the generation, no one outside the family had any rights to teach any of them. Then there was the war, around his school, that everyone spoke in hushed tones about, and now with work!
He just always kept himself so busy, as if he was avoiding the general rule of life and living as much as he could. He had an extremely small circle of close friends and next came his family, a few members of it anyway. And that was it. And Signora Esposito was exasperated! Was it wrong of her to expect her thirty years old grandson to live, laugh and love? To find a beautiful bride and make a happy home? And most importantly, to shower his old, frail Nonna with many-many great grandchildren she could dote on? She thought not.
Blaise smirked listening to his Nonna grumble under her breath in fast and furious Italian. "You are hardly old and frail, Nonna. Eighties for witches is simply like middle-age for the muggles."
"Nonetheless, if you delay my great grandchildren, their future generations are also delayed, giving me that much less time to play with them."
How did we even get back on this topic? Blaise wondered. No that it was anything new. His Nonna found at least six different ways to remind him to settle down and give her great grandkids every single day. But then again, he loved her far too much to have her any other way.
"We'll see about that when the time is right, Nonna. For now, tell me about this charity you were speaking of. You wanted to make some donation somewhere?"
"Oh yes! We were speaking of it, weren't we?" His Nonna blushed delicately, making Blaise smile. "There is this Australian charity, I can't recollect the name though, that works with the children of war, both wizarding and muggle," that made Blaise's eyebrows raise a notch, making him cut his Nonna mid-way.
"Wizarding and muggle?" he was still doubtful.
"Yes." His Nonna nodded. "I have had Andrea speak to the witch who runs the charity about us making a rather sizable donation over this Capodanno and she has assured me that the witch will be here herself to collect the sum. She's already been in Switzerland this past week for some convention, which wraps up today. So she'll be joining us this evening for ironing out the details. They have even offered to file paperwork for us should we want to consider the donations for some tax benefits," Signora Esposito elaborated for Blaise, making him nod his head in agreement.
"That would be rather beneficial, especially in all our muggle investments. If the head witch has the time, do ask Andrea to make her an appointment with me for tomorrow morning. I would like to finish all of this before our guests start arriving for the celebrations and the house is turned into a zoo," Blaise finally said, offering a smile to his Nonna.
This was what he liked best about her. She could go from pestering him for great grandkids to a fearsome financial advisor within seconds, without batting an eye. It was this soft yet stern personality of hers that had kept holding the Esposito household together like glue for so many decades, or else the flamboyant family his mother came from would have been obliterated into dust long ago. Unfortunately his father's side of the family lacked such an enigmatic woman altogether, making Blaise a complete Nonna Esposito's boy.
"She'll be here at six tonight. Will you be joining us?"
"Looks difficult. I have an important dinner meeting before I can make my way back here tonight."
"I hope you find your lonely bed sooner rather than later tonight, Nipote. Though if you had some beautiful motivation awaiting your return…"
And just like that we're back, Blaise sighed, shaking his head and got up to take leave from his grandmother. "I'll be in the office all day, except for during lunch and dinner. Have Andrea call there should you need anything." With a quick peck to his Nonna's cheek, he left before she could launch into another 'find a bride' attack.