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T hey hadn’t been home for twenty-four hours when Nonno’s in-home nurse called. Tony could tell by the nurse’s tone that whatever she was about to tell him wasn’t good. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Tony, but your grandfather passed away last night. He wouldn’t let me call to tell you that he was near the end. He insisted that your fight was too important and if you knew that he might not be able to hold on until after the fight, you would have forfeited the fight and come home.” His grandfather was right; he would have moved heaven and earth to get home to see him one last time. He knew that leaving Nonno to go to the fight was a mistake. Tony had a gut feeling, but Nonno told him that he’d be there when he got home from winning his fight, and Tony believed him.

“Where is he now?” Tony asked the nurse.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” the nurse said.

“I want to see him,” Tony insisted. “Where is his body?”

“Oh, as per Elio’s instructions, he’s at the local funeral parlor, Kirby’s funeral home. Your grandfather left detailed instructions with his last wishes. I can run them over or even meet you at the funeral home with them, but he insisted that I give them to you immediately.” His grandfather was always a stickler for plans. He made lists, planned for the future, and even planned for Tony’s future. His Nonno knew that he’d be a champion fighter someday, Tony just wished that he’d be able to tell him about his win and even show him the middleweight belt that he brought home. He did it not only for himself, but for his grandfather, and now, he’d never be able to share that with him.

“I can meet you at the funeral home in an hour if that works for you,” Tony said. Elio’s nurse agreed and ended the call.

He sat down at the kitchen table, not wanting to go back up to the bedroom. Tony didn’t want to wake Aurora because that would mean that he’d have to tell her about Elio, and that would break her heart. He needed a few minutes to wrap his head around the fact that one of the most important people in his life was gone, and there would be no way to change that. He’d never be able to tell his grandfather about his day or listen to Nonno’s dad jokes. After Tony’s father died, Nonno had become his dad, and for that, he’d always be grateful.

“I thought that I heard you talking to someone,” Aurora said around a yawn. Since getting back to town, it felt like all they had done was sleep. The excitement of winning the fight and finally catching Joe had kept them both running on adrenaline.

“I’m sorry that I woke you,” he breathed.

“Hey,” Aurora said, looking him over, “what’s wrong?” Tony wanted to lie and tell her that nothing was wrong; maybe buy himself some more time, but he also knew that Aurora would figure out that he was lying. She could read him so well, there would be no hiding the fact that Elio was gone.

“It’s Elio,” he whispered.

“Oh, no,” Aurora breathed. “I’ll get dressed so that we can go down to the hospital.”

“That’s not necessary,” Tony said, still not able to get the words out.

“Of course, it is,” Aurora said, “I don’t want you to go down there alone. Plus, I love him too, and want to see him,” she insisted.

“No, it’s not necessary because he’s not at the hospital,” Tony said.

“Okay, then I’ll go with you to Elio’s apartment. Is his nurse with him?” Aurora asked.

“No, she’s not,” Tony said. “Listen, I think that you need to sit down because I’m not doing this very well, and it would be easier if you were sitting here with me.” Aurora crossed the room and sat down next to him at the kitchen table. The worry on her face was his doing. He hadn’t been clear, beating around the bush about Elio, when she deserved the direct truth from him.

He took a deep breath and let it back out. “Elio passed away last night,” Tony said. Just getting the words out made him nearly choke.

“Oh, God,” Aurora cried, covering her mouth with her hands. “I’m so sorry, Tony,” she breathed.

“I’m sorry too,” he admitted. “I should have gone right over to his place on the way back into town, but I thought that I had time. I was tired and selfish, and I should have gone to see him.” Aurora crawled onto his lap, and he wrapped his arms around her, taking the comfort that she was offering.

“You couldn’t have known,” Aurora said. “Why didn’t the nurse call to tell you sooner?” she asked.

He shrugged, “Elio wouldn’t allow her to call me. He said that my fight was too important and that he didn’t want me thinking about him rather than having my head in the ring, where it should have been. He’s left detailed instructions about what he wants for his funeral. I’m supposed to meet his nurse down at Kirby’s Funeral Home in an hour. I need to see him to say goodbye. I was hoping that you’d come with me if you’re up for it.”

“I think that I’d like to say goodbye to Elio too,” she said.

“It’s settled then. We’ll go down to see Nonno,” his voice cracked, and Aurora wrapped her arms around him tighter. “Then, we will follow his instructions and give him the send-off that he wanted.” Aurora kissed the tears that fell down his cheeks and nodded.

“That’s exactly what we’ll do,” she agreed. Tony was thankful that he had her by his side. Aurora was one of the last gifts that Elio gave him, and for that, he’d always be grateful.

The days leading to the funeral felt like they were a blur, passing too quickly for Tony to catch up. Aurora stepped up running the bakery and helping him to plan Elio’s funeral, following his every wish. And today was the day that he was going to have to say goodbye to one of the most important people in his life.

They met with his grandfather’s lawyer earlier that morning and found out that Elio had left him the house that belonged to him and his grandmother. He never sold the place when he had to move to his apartment. He couldn’t handle the stairs anymore, but giving up his house completely wasn’t something Elio could do, and Tony never pushed him to sell.

Elio also left the bakery to Aurora, even though she insisted that she couldn’t take it, Tony knew that it was the right thing. Aurora loved the bakery almost as much as his Nonna had. Tony told her that it was the right thing, and he insisted that she take the gift that Elio had left her. He finally got her to agree, and that was when the lawyer handed him an envelope with a letter in it from his grandfather. He quickly opened it, hoping that his Nonno had left him some sage advice or anything that would help him get through losing him, but inside he found two words written on the piece of paper—Marry her. He knew that Elio loved Aurora, and sure, he’d try to put them together, but doing so from the grave was completely unexpected. He quickly folded the paper up and shoved it into his suit pocket, not wanting to think about anything today except saying goodbye to Nonno. The rest could wait for another time.

Tony and Aurora walked into the funeral home and found Elio’s open casket sitting in the room off to the right. Tony hardly recognized his grandfather. He didn’t look like himself. Whoever made him up didn’t take a good look at the photo that Tony had provided them with. His grandfather looked like someone else, but at least he looked like he was at peace with his hands folded over his chest.

“It doesn’t even look like him,” Aurora said, as though reading his mind. “Are you sure that we have the right room?” She turned to leave the room to look for Elio, and Tony pulled her back into the room.

“It’s him,” he said, “he’s wearing the suit that I brought in for him. They just made him look different, but it’s him.” She squeezed his hand and walked back to the front of the room with him to stand in front of the casket.

They had gotten there early to pay their respects before the rest of the mourners showed up. He knew that Jonesy, Rocco, and Luca were coming, but he had no idea how many friends his grandfather had until the room started to fill up around him. People were coming up to him and telling him how sorry they were. He wanted to tell them that he was sorry that his grandfather died too because he had so much to tell him still. Instead, he smiled and politely nodded or thanked the person and they moved on. It felt like a lifetime had passed by the time everyone took their seats, and he stood up at the front of the room to tell everyone about his Nonno. It was the hardest speech that he had ever had to give, but he needed to do it. He needed to make sure that everyone knew how important his grandfather was. When Tony was finished, he thanked everyone for coming, walked over to Aurora, and took her hand, leading her out of the room. It had become too small and crowded for him, and he needed some air.

“We’re just leaving?” she whispered to him on the way out of the funeral home.

“No, I need some air,” he breathed. They walked out into the afternoon sun, and it felt as though he could breathe for the first time all week. “We still have to go to the gravesite,” Tony said. He hated that they were going to have to stand there and watch his grandfather be lowered into the ground, but that was also part of Elio’s wishes.

“Are you okay?” Aurora asked, turning to stand in front of him. She was always doing shit like that—looking at him, touching him, and making sure that he was all right.

“I will be, as soon as this is over,” he admitted. “Are you okay?” He could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn’t all right. She had cried most of the week and today seemed to completely drain her.

“I will be, as soon as this is over,” she said, giving him back his own words. He pulled Aurora in and kissed her forehead as she melted into his body. He knew that if Elio could see them right now, he’d be smiling.

“Tony,” a woman said from behind him. He’d know that voice anywhere. It was the first voice he had ever heard and honestly, he never thought he’d ever hear it again.

“Mom,” he said before even turning around. The surprise on Aurora’s face was almost comical. “It’s fine, honey,” he lied. Nothing about his mother showing up at Elio’s funeral was fine.

“I heard about your grandfather,” she said as if that would explain her reason for showing up at the funeral home.

“And you came to pay your respects?” Tony asked. He knew how much his mother disliked Elio. She blamed him for Tony wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a boxer. The last place she’d want to be was at his Nonno’s funeral.

“Yes,” she lied. He could always read his mother and now was no different.

“How about the truth this time?” Tony asked.

“You know that your grandfather and I didn’t always see eye to eye, Tony, but he was still your Nonno,” his mother said. She looked Aurora over and smiled. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” she asked. His mother knew good and well that Aurora wasn’t just his friend. They were holding hands, and he usually didn’t do that with his friends.

“No,” he growled, “you don’t have the right to just show up here and ask to meet my ‘friends,'” he insisted. “What are you really doing here?” He knew that his mother always had a motive. After she basically kicked him out, he moved in with his grandparents. She only came around when she needed something—usually money, and Elio was soft-hearted enough to give it to her. Nonna would always tell him that giving her money was just pissing it away, and Elio would fuss that he did it for their son. He said that Tony’s dad would have wanted them to help his mom, but Tony wasn’t so sure. If he had to guess, he’d say that his mother heard about his big fight and ultimate career boost and was there for a payday.

“I need a little help,” she said. “Things have been a bit tight.” That was always what she’d say to Elio to give her cash. But he wasn’t there to be suckered into giving her anything anymore.

“So, you decided to show up at my grandfather’s gravesite and ask me for cash?” Tony asked. “Now that Elio can’t help you anymore, you’re moving onto me, right?”

“It’s not like that,” she insisted. “Elio wanted to help me because I’m your mother. You should want to do the same.”

“You haven’t been my mother for a damn long time now, Tina,” he spat. She always hated it when he called her by her first name. It was one of the ways that he liked to try to get under her skin.

“You don’t need to use my first name, ,” she insisted. “I don’t need much,” she said.

“Well, you’re not getting anything from me,” Tony insisted. She gasped and took a step back from him as though he had physically assaulted her. “Oh, stop being so dramatic. I’m betting the only reason you showed up here was because you heard about my big fight.” From the look on her face, he had hit the nail on the head.

“I might have, and that’s wonderful for you, honey. I always knew that you’d make it big in boxing,” she lied.

“Bullshit,” Tony spat, “you didn’t want me to even go into boxing. You told me that I had to quit or that you’d kick me out. I choose boxing, and now, you think you should benefit from my hard work. It’s not going to happen, Tina,” he said.

His mother’s expression grew mean, and he suddenly remembered the joy of living with his grandparents after she kicked him out. Elio told him that his mother started growing bitter after her husband died, and that was really the only way that Tony remembered her. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time that he saw her happy.

She looked at Aurora and Tony wanted to stand between them because he knew what was about to happen. His mother lashed out at people around her when she got angry. “Be careful, sweetheart,” she warned, “he’s just like his father and that will only lead to heartbreak—for you.”

Tony stepped in front of Aurora, as though shielding her from his mother’s wrath. “You think that saying that I’m just like dad is an insult, but I take it as a compliment, because I never want to be like you, Tina,” he said. Tony took Aurora’s hand and led her away from the evil woman who had given birth to him. That was all she was now to him—his birth mother, and if he had his way, that was all she’d ever be.