When Faith Isn't Enough

Gael landed in New York at eleven in the evening, and he went straight to Nonna Flavia's house in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The house was packed with all of his family from his father's side, the atmosphere was filled with chatter, and the long table was flooded with so much delicious gourmet spread of variously cooked dishes. Just like most Italian-Americans celebrating La Vigilia, they prepared only aquatic delicacies for appetizers and dinner.

Rounding the house to greet everyone, a woman in her late fifties pulled Gael to an embrace and kissed his cheek. "There you are. You look...better." 

"Buonasera, Aurora." He smiled at his father's wife. The woman had always been sweet and kind to him ever since his father brought him to Italy where he met her and his half-siblings. It was awkward for him to meet his father's wife, given that she wasn't his mother. Gael had only lost his mother then, and so meeting them was hard for him.