Aella

LIV

Aella and I start to get ready for the party. I have a one shoulder black bodycon dress, with my emerald heels. Aella has a matching deep emerald green suit, and a black shirt underneath. The emerald, for us, symbolizes all of the other secret times we had together back in the States. I also chose it as the main color for our wedding, which is four months from today.

As I finish curling my hair, I hear Aella sit down on the bed and groan as she bends down to put her heels on. I put the curler down and walk out into our room. "And you tell me you're not old."

Aella stands, towering over me. A smirk on her face, she says "You better be very careful with your words today. You are already in for it later, you know that."

I wrap my hand around the back of her neck, staring into her eyes. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't. But you're still old."

Aella changes the subject. "You look absolutely stunning. I feel like I shouldn't allow anyone to see you in this dress, it should only be for me."

A knock comes to our door. "Girls?" Mama's voice comes from the other side. "We're ready for you."

Aella bends down and places a soft kiss on my nose. "Let's get this over with."

"I love you".

As we walk over to the door, she grabs my hand. "I love you with all my heart."

I swing the door open and reveal Mama, who's ready for the party in a navy blue dress and pearls around her neck. She turns and walks away for us to follow her. We walk over the catwalk, where the living room has a small orchestra in the corner, with men in suits and women in cocktail dresses.

As we walk down the stairs, Mama turns to us and tells us to wait at the bottom of the stairs. She walks into the entryway.

"May I present to you, your head of House, Aella, and her partner and my daughter, Penelope."

Aella leads me in front of the crowd, and everyone cheers for us. Most people I recognize; the same couples from the Gala at home, or from our appearance as a couple a few months ago in this house.

Mari and Angelo stand at the fireplace, and we and Mama head through the crowd to join them. Girls gleam over my dress, and men nod to Aella in greeting.

Mari, now eight months pregnant, stands in a waddling stance, her hand on her lower back, the other on her stomach.

Mama turns around to face the crowd as Aella pulls me into her side, I rest my hand on her waistband. "Thank you all so much for coming", she allows the party to quiet down. "You do all know why we're here, but it is tradition after all. But this is not my day, it's their, so I'm going to turn it over to the lovely couple."

Aella takes her dominant cue to take a step back forward and speak to the crowd. I stay one step behind her, in respect to the Mafia leaders, as I was taught. But before she speaks, she turns, grabs my waist, and pulls me up next to her.

"Thank you all so much for coming today, we both want to thank you for the support. Being the first openly gay couple, we are breaking barriers for all of those in our family who might not be showing them true selves at this moment. I don't want to take up a lot of your time, so we would like to get right to the moment you all showed up for..."

Aella pauses and gives me a look. I jump into action. "We want to officially announce our engagement, and our wedding is set for four months from today at the winery."

At the same moment, the curtain covering our large framed engagement photo comes down behind us. Everyone in the room move their eyes to the picture, and the five of us turn to look at it, then the crowd claps.