There's some Italian in this chapter again. I was going to write that part of the story in Italian but realised it was pointless, as I am assuming the majority of you don't speak Italian. So, one sentence is in Italian, every piece of dialogue that comes after that is in English, but know that for the characters, it's Italian. Enjoy!

Chapter 14:

She looks older. Not old, but older. She's, what? 56 now? Other than a few lines on her face, she's just as a remember her. I look to the side to try and get some emotional support from Isabella, but she's gone.

Traitor.

"Mum. How are you?"

"Good. A little stressed. I've had some disagreements with our suppliers. But other than that, I'm good."

I nod and stuff my hands in my pockets.

"Where's dad?"

"He went to the supermarket to buy food for lunch. We're having a barbecue. I hope that's okay…"

"Yeah, of course. I haven't eaten barbecue in a long time."

"Good thing we decided to have one then."

I can tell she wants to get closer. She's just not sure if I'll let her. I said I wanted to make things better, but I never said it was going to be easy.

"You look tired. You should get some rest. Lunch will take a while anyway. We had the maids fix your old room."

"Yeah, I think I'll do that. Thanks."

I pick up my bags and start walking towards the stairs. I stop and turn around.

"Mum?"

She turns and looks at me. Hopeful.

"I'm glad I'm home."

A hesitant smile appears on her face.

"I'm glad you're home too, sweetheart."

I climb up the stairs and see Isabella at the top.

"That… was painfully awkward. I mean, you saved it a little bit at the end, but Jesus."

"Well, that's what happens when you don't see your parents for 11 years."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Shut up."

"You shut up."

Isabella follows me to my room. As soon as I open the door, I'm assaulted by all these childhood memories that I haven't thought about in a very long time. I don't know why it is my room that triggers all of these and not the house, but it's nice to remember that while I lived here, I was happy. I throw my bags to the nearest corner and look at Isabella.

"Ready?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

We both take a step back and launch ourselves to my bed. We land and bounce a bit and we laugh hard. Like old times.

We lie there and watch the constellation it took me months to paint on the ceiling when I was 16.

"I thought mum would've repainted the whole room."

"She did. She just gave specific instructions not to touch the ceiling. I told her to paint it. She said no."

"Hey!"

"What? I was 10 and angry you had left."

"Did she say why she wanted it untouched?"

"She told me it took you forever to get it right. She said it was proof of how determined and passionate you were."

I close my eyes. I remember how angry I was when I left. I barely said goodbye. I just packed my bags, announced I was leaving and then I was gone. That was the last time I was in this house.

"It's hold up pretty good."

"Yeah. Well, I'll leave you to rest, bro. I'll come get you when dad is here."

"Okay."

She stands up from the bed and closes the door on her way out. I take advantage of this moment to really let everything sink in. Seeing my mum and Isabella again has made me realise how alone I've been all this time. I isolated myself completely. I pushed my family and friends away.

It really is ridiculous that the closest thing I had were 4 velociraptors, and Barry of course. My only human friend for 2 years. I think of Claire and how I screw that up back in the island. Well, she's not completely guilt free of that one, but still.

I grab my phone and text Claire to let her know I'm home.

*Good. Had a good flight?" *

*Couldn't tell you. My mind was somewhere else. *

She doesn't reply. I put the phone down and go to sleep.

I am brutally awakened by a nightmare. Which is unusual for me. I don't really dream much and when something worries me, I don't sleep. Which is why I don't have nightmares.

It was one of those dreams were you're seeing everything from the outside. I was screaming and punching something. I couldn't really tell. Everything around me was… shiny. I've never acted like that before. It was like seeing a stranger.

The desperation I saw on my face unsettled me. The one thing I did recognize though, is how I was feeling. I've only felt it once, the feeling of being lost and not knowing how to function, not feeling anything but pain. That's how I felt when my nonno died.

I shake myself and go to the bathroom to wash my face. I look at myself in the mirror. I don't know what the hell that was. Maybe it's just my subconscious warning me of how I'll be if I don't fix things with my parents.

Yeah, that must be it.

I hear a knock on the door.

"Hey, lunch is ready. Dad told me not to wake you up. He said there was no point in torturing you with uncooked food."

I laugh a little and start walking out of the room. We climb down the stairs and I prepare myself to see my dad. We walk through the living room and out to the yard. Everything is in fact ready. It smells amazing. My dad's in the grill, cooking what looks like a T-bone.

I slide the screen shut and my dad turns around. His face lights up as much as Isabella's in the airport.

Just like my mother, I can tell he wants to get closer, but he refrains himself from doing so. I get close enough to feel the heat of the barbecue.

"Dad. It's nice to see you."

"It's nice to see you too, son. I hope you're hungry, because I think I bought 2 weeks worth of barbecue."

"I am."

"Good, good. Sit down, guys."

The meal is delicious. Too bad it's awkward as hell! Isabella is the only one starting conversation and keeping it going.

I eat so much food I actually surprise myself. The things we do when we really don't want to talk. When everyone announces we're all properly stuffed, we stand up and walk to the house. The four of us stand awkwardly in the living room.

That seems to be the word of the day. Awkward.

"Well, I'm heading out. See you guys at nonna's?" Isabella says.

We all turn to look at her. If she leaves, awkwardness is going to be the least of my problems.

"Where are you going?" dad asks.

"Remember I told you guys? I was going to Charlotte's to help her dye her hair blue so she could piss off her parents?"

"Cucciola, is that really necessary? Tomorrow her parents are celebrating their wedding anniversary."

"Which is why she's doing it, mum. You know how Charlotte's mum hates her sister-in-law Charlene?"

"Yes. It's a pretty famous feud in our circle."

"Well, Charlotte's dad had given her permission to go visit her in Vienna, so she could help her out with a mural she was doing with this company there. When Charlotte's mum found out, she told her she was not going, because she was planning to celebrate her anniversary and she wanted her there. She celebrates her anniversary with a party every year! Plus, they've hired a film crew. It's going to be hilarious!"

"I thought you said you weren't coming to the party?"

"I wasn't, until Charlotte told me what she was planning to do. There's no way I'm missing that! It's not that bad, I promise. She's using the dye that comes off with water."

We all laugh.

"Okay. I'll call Stefano then, tell him to bring extra hands tomorrow."

"No need. I already called him. I also sent him a picture of my dress so he can think of cool ways to style my hair. Okay. See you guys at dinner."

She hugs me and whispers in my ear, "talk to them". She pulls back, gives me a pointed look and leaves.

I know my sister and I know she planned this. Hell, she probably was the one to pitch Charlotte the idea to dye her hair!

"Um… I'm gonna go brush my teeth."

Really? Couldn't come up with a more pathetic excuse to leave the room? I start walking in the direction of the stairs, when my mum speaks up.

"Stop."

Oh boy, here we go.

I turn around and look at them both.

"Why are you here, Owen?"

Because I want to fix things.

"Isabella asked me to."

"Isabella has been asking you to come home for 11 years. What's different now?"

I've allowed myself to feel how much I miss having you in my life.

"I couldn't really say no anymore. Specially being a short flight away."

"You could've asked her to come to New York. You could've met up with her without us knowing. Why come home?"

Her voice is getting more forceful. She's hurt and she wants answers. They both do. Claire's words flash in my mind's eye. 'Don't push your parents away.'

"Because you're my parents! And believe it or not, I miss you!" There! I said it.

"We miss you too, son. We realised our mistake many years ago. But, it was hard getting a hold of you." he says sadly.

I look down. This whole mess could've been solved years ago, but no. I decided to ran away from my troubles.

"Owen, honey. We're so sorry. We know we put too much pressure on you. We know we tried to make you someone you were not." She comes closer. "And we're specially sorry we didn't listen to you."

"Son, we let others tell us who you should be. I let strangers tell me what was best for you. I will never forgive myself for that."

"Dad-"

"No. We ruined this family with that mistake, but let us try to fix it. Please."

I breathe in and exhale deeply. I remember how hurt I was when my parents told me to choose a career that was appropriate to whom I was. Studying Zoology was going to take me nowhere. I didn't recognise my parents back then. They had never been those people. They had always encouraged Isabella and I to pursue the things we loved.

Isabella always loved business. She would always ask mum and dad to take her to work with them. How she would cry her eyes out when they said no.

I always loved animals. Always trying to heal them whenever I found one that was injured. Spending hours and hours playing with the cats and dogs at the local shelter.

The look of disappointment on their faces when I told them I would study Zoology at Cornell University. That's why I shut down completely. I didn't know who they were anymore and I was scared they would be like that forever. That's the real reason I didn't speak to them for all these years.

"Mum, dad. I forgave you a long time ago. I was just scared to think you had changed for good."

"We realised our mistake as soon as we saw how much we had hurt you, son."

"Owen, just in case it isn't clear, we are so proud of you. Of the person you've grown up to be. I'm glad you didn't listen to us. We love you so much, topolino."

That does it. Hearing my childhood nickname breaks any walls that I had up. I hug my mother. She feels small in my arms. Of course she does. The last time I properly hugged my mother I was 17. I've beefed up since then. I feel her hand cup the back of my head.

"I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too, mum."

I pull back and see my father. I hug him too. He pats me on the back and laughs. I laugh too. Out of relieve. We can now take the steps to being the family we were.

We stay in the living room and catch up. I tell them everything. From my days in the navy, to training velociraptors. They tell me what they've been up to. They tell me about funny anecdotes, about Isabella's newfound love for music and how surprisingly good she is.

They never mention business.

We spend the afternoon laughing and getting reacquainted with each other. Then they start making fun of me. They tell me they saw all of my interviews.

"I'm really surprised they didn't find out who your family was!" dad says.

"I know! I'm so thankful they didn't. It would've just made everything worse with Claire."

My parents look at each other.

"I thought she was supposed to come. Isabella texted us and told us not to ask about her… Are you two okay?" mum asks.

"I don't know. She found out about you guys and she didn't like the fact that I didn't trust her enough to tell her the truth."

"Give her time, sweetheart. You'll see everything will be fine. Plus, a relationship were everyone is happy all the time is plain boring. There's nothing sweeter than making up with that special someone."

"That's true. Your mother and I fight all the time! And here we are 35 years later happily married."

I smile at them.

"What's the secret then? Fight constantly?"

They shake their heads and laugh.

"To never give up, Owen." dad says.

"And to trust each other. Trust is the foundation of everything. Without it, nothing can grow in that beautiful, sweet way."

I nod. They're right. The moment I go back to Manhattan, I'm going to be an open book. No more trying to hide who I am. Whatever Claire wants to know, she will know.

"Thank you, guys. I'll try my best."

"That's all it takes, son." He looks at his watch. "We should start getting ready. You know how punctual your grandmother is. If we're not there at 7pm sharp, she'll have our heads."

We head to our rooms to get ready. I take a shower, change and go downstairs. My parents come down shortly after and we go to nonna's.

"Owen, can you let your sister know we're on our way?"

"Sure."

I text her and she tells me she's already there and that nonna is still oblivious that I'm coming.

"Whose idea was it to not tell nonna I was coming?" I ask no one in particular.

"Who do you think?" mum answers.

Yeah, I figured as much. Isabella, of course.

I've missed my nonna. She's probably the sweetest person I've ever met. She's strong too. She doesn't take bullshit from anyone. She's also hilarious.

"So, how do you want to do this?" dad asks.

"Let's not make a big deal out of it. I don't want to give the woman a heart attack. She's the only grandparent I have left. I'll just come up behind you."

"Yes. Probably a good idea."

I see come up the house I spent so much time in as a kid. It looks exactly the same. My dad pulls up on the driveway. We get out of the car and ring the bell. Isabella opens the door. Mum and dad walk in first and I after them. She closes the door and grabs my hand.

She whispers. "Did you talk to them?"

"Yes, I did. It's all good. We're good, Isa."

She squeals and hugs me. "Ready to give nonna the surprise of her life?"

"Super ready."

We start walking towards the dinning room. "Nonna, spero che avete tribo per un altro!"

"What do you mean-"

"Ciao, nonna."

She screams a very ladylike scream. "Owen, amore! What are you doing here?! I've missed you so much! Come here!"

I hug her. I have to bend down. I had forgotten how small my nonna is. "I've missed you too."

She lays a hand on my cheek. "Look at you. You look so much like your nonno. Scruff and everything." She kisses me on the cheek. "Come, sit. I've made lasagna. Roberta! Bring an extra set of plates for my grandson. You were in the news. You could've called…."

"I know, I know. Isabella already yelled at me…"

"Yeah, I did."

"I'm sorry, nonna. But I'm here now."

Roberta comes out of the kitchen and sets my place for me. I look up at her. "Thank you." She nods and goes back to the kitchen.

"You have to come see me more often, amore. I'm 88 years old, my days in this world are counted."

"Come on! You still have many more years on this Earth. What 88 year old woman works the way you do, huh?"

"If I don't work the way I do, then I'll go pazza."

Roberta comes out of the kitchen again, this time with a steaming pan of lasagna. She places it on the centre of the table, asks us if we need anything else and then leaves.

"Let's eat!"

Boy, we do! I really hope my stomach doesn't explode. We talk more. Once you get nonna talking, there's no stopping her. Especially when it concerns the ones she loves.

Almost 4 hours later, we say our goodbyes and nonna makes me promise to come and visit her as much as I can during my one week stay. We go home and turn in for the night. I go to sleep feeling lighter than I have in a long, long time.

I hope you liked it! Next chapter is going to be from Claire's perspective. Hopefully I'll do her justice! Until next Saturday!