Luca and Alberto said their final goodbyes to the Gennari family and to Nonna Sofia, and dragged their luggage back onto the train. As they settled down in their seats, Alberto tried to figure out what he was feeling. He'd finally started to have fun, and they'd seen a few things from Luca's book but not everything. He liked Flavia and Nonna Sofia and Zio Bruno and would have enjoyed spending more time with them... but the Scorfano family as a whole were a lot to deal with, and he was happy to be going home.
"What did your Dad say?" asked Luca, sitting down across from him.
Alberto winced. "Nothing much. He said he was sorry for coming to the picnic, and he said he got the job, and Signorina Sorrentino doesn't wanna see him anymore. That's it, really."
"Oh," said Luca, disappointed. He was quiet for a few moments, then said, "I thought maybe he told you he was proud of you. From what your Uncle Umberto said, it sure sounded like he was."
"He'll never be proud of me," Alberto snorted. "I don't even care anymore."
A bell clanged and a whistle blew, and the train began slowly chugging out of the station. Alberto leaned on the windowsill and watched the people and shops on the platform slide by as they picked up speed.
"So we won't come back next summer, huh?" asked Luca.
"I haven't decided," Alberto admitted. "Giancarlo said he won't butt in if we do, and Nonna Sofia says she won't let him if he tries, but... they said that this time, too."
Luca nodded. "You still don't wanna see him, huh?"
"Not really," Alberto said. "Not at all. Nonna Sofia says he's trying, but... I dunno. Like I said, I don't hate him. I just don't like him very much."
"Families are a lot of work," Luca said.
"Sometimes it's not worth it," Alberto told him.
Luca fell asleep again on the ride home. That just seemed to be something he did on trains – Giulia had said he did the same thing on the train home from school. Alberto was left once again to gaze out the window at the countryside rolling by, and thinking about all the things he was going to tell Massimo and Giulia when they arrived. About the Gennaris and teaching Celia to Change, about cooking with Nonna Sofia, about the new ability he'd discovered, and about how Uncle Umberto had called him the hero of the day.
He was looking forward to talking about it – but once that was over, he'd have to deal with being back in Portorosso, and while he liked Portorosso way better than Napoli, he couldn't deny that most people there didn't seem to like him very much. Signora Marsigliese was always inspecting her fish deliveries for damage, and Signor Ferrando was probably so mad about Alberto knocking the boxes off his truck, Pietrina ignored him and Ercole still tried to give him crap even though Alberto didn't let that bother him anymore.
The closer they got to home, the more Alberto felt very glum about the whole thing. It wasn't that he didn't want to be there – it was just that Alberto had never really belonged anywhere. Even when he'd lived with Giancarlo the two had kept to themselves, and the sea monsters who lived in the bay around them were Other People they didn't want much to do with. Going to the Human Town had never been a possibility, either. Giancarlo had insisted it was much too dangerous, even though he hung out with humans all the time. Alberto knew now that was because Giancarlo had worried people be able to tell Alberto was different, but that only made it worse.
Now that he lived with Uncle Massimo... well, Alberto did belong there, kind of. Massimo and Giulia were his family and they wanted him around, and it had taken a long time before Alberto had really believed that. But even so, everybody else in Portorosso thought this was kind of weird and probably wouldn't have minded too much if Alberto never came back. Now here he was, on his way to mess everything up again, like he always did.
The only person Alberto felt like he really, really belonged with was Luca, but Luca would be going back to school in the fall and Alberto would be all alone. Again.
Sunset was painting the sky red and orange as the train pulled into the station in Portorosso. Alberto gave Luca a gentle shake to wake him, and pointed out the window at the people gathered on the platform to greet them. Massimo and Giulia were there waiting, along with Luca's parents and grandmother – Daniela Paguro was pacing up and down impatiently. The boys grabbed their luggage and went down the steps, where they were immediately surrounded by welcome.
"There they are!" exclaimed Daniela, running to throw her arms around her son. "Luca! I can't wait to hear about it. Your letters made it sound like a great time... I wish I could have gone with you!"
"Mom, I can't breathe!" Luca complained.
"Sorry!" She held him out at arm's length to look at him, then pulled him in and hugged him again. "Mother of Pearl! I think you grew taller while you were gone. We're gonna need to get you new uniforms for school this year."
Alberto smiled at the sight as Luca's father and grandmother moved in to join the embrace. Luca was so lucky to have a mom and dad who'd actually wanted him from the start...
Before he could feel too sorry for himself, though, Giulia had come hurrying up to give Alberto a hug of her own. "Welcome home!" she said, squeezing him as tight as she could on purpose. "We got Luca's letters! Did you have fun? What's your family like?"
Alberto hadn't written, not even once. Of course he hadn't promised to like Luca had, and Massimo and Giulia knew that writing wasn't as easy for him as it was for Luca. He hadn't had the practice. Mostly, though, he hadn't written because he hadn't been sure what he wanted to say yet. How did you tell somebody a story before you knew how it ended?
"Well?" Giulia insisted. "Hai perso la lingua?"
"I met somebody who's worse at reading than I am," said Alberto.
Giulia laughed, and Massimo came up and put a hand on Alberto's shoulder. That was Giulia's cue to step away, and it was Massimo's turn to give Alberto a hug.
"You must tell us all about it," he said.
"I will, Uncle Massimo," Alberto promised, hugging back.
The entire group headed back to the piazza together. The Marcovaldos and Paguros had prepared a dinner for the two families, so they could all spend the evening together and listen to the boys talk about their adventure. On the way, they passed shops and houses, and a few people called out greetings. Alberto and Luca returned these politely.
"Will you have photographs to develop, Alberto?" asked Signorina Repetto from the Farmacia.
"No, we didn't take a camera," Alberto replied.
"Well, that's disappointing!" she said. "I always wanted to see Napoli. When you do deliveries you'll have to tell me about it instead."
A few doors down, Signor Ferrando was closing the garage door on his fruit truck for the evening. Alberto hoped he wouldn't turn around until after they'd passed, but he had no such luck. Rather than being angry, however, Signor Ferrando smiled and waved.
"It's the sea monster boys!" he called out. "Good to see you back, Alberto."
Alberto stopped short. "It is?" he asked.
"It's been much too quiet around here without you!" the grocer replied with a smile.
Alberto looked up at Massimo, confused. "He was mad at me," he said.
"People don't stay angry forever," Massimo told him. "When he found out you'd gone away, he worried it was his fault."
"Papà had to reassure him that it wasn't," Giulia agreed.
When they reached the Pescheria, Pietrina was also closing up for the day. She waved and smiled, and Machiavelli the cat hopped down from the top of the stone wall and stopped for a long, luxuriant stretch before wandering over to rub against Alberto's legs.
"Don't believe his lies, Alberto!" Pietrina called out. "He was pining the whole time you were gone!"
"Who?" asked Alberto, momentarily at a complete loss. "Machiavelli?" He reached down to pick up the cat, and felt him start purring. Machiavelli purred very softly, but it vibrated his entire body when he did.
"Oh, yes," said Pietrina with a grin. "He would sit in the doorway all day waiting for you to come back."
"He did," said Giulia. "When I would come back from deliveries he'd perk up for a moment, and then he'd just start washing himself, like he's going oh, it's just you."
"Well, I'm glad somebody missed me," Alberto said with a grin.
"We all missed you, Alberto," said Pietrina. "It's not the same without you."
Massimo paid her before she went home for supper, and that reminded Alberto of something else. He dug into his pocket, and offered Massimo a handful of folded bills.
"Uncle Massimo, here," he said. "It's the money you gave me. I never spent it, not a single lira!" He almost had... but he hadn't, and he hadn't been tempted to fritter it away on candy and comics, not even once.
"Thank you, Alberto," Massimo said. He took it and put it back in his own pocket without counting it. "I'm glad to get it back, but I am also glad you had it."
In the kitchen, they crowded their chairs around the little table and sat down to a meal that was partly from land, partly from the sea. Massimo had made trenette al pesto and bought some of Alberto's favourite sardine focaccia from the Ottonello Bakery next door, while Luca's mother and grandmother had brought along some of the dumplings Luca liked, keeping them in a bowl of salt water so they wouldn't dry out.
Luca was happy to talk about all the things they'd seen. He chattered happily about the sunken submarine and the ruins on the island, about the jewellery factory and the frescoes at Pompei Scavi. Sometimes he talked with his mouth full, and one of his parents had to remind him to swallow. Alberto quickly joined in with his own stories about the Scorfano and Gennari families.
"There are so many of them," he said. "Some of them were nice, like Uncle Leonardo and Flavia and Uncle Bruno, and some of them I'm not sure of. Aunt Diana seems mostly okay but she's kind of a busybody, and Uncle Giorgio is fine but he's so serious all the time. I don't think I'm ever gonna remember everybody's names. Luca told me families were a lot of work and he was right."
"You said that?" Daniela gave her son a sideways look.
"I said it was worth it," Luca told her with a sheepish smile.
"For my family I dunno if it is," said Alberto. "Some of them were awful, like Lucrezia. I fixed her good," he added, "but I'm pretty sure neither of the Aunts Bettina ever want to see me again."
Giulia gave him a playful punch in the arm. "Good thing we're your family, too," she said. "We're way easier to keep track of!" She grabbed one of the seaweed dumplings and put it in her mouth. "Hey, did you hear about the robbery?" she asked. "It was in the newspaper... there was a place that had diamonds for the Queen of Danimarca, and some thieves tried to steal them and escape on the train. It was right where you were."
Alberto and Luca exchanged a glance. Neither of them had mentioned that part of the story, worrying they'd be in awful trouble if the adults found out they'd tried to steal something.
"Yeah, we heard about that," said Luca.
"Crazy stuff," Alberto agreed. "Anyway, my cousin Flavia, I asked her if she wants to come visit us here, because in Portorosso it won't matter if people see her as a sea monster. Her dads seem a little worried about it but they're at least considering it. You'll like her, Giulia – and wait until you meet her pet lumpfish!"
After the meal, the two families parted ways. The Paguros returned to the bay, and Alberto went upstairs to the bunk bed Massimo had built so that Alberto and Giulia could share a room during the summers. He brushed his teeth and put his pajamas on, then settled down on the mattress. It wasn't as big or soft as the bed at the Gennaris' house in Bacoli... but it was his.
"Hey, Giulia," he said, sitting up.
"Yeah?" She poked her head over the side of the top bunk.
Alberto grinned. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Of course I can, dummy," said Giulia. "I didn't tell a soul you guys were sea monsters, did I?"
It was true – she hadn't. It was the thunderstorm that had revealed them to the town, not her. Some members of Alberto's family couldn't be trusted, but Giulia wasn't one of them. "Okay," said Alberto, "then tomorrow Luca and I are gonna tell you a story, and it's a doozy. Remember how my father robbed a bank in Spagna?"
"Yeah?" Her eyes went wide. "Is this about the diamonds."
"Sure is – but you can't tell Uncle Massimo or the Paguros, got it?"
"Got it," Giulia said. "I can't wait!"
When Luca and Giulia were away at school, Alberto was in the habit of visiting the post office every day to get their letters – these didn't always come daily, but that didn't mean any given day wouldn't have one. During the summer, the post office was normally Giulia's job, because her mother would write to her two or three times a month. Sometimes she would also bring Alberto a letter from Nonna Sofia, but not often.
About a month after coming home to Portorosso, Alberto got home from his delivery route to find Giulia waiting for him with an envelope in her hands. "Look what came for you!" she said, holding it up.
"From Nonna Sofia?" he asked, wheeling his bicycle and the cart into the yard.
"The return address says Famiglia Scorfano, actually." Giulia showed him. The envelope was surprisingly thick. How many people had written to him?
He took it from her and tore it open, and unfolded the pages inside. Sure enough, there were messages there in several different hands – and the contents made him smile.
"Well?" Giulia asked eagerly. "What did they say?"
Alberto bit his lip. "You think your Dad will let us invite the Paguros for dinner tonight?" he asked.
"Sure he will. He likes seeing them," said Giulia.
"Great." Alberto nodded. "I'll tell you then."
Massimo was happy to have the family over, and the weather was nice enough for them to eat at the table in the yard. Alberto did his best to contain himself, but as Massimo served out bowls of pansoti with wild greens, he found he couldn't wait a moment longer. He held up a page that was covered with the very careful writing of somebody who'd been taught to draw the letters but did not make a habit of it, and beamed.
"Flavia is coming to visit!" he announced. "Uncle Leonardo's bringing her, and they're gonna stay a whole week!"
"That's great!" said Luca, delighted. "Giulia, do you still have that book with all the different kinds of animals all over the world? Flavia will love that."
"I'll find it and have it ready," Giulia promised. "Where are they gonna stay, though? You said Flavia can't stay out of the water very long. I guess she can probably sleep in the bathtub..."
"They can stay with us!" Luca said firmly. "Right, Mom?"
"Of course," Daniela said. "Alberto's family is practically our family, too. Tell your uncle we'll be happy to have them," she told Alberto.
Alberto nodded happily. "Oh, and Luca," he said, flipping pages. "There's a page here for you from Andrea... here!" He pulled it out and handed it over. "His parents found him a tutor, and he was miserable about it at first, but he says he's getting better at reading already."
Luca took the page and read it excitedly. "That's great. Maybe he'll get to go to school!"
"I don't know about that," said Alberto, "but here... this one's from the Gennaris." He found a page in Carlotta's tidy looping writing. "Celia's been practising with the Change and she's getting really good at it, and she's excited to go to school in the fall. And..." he found another page, this one in a handwriting he recognized as his father's. "Uncle Bruno is seeing the family again. He still can't swim well because he doesn't have a tail, but they're helping him out. They're trying to get him to stop smoking because apparently it's messed up his gills."
He turned over the page that was written in Uncle Bruno's scrawl, because there was more news on the back. "He also says that the police in Napoli caught those jewel thieves."
"Oh, did they?" asked Giulia, the only one at the table to whom the boys had told the whole story. Alberto looked up at her, and saw her wink.
"They did," he said, knowing the secret was safe between them. "They're all going to go to prison." Alberto still thought nobody could do anything bad enough to really deserve being locked up forever, but at least they wouldn't be able to bother Gianarlo anymore. "And he says my father is doing all right working at the shipyard. At the end of the day he's too tired to go out and play cards or get in any trouble, so that's good, too."
"Any word about your aunt's egg?" asked Lorenzo Paguro.
That was the last page, written by Aunt Diana herself. Alberto found it and looked at it dubiously. This part was exciting, too, but it was also kind of embarrassing. "Yeah, it just hatched, just before the letter was sent. It was a girl, like they hoped, so Aunt Diana's really happy. Uncle Umberto says with three big brothers she's gonna be a tomboy but Aunt Diana says she won't let her."
"Unfortunately for your Aunt Diana, children will be themselves whether their parents like it or not," said Nonna Libera, with a nod at Luca.
"What are they calling her?" asked Daniela.
Alberto squirmed – this was the embarrassing part. "Uh... they named her Alberta."
Giulia stopped with her fork halfway to her mouth. "They named her after you?"
"Why didn't you tell us that right away?" Luca wanted to know.
"I don't know they named her after me," said Alberto, trying to play it off. "Maybe they just liked the way it sounded. Anyway," he looked down at the page and scowled. "She took the opportunity to remind me that I'm always welcome with the rest of the Scorfano family, so I think she's gonna keep being annoying about my last name even if she liked the first one."
"Well, now you gotta go back next year, just so you can meet your new cousin," Giulia said.
"And we can see Ercolano, and the castle with the wizard and the egg," Luca added. "We missed them this time."
"Maybe," said Alberto – he still wasn't sure about that. "First, though, we have to get ready for Flavia coming."
"Yes!" Giulia agreed. "If we've only got a week we have to figure out how to show her as much as we can in that time. It's's gonna be a lot of work." She didn't sound as if she minded.
"Yeah, well, it's like Luca says," Alberto told her, "family's a lot of work, but it's worth it!" And it was doubly worth it where his family in Portorosso were concerned, because Massimo and Giulia had chosen to be his family even before they knew they were actually family. That was why he was always going to be Alberto Marcovaldo, and if Aunt Diana didn't understand that, then he didn't even care.