25. Birthday

                                    

                                          
Leo
"Now blow."
Izzy claps in excitement, slightly jumping in place. Luca has his hands around her waist from behind and he smiles at me.
My entire family is standing in a circle around me for my 25th birthday. It's already July eighteenth. The time flew by.
"The candles." Nicole explains. "Not whoever you're thinking of blowing." She pushes her tongue against her cheek in a crude gesture. Her mother shakes her head and mumbles something to herself while Mateo, her brother, tries hard not to laugh.
"You have to make a wish before you blow." Sara tells me, her arm around her husband while he, Antonio, has his arm around her shoulders, tucking her to him.
"The candles." Antonio finishes her sentence. "Not...someone."
"Got it the first time you said it." I say.
I look around at my family. Everyone is smiling and their eyes hold so much love. For me, and for everyone here.
I'm really lucky to have such a big, happy, loving and supportive family.
I bend and close my eyes as I make a wish before blowing...the candles.
Though with all this talk of blowing, I do have someone in mind.
"Yay." Carina cheers.
They tell me I have to cut a piece and eat it, so I do. Then I feed my mama a bite, then my papa and my big brother.
I then go to my Nonno. He pats my back, tells me how much he loves me and how he's proud of me. For what exactly, I'm not sure.
I have done nothing big or amazing like the rest of my family.
Not like my brother, Luca. He's taken over managing one of my Nonno's hotels when he graduated college and since then he's opened his own architecture firm and it's growing by the minute. His girlfriend has her own clothing shop where she designs and models them herself. She even booked a fashion runway show recently for a well-known brand. She explained how that's such a big deal and I couldn't be happier for her.
Antonio manages his nightclub, and his wife is a lawyer.
Mateo works for his father in his real estate company.
And Nicole, she earns money by living her life and posting pretty pictures on Instagram.
But me, I took the easy way out.
I chose the army because there wasn't any other option.
"Birthday boy." Nicole slaps her hand on the back of my neck and a loud snapping noise releases. "Wanna open your presents?"
I pinch her arm but go to where the presents are and open them. They got me gifts even when I told them not to buy me any.
But then I laugh when I see it's mostly socks and underwear. Yup, my family gifted me socks and underwear because I once said I run out of them all the time.
After opening the very thoughtful gifts, and throwing a pair of briefs at Nicole's head when she couldn't keep her laughter in as  I opened the jockstrap she got me. Later, we all sit around while we drink some wine and chat.
My phone rings and I pull it out. I see Josephine's picture light up my screen. It's a picture of her when we went roller skating. She's skating in front of me, but she glances at me with a grin.
The lighting isn't very bright, but it's a candid picture so I used it for her contact.
"Who's calling you?" Nicole questions, clearly confused. "Everyone you know is here." She looks around to see if anyone has a phone in their hands.