Chapter 345: Cooking Lesson
*Most people make the mistake of overcooking the lasagna. – Nico*
On the second Saturday of the new year, Nico invited himself over to teach the girls how to make authentic Italian lasagna. He showed up with almost all the ingredients that they would need. As he mixed up the pasta dough, he explained everything to the girls. Pagan and Shiloh sat at the table watching them.
“Daddy always just thaws out the lasagna and puts it in the oven.” Ashlyn declared and Nico acted like he was going to die in the kitchen.
Shiloh laughed at her cousin as he lay on the floor clutching his heart, mumbling a prayer in Italian.
“I’ve made it from scratch before.” Pagan grumbled with a smile.
“You never made the pasta.” Ashlyn pointed out.
“Or the sauce.” Alyssa added.
Shiloh laughed harder. “They have no loyalties to you when it comes to food.”
“None.” Pagan agreed as Nico slowly and dramatically stood back up. The girls were helping him as he clutched the cabinet doors and countertops on his way up.
“My momma would be rolling over in her grave if she heard that you were with a man that cooks frozen lasagna.” Nico said as he still clung to the counter for support.
“*And* if she was dead.” Shiloh added and Nico chuckled.
“Well, yeah, that too.” He agreed and they both grinned at each other.
Nico was raised by his mother after she moved here from Cicily. She never said who his father was, but almost as soon as they had arrived, Nonno was coming around. His nephew had sent his mistress and child to America. Nonno promised to keep an eye on them and to keep them safe. He also took the boy under his wing and taught him the family business.
They had come over when the family business was being restructured through an attempted hostile takeover. It had failed, but the repercussions were still being felt. It was why after Shiloh’s father died in the car crash; her mother married another man. A wealthy, well connected man that could help pay off the family debts.
The marriage did not last. But the merger did. The company grew and is stronger now.
But now, Elizabeth thought that her daughter should make the next sacrifice for the family business. A sacrifice that Shiloh refused to make. One that Nico and Nonno could no longer justify.
Shiloh had spent most of her life being trained to take over the business. After she was kidnapped in Switzerland, she had a hard time focusing for several years. She spent time in a mental hospital and then yet another school in England before attending Oxford.
Afterwards, she resumed her training within the company. But her heart was not in it. It was not something that she wanted.
She started cutting to feel the pain. To feel that she was still alive.
Shiloh no longer cut herself. Now, when she felt the need to see the blood, to assure herself that she was indeed alive, she went to the tattoo shop. There were times that she would tell them that she needed to see the blood. They would dig into her skin, causing unnecessary bleeding.
After her meetings on the first, she called Dino, and he met her at the shop. She had a new tattoo on her wrist with the family motto in Italian. *Molti diventano uno* Many become one.
Dino never asked questions. His own wife suffered from depression and cutting. He understood that the tattoos and piercings were Shiloh’s way of coping. This was the first time that she had been in since Pagan and the girls had moved in. Dino had hoped that both of his friends had found what they needed. He still held out hope since she had not called him after Thanksgiving.
The girls laughed as Nico did a little dance in the kitchen, pulling Shiloh out of her thoughts. It was the same dance that Nonna had done when she was making lasagna. She always swore that it was the only way that she could make her sauce.
Shiloh grinned as she joined her cousin in their grandmother’s song. “Shake, shake, shake. Then you gotta crush it and crush it and crush it.”
“Oregano?” Nico asked.
“Window.” Shiloh pointed to her greenhouse window. “Bottom shelf.”
"What is that song?" Ashlyn asked.
"We always called it Nonna's Song." Nico replied as he plucked a few leaves and began to chop it up into small pieces, continuing with the song. Shiloh hummed along and Pagan realized that she hummed the same tune while she cooked.
“Your Nonna taught you the song?” Pagan asked her with a grin.
“She did. It changed depending on what she was cooking.” Shiloh smiled as memories flowed around her. “Nonna swore that she couldn’t make sauce without singing.”
“Did she cook a lot?”
“Yes. All the time. Even though Nonno hired a cook. Her, Ags and Maggie were the best of friends. Maggie named her daughter after Nonna.” Sipping her wine, she looked at Pagan. “I always wanted to name a little girl after the three of them.”
Pagan grinned at her. “I make beautiful little girls.”
“I know.”
“They can be handfuls at times.” He said as both girls laughed at something Nico was doing.
“I know.”
Pagan leaned in close to her. “Are we seriously talking about having a baby?”
Shiloh nodded at his whispered question. “But I think they should have their daddy’s last name.”
“Maybe their mommy should have his last name too.”
“That would be nice.” She murmured.
“It would be.” Pagan agreed just before he kissed her.
“My dear cousin,” Nico laughed, “there are children present.”
One little girl sighed and the other gagged.
Shiloh and Pagan both laughed as they pulled away from each other.
“What do the children think of their dad marrying Shiloh?” Pagan asked turning to look at his daughters.
They both squealed and ran over to hug Shiloh as they both screamed yes.
Nico smiled at his cousin. *“Intoccabile?”*
Nodding, she agreed. *”Intoccabile.”*
Later that night, as they lay in bed, Shiloh asked how soon they could get married.
“I want my girls to be a part of it. The Saints have a type of tradition with weddings.” Pagan admitted.
“If I promise to give you the wedding that you want, will you agree to the justice of the peace marrying us this week. The Saints wedding will be the one that we recognize for anniversaries.”
“That quick?” Pagan asked and Shiloh crawled over him to staddle his hips.
“Quicker if possible.” She admitted.
Grinning up at her he nodded. “Anything you want.”
“I love you.” She said, leaning down and kissing him.
“I love you, too.” He replied rolling them over and nestling between her legs. "We should at least start practicing to make a baby."
