Posting early because I feel a migraine coming on. Happy Mother's Day to all the traditional and non-traditional mothers out there!
Stefan, Dante, and I are sitting in the waiting room of my father’s lawyers office. Josiah and Emilio are behind our seats and I know that they will flank the doors inside while we take our appointment. Ever since of my kidnapping, I go nowhere without one of these two mean with me. Can’t say I mind.I’ve known Rupert Sterling for most of my life, at least in passing. He has never been what you would call “warm and fuzzy.” The guy is so pale that it’s obvious he never goes out in the sun. You remember that old cartoon of The Legend of Sleepy Hallow? He reminds me of Ichabod Crane.The creepy ass man opens the door to his office and ushers us in. “Mr. Rothschild, Mrs. Luciano, its nice to see you again, though I’m sadden that its under these circumstances. I am truly sorry for your loss.”Out of the corner of my eye, I see Stefan clench his teeth in anger. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him alone since yesterday. I know that he has a lot of conflicting emotions about our
Dante’s POV The door opens to Mario, my family’s butler. “Signor Luciano! (Mr. Luciano!) We were not expecting you. Please come in. Would you like a late breakfast? I'm sure the cook would be happy to prepare something for you.” “Good morning, Mario,” I say with a warm smile. Quinn has told me how kind the man was to her when I was attempting to distance myself from her. The man has won himself my undying loyalty. “I ate at home, but I thank you. Is the Don in? I stopped by in hopes of speaking with him.” Taking my coat, Mario answers. “He is in, signor. I’m sure that he would be happy to see you. He’s in his office. I’ll bring in coffees straight away.” “Thank you, Mario.” I stare straight ahead, down the hall to where my father is. To where my future could take a rather interesting turn. Mario seems to sense my hesitation. “Is all well, signor?” I sigh. “I think I am about to disappoint the don
Quinn’s POVEight months later… “Em, you have completely outdone yourself!” I saw as Dante and I walk through the Palm House at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The Palm House is a huge, glass enclosure, usually a place where weddings are held, but with the guest list that the Lucianos invited to the shower full of politicians, millionaires, and other celebrities, we needed a big place. We have refused to find out the baby’s gender, so neutral colors in various shades of yellow, green, and brown are the color palette. Because of that, we went with a woodland theme: foxes, hedgehogs, birds, butterflies, bears, etc. And little touches are all over the place. The thing that I absolutely didn’t want, though, was wood and trees and that rustic hippy vibe that everyone seems to be all over. Instead, Emily went with bushes, balloon arches, and flowers. There are teddy bears, some as big as I am, scattered around the room, bassinets, swings
“It started right after Dante found you and we all were basically meeting up at the hospital,” Grayson tells me. We’re sitting in the front of Dante and my car. Grayson hasn’t looked at me since we sat down. I can tell that he’s worried about how I’ll react to the story. That in and of itself makes me sad. That he thinks that I wouldn’t be there for him. That I wouldn’t be happy for him. “At first, we just happened to be at the hospital at the same time. I noticed that Rocco took his coffee the same way I did, so I started picking up coffee for the both of us. And then he started grabbing pastries for us. Somehow one thing led to another and we ended up in a heavy make out session, dry humping against the alley wall of a café.” “And you weren’t going to tell anyone?” I ask. “Didn’t you think that we would be happy for you?” “It’s not that...” he sighs. “At first, we kept quiet because of everything that was going on with your ki
Rocco looks at me, completely gobsmacked. “W-w-what do you mean?” I roll my eyes. “Do you really think Grayson wouldn’t tell me everything? Especially after I caught the two of you fucking the bathroom! Why are you keeping my best friend a secret?” “I’m not!” Rocco cries, though it is very obvious that neither of us believe him. I don’t even dignify that with a response. I just fold my arms over my very full breasts and stomach and glare at the man. “I’m not ashamed of being with Grayson!” he insists, eyes wide. “I just…” Rocco’s words peter out like he isn’t sure how to explain. I look around the room that we’re in and realize that it’s an office. Good. I can’t stand for long with the baby being this big and sitting on my hips. Makes my legs numb. Grabbing a seat, I watch my brother-in-law begin to pace as he tells me what’s going on. “My family knows that I’m gay. I came out to Bianca and Dante when
Three years later… “Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Freddie! Happy Birthday to you!” My beautiful little boy, Frederico “Freddie” Dante Luciano, is turning three years old today. Here we are, surrounded by family and friends and sugar high toddlers, in a place that I never thought that we would make. Of course, the second the we finish singing and Freddie blew out his candles, he immediately shoved his hand into the cake, screaming, “It’s chocolate cake! Mommy got me chocolate cake!” “Oh, Freddie! That was for everyone. You can’t put your hands in it,” I scold him. “You say that like you don’t have two other cakes in the kitchen, cara mia. Let the boy enjoy his cake,” Dante tells me as he wraps his arm around my shoulder and kisses my head. “Then you can be the one to put him to bed tonight,” I tell Dante to loud laughs from Emily who is holding her and Josiah’s two-year-old
When I first met Bianca, I thought that she was stuck up, petty, and materialistic. I would have thought that she would want a black-tie affair without children in the most expensive and exclusive place in New York. Now that I really know my sister-in-law, nothing could be further from the truth. Yeah, the girl loves to shop and she was never seen anywhere without her red bottomed shoes and Kate Spade bag. But when it came to what is important to her, family was the name of the game. “Honesty, Quinn, I would love to just go down to City Hall with the family and then go out to dinner. But you know Papà won’t allow that,” she groans. It’s been a month since my brother had proposed and, even though Emilia has tried to get Bianca to start planning the wedding, Bianca has steadfastly put her mother off. Today, Bianca and I are having a spa day. We’ve already had facials and massages and are in the process of pedicures before we get mani
After my spa day with Bianca, I went to Freddie’s pre-school to pick him up at the end of the day. He runs out and directly into my arms. “Mommy! Mommy! I’m so excited!” he cries as I pick him up and squeeze him tight. I’m not going to be able to pick him up much longer. At four months pregnant, my OBGYN would probably be apoplectic over the fact that I’m carrying him right now. But it’s something that I know I’m going to miss and have decided that I’m going to carry him until my anniversary in a week, when I’ll have hit the five-month mark. Yes, it’s an arbitrary time, but I it’s the decision I made and I’m going to stick with it. “Hello, amore. How was your day at school? What has you so excited?” I ask him, turning and carrying him to the car. Josiah clucks his tongue as he sees me carrying Freddie in my arms, but he doesn’t say anything. He knows from experience with his own wife having been pregnant that you don’t fight with a mother-t