Toscane Days 2

The shift at 'Book Lovers' went by quickly and after it ended I headed to coop's house, and picked him up to go practicing in my mom's house' basement. After a short intermission, she lets me practice there again. We've had a good practice, I think we're really getting better.

We all arrived home by seven, to find Lily and dad already sitting and waiting for us in the living room. "Hi, we're glad you're all home" Lily started. "We have some great news for you…" Dad continued but was cut by Zoë's excited shout "I knew it! You're gonna have a baby, right?" she said it as if it was a fact rather than a question.

"What?" both Lily and dad looked baffled… "No honey, we're not having a baby" Lily said "But it's still good news…". I could definitely see Jessie's face relax as Lily talked.

"Well, what we wanted to tell you is that we've got a really great offer for the summer's vacation …" dad began to explain. "Remember this rich customer I've worked with a few months ago? Ron? Well, we became quite friendly with each other since then and he was so satisfied with the work I've done for him, that he had offered me a very generous offer"

We all looked at him waiting for some more details. "He offered us a month's vacation in his villa in Tuscany, Italy" dad stopped for a dramatic effect. "And we've discussed his offer and decided we should all go together"

Lily took it from there "We never really had our honeymoon and it'll be a great chance for all of us to bond… ".

Zoë was the first one to digest the news "Can I bring a friend with me? Please?" Lily and dad looked at each other for a moment, considering her request and then dad said "Well, I don't see any problem with that, if her parents won't mind paying for the plane ticket and let her fly with us…" "Thank you! You're the best parents ever!!" Zoë squealed. Jessie was the next one "Can I please bring Katie with me? Otherwise I'll be bored by myself". This time Lily answered "Sure, I don't see a problem with it."

Grace looked thoughtful, but remained silent.

"Dad, what about my band practices? We can't allow a month with no practices, we've just started improving lately" I exclaimed. "Come on Eli, you can take your guitar with you and when you'll come back you can practice twice as hard, it's not such a big deal, I'll even talk to your mother about letting you do that" at least he acknowledges the fact that it's important to me…

"What do you say Grace?" Lily asked her since she hasn't reacted yet. "Sure, why not…" she mumbled indifferently, it was impossible to read what she really thought about it from her expression. 

"So are you ok with it Eli?" Dad asked me again "Yes, fine I guess it'll be interesting to go abroad… I don't suppose you'll let coop and wink join too, ah?" I decided I might as well try my luck. "Well, there aren't so many rooms in this villa and we do want some peace and quiet over there…" Dad confirmed my guess.

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Fine so it's settled then" Dad announced. "We'll be leaving on the second day after the school's holiday starts, so you'll have plenty of time to pack for a month's stay."

"Great, I'll talk to Ron and let him know it's final"

"We're going to have such a great vacation" He added joyfully.

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The next week passed by pretty fast, I must be getting old… and school was out for the summer's holiday starting tomorrow.

Dad was so excited about this trip, as if it was his first ever. He kept bringing us all kinds of brochures and magazines about Italy and the place we'll be staying in. It's called 'Casa Elisa' or something like that. It's supposed to be one of the oldest in this area of Tuscany, by the Arno valley. Ron told dad that there are only a few other houses around the villa, so it's very peaceful, and there's a little village only a few kilometers away so it's in a walking or mountain bikes ride distance.

Two more days 'till our family bonding trip…

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Hey, I know it's way too short, but I'm in between exams and this is actually just the inro. for this story.

Drop me a line and make me smile ;D

LitJunkie