Eric stared down at the picture of her on the cover of the sports magazine.  She was SO beautiful.  He’d never seen anyone as beautiful.  When he first caught a glimpse of her after she moved into the building, she took his breath away.  He’d inquired about her and found out that she was a celebrity; an actress of some sort.  He didn’t like that.  The thought of sharing her with the world didn’t appeal to him.  Once they were together, he’d insist that she give that up.  No wife of his was going to display herself as wantonly as she was on the cover of this magazine.  Still, staring at her in the little black bikini caused his penis to react.  He released his cock from his pants and began to stroke vigorously.  He felt the delicious tingling begin in his balls.  He grabbed them and pulled brutally them with his left hand while squeezing and stroking his shaft with his right.  Equal parts pleasure and pain brought him to a powerful release.  He shot his seed all over her image.  Soon he’d have the real thing.

***************************************************

Giulia Mariani couldn’t keep a secret.  Even if she never uttered a word, the truth was written on her face.  Lia looked at her mother’s face and knew immediately that she knew that Dominic had proposed.  And if SHE knew...EVERYONE knew.

“Miei bambini! Buon Natale! Vieni stai lasciando tutti al caldo” (My babies! Merry Christmas! Come in, you’re letting all warm out)

“Buon Natale, Mamma” (Merry Christmas, Mama), said Lia.

“Merry Christmas, Mamma”, said Dom.  He didn’t feel the slightest bit uncomfortable referring to Giulia that way.  His affection for his future mother-in-law had grown exponentially over the past few months.

As Dominic was helping her out of her coat, Lia was suddenly struck by how quiet the house had gotten.  The usual roar had been reduced to a dull one.  What the hell?

They walked into the living room and looked around.  “Buon Natale, mi famiglia”, Lia said to the room.  The family returned the greeting, but she noticed that there were smirks on some of their faces, and curious eyes seeming to pointedly gaze at her left hand.  Then there was her dear Mamma, standing by the Christmas tree, grinning from ear to ear.  Lia looked up at Dominic.

“They already know”, she said disappointedly.

“So much for making a special announcement, mamma”, Dom said looking at Giulia pointedly.

“I didn’t tell!  It was your padre.  HE told!”  Giulia said, throwing Gabriele under the bus.

“I told YOU, moglie (wife).  YOU told everyone else”.

“Well that was your first mistake, Pop”, said Lia’s brother Giuseppi.

“You hush, Giuseppi!” Giulia said, swatting at her son.

“Well, I’m sure it’ll be anti-climactic now, but…WE’RE ENGAGED!”  Lia yelled.

The house erupted in celebratory noises.  There were hugs, kisses, handshakes and back slaps.  Lia turned to look for Mimi and she caught a glimpse of her looking up at Gio and smiling while he pushed a curl out of her face.  When Mimi saw her she came over and pulled Lia’s hand up to get a look at the ring.

“You know”,  Lia said, keeping her voice low. “You two are getting REALLY sloppy”.

“What are you talking about?”  Mimi had an excellent poker face, but Lia knew her friend for a long time.  She decided to go in for the kill shot.

“I know you and Gio have a thing going”.

“You musta bumped your head.  Gio’s a neanderthal”.

“Mm hm.  I guess that’s why I’ve seen his car outside of your apartment building at hours that would be unseemly for just a friendly visit”.

Mimi pulled Lia further away from the crowd.  “And just WHY were YOU driving past my house at said unseemly hours?”

“My favorite coffee shop is over by you, you know that.  Now, don’t try to deflect, this is about you and Gio.  How long has this been going on”.

Mimi sighed in defeat.  “six, seven months”.

“Sooo, is it just a sex thing or what?”

“It started out that way, but now I don’t know.  I think I’m falling for him but it’s GIO for goodness sake!  I’m not supposed to LIKE Gio”.

“Well forgive me for saying so, but you should have thought of that before you started letting him dip his pen in your ink well”.

“REALLY, Lia!”  Lia began giggling.

“Seriously, how do you feel about him?  And don’t think about it, just say how you feel”.

“I like him.  Like, REALLY like him”.

Lia grinned and started bouncing up and down.  “If you marry Gio, we’ll be sisters for realsies!”

“Whoa!  No one said anything about marriage and can you PLEASE keep your voice down”.

“Oh please!  Everybody knows.  We were thinking about betting to see when you two would actually come out with it”.

“Shit!  I gotta talk to Gio”.

*******************************************

Breakfast was the usual Mariani family smorgasbord.  After everyone ate their fill, everyone opened presents, ooohing and aaahing over the gifts.  Once all the gifts were exchanged and opened, the kids took their new toys and games into the game room in the basement.  The adults kicked back watching Christmas movies.  Lia noticed that Gio and Mimi had disappeared for a bit.  When they came back into the living room, they were holding hands. Everyone turned and looked at them. Gio sat down and pulled Mimi close to him and put his arm around her, almost defiantly.  The room turned back to the television and continued to watch “A Christmas Carol”.  The only one to acknowledge the newly minted couple was Uncle Paolo who simply muttered “about damn time”.

*******************************************

Lia and Dominic arrived back at their apartment around 7pm and quickly put Seamus’ harness on him so that they could take him for a walk.  They waited for the elevator and when the door opened, Seamus immediately began to bark and growl.  Creepy Elevator Guy.  

“Seamus!”  Dominic boomed, trying to quiet the dog, but he wouldn’t back down.  Seamus began to lunge at the man.  Dominic pulled the canine back into their apartment.  Lia turned to Creepy Elevator Guy and apologized.  The doors of the elevator were just about to close when the man stopped the motion.  Holding the elevator doors open, he leaned out and said with what wasn’t so much a smile as a baring of teeth.  “You really should learn how to control your dog, Lia”.  She was startled by his use of her name as she’d never gave it to him.  This guy had gone from creepy to scary.

“Have a lovely evening, Ms. Mariani”.