Chapter 16 Sunday Morning Feeling

Coming out of the guest bedroom in the morning was like walking into the greatest amusement park in the world. It was chaotic, it was hectic, and above all else, it was fun. As Larry walked through the Mario family house, his attention was instantly caught by the twins and the fact that they were running around at top speed. Mateo tried shooing Luciana away, trying to get away from her come hell or high water, but the little girl was persistent when it came to chasing him. Despite everything, Larry couldn't help but smile at this, especially when Mia came out of the bedroom and tried to chase them down.

"Mateo, get back here!" she yelled. "Lucy, stop riling up your brother and actually try to get ready!"

Larry chuckled. This was so much like the dynamic in his own home that it was eerie. Eerie, yet comforting, as Larry would take the chaos brought upon by close family bonds any day of the week.

"Luciana Armani Mario!" Mia shouted. The next thing that she said she said in Italian, so Larry couldn't understand any of what he said. Regardless, he still felt like laughing. Yeah, he and his siblings really were like this when they were younger. Energy-filled and excitable little devils, which caused chaos and lived life in a way that only they could.

Larry's spirits didn't even lower when Mario and Luigi came into the room. Mario shook his head at the sight of his relatives, clicking his tongue as he did. "Aye aye aye." He turned to Larry. "I'm happy to see you up. How did you sleep…" Larry gave him a look before he could finish his sentence, causing him to pull back. "Right, right, sorry."

"It's alright." Larry looked over at Luigi, rubbing his eyes and looking close to collapsing. This sight made him giggle. "I mean, if not being able to sleep means I'm not as big of a wreck in the morning as you guys, then I'm all for it."

Luigi flashed him a look of his own. "You are just…" he yawned and rubbed his eyes again. "Actually, I'm too tired to think of a comeback; I need to get some caffeine in my system."

Larry laughed as Luigi went into the kitchen. Once he was gone, Larry finally took notice of Mario's attire. Instead of his usual plumber's uniform, he wore a pink dress shirt, cacai pants, and fancy black shoes. "Huh. Didn't know we needed to dress formally."

"It's church, Larry." Larry gave Mario a confused look. "I mean, you're entering the Lord's house. It makes the most sense to look your best."

"Well… yeah, that does make sense, but still." He looked down at his naked self. "I just feel so underdressed because of it."

"HA!" Mario exclaimed. "You live your entire life naked and NOW you feel underdressed?" Larry flashed him a smirk as he laughed. "I'm kidding; I'm kidding. I do think you're right; it'd be weird to go to church without wearing any clothes at all." He looked at his mother, still chasing her grandchildren. "Mama, do you have anything that Larry could wear?"

Mia actually looked a little out of breath, which did ignite Larry's concerns. "Mario, I'm way too busy trying to get THESE hooligans dressed. If I can't clothe my own grandchildren, how can you expect me to clothe a talking turtle monster from another dimension?" She finally caught up with Luciana and nabbed her by the collar of her white church dress. "Gotcha!" Mateo collapsed to the floor trying to catch his breath as Mia held Luciana at arms length. "Lucy, for the love of all that is holy, will you PLEASE try to behave?"

"I am behaving!" Luciana yelled.

"Oh you are?" Mia looked down at Mateo. "Torturing your poor brother is behaving?"

"Don't you know anything Grammy; of course it is!" She tried to get out of Mia's hold, but the matriarch of the house did a stellar job holding on. "Just let me go, okay?"

"And give you the perfect opportunity to turn Sunday morning into an enclosed cage match? Not a chance." She stomped over to the couch and plopped Luciana down. Once she did, she went over to the door and got some church shoes off of the tray. "You are going to put these on, and if you try bothering Mateo again, I am going to be on the phone with your parents faster than you can say 'grounded.'"

Luciana put on a pouty face before sighing. "Okay, Grammy."

"Thank you." Mia made her way back over to Larry and Mario. As she wiped some sweat off her brow, she chuckled. "I swear Mario, it's like I'm raising you and Luigi all over again."

Mario laughed. "I can see why." He gestured to Larry. "Now, do you have anything for this fine gentleman to wear?"

"Um… yes…" Mia gestured for Larry to follow her. "Come with me, Larry; I think I have a suit for you."

Smiling, Larry followed after her. The place where they ultimately ended up appeared to be Mia's bedroom, if the large, queen-sized bed was any indication. Larry, not really knowing if there were specific rules for going into a stranger's bedroom, waited in the doorway for Mia to come back out of her closet. It took about five minutes, but Mia returned with a sky-blue dress shirt, navy blue pants, a navy blue tie, a navy blue suit jacket, some sky-blue socks, and a rather dashing pair of black shoes.

"Does this tickle your fancy?" Mia asked as she showed him the outfit.

"I… yeah." Larry took it. "It looks really nice."

"Thanks." Mia smiled. "It was Mario's suit when he was younger. He wore it to his Uncle Tony's wedding."

"Cool!" Larry exclaimed. "I'm impressed you would still have something like this."

"Oh, I hold onto every suit ever worn by one of my boys." She paused, smiling a nostalgic smile. "Both when it comes to my sons as well as my husband." She stood in place before looking back at Larry. "Anyway. I'll let you get changed." She made her way to the door before turning back with a furrowed brow. "Hold on. How are you gonna put he suit on with that big shell of yours?"

Larry beamed. "Oh, I have a way. We koopas all know the perfect way to work around our shells."

"I would hope so." Mia raised an eyebrow. "That suit is very important to me, so if it gets ripped…"

"It won't Mia. I swear on my unborn children."

Mia snorted. "Okay. If you're that serious about it, I'm willing to trust you." She grabbed hold of the doorknob. "Just get dressed quickly; I want to be out of the house in less than half an hour."

"Done." With that one last bit of reassurance, Mia finally exited the room. Once she was gone, Larry immediately got to work. It was a little difficult considering he was overly worried about damaging the suit, but he got it on eventually. Within five minutes, no less. As he adjusted the tie, he grinned to himself; he was probably the most handsome Koopa in this world. Name one other Koopa who looked half as good as him that was currently on planet Earth and Larry would bathe in hot sauce.

Anyway, he exited the bedroom and joined the Mario family. They all stood in the living room, and all of them were dressed. Luciana and Luigi both combed their hair as they stood in front of the mirror, Mia was putting on a necklace, and Mario and Mateo were just chatting with each other. Again, the normal sights of normal family dynamics being displayed really made Larry happy. He only felt happier when Mario looked at him and gasped.

"Oh wow!" He gawked before turning to Mia. "Mama… you kept my suit?"

"Of course I did, Mario; why do you sound so surprised?" She laughed as she walked over to him. "Every single last piece of fancy clothing, from the day you were born to the day you moved out, is stored somewhere in my closet."

Mario's ears turned pink as Luigi laughed. "I… I know you like keeping stuff like that, but…" he shook his head. "Never mind; you look very nice in the suit, Larry."

"Thanks!" Larry snickered. "I think I pull off this look WAY better than you ever did."

Mario flashed him a glare. "Hey, just because we're in my childhood home doesn't mean I'm not prepared to have a boss battle."

"Well, I hope you would also be prepared to get a stern scolding, cause that is NOT happening in my house," Mia said. She went up and adjusted Larry's tie before turning to Luigi and Luciana. "Are you two ready to go?"

"Almost, Mama." Luigi did one more stroke with the comb before turning around. "Okay. I'm all set."

"Good." Mia stepped forward, looking between her grandchildren. "Lucy, Mateo, I want you to be on your best behavior. We're going to be in a church after all."

Mario snickered. "Yeah, don't want to do anything in a church that's worth bring up during confession."

"Exactly," Mia said. She looked at Luciana and Mateo again. "Do you guys got that?"

"Yes Grammy," Mateo said as he cast a glance at his sister. "I'll behave as long as she behaves."

"You'll behave regardless of your sister's behavior or you'll both get in trouble!" Mia put on a stern look. "You two haven't seen me when I'm angry. Trust me when I say that you wouldn't enjoy it."

"I can vouch for that," said Luigi. He chuckled before stepping away from the mirror. "Anyway, we should probably get going. Since we're walking, we don't want to be late."

"Yes yes, of course," Mia said. "Come on, everybody."

…

It was a lovely day in New York, that much was for certain. Larry had to admit that he was impressed by just how blue the sky was. It stuck out in his mind in the most striking, vivid way possible. It made him feel good; it really did. And… maybe it was helping him figure out his feelings regarding Tec.

Yeah, yeah, he could say it was. He hadn't been with the Marios very long, all things considered, but still. He felt better. He felt like things… well, he didn't want to say they were making sense, because they weren't. He still felt this void deep in his heart, one that gnawed at him and made him feel like he was right on the verge of despair and sorrow.

But even still, he was doing better. Getting to know the Marios was nice. It made him feel good. And, honestly, with how welcoming they were, Larry was excited to see what they had in store for him, what exactly could happen when he was hanging out with this beautiful, normal family.

"Hey Mateo!" Luciana said as she turned to face him. "Watch me blow a bubble!" Larry felt confused at that statement; he hadn't seen any sign that Lucy was chewing gum… oh. She was blowing a saliva bubble. That was…

"Eww, Lucy!" Mateo exclaimed. "That's so gross!"

Luciana laughed. "It's cool! It's my special talent is what it is! You can touch your nose with your tongue, and I blow bubbles!"

Despite Mateo cringing at that, Larry felt like laughing. Sure, it was gross, but wasn't it also something that Larry himself would've done when he was six years old? Yeah, it probably was; he could imagine him doing something like that to annoy his siblings. Especially Iggy; he loved to get Iggy's goat when they were kids. Which… honestly wasn't that different to how Larry was nowadays, honestly.

"Okay, okay, cut it out you two," Mario said as he put his hands on the back of the twins's heads. "Just keep walking, just keep walking."

The twins, as well as the rest of the family, did just that. Larry followed behind all of them, happy that he could bring up the train. Or, he WAS happy he could bring up the train. His good mood started declining when he noticed something.

People were staring at him. They hadn't really done that yesterday when he had the hoodie on, but now it was like he was the main freak at a circus. People stared, they whispered back and forth between each other, and some even looked scared. Sure, Larry didn't blame them for that, but he also didn't feel like he was in tip-top shape because of it. And, unfortunately, these feelings made him start worrying.

"Uh…" Larry went up and tapped Mario on the shoulder. "Mario, are you sure this is a good idea?" He whispered. "I mean, I highly doubt the people at the local church have seen a koopa in person before."

"That is true." Mario flashed him a reassuring smile. "But I wouldn't worry about it."

"You sure? I mean, I don't want to cause any trouble…"

"You won't, Larry. If anyone says anything, I'll tell them you're with me. I know pretty much every single person who attends the church we go to. And… well, some of them are a little judgy, but most of them trust me. You won't run into any trouble; I promise. And besides…" he chuckled as he leaned close to Larry's ear. "People are probably going to be more scared of Mama than you."

Larry snickered at that. "She's that tough, huh?"

"Yep. She's more or less the toughest cookie in the church." He looked forward and smiled. "Speaking of which, there it is!"