Stand-Ups in New York

Chapter 35 - The Costas

Everyone was gathering in the lobby as Pete and Charlotte walked out of the elevator. Pete looked at the sea of people, all the bridesmaids and groomsmen and the family that had come early for the rehearsal. He scanned the crowd, trying to find his girlfriend's family, when he heard Charlotte half-yell, "Mom!"

A blonde woman who stood in front of them turned around and Pete was awestruck. This woman looked exactly like Charlotte. Her blonde hair fell around her face and everything down to the smile was the same as the woman on his arm. She walked up to them, flanked by a tall brunette woman who Pete recognized right away as Theresa and a man slightly shorter and much more intimidating than Pete himself.

Charlotte walked ahead and met her mom in the middle. The two ladies hugged and then both turned to look at Pete. Standing right near each other Pete could see that Charlotte's mom was a bit more petite than her daughter, and her eyes were not bright blue, but green. As Pete closed the gap, the two ladies watched him. Even the way they held their heads was the same.

Charlotte gestured to Pete. "Guys, this is Pete. Pete, this is my mom, Marie, my dad, Ed, and my sister, Theresa."

Ed stepped forward and shook Pete's hand first. Charlotte's dad's hair and beard were equal parts black and silver, and he thought his hand would be crushed to powder in the firm grasp. "How are you doing today, Pete?" he asked. His eyes were dark blue and surrounded by smile lines.

"I'm great, sir, how are you?"

"Doing good, thanks," Pete said. Maybe Victor was right, he thought, he's not too intimidating. Then he turned to Charlie's mom and remembered the other half of what Victor had said.

Marie was smiling, but her eyes were staring intensely into his. It unsettled Pete, and for a moment he didn't understand why. And then he realized that was the same look that Charlie had when she was upset and that Emily had when she confronted him about what he'd said the first day she met him. Marie had obviously passed this intense look to her daughters. "Hello, Pete," she said, shaking his hand. She never broke eye contact.

"Hello, Mrs. Costa," Pete said. "It's so nice to finally meet you."

"Yes, it's nice to meet you too," Marie said. She continued to look at Pete, studying his face. "I'm looking forward to talking a little more, maybe at dinner."

"I think that sounds like a great idea, mom," Charlotte interjected. Her smile was bigger than usual and her eyes kept darting between Pete and her parents. Pete could practically see the anxiety washing over her.

"Hey, mom!" Pete was relieved to hear Emily's voice behind him, breaking the intense glare from Mrs. Costa.

"Hi, honey," she said, giving her daughter a hug. He heard a high pitched noise, almost like a scream, come from behind Mrs. Costa and looked to see Theresa smiling and shifting her weight from foot to foot. Charlotte grinned at her other sister, then walked over and hugged her.

"Pete, this is Theresa," she said, then added, "Resa, say hi to Pete!"

Theresa did a short wave before looking back at her sisters. She stood a good couple of inches taller than Charlotte. Pete noticed she had her iPad slung over her shoulder with a strap. He wondered how that worked, the communication program. Charlotte had explained to Pete a couple of times that Theresa was nonverbal and she used the app to talk for her, but he knew it was one of those things that wouldn't make sense until he saw it in practice. Pete said, "Hi, Theresa, I've heard a lot about you."

Theresa tucked her short, dark brown hair behind her ear, then went to Charlotte and sniffed the top of her head. Charlotte smiled and, when Theresa moved away, she said "Thank you, Reese Cup!" and kissed her sister on the cheek.

Pete knew that Theresa meant the world to Charlotte. She talked about her constantly, and had even told him about how her younger sister had inspired her to become a teacher for students with severe disabilities. Pete could see why Charlotte talked about her so much. Theresa had an undeniable glow about her. Her eyes were blue with bits of green floating around the iris, and they looked electric, like Theresa had a current running through her at all times.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Charlotte looked at Theresa. "Resa, can you pull up your food page? Jeanie needs to know what you want to eat tonight."

Theresa picked up her iPad and Pete watched her process as she opened up a communication app, navigated through the pages, and found the dinner foods. "Good job, now can you tell me what you want to eat, chicken or steak?"

Theresa pushed a button and the iPad spoke for her, "Mac and cheese."

Charlotte laughed. "Nice try, but I said chicken or steak." She pointed to the buttons on the screen.

Theresa made another high pitched noise and pressed another button. "Chicken."

"Okay, thanks Resa, I'll let Jeanie know," Charlotte said, putting her hand up. Theresa high fived it and shut her display on the iPad off.

Pete felt his heart swell as he watched his girlfriend talking to her sister. He loved when she first told him about Theresa and her job. Hearing her passion was one of the reasons he was so attracted to her in the first place. But seeing it in person was a whole different experience.

The crowd in the room hushed and Pete turned to see Jeanie and Paul standing up on the staircase. Jeanie was the first one to speak. "Hi, everyone! Welcome to the rehearsal dinner! We are so excited that so many of you wanted to spend the evening with us before the wedding tomorrow, but we want as many of tomorrow's festivities to be a surprise as possible. So if everyone who is not in the wedding party could stay in here, there are hors d'oeuvres and drinks coming around and the porch will be open for dinner in about half an hour. If you are in the wedding, please come with me. Thank you!"

Jeanie and Paul walked down into the crowd. Charlotte walked back over to Pete. "That's our cue, I think," she said, then went on her tip-toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. "We won't be long," she added, then gave a quick wink and left with Emily.

Victor walked up to Pete and spoke softly enough so that only he could hear. "Don't worry, Mrs. Costa warms up quick." Pete looked at Marie Costa. She fixed Theresa's hair and smiled lovingly at her daughter. He hoped that what Victor said was actually the case.