Nereo had rehearsed a sentence on the driveway and then left it in the car with his jacket.
“Say it in English,”
his twin said, without looking at him.
“Slowly. And don't wave.”
It had been a good sentence — welcome to the family — and it had taken him most of the morning to settle on, and now he was standing in the doorway beside Duccio with his hands at his sides and it was gone.
The gates opened. He was the last one to walk out and the only one who walked out with his hands up. He offered an awkward little wave at the distance of the whole driveway and then looked at the gravel, because waving and looking at you at the same time was apparently beyond him tonight.
Guido made a sound. Nereo ignored it, which took effort.
He looked up again as his father stepped outside with his arms open, and then he did the thing he had promised himself he would not do: went past all six of them to get to the car door before it was opened, got there too early, and stood there.
“I'll take the suitcase,”
he said, before anybody had said hello, and then, remembering the sentence:
“Welcome. To the house. And the family. It's — you'll see.”