Dressed in Pink to make the boys Wink

    The strong smell of Italian coffee that pervaded the apartment every morning reminded Yvonne, as she woke up, that she was in Italy, staying with her son and his family. The bedroom was in complete darkness, the shutters tightly closed, but it was the aroma of coffee that told her it was morning. The door opened a crack letting in some dazzling sunshine and she sat up as her little granddaughter Ginevra came to stand by her bed,

    'Nonna,' she whispered, 'Are you awake?' 

Without waiting for an answer she carried on, trying hard to speak in English, 'Papa says you want tea because you're English, mamma is making it and she says you can meet me from school tomorrow, she's going to tell the teachers that you're coming , you'll meet my best friend Olimpia and her nonno Bruno.'

    The door opened further and the room was flooded with light as her daughter-in-law Carlotta rolled up the blinds with a flourish and handed Yvonne a mug of pale tea,

'Here Vonny, I hope this is ok, Paul said the Italian coffee was giving you heartburn.' 

She held out the mug and Yvonne took it gingerly in her hands.

 Inwardly she grimaced at being called 'Vonny'. All her life she'd been Mrs. Shaw at the school where she'd worked and Yvonne for her family and close friends. 

Ginevra bounced onto the bed snuggling up to her, 'Oh Nonna you smell like violets, the ones mamma puts in the cupboards to stop moths eating our clothes.' Mamma says we can go shopping today, just you and me.' Her eyes grew huge and she bounced harder on the bed.' We can have jeans and pink sparkly tops and nail varnish and lipgloss.'

Carlotta looked a bit embarrassed. ' It's just an idea I had Vonny, there's a film Paul and I would like to see and we thought we could drive into town and go to the cinema while you two go to the new department store,' she stopped and grinned, 'If that's ok with you.'

Ginevra covered Yvonne's cheek with litle kisses and she felt something shift inside her heart, a lump came to her throat and she thought she would cry. It was a new sensation and she turned away, put down her mug and swung herself out of bed.

At nearly seventy Yvonne was very proud of how agile she still was and put it down to long walks and good genes. She lay back on the pillow feeling bemused and reflecting on where life had taken her.

 Here she was in Italy staying with her son Paul and his Italian wife Carlotta and their four year old daughter Ginevra. 

Yvonne's husband Ted had died when Paul was just ten and she had sent him to boarding school thinking he would be better off there than on his own with a grieving mother. She had dedicated her life to her teaching and never looked at another man. 

Paul had been working as a sports journalist in London when he met Carlotta, a nurse from Italy who had come to improve her English.  When they had had Ginevra they decided they wanted to bring her up in Carlotta's home town surrounded by her vast extended family.

 Then there was Covid and lockdown and only zoom and Skype for her to see the little girl and now Paul and Carlotta had asked her to stay for a few months to get to know her. She smiled to herself remembering the warm and enthusiastic welcome she had received on her arrival.

She washed and dressed quickly and joined the family for breakfast.

Ginevra was dipping a croissant into a bowl of milky coffee and glanced up at her as she sat down.'You wore that jumper yesterday Grandma and that skirt. ' She held out her free hand wriggling her fingers which sparkled with pink nail polish. 'Look! Would you like me to do your nails before we go shopping.?'

The little girl sounded so eager, her curly hair bounced and shone and her dark brown eyes gleamed with excitement, Yvonne didn't know how to react. She heard her mother's voice from her  childhood. She'd been a dour woman, always seemed to be disappointed in something or other. She had spent a lot of time at the kitchen sink looking out of the window, commenting on the neighbours as they walked past their house. 'Look at Dorothy, she's no better than she ought to be. ' 'Look at Mrs so and so, mutton dressed as lamb. Look at that Molly, she's no better than she thinks she is, all these mini skirts and beehive hairdos, she's asking for trouble.She'll have to get married, mark my word.'

Lost in her thoughts she realized that Ginevra was holding her hands and she looked down to see her nails painted a bright pink. Before she could stop herself she snatched her hands away and called out aghast 'Oh my goodness, ' Carlotta laughed and said in a soothing tone, 'No worries Vonny, it's only Barbie polish, it just peels off.'

Yvonne was dismayed to see Ginevra's bottom lip trembling. She put her arm round the little girl and whispered in what she hoped was a soothing tone, 'It's lovely Ginny, I love my nails like that, thank you.'

Ashamed of her reaction she stood up and said, 'Right everyone the cinema and shopping  my treat.'

When they arrived at the department store Ginevra lead her to the children's department and proudly told the assistant that this was her grandma from England and she was learning Italian and was coming to live with her. The assistants immediately warmed to the litle girl and helped her pick out a pair of jeans and a pink top with unicorns and sequins. She tried them on and twirled around in front of the mirror beaming at her reflection. Yvonne couldn't help thinking of how her mother would have pursed her lips and mumbled about  being vain. 

With their purchases in a smart colourful bag Ginevra tugged at Vonny's arm and pointed to the Ladies section, 'Now you Nonna,we must get you some jeans then we can go running and climbing because that long skirt is no good.' In a whirlwind Yvonne found herself trying on a pair of jeans and a plain pink jumper. Ginevra clapped her hands, 'oh Nonna you look beautiful just like Barbie.' Yvonne felt ridiculous and glanced at the assistants to see if they were laughing at her.  To her surprise they were looking at her with admiraion and muttering about her'linea bella'. Ginevra whispered to her in English, 'Nonna they are saying you look like a model and have got a beautiful bottom.'

Yvonne chuckled and stroked Ginevra's curls, 'Well nobody has ever said that to me I'm sure.' Ginevra beamed, 'Keep them on Nonna they're much nicer than that brown skirt.'

As Yvonne and Ginevra were walking across the square to join Paul and Carlotta at the coffee bar a little girl and an elderly man walked up to them. Ginevra jumped up and down waving, 'Look Nonna it's Olimpia and her Nonno Bruno,' Olimpia ran towards them and there were cries of 'Ginny' and 'Ollie' and a lot of embracing.  Then somehow they were all walking together across

the square and Olimpia's nonno was telling her about how he used to work in London but had retired to Italy when his wife died.

Paul and Carlotta were sitting at one of the tables in the square and they stood up when they saw Ginevra running towards them. When they caught sight of Yvonne their mouths dropped open and Paul came towards her beaming, 'oh mum, you look great, I knew there was a butterfly in there somewhere and I knew that Ginny would find her.' He enveloped her in a bear hug and whispered,' Welcome to Italy mum, we're  going to have a lot of fun.'

Yvonne had to hold her breath to stop the tears. Bruno pulled out a chair for her and tipped his head towards her and smiled in a way that made her feel something wonderful stir deep inside her

.  Her  mother's voice  came to her again but it sounded different. her gloomy disapproval was gone and instead it was like a gentle caress full of warmth and hope, 'That's my girl dear Vonny.'