An Italian-Canadian family
The flight seemed to last an eternity. Gabriel just couldn't tell how many hours he spent by sitting on the seat. When the plane finally arrived he realized he was completly soaked in his sweat. He was so excited. His brother Danny seemed the same. That was their first flight and Gabriel hoped that would be also the last.
When they took their luggages Gabriel realized he was a little sleepy.
The airport was extremely big and crowded. Gabriel doubted he and his brother could spot their uncle among all those people.
"Can you see him?" Gabriel asked.
"No, but he must be here. He sent me a message with the mobile phone saying he was at the airport waiting for us!"
Gabriel was panicking when he heard a voice;
"Boys!"
They turned their heads. There were many people screaming.
"Danny, Gabriel, I'm here!"
Now there was no doubt, their uncle was there. Danny and Gabriel spotted their uncle's arm from the crowd.
"Giovanni!" Danny screamed.
They boys reached their uncle and huged him.
"Danny, Gabriel, you finally arrived!"
"Yes uncle!" they answered.
"So, how was your flight?" he asked.
"It was… fine!" Gabriel answered.
"I see… you are all sweated. You were excited, don't you? Don't worry even I was excited when I came here for the first time!"
Gabriel could notice he was alone.
"Here, let me take your luggages, your aunt Francesca, your cousins Joey and Annalisa can't wait to see you!"
The kids followed their uncle to a big grey car where he placed the luggages in the trunk.
"Let's go!" he said once everything was settled.
When the car left the airport Gabriel could not fail to notice some huge withe letters spelling the word "Toronto". His brother immediately took a picture of it with the camera.
"Our first picture!" he said happily.
"Save the film, you're going to see much more interesting stuff!" Giovanni announced.
Gabriel could not help to stay astonished noticing the large streets and the big skyscrapers.
He never saw such things in Italy.
"Wow! Those skyscrapers are even bigger than I thought!" he said recalling the skyscrapers he saw in school books and movies.
"Do you like them? Most of them are apartments, you know?"
"Do you live in a skyscraper, uncle Giovanni?" Danny asked.
"Oh no, never lived there! Me and my family do live in a house in the suburbs!"
"Wow just like in those American movies?"
"Exactly!"
"When will we see it?" Gabriel asked.
"Soon, will be home in less than thirty minutes!"
"Wow, I can't wait!"
After several minutes of traveling the big skyscrapers disappeared from the horizon.
There was nature with trees and lawns everywhere.
"All right, we're almost there!" Giovanni announced.
Gabriel noticed a boulevard with a series of houses placed one next to another.
"Which of them is your house Giovanni?" Danny asked.
"It's over there! I don't know if you can see it!"
Giovanni pointed a house but Gabriel couldn't understand since all the houses looked the same.
All of them had the same green sloping roof.
Giovanni turned the car and arrived before a garage. He opened the gate with a remote control.
"Come on guys! Get out of the car!" he said.
Giovanni parke the car inside the garage.
"Let's go inside!"
He opened the house door with a key.
"Hey honey, I'm home!" he said once inside.
A short chubby woman with short brown hair arrived.
"Giovanni!?" she said.
"Auntie Francesca!" Danny said.
"Danny, Gabriel! You finally arrived!" she answered smiling.
The kids hugged their aunt.
"So, how was your flight?" she asked.
"Ehrr… good!" Danny answered embarrassed.
Francesca laughed.
"Yeah… the first flight is always like that. Even I and Giovanni felt the same the first time we came here!"
"Hey guys!" a voice said from far away.
It was Joey.
"Happy to see you!"
Gabriel noticed Joey's arm was in a cast.
"What happened to him?"
"He had an accident at work, a big crate fell on him and broke his arm!" Giovanni explained.
"Oh, we are sorry to hear that!"
"Don't worry, he'll healed in some weeks. He has to take some medicines, just like Giovanni did!"
"Yeah, I was sick this January but now I'm cured, the Canadian health system is great. It's the same of the Italian one, you know?"
Gabriel was about to remember his father.
"Enough chatting. Here, let me show you the house."
Giovanni took his grandsons for a house tour.
He shown them the living room, the kitchen, the cellar…
The living room was full of carpets and paintings on the wall. A big sofa and a big TV screen.
"Let's go upstairs!"
Giovanni showed the bedroom and Joey's room.
"This is where my son lives!"
Gabriel noticed Joey's room was full of soccer and baseball player's posters. There were also soccer balls, baseball balls, a baseball bat and a baseball glove used as decor items.
Near the wall there was a bed and a desk with a computer.
"Come here!" Giovanni ordered.
Danny and Gabriel arrived in an empty room.
"This is Annalisa's room! This is where she lived before getting married! For this summer this will be your room! Sorry if it is empty, I was about to furnish it for your coming but then Joey broke his arm. Here, if will help me to furnish it with the furnishings in the garage we'll complete it in no time!"
The kids agreed.
They took some stuff in the garage and a bunk bed.
"Joey and Annalisa used to sleep on it when they were kids!" Giovanni said.
So the boys began to furnish the room. It was dinnertime once they finished.
"Dinner's ready!" Francesca announced.
Francesca prepared five dishes of spaghetti with Bolognese sauce and Parmesan cheese.
"Wow! It's incredibly delicious!" Gabriel said tasting it.
"Thanks!" Francesca answered.
"So, do you like it? Francesca is a skilled cook. She worked at the Italian restaurant "Il Cantuccio" when she was younger!" Giovanni explained.
Someone knocked the door.
"It must be Annalisa!" Joey said.
A girl with long blonde hair arrived carrying a kid.
"Hi mom, hi dad!" she said.
"Hi Annalisa, you arrived just in time!" Francesca said.
The girl gave a look to the male twins.
"You must be Daniel and Gabriel, so long not seeing you!"
Actually Gabriel didn't see Annalisa for three years. She was pretty changed.
"This is my son: Alexander! Alexander… say hello to your cousins!"
"Hi!" the blonde kid barely answered.
"You grow up a lot Alexander!" Giovanni said.
"He will turn four next month!"
"Time goes by fast!"
"Anyway where's your husband Kevin?" Joey asked.
"He's in Italy, in Naples, one of the twin cities of Toronto. It happened last year, you know? He'll be back in some days!"
"Good for him!"
After dinner Gabriel began to feel tired.
"Are you tired?" Francesca asked.
"Me… no! It's just nine o'clock!"
Francesca laughed.
"I can see you're tired in your eyes! Probably you didn't sleep during the flight!"
Francesca was absolutely right. Gabriel couldn't close any when he was on the plane. Same for his brother.
"Come on, go to sleep, you just had a very eventful day! Tomorrow I'll show you the city! I'm sure you're gonna like it!" Giovanni announced.
The boys agreed.
They went to their new room. Gabriel slept on the top of the bunk bed since Danny suffered from vertigo.
Gabriel could hear his brother mumbling once he was under the sheets.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Can you realize it?"
"What?"
"Till yesterday we where sleeping at home in Italy and now we're in Canada!"
"Yeah… what a day!"
"I wonder how mom's doing?"
"I'm sure she's fine!"
"What about dad?"
Gabriel was astonished. So many things happened that he completely forgot about his father.
"I'm sure mom will update us about him! Now sleep, I'm really tired!"
"Good night Gabriel!"
"Good night Daniel!"
They slept tight while the dinner was still going on downstairs.