Saturday began for Serafina Randaccio as so many did. A 6 A.M. alarm rang, and she opened her eyes and saw nothing as usual because of the blindfold she always used while sleeping. She pulled that off and looked around her darkened bedroom. Nothing to see, but a sudden chill overcame her. She buried herself under the covers.
Damn, it's cold, she thought to herself albeit in Italian instead of English.
She peered an eye out and saw light streaming under her door. That light was probably coming from Giovanni and Roberto's room, as they had a bad tendency to not shut that door and turn the light on. It only affected her room as their rooms were the only ones on this side of the upstairs of the home.
Sera stepped out of her bed and put her feet into her slippers. Why had she been so stupid as to wear summer pajamas to bed? In fact, why hadn't she grabbed an extra blanket before bed to boot? As her phone turned on, the little weather widget told her it was 10°F, but she initially was perplexed due to misunderstanding it as 10°C. After some thought, she realized her mistake.
Next, Sera flipped the light switch and walked over to her closet mirror. Her hair was quite disheveled after a midnight prank attack from her brothers that saw her spend 30 minutes bound with ropes and gagged. A little hair brushing would take that right out, though.
A quick transformation saw Sera now wearing quite possibly her favorite outfit of all: well-worn black jeans (albeit from years of wearing), an Italian national football team polo shirt, and her Italian flag bandana as a kerchief to keep her hair back. She was finishing brushing her hair when a knock came on her door.
"Who is it?" she asked the visitor.
"Me!" answered a little voice.
"Who is me?"
"Me is Benny!"
"You may come in," Sera said with a laugh.
"Good morning Mama!" Benny came in with a big smile.
"How's my little boy? Did he sleep well?" the former teen mom asked her child.
"I slept really well until Nonna dropped a pan because she's making polenta!"
"Nonna's are people too, even though they seem like magic. My nonna still makes her own polenta, and she drops pans while grabbing them too."
"There's no magic, Mama!"
"No, but some things sure seem that way, don't they?"
"No!" the practical 7 year-old responded.
"You're so cute! Zio Umberto teaches you bad things!"
Serafina came from a family of 8 siblings and in which all things had meaning. Her family was unusually large, but then again this isn't a surprise in a family where the mother's favorite saint is Gianna Molla.
Explore the names and origins in the spoiler text if you wish
Serafina is about 5'4" and has the build expected of a former rower. Yes, she's strongly-framed, like her Randaccio grandmother, but she was muscular too. Like many southern Italians and half-Sicilians, Sera has beautiful dark brown hair in incredible curls that she keeps cut about halfway between the top of her shoulders and her elbows. Her skin, however, was quite a typical European peach tone, far from the stereotypical olive or brown tones associated with such folks. Her eyes were a sparkly brown and full of life, just like most of the household including her father.
"Is Nonna making something special for you?" she asked her son.
"She's making me oatmeal!"
"That's Nonna!"
When she finished brushing her hair, Sera turned to her son. They exchanged hugs and kisses, and Sera scooped him up. They walked out into the hallway together and were greeted by Vittoria, who was wearing blue leggings and a Columbus Crew t-shirt. Her hair was more wavy than curly, so a mix of mama's curls and dad's straight hair, but the tone matched Sera's perfectly. She, being raised in New Jersey, had a pastier version of Sera's skin, but she had their mother's beautiful green-gold eyes.
"How is my beautiful sorella {sister}?" Sera asked her as they walked down the stairs together.
"I'm fantastic and so excited! How is my even more beautiful sorella?"
"Excited, huh?"
"I love spending time with Jenny and Giulia!"
Later that morning, Sera was dropping Vittoria off at Jenny's apartment, and the two sisters would be having a sleepover at Jenny's with inevitable interference from Giulia. In turn, Giulia's two sons were coming to spend the night here at home. Long weekends and school breaks, such as this school winter break ahead of Christmas, were perfect for such things, and they gave Vittoria valuable time with a girl who personified sweetness and innocence and would soon be their sister-in-law.
"Good morning, Mama!" Sera put Benny down as they entered the kitchen.
"Good morning, beloved daughters!" Mama Teresa responded in her typical flawless Italian.
"Mmmm, polend'!" Vittoria responded with the familiar dialect despite being the only sibling born here.
"I smell breakfast polent!" Umberto smiled as he entered the kitchen.
Soon, the family was all together. There was much variety at the kitchen table from skin tones to hair to eyes to height. In some great miracle, no two people looked exactly alike.
When Sera was done eating, she brought her bowl to the kitchen, rinsed it, and put it in the dishwasher. Then, she made her announcement.
"Vittoria and I are ready to go, and I promised Mama I'd be at the bakery before it opened. Who wants to come?"
With volunteers in the form of Giovanni and another brother, Sera and Vittoria kissed both of their parents as they wouldn't see them again until the next morning, barring illness or injury. Sera and Vittoria grabbed their bags and put them in the trunk of the car. On this chilly morning, hats, scarves, and mittens were apparent, and all had them lovingly made by the hands of Sera, a skillful knitter.
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Jenny Danielle Kristensen was a sharp contrast to the calm and familial atmosphere of the Randaccio household. Her eyes opened before her alarm clock had beeped thrice. By the fifth beep, she was gently pushing the button and yawning. She turned sideways and slid her feet into her slippers and sprang up. In no time at all, her bed was made to perfection.
She walked over to her dresser and pulled out some things and quietly walked to the bathroom while quietly humming to herself. The lights flashed on, and her brilliant blue eyes instinctively squinted against the sudden brightness. She shut the door and got herself dressed.
Jenny is so short that sometimes she struggles to do things that are mundane. At her size, she keeps a step-ladder in the closet and one in the kitchen. Thankfully, today's routine required no such assistance.
Instead, Jenny kept humming while she sat and put her pink crew socks on her legs so that her feet wouldn't touch the bare floor as she changed. She sprang up and quickly exchanged pajama pants for brown leggings that hugged her skin nicely and kept her body heat in.
Just as quickly, Jenny was sitting putting her pink sneakers on her feet, making each bow just so. The pajama shirt flew off, and a pink long-sleeve rapidly replaced it. Jenny sprang up again and looked in the mirror at herself.
"So far so good," she said to no one in particular as she wasn't used to living alone yet.
Jenny carefully combed out her hair to get the few snarls out and then brushed it out before putting it into her favorite style: a braid. Jenny braided hair with the care a baker braids bread. When the braiding was finished, a brown scrunchie was used to hold the braid in place.
Jenny kept on singing, her primary expression of happiness, as she put on her pink camouflage bandana as a headband to help keep her hair back. Again, the task was done with smooth expertise and carefully, and she put the knot at the back under her braid when she was done.
Most mornings when like this. It may have looked like a ritual, but in reality Jenny did things in no particular order. She just did them as best as she could in the way that seemed right at the moment.
By 6:10AM, Jenny's phone was in her pocket as she locked her door behind her. She put on her earbuds and spoke "Siri, call Bridget" as she began her morning run.
"Hey, Gangsta Princess!" Bridget answered.
"Good morning, friend! How are you?" Jenny asked in Danish.
"Good, how about you?" her friend answered in Swedish, "Going fast?"
"Right now, yeah. Some routines never come to an end!" the former cross-country and track girl confirmed her friend's guess.
"Nope. I still do my routines."
"Excited to be coming here?"
"Yeah, just sad I fly in Sunday night and you leave Monday."
"Well, we get one night together anyway."
"I guess," Bridget said, "Just anxious about the flight."
"I get that. I've only flown once in my life."
"It's a wonderful life still! For real!"
"We're going to have fun! I know! I got the stuff you asked for," Jenny didn't know the right word and just threw out in English "tape."
"Great! Oh, Sera won't know what hit her," Bridget spoke of her former teammate and roommate.
"She sure won't! I'm so looking forward to all this!"
The conversation continued for a few more minutes before they said their goodbyes and hung up. The rest of Jenny's run went in silence as she focused on getting the most benefits possible from it.
When the run was done, Jenny, to her own surprise, hadn't sweat much at all just because of how cold it was outside. She decided to do a little cleaning, eat breakfast, and get the place ready for a sleepover! Even after cleaning, her distinctive spring showed again when she saw Vittoria at the door with Giovanni.
"Get in here," she said excitedly.
"Jenny!" Vittoria gave a hug.
"Hey, Tori!" and then she looked at Giovanni and jumped into his arms with a kiss for his cheek.
"Hi, Jenny," he returned the kiss in kind.
"How is my fiancé?"
"Great, and my fiancée?"
"Great as always," her voice got high pitched, as it frequently did when she was excited, "I won't keep you."
"All right. Vittoria, Jenny, you two have fun!" Giovanni put Jenny down.
"We will!" Vittoria responded.
"Bye!" he said and shut the door.
Jenny helped Vittoria get her winter gear off and hung it all up in the closet. The kindly soul did it all with a huge grin on her face as she just absolutely loved doing these little things for her friends
"Well, here we are! I guess this means that our sleepover has begun," Jenny said.
"I think so!"
"What shall we do first? Would you like something warm to drink?"
"I don't know," Vittoria said with a giggle, "but your landlord has an idea in mind!"