My Funny Valentina (13 page)

And, there was…
Alexis, formerly known as
Myrtle
as in ‘
fertile’…
who had babysat Zoey several nights when Valentina and Stash had taken advantage of the opportunity to spend some time on their own to go out on the town, Alexis’s own kids becoming Zoey’s best buddies and favorite playmates. And happily, Alexis was now engaged!  Stash had looked on with feigned sternness in his role as man of the house, when her nervous boyfriend, father to her two children, had asked on one knee for her hand in marriage in front of the entire Karas family during the rehearsal dinner.

‘
Valentina, why are you not drinking,’ her mother-in-law, beaming with happiness came over in her bright coral outfit, holding out two glasses of milky ouzo, ‘here you go, come; we drink a toast now to my one and only daughter-in-law!’

‘
Ah, ah,’ Stash stepped up, looking Greek Godlike in tailored black silk-striped pants, his pleated white tuxedo shirt open at the neck revealing a patch of burnished, olive-toned skin, bowtie long gone. ‘No ouzo for Valentina!’ he said, shaking his head in the negative, intercepting the glass of the potent libation from his mother.

‘
And why not, Anastasio?’ his mother questioned indignant – until she witnessed the secret smile Valentina and Stash shared between them.  ‘Oh.
Oh!
’ she exclaimed, understanding clearly dawning, ‘a baby!’

Stash
nodded and placed his hand over the froth of white tulle and lace that artfully draped over Valentina’s gown in front, ‘yes,
mana mou,’
he confirmed, a hint of proud papa in his voice already, ‘in just five months we will be able to fill another one of our seven bedrooms!’

‘
With another happy,
healthy
, baby,’ Valentina smiled, her hand lovingly covering her husband’s, ‘the doctor has confirmed it.’

‘
Just four more bedrooms to go after this one, Val,’ Stash grinned down at her.

‘
Well can we please knock out some twins on the next round and take care of two rooms at once?’ Valentina pleaded to his and his mother’s laughter.

Athina
, her
koumera
, floated over in her maid-of-honor finery, a long silken lilac gown complimenting skin that glowed a warm healthy hue matching the healthy hue of the little flower girl she held in her arms.  ‘Hey, Stash,’ she thumped his shoulder, ‘Zoey keeps saying the word ‘baby’, er...is there something you need to tell us – like did you and Valentina
‘have’
to get remarried today?’ she joked.

‘
Now that Zoey is talking, we’re going to have to watch a lot more closely what we say around her,’ Stash made the wry observation to Valentina out the corner of his mouth. ‘And no we didn’t
have
to get remarried today; Valentina and I wanted to renew our vows in a traditional Greek ceremony in front of our friends and our family that is ever growing.  You just missed the announcement, Athina – we are expecting another baby in July!’

‘
What – you mean you’re
four
months pregnant, Val?  Gosh, I would never have known it looking at your figure,’ she sent an envious marveling look at Valentina’s lithe, statuesque frame, barely showing any weight gain yet in the satin bridal gown.

‘
I wouldn’t care if I got big as a house or if my boobs sagged down to my knees,’ she affirmed gazing up at Stash with adoration greening her eyes, ‘it would all be well worth it...every bit of it.’

He bent his head down
to hers and they kissed tenderly, Valentina’s hand going up to muss his dark curls out of order.  The way she liked them best.  Athina and Stash’s mother sighed in unison watching them.  Valentina broke off the kiss when she heard a happy chattering getting nearer and spotted the twins – Alexis, (birthmark on the right side of her mouth) and Alecia (crooked left front tooth) rushing towards the dance floor Stash’s construction crew had laid down over the tennis court, a stack of china plates held in each of their hands. 

‘
Come on everybody, Val – Stash, the dancing is starting!’ They shouted out as the sharp metallic sound of the bouzouki playing lively Greek music was heard.

‘
Stash!’ Valentina exclaimed twisting to look after them, eyes widening in shock, ‘that’s our best wedding china they have!’  She tried to jerk away to go to rescue her dishware, but her husband held her tight.

‘
Let them go.  Remember, Valentina, whatever is broken,’ he raised her right hand to his lips to kiss the inscribed gold band placed there earlier instead of on her left hand, in accordance with Greek custom, ‘...can
always
be mended.’ 

Valentina smiled
.  Her head was on his shoulder as they headed for the dance floor where he watched as she danced the traditional Greek dance, the
Kalamatiano
, in the middle of a whirling circle of Stash’s sisters and her female friends – Evelyn’s crisp pencil skirt all askew, her tidy bun completely collapsed by the end of the song. 

Lars took numerous photos of t
he renewed bride and groom as they danced together alone on the dance floor in the Money Dance.  Green bills pinned all over their outfits until they resembled two swaying bushes to the guests who came up and kissed their cheeks. 
Na zisete!,
they said in Greek, offering them congratulations and their wishes for a long happy life.    

Valentina stood on the sidelines
later in the night, beneath a tall tree strung with fairy lights in its branches that turned her flowing hair a shimmering titian, watching her husband dance the flamboyant dance, the
zeimbekiko,
his groomsmen keeling in a circle around him, clapping out their encouragement in a steady rhythm.  With arms held out wide to his sides, fingers snapping as he performed an intricate dance step, an agile jump or spin, Stash, tall, dark and astonishingly handsome, was the clear focal point every eye was focused on. 

My shining star
.

Valentina
felt almost overwhelmed by feelings of intense love and joy.  Stash looked over with laughter on his lips that halted when he caught her staring at him, tears glistening on her cheeks.  Their eyes communicated without the need for any unnecessary, superfluous words. 

He
left the dance floor, making his way to her through the crowd of celebrants, her smile drawing him closer.  Tremulous, beautiful...
only ever for him.
  He met her there beneath the sycamore tree, a stray Chicago wind rattling the branches overhead.  His fingers wiped away her happy tears, muscular frame shielding the slight swell of her stomach as they kissed, not stopping until they heard the sound of a plate shattering on the dance floor nearby.

‘
Opa!’
A tiny voice mimicked what she’d heard being shouted out all night all around her.

They
both turned their heads to stare at Zoey, adorable in her lilac flower-girl dress, chubby knees showing, with daisies adorning her black curls, held safely in her laughing grandmother’s arms.

‘
She’s beautiful and smart...she’ll get
lots
of dates,’ Valentina said to her husband with a confident smile.

‘
And she’s got
perfect
comedic timing, just like her mother,’ Stash said huskily, his lips lowering again to hers, ‘my funny Valentina.’ 

###