I sat in my new black dress, my husband had bought for me to wear tonight. I felt both under and over dressed at the same time. It was just a family dinner, but I could never be as elegant, as the supermodel beauties his brothers had married, or have the natural confidence of his sisters. I could just be me.

"That's what I love about you baby, you're you. You're unique."

Instead of the formal dining area, where we had our usual Sunday dinners, we turned into the ballroom. Antonio's already huge family of 9, plus partners, had grown 10 fold.

"I thought it was just family tonight." I whispered

"It is. The full, extended family."

"Oh of course."

"This is Uncle Tommy" he said, as a large man grabbed my hand pulling me close and kissing my cheeks. I searched my memory for a fact about him.

"You have the Tommy gun tattoos on your arms right? As in Tommy's guns. Very fitting. I look forward to seeing them in action in the summer Tommy."

Tommy smiled and moved off to greet someone else.

"And this is Uncle Saul"

"Oh yes, Sawing Saul? Are you the carpenter?"

Before he could answer, I corrected myself. Bone saw Saul, of course he was the butcher.

"That would be Harry the Hammer. Who works with Charlie the Coffin maker. Very talented, he should train a new apprentice. It's a dying skill." I laughed at my little joke. Coffin maker, dying skill.

"And what do you do Elizabeth?" Asked Saul.

"Me, oh a little bit of everything. I'm mostly behind the scenes, administration, logistics, ad hoc duties, etc. I work for a special care facility. That's how I met Antonio. He brought in his uncle Mikey into my facility, tongue cancer, I was told. Do you remember him? His tongue was surgically removed."

I turned to Antonio "I hope they revoked that doctor's medical licence."

I turned back to Saul,

"Absolute hack job. I could have done a better job with my sewing scissors."

"Of course Saul remembers him. They were very close. He won't forget what happened to Mikey." Added Antonio

"Oh and his knee caps. Couldn't walk a step" I continued. I was rambling a little.

"Our doctor's couldn't understand how they had deteriorated so badly. Sporting injury supposedly, but the doctor's said it was like they'd been crushed into powder"

Saul started to sweat. I could understand crowds made me anxious too.

"Oh sorry let's not talk shop. Let's enjoy dinner."

I searched my mind for a change of topic. He probably didn't want to think about his family in such a state. I saw Charlie in the crowd.

"Charlie is doing well for himself. I've sent a lot of business Charlie's way."

Antonio chuckled

"He never knew he could make so much money legitimately, making coffins" Added Antonio. Saul had gone quiet and pale. It was a little warm in here.

"We'll all need one, one day my love. Hopefully not too soon for us. Oh Saul. You have blood on your collar. It looks set, apply glycerine with a cotton ball, to either side of the stain. Rub in circles from the outside to the inside, until it starts to shift. Then wash it in cold water. You learn a lot about cleaning out blood in my line of work"