Oblivion

31| With regards

JOSEPHINE

"Don't cry, snowman, not in front of me. Who'll catch your tears if you can't catch me, darling? If you can't catch me, darling." sang Matteo as we rolled out the dough. "Don't cry, snowman, don't leave me this way. A puddle of water can't hold me close, baby. Can't hold me close, baby."

"You can sing really well," I said in surprise, sprinkling more flour on the surface. "Is that something all of you can do?"

Matteo laughed. "I'm afraid not. Maybe Valentino, but you can only hear the rest if you wear hearing aids and take the batteries out first. What about you? Can you sing?" I looked at him skeptically. "Just asking. Is the dough thin enough?"

We both looked down at our work while the song continued to play in the background. It was warm in the kitchen, and although we were careful when kneading the dough, our aprons were already white with flour. "I think so. Shall we try it?"

He reached for a cookie cutter and handed it to me with an important expression on his face. My goodness, did he have flour in his hair too? "May I ask you for the first cut-out?"

"You may," I answered, nodding majestically as I took the cutter. It was a Christmas tree. "We used to bake cookies too, although Dad and I mostly just ate the dough when Mum wasn't looking."

"Riccardo and I did that with Maria too, but nothing escaped her eyes, and in the end, she always scolded us, saying it gave us stomachaches." Matteo smiled. "And one year, I had to throw up so much in the evenings that I never ate dough again. Good old— What are you doing? You can't use two different cutters!" Surprised, I paused and looked at him. Was he serious? He looked like he was serious. I slowly put the snowman back and raised my hands in the air apologetically. "Really. You're going to plunge us into anarchy!"

"Because the cookies look different?" I still wasn't sure if he was serious or if he was about to laugh. Sometimes, I thought Matteo tended to exaggerate. "What kind of butterfly effect could that trigger?"

He took a deep breath, but before he could begin, the door closed behind him, and Riccardo came in. "The bigger ones won't be fully baked; you'll give them away, our gardener, who also works for the mayor, will get food poisoning, and we'll be in trouble." I wanted to ask how food poisoning could lead to anarchy when none of the gardens needed a gardener in the snow, but it was Riccardo, and I remained silent. "There was also a package for you outside the gate. Has Valentino ordered you some clothes again?" I shrugged. It wouldn't be a surprise if he did since he was determined to help me find my 'style.' His ambition, not mine. "Well, anyway, I put it in your room."

"Thanks, Riccardo." He waved me off and then looked like he was struggling with himself before he took a piece of the dough and put it in his mouth. Without saying anything else, he disappeared again. I looked back at Matteo, who just shook his head briefly, and picked up the Christmas tree. "So we're only going to make Christmas trees?" I asked again to make sure.

"Good idea, Josie," grinned the youngest Marini and watched closely as I pressed the mold through the dough. "Have you got all your presents yet?"

Now I had to laugh. "Valentino asked me too. Almost, and you?" I carefully picked up the finished Christmas tree and put it on the baking tray.

"Nah, not one, but there's still plenty of time. What gift are you giving me?" 'Nice try,' I thought and sealed my mouth with my fingers. I think he had already tried five times in the last three weeks to find out what we were going to give him. It got to the point where I had hidden his present with the dogs because it was the only place I was sure he wouldn't look. Domenico had even threatened to set fire to his present if he continued to pester him about it. "It was worth a try. Do you know what's going on with Domenico and Vito? They were both really strange when they were eating. I mean more than their normal strangeness."