She Had Me From Hello

Chapter Nine

Yesterday was the last day of my three year fellowship. I was matched with Paolo Calvino Hospital in Italy for my residency and once it was over, I stayed for my fellowship. It's Saturday July thirtieth, two thousand sixteen. A little over three years ago, on June fourth, two thousand thirteen, Maya gave birth to our second child, a baby boy by the name of Matteo Finn. It was perfect timing, because she was able to get back in shape for the academy.
I'm only in Seattle for a week and I'm gonna make the most of it.

Beep, beep, beep. The alarm goes off. I turn it off as quickly as I can, but it wakes up Maya. She whines. "Why is it so loud," she wonders. "I'm sorry, Bambina. Go back to sleep. It's too early for you to be awake." "What time is it," asks Maya. "Six am," I reply. "I need to stay in my routine." "I need to stay in mine as well." "Okay." "What are we gonna do today," Maya wonders. "Well, first you're going on your run. Then, you'll come back and take a shower. I'll have your smoothie and breakfast ready when you're done. Also, I promised the kids we'd take them to GameWorks for lunch." "Okay. I'm up. I'm up."

She gets out of bed and changes into her running gear. She runs for about an hour and heads home. She takes a shower and gets dressed in regular clothes. It's seven thirty, when she walks into the kitchen. She sits down at the island and starts eating. A little while later, she's done and the dishes are cleaned. We decide to wake up the kids and get the day started.

A few hours later, it's time for lunch. We drive to GameWorks, park in the garage and go inside. We get our game cards out and find a seat where we can see the floor. We give Ryan and Matteo their cards and let them go play.

"What are you gonna order," I ask. "The Sampler Platter, but substitute the spring rolls and hummus for extra mac bites and fries, a meat lovers pizza and a chicken parmesan handheld and the fries that come with it." "Okay, we can share the pizza and sampler, I'm gonna get a fatty melt with fries and an order of cheese garlic bread. What do you want to drink," I ask. "I'll take a diet coke, a pink grapefruit for Ryan, a bottle of water for Matteo and whatever you want."

At that moment the server walks up.

"Good afternoon everyone and welcome to GameWorks. My name is McKenzie. What can we get for you guys today," says the server.
"Hello. Can we get the sampler platter, but substitute the spring rolls and hummus for extra mac bites and fries, a meat lovers pizza, a chicken parmesan with fries, a fatty melt with fries, an order of cheese garlic bread, two diet cokes, a pink grapefruit and a bottle of water," I answer.

"Alright. I'll be back in a few minutes with your drinks." She walks away and a couple minutes later comes back with the drinks. "Here you are guys. The food should be out shortly." "Thank you," replies Maya. McKenzie walks away and about five minutes later, the garlic bread arrives. She eats a piece and then hears the kids call for her.

"You should go play with them. Take the chance to be the kid you were never able to be. I'll be fine." "You sure," Maya asks. "I'm sure," I reply. "Okay. Call me when the food arrives. I have my watch on." "Okay," I reply. Maya walks into the game room and up to them.

"What do you wanna play babes," Maya asks. "Air Hockey." "Okay, air hockey it is." They walk to the table and swipe the game card. Maya helps Matteo grab the hockey pusher and start playing. They play one game with Ryan winning before Maya's watch goes off. "Time to go eat babies." "Okay, mommy." They put the pushers away and walk back to the table. They sit down and start eating. They play a little more after eating and then go home with leftovers.

They spend the rest of the day lounging on the couch in the living room watching movies. When dinner time arrives, they're not real hungry, so they just fix the leftover pizza and mac 'n cheese bites. Once they eat, they're tired, so they get ready for bed and go to sleep.