I grabbed Mom and ducked my head, hiding my face, and we ran to the edge of the square, tearing through the crowds. Allegra was right behind us, the leftover bag of corn dropped where we’d posed, and the flock of pigeons stopped following us and happily munched on the discarded feed.

Breathing heavily, I began patting myself down, checking for bites or poop, then did the same thing with Allegra. “Are you okay?” I asked nervously. “They didn’t hurt you?”

“No, it was just freaky,” she said, jumping up and down. “They got a little intense.”

“You saved me, Mom,” I said. “I think they believed you were their leader.”

“No pigeons are going to mess with my girls,” she said, her expression tight with determination. “I told you posing with birds is bad.”

Allegra and I shared a look. Then we began to laugh. We laughed so hard and so long, we bent over and tears seeped down our cheeks. The whole thing reminded me of my fall down the steps and my mother’s smug I told you so regarding my shoes. Now she’d done it again with the pigeons.

“From now on, we listen to Nonni,” Allegra announced.

“Agreed. Let’s eat. I’m starving.” We walked to the first open café and grabbed a table. I squeezed out a bit of antibacterial gel in both of our hands to sanitize from the birds, then opened the menu. After a few moments, we all agreed on the same things—panini, fries, and frozen hot chocolate sundaes for dessert.

Allegra looked shocked after the waiter left. “Mom, did you actually leave the mozzarella on your sandwich? And skipped the salad? And ordered dessert?”

I wagged my finger at her. “When you’re old as dirt and even looking at fries adds pounds, you can apologize for that remark. But, yes, I’ve decided to relax my stringent calorie intake and live a little.”

“I’m glad,” Mom said. She stared at me with a gentle affection and approval that made my heart soar. “I think you look wonderful. Life is too short to skip the fries.”

“I’ll put that on a poster next to my bathroom scale.” I sipped my sparkling water, enjoying the dry bubbles that danced in my mouth. Definitely, champagne tonight. “We have dinner on our own. Any special place you want to go?”

“We’re eating lunch and planning dinner already? I can’t think that far ahead,” Allegra complained. “I was going to ask if it would be cool if I skipped out tonight. Ian mentioned doing some exploring. We’d grab a bite on our own. I guess it’s his parents’ anniversary and he wants them to have a romantic dinner alone.”