"Are you going to try to join us?"
"Yes, I'm a little hungry. I don't know about lamb, but I'm sure my Mom made Stracciatella."
"What's Stracciatella?"
"It's an Italian Soup. It's pretty simple it has a little pasta in it. And I'm sure there's warm Soda Bread- that's an Irish thing."
The food's all on the table when we get downstairs and everyone is seated waiting for us, but no one looks upset. I think they know how rough this pregnancy has been for Donna so far.
While Donna's Dad says grace, I peek at the food. Just like at Christmas, there is a lot of it! Donna was right about the soup. We each have a bowl in front of us. There are two platters with roast lamb with a green pesto sauce, there are several loaves of bread that smell fantastic. A bowl of creamy green stuff that might be spinach. I don't think I'll try that. But there is also a bowl of carrots, so I'll make Donna happy and eat some vegetables. There is some sort of casserole dish that looks kind of like an omelet, cheese and eggs and what I guess might be lamb in it. I do like lamb, so overall, I'm feeling pretty good about this. I just hope Donna can eat something.
Dinner is a pretty noisy affair. Conversations flowing back and forth from the kids table to the adult table, and from one end to other. The topics move pretty quickly and often overlap, but I'm in my element. I can switch gears easily and I don't find the Moss family nearly overwhelming as I did at Christmas.
"Hey Bella-" Donna chimes in, "you'll never guess who we ran into at the Egg Hunt. Freddie and Stacy Briggs!"
"Oh really?" Bella raises an eyebrow and looks at me. I'm sure she's wondering if I know who he is.
"Didn't you date him in high school?" Sean asks. I see Lottie's mouth tighten a little. I think Bella and Lottie know exactly what Freddie was to Donna but I'm not sure whether her Dad and brothers do.
"Um, yeah," Donna says. "So anyway- how did he and Stacy Mills end up together?"
"Stacy was a cheerleader wasn't she?" Finn asks, and Julie raises her eyebrows at him. "I barely remember her, she was a grade younger than me."
"They both ended up at Carthage College in Kenosha. I think it was the commuting home for holidays. They moved back here after college. They ended up buy her parents house. Their oldest is in Carly's class, isn't he, Becky?"
"Yes, I think so."
"Carly- is David Briggs in your class?"
"Yeah!" I watch her carefully. She doesn't seem interested. Good.
The rest of dinner passes uneventfully. The lamb was outstanding. Lottie Moss really is a VERY good cook. Donna ate a bowl of soup and some bread. I'd like to see her eat a bit more, but really it's more important that she keep something down. I think I need to ask Lottie for some soup receipes and maybe some other foods that Donna might like if she ever gets an appetite back.
"Why don't you go sit in the living room for a little while, keep Julie company. I'll help clear the table." I plant a kiss on her cheek.
"Oh the kids will clear the table. You need to go help the Dads hide the eggs."
"Come on, Josh, it's time for some fun." Sean announces, standing up. Jim and Finn grin and join him. Bob and I follow suit.
Once we are outside, Sean opens the bin of eggs. Damn, that's a lot of eggs for 6 kids.
"Okay, Josh, the idea here is for this hunt to take longer than a few minutes. This is supposed to be challenging! And this isn't like the community egg hunt where there is a limit per child. This is a competition to see who finds the most."
"Well, this does sound like more fun."
"So hide them high, hide them low, and hide them in hard places!" Jim encourages me.
It takes us a solid fifteen minutes to hide the eggs. I can't wait to see how long it takes them to find them. When we go back inside, Lottie has coffee waiting for us and the kids are almost done with the chores. I like the way they help out.
Once the kids are done, they get their windbreakers on. It is a bit chilly out there. The kids line up at the back door in reverse age order and Lottie hands them each a canvas sack with their names on it. Lottie really seems to like to put their names on things, we'd better pick a good one.
The Moms all head out back to take pictures as the kids come out the door.
"Okay, Conor, you know the rules. You have to wait 1 full minute between each kid. Come on Josh, you want to see this from the other side." Lottie takes my arm and leads me out back.
Jim's videotaping as Marco comes out the door. He immediately looks around. I left a few blue eggs in easy to spot places. There is one in a large potter right beside the door. I'm really glad when he sees it right away and puts it in his bag.
A minute later Carly comes out. She immediately heads toward Jim's little shed. Smart girl. There are lots of eggs hidden over there.
Aidan's next. He runs to the front yard. A minute later, Liam follows. That is where the majority of eggs are. There is a lot more landscaping, so a lot more hiding places.
When Anna comes out, she checks on how Marco is doing. She points out a blue egg laying on a cushion on a patio chair. Then she looks up and plucks an egg off the window sill. She doesn't seem to care that much but she's participating without complaining. That's nice.
Conor is the last out the door. He ambles toward the front yard too and I follow him. I'm curious to see how the three boys work this. When we get to the front, I see Adian in the tree trying to get couple eggs that were put on high branches. Liam is flipping over the cushions on the bench on the front porch. Conor reaches up for the egg on the door frame, and then gets one from the top of the window.
After about 10 minutes, Aidan and Liam proclaim- "I think we got them all!"
I'm sure they haven't. I look at the agent standing by the front door. He shakes his head lightly. He moves his foot a little and I can see the egg hidden between him and the wall.
"Nope! I can see one from here!"
Aidan follows my line of vision and runs back up to the porch. He stops in front of the agent not sure what to do. The agent stares back at him for a second then moves slightly to the left revealing the egg. Aidan laughs, snatches it up and says "good one Uncle Josh!"
"Let's go count!" Liam yells to Aidan. Conor is still looking in all the higher places, rain gutters, the carriage lights on the garage, the evergreen bushes, as he makes his way around the house one more time.
Once we are back in the house, he joins the others at the dining room table. There is a definite process going on here. Each kid has a gallon size ziplock bag, with their name on it, of course. They open the eggs, dump the candy into the bag, snap the eggs back together and put the empty eggs back into the bin. They are all doing this quietly. It's kind of eerie.
"Why are they so quiet?" I whisper to Donna.
"They're keeping track of how many eggs."
"28" Carly announces.
"You beat me, squirt. I got 24" Conor ruffles her hair.
"Me too." Anna says. "I got 13." She wasn't really trying.
"Marco got 16." Julie says.
"37" Aidan shouts.
"Dang it!" Liam responds, "I got 36."
"That means there is one more out there." Jim says adding up the numbers. "There were 155."
Liam jumps up and races to get his shoes on. If he finds it, he can tie Aidan. Aidan quickly follows him.
My lips quirk up. They're never going to find it.
"Josh?" Donna is giving me a look.
I turn slightly and point down to where a blue egg is sticking out of my coat pocket.
Donna starts to laugh. "You're evil. You fit right in."
"How long do we let them go out there?"
"Until you're sick of it. You have to go stand outside until they find it or give up, otherwise it's not legal. You can't hide the eggs inside."
"So many rules." I give her a kiss and head back outside.
Scott and I watch in amusement as the boys scour the backyard. It's cute how they assume the girls missed one. They are looking through every bush, checking every downspout, moving all the chairs. I'm just standing watching with my arms crossed. I've made sure that the egg is actually sticking out of my pocket now, so there really is no basis for complaining.
Liam finally says-"Maybe someone miss counted?"
"Uncle Josh, Do you know where it is?" Aidan asks. It looks like they are about to give up.
"Yep." I turn slightly and both boys see it at the same time. They come barreling towards me from across the yard. It's a real foot race. Suddenly, Scott steps in front of me and both boys stop.
"Just kidding." Scott grins at them and steps out of the way. Liam manages to grab the egg.
"It's a tie!" He shouts.
"I guess you'll have to split the prize?" I ask the boys.
"Oh, there's no prize," Aidan responds "just bragging rights for a year."
I love this family.
After the egg hunt, the kids head back downstairs to play their games. Most of the family is gathered in the den, watching something on TV, but Donna, Lottie and I have ended up in the living room.
"You're supposed to name the first boy after the paternal grandfather, so I imagine Noah is at the top of your list?"
I'm slightly surprised, and more than a little pleased, that Lottie knows my father's name, but I'm not really ready to talk about it yet. I need to think about it and I really do want to see how my Mom would take it.
"I think you're making that up. I don't have a grandfather named Sean!" Donna challenges her mother. She does that sometimes.
"Sean is another Irish version of John."
"Oh." Donna says. "What about Finn?"
"Well, you're supposed to name the second son after the maternal grandfather."
"Your Dad's name was Giovanni. How do you get Finn from that?"
"Well, actually, by then we had decided that the boys would get Irish names and the girls would get Italian names. I just liked the name Finn. But since Giovanni is the Italian equivalent of John. We had told my Dad that Sean was named after both grandfathers."
"Well, that's quite a stretch."
"Marriage is about compromise, dear."
I give Donna a little smirk. Sometimes I like her Mother quite a bit.
"You know, you're supposed to name the first girl after the maternal grandmother." I think she really is making that one up.
"But I'd be happy if you just kept the Italian tradition."
Lottie is relentlessly listing names that she likes. Donna tuned out long ago, her eyes closed, her head in my lap as I trace her face with my finger tips. I think she's almost asleep.
"Lydia, Luciana, Leonora, Lilliana . . ."
I've been trying to be attentive, but I'm fading myself until something catches my attention.
"Leonora" I test it out. "Leonora, now that has possibilities."
"Absolutely not." Donna says without opening her eyes.
"Leonora- it's like a combination of Leo and Noah- for a girl."
Donna opens her eyes and sits up and looks at me fully in the face. "She'll hate it. She'll absolutely hate it . . . until some man says it in a way that makes her heart flutter."
"Donnatella," I say her name like it's a caress, and I can feel her heart rate increase.
"Yes?"
"Donnatella," I repeat looking deep into her eyes and cupping her cheek with my hand. "I love your name."
She sighs. "Me too."
"You're welcome!" Her mother sings.
Donna lays back down and closes her eyes. "You can put it on the list, but don't get too attached to it."
"I could call her Lulu."
"Lulu Lyman?" Donna snorts. "You really don't want the little bean to like you, do you?"