The Queen of Minor Disasters (24 page)

           
I take a deep breath.

 Thinking back to our history,
I do believe her, it’s just that this is a lot to take in all at once.

“Where’s my brother?” I ask.
He should be out here talking with us.

           
“He’s in the kitchen, waiting for us to come in.”

           
Now it makes sense why she wanted to meet in the restaurant. I stand up
and feel like my knees have turned to rubber bands. Lucy gets up and starts
walking towards the kitchen. I follow her through the swinging doors.

           
Lorenzo is sitting on one of the prep tables, swinging his legs back and
forth. He looks like he’s about ten years old, and suddenly, I remember our
childhood as if it were yesterday.

           
When we were six, our neighbor, Mrs. Stewart would baby-sit us. She had
this amazing tree in her back yard, and one afternoon we had a contest to see
who could climb the highest. I’ve always been short, but that didn’t stop me
from getting way up in the tree, and when I looked down, all I could see was
how high up I was. I was paralyzed by fear and started to cry, but instead of
leaving me there, Lorenzo climbed all the way up and sat on the branch with me.
Neither one of us could get down, but at least we were together.

           
Seeing my brother sitting there fills me with compassion. He needs me
now, and even though I’m not sure what to do, or say, I can sit here with him
and Lucy.

           
He looks up at us. “Did you guys talk?” he asks jumping off the table.

           
“Yeah, I told her everything.” Lucy walks towards him and takes his hand.
I look at the two of them and wonder why I never realized that they’re in love.

“I’m happy for you guys,” I
say honestly.

           
“We’re getting married,” Lorenzo beams. “I already talked to Fr. Jim.”

           
“When are you gonna tell Mom and Dad?” I ask.

           
Lucy and Lorenzo look at each other. “We aren’t going to until after the
wedding,” he says.

           
“What?” I yell and immediately my heart starts racing again. As much as
it will kill my parents to know that Lucy is pregnant, it would be a million
times worse if they got married in secret. “Why not?”

           
“I don’t want to put your parents through that kind of stress.” Lucy
looks at me. If she is going to be part of my family, she’s going to have to
learn the rules.

           
“If you guys don’t tell them they’ll be way more stressed. Look, they’re
not going to stop you. You’re
pregnan
t.”
I say this with a slight change in tone that makes it sound judgmental. I look
at Lucy who is looking at the ground. Oh crap.

 “I’m sorry.”

           
“Stella, we’re not telling them,” Lorenzo says. I can’t believe what he’s
saying. He knows it’ll kill our parents to be left in the dark.

           
“No, you have to.”

           
“She’s right,” Lucy says firmly. “It’s much worse if we sneak around. We
need to tell you parents
and
my
dad.”

           
My brother feels outnumbered and I wonder if he thinks it’ll always be
like this. He is marrying his twin sister’s best friend. He should have seen it
coming. “All right,” he sighs.

           
“Don’t worry. I’ll help you.” I move to hug them both and throw my arms
around them. Even though the situation is hard, I’m really happy for them.

           
Lucy starts to tear up and before I can say anything, Lorenzo cups her
face in his hands. “Stay calm, babe,” he says and kisses her nose.

           
Ok, now I’m officially in shock.

           
Lorenzo looks at me. “You hungry?”

“We have cake,” Lucy says.
“It’s out front.”

           
“No,” he shakes his head. “My baby is not eating cake for breakfast.”

           
Ew. I really hope he’s talking about the
actual
baby and not Lucy.

           
“Go out front and relax. I’ll make you girls a frittata. I think you have
a lot of catching up to do.”

           
I turn to her. “How have you been feeling?” I ask.

           
“Like shit.”

           
“Me too,” I smile.

           
Lucy looks at me as if she knows all about Drew being engaged. “Let’s
talk about the home wrecker,” she says and leads the way into the dining room.

           
By the time Lorenzo steps out with the frittata, Lucy knows all the
details. “Slut,” she says. “I never liked that girl.”

           
I shrug my shoulders. For some reason, Lucy’s situation has helped me to
see even more clearly that Drew is not the right guy for me. Or maybe Trisha
really is pregnant, and Drew is the father. Honestly, I can’t deal with this
fertility rush right now.

           
“Here ya go,” Lorenzo says placing the eggs in front of us.

           
I’m so hungry that it’s the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen. Golden
slices of caramelized onions and potato slivers are surrounded by the fluffy
eggs. Tiny flecks of green parsley are scattered throughout, and a crumbly
layer of blue cheese is browned perfectly on top. Lorenzo has already cut it in
slices for us, and drizzled white truffle oil over it. And to think, I was just
going to eat a slice of cake.

           
“This looks incredible.” I reach my fork out to stab a slice. But before
I get it on my plate, Lucy is up and running towards the bathroom.

           
Lorenzo and I look at each other.

           
Oh boy, here we go.

Yields 2 servings

So this might not be the best
pregnancy food, especially if you’re nauseous, but I obviously don’t need to worry
about that. Not until I’m married at least, and the way things are going, who
knows when that’ll be.

5 large eggs

1/2 cup sour cream, or plain
Greek Yogurt

1/2 cup flat leaf Italian
parsley, chopped

1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
cheese, grated

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 potato, peeled and sliced
into 1/8” slivers

1 large Spanish onion, diced

1/4 cup gorgonzola cheese

2
       
tablespoons white truffle oil

1)
     
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream,
parsley, and grated cheese. Set aside.

2)
     
Heat olive oil in a large oven-proof sauté pan. Add
the onions and cook until translucent.

3)
     
Add the potatoes and flatten them over the base of
the pan. Cook until potatoes start to brown.

4)
     
Pour the egg mixture into the pan. Lower the heat
and cover tightly.

5)
     
Cook until eggs have set.

6)
     
Top with crumbled gorgonzola cheese and place the
pan under the broiler until cheese is golden brown.

7)
     
Before serving, drizzle with white truffle oil.

I’ve never been so nervous in
my entire life.

           
After we talked, Lorenzo and Lucy decided to tell my parents this
weekend.

           
Last night, instead of coming right home after work, I stayed at the
restaurant until 3:00 a.m. baking chocolate chip cookies.

           
I’m secretly hoping that they’ll put everyone in such a good mood, that
when Lorenzo and Lucy tell my parents today, my mom will applaud them and my
dad will stand up, cookie in hand, and give them a toast.

           
You never know. From a Food Therapy perspective it is quite possible.

Anyway, the arrangements are
all set. Fr. Jim agreed to marry them next Friday night, and afterwards we’ll
all go to dinner in Atlantic City. Lucy asked me to be her maid of honor
(obviously), but told me I could wear whatever dress I wanted. She’s not buying
a wedding dress, or even getting her hair done. She just wants to marry my
brother and doesn’t care about all of the hoopla like invitations, cakes,
flowers, and dresses.

           
But I have a strange feeling that it’s all sort of an act. Like she’s
putting up a wall.

           
In fact, I know it. I
know
Lucy
wants something nice, but since her father’s not speaking to her, she feels bad
about celebrating.

I just hope my parents take it
a little better than Mr. Caulden.

           
But if they don’t… well, I’m not even going to think of that.

           
“We’ll mail the invitations next week,” Gina says as I walk into the
dining room. I know weddings are a big deal and all, but honestly, she could
learn a lot from Lucy.

           
“Hello,” my mom chirps. “We’re finalizing the guest list for the
invitations.” She throws me a glance that says she’s in total agony. Damn Gina
and her stupid plans.

           
I smile and shuffle into the kitchen, pour myself a cup of coffee, and
try to think of a way to change the subject.

           
“Do you think Lucy will bring a date?” Gina asks when I walk into the
dining room.

           
I’m caught off guard and nearly spit out my coffee. They look at me. “I
think she might.”

           
“Oh, is she seeing someone?” my mom asks, genuinely interested. Lucy’s
never had a real boyfriend before, so this is big news.

           
“Um, I’m not sure,” I lie. I can feel the sweat beading up on my head. “I
mean, it’s a wedding, everyone brings dates.”

           
“So true.” Gina starts flipping through pages of her yellow legal pad.

           
That was close.

           
Unlike most normal brides, Gina is not looking to cut down her list, but
instead, she’s looking to
add
people. She promised the Botanical Gardens that at least 300 guests would show
up, and now they have to pay for 300 regardless. When my mother told them to go
low, Gina didn’t pay any attention. Now she looks at her guest list and seems
unsure. “Who are you bringing?”

They both look at me. I reach
for a cookie.

Honestly, I hadn’t really
given it any thought. I mean, until last week I thought I’d be there with Drew,
and the whole night we’d be talking about what we wanted at our wedding. Now I’ve
joined the ranks of the pathetic bridesmaids who don’t have a date and are
forced to dance with the bride’s middle-aged cousin all night. Oh God. Gina is
from Long Island, which means that her single cousins are extra guidos.

           
They’re still waiting for an answer.