How Charlie liked the surprise? Well, it was not difficult to figure it out. Bizarrely Charlie did not remark the special thing about the dish until he took one bite. He was so surprised that the chicken piece came wrong and went for the lungs instead. He chocked to get it out and became red.

"What is this?" He took a glass of water and drank heartily.

"That was the surprise. That was why I asked the boys to entertain you. Do you…like it?"

"I love it! It tastes exactly as she did it." Sophie was pleased. Her cooking skills weren't all she wanted them to be but she had learnt through the years.

"Who do you mean dad?"

"Your Grandma, Edwin. She was a wonderful cook. Even though she would never admit it. In the kitchen, she was the queen. I was even afraid to steal cookies from the secret place she used to hide them." Edwin and Harry gasped and turned to Sophie in the hope that she would reveal anything where cookies could be found.

"Don't even think about it. I have not even made any so it is useless that you try." The twins turned red but nodded to each other with determination in their eyes. Sophie knew that they would do it anyway when she was not looking. She let it pass. There was no way they would find it. She was quite certain. "She sounds truly fantastic. Compared to mine, she is an angel."

"She was. My parents really loved each other. My mother always told me it was love at first sight.

"Can we go mum? We are finished." She nodded to them and they ran to their rooms, probably to begin with their plan to steal the cookies.

"Tell me, how did they meet? Oh, wait. Let's sit on the couch. I will take these to the kitchen. No, no stay, I'm fine." Charlie went to turn on the TV, hoping to see some happy news. But it was as usual here, murder, disasters, deaths, destructions and all made people scared. It's like what his father always said: "They like to scare you, so they can laugh at you later when you tell them how afraid you are." He felt a moment of sadness when he thought of his father. He had worshipped him. Grandma had reminded him too often that he was his father's son. Sophie had finished her business and sat down next to him. She folded up her legs and placed her head on his lap.

"So honey, tell me."

He caressed her hair and begun with his story. "I had been told that before they met, Mum had just finished college and worked in her parents' flower shop. She wanted to be a professional dancer you see. She was part of a ballet company that was quite famous in town. She never ended up as a professional dancer but started teaching instead. She said that she loved to convey that feeling of dancing, of feeling free. Where some women became bitter and remorseful of their lost opportunity, my mother found her call. Anyway, she had a performance that night and my father had been dragged by his friend who was a little in love with my mother. My father was quite the man at that time. Blue eyes, blond hair and as my mother said it "a creation of the gods". So, as soon as he saw her dancing, he knew that no other woman would ever attract him more than my mother. After all, she had her share of beauty. Big, dark eyes and red flamboyant hair. Growing up, I always thought her to be the most beautiful woman in the world. A bit of Oedipus complex there I believe. Anyhow, my father went to her loge after the show and asked her out on a date. A month later, they were married."

"What did Claire think of her?"

"She loved her from the first moment she met her. My mother was like the daughter she never had and so she mourned her a lot too. I think that was my mother's gift, that everyone who saw her adored her. It is too bad that the truck that hit her didn't adore her though." This was a painful memory and Sophie put her hand on Charlie's chin. He kissed the palm of her hand. "We should get the boys to bed. Will you or I read to them?"

"You read to them. The boys always love hearing your voice, and so do I." He kissed her on the lips and went to the boys' bedroom. Sophie needed to book the tickets to Italy. The boys needed to say goodbye to their grandma.

The next day they were on the airport, waiting for the gate to be opened. Sophie made a list of everything she had done. The boys' teacher had been called to tell about the situation, she and Charlie had called at their workplaces to inform them of their absence, she had locked the door, and she had taken everything they needed. They had explained to the twins that they needed to see grandma because she was sick, but she had not told them why it was so necessary to go now. They would be told in due course.

Finally, it opened and they went on board. She had placed the boys between her and Charlie so that they were probably attended to. Since she got the tickets late, they would have to change flights in Montreal and Paris to get to Verona. She would have found it exotic if it would not for the reason why they were going to fly today. The flight to Montreal went good, the boys were happy to get their coke and Sophie got her second coffee of the day. Well in Montréal, they went to the toilets and went to the nearby fast food place to get lunch. They had a play-space as they called it, for children. Sophie and Charlie found this to be perfect for now. Now the joy lasted for only one hour but other amusements could be found. Sophie and Charlie bought come candy and other unneeded stuff to occupy the boys when they got restless. They located the gate and sat down to see the boys run around. Much could be done at an airport. One could run up and down the escalators, observe people who laughed, ate, talked or play James Bond. This was so amusing that the boys were surprised when it was time to go on the plane. Well in Paris, there were new things to see, new people to observe. The family emptied the provisions of snacks they had brought in Montréal. The twins became bored and they sat down in their parents' lap. They were soon sleeping deeply and were very irritated when they were awakened. The family boarded the last plane for the day and was really exhausted when they were landed in Verona. Luckily, all luggages had come right and Charlie rented a car that would take them to Grandma. Almost there!