Chapter 44

I held the envelope against my chest while Christian tried to pull it from my hands. “Don’t be ridiculous, just tell me what we’re having!” He forced me as I struggled.

It was a week after the sleepover and we had just come back from the doctors. I was so eager to find out what we would be having, but at the last minute, I decided that I did not want to know.

“No, I want it to be a surprise!” I told him and pushed him away. Over the past week, our friendship had grown even more and we were extremely close friends— you could even say we were best friends. My entire imagine of him being calm and quiet had completely disappeared and I could not imagine not hearing his voice. Unfortunately my crush on him had definitely remained the same, even at times like these when he was being annoying.

“What’s the point? We waited for so long— you can’t change your mind last minute!”

“Yes, I can,” I told him and released myself from his grip. “You guys are just too adorable, please get married soon.” Stella pouted. His twin sisters were in the middle of our disagreement, and I felt terrible that also they did not know about the fake relationship and were extremely fond of me. It also wasn’t that difficult to notice the uncomfortable look on Christian’s face— probably due to him knowing about the crush I had.

After the doctor's appointment, we went to his parents' house, because also they wanted to hear the news.

“How about a gender reveal?” Mia suddenly suggested while Christian and I gave each other an unsure look. “I agree, let’s make the annual Lamberti-Russo family reunion a gender reveal party.” Francesca had suddenly walked in and everyone went quiet.

It was the first time I had seen her ever since everything had happened, and seeing her still made me nervous. “Mom, if you want to sabotage her aga-“

“No.” She cut off Christian and walked towards us while he immediately grabbed my hand in a protective matter. “I’m serious Serena, I know we did not start off on the right foot— but I will not sabotage my own grandchild, ever.” She made clear and I thought about the way she looked at her grandchildren.

“Maybe it will be a good thing.” I smiled, even though I was still a bit skeptical— but Francesca was trying and if I would’ve declined we would’ve been back at square one once again.

“That’s great. Last year grandma and grandpa were pushing you to get married— and this year you are engaged and are having a baby.” Francesca held his hands and pulled him into a hug while Christian tried to push her away. I was worrying about their relationship suffering because of me, but despite everything Francesca still seemed to love him.

“Is everything alright here?” Lucio asked and entered the living room. “Serena.” He smiled at me.

“Mom’s being weird— she’s being nice.” Mia sighed and observed her mom’s strange behavior. If Francesca being nice was already shocking to her own children, it was understandable that they were just as confused as I was.

“So what am I getting, granddaughter— grandson?” Lucio walked over to me. “Mom’s turning the family reunion into a gender reveal,” Stella told her dad.

“Oh?” Lucio spoke surprised and held his hand on my stomach. “Then it’s a good opportunity for me to brag.” He smiled and focused his attention back on Christian. For the past week, Lucio had been calling me every day and tried his hardest to restore the bond we had once shared.

“Christian, we have things to discuss— are you coming?” Lucio spoke and walked off, expecting Christian to follow behind him. “Are you going to be okay?” He asked me and I nodded my head.

“Mom, I swear to god if you-“

“I’m not going to do anything.” Francesca rolled her eyes and pushed Christian out of the living room. The only reason why I did not mind being alone with her, was because Stella and Mia were also there.

“I’ll take this.” Stella smiled and grabbed the envelope from my hands. “Mom, Mia, and I have a lot of planning to do.” She said and walked off with her sister before I could say anything else. Nice, so at the end they left me alone with Francesca.

“Come, I’ll make you some tea.” She weirdly offered and led me to the kitchen. I sat down in silence and looked as she made me tea and placed the cup in front of me. Was it poisoned?

“I won’t poison you with a Lamberti inside you,” Francesca spoke as I took a sip. “Maybe after.”

I almost choked on my tea and looked at her with big eyes. “Just kidding, calm down.” She sighed and sat down.

“I’m trying Serena, really.” She scoffed.

“What do you have against me?” I gathered my courage to ask her. The last thing I wanted was to cause another argument again, but most people liked me so when someone didn’t— just like the girls at the club, it would bother me. “I don’t want Christian to get distracted.”

“Gio seems completely fine,” I mumbled and thought of different reasons other than my background for her not to like me. “Gio does not have to lead an entire family in the future.”

“So you wanted him to be alone forever?” I asked, making Francesca chuckle. “Serena, before you there were many girls but I’ve never seen him talk about anyone the way he talks about you.”

“You’re a distraction, so yes— perhaps I feel threatened.” She finally admitted and shrugged her shoulders. Threatened? By me, the person who would be leaving soon? The person Christian rejected? If she only knew.

“Of course, I’m carrying his baby.” I reminded her. If I did not have the baby— Christian wouldn’t even be giving me any time of his day and had made that very clear before. “Serena, from now on I will educate you.” She suddenly spoke.

“Why?”

“Because you have a lot to learn.” Francesca said while I wondered what her intentions were. What on earth did I have to learn from her?

“So you guys are buddy-buddy now?” Enzo walked into the kitchen and gave me a back hug. “My squirrel.” He cooed and pinched me in my cheeks.

“Is it true mom? About you turning the family reunion into a gender reveal?” Enzo asked and Francesca nodded her head. “Yes, and it will be the biggest you’ve ever seen.” She spoke while I shook my head at her idea. “Small, make it small!”

“But we have a big family, hunny. See, this is what I meant by educating you.”

She had a point. The last time we had dinner here, Christian had told me that all those people were not even half of his family— so I could only imagine.

“I’m glad you guys seem to be...nice to each other— but Gio still hates her, he told me that yesterday.” Enzo casually spoke and grabbed a drink from the fridge. “But then again, who does he not hate.”

“Okay, I should go upstairs— I’m late.” He spoke right afterward and left the kitchen. “Well.” Francesca awkwardly spoke. Judging by Enzo’s tone it was probably a normal thing to get hated by Gio so I decided to let it rest.

I got startled by the sound of loud footsteps and almost fell down losing my balance, making Francesca laugh. “You’re so clumsy, what are we going to do with you.” She sighed and stood up to look who had entered the house. “Wait here, make yourself at home...like you did the last time.”

She walked out as I thought about how it had been the complete opposite. If anything I did not felt at home at all.

‘Boy or girl?’ I read Vince’s text and send back a thinking emoji. Hanging out with Vince, Beau and Luis had been my daily routine and today was the first time in a while that I didn’t. Unlike Christian— Vincenzo was not married to his work and spend his free time with me.

‘It somehow turned into a gender reveal party!’ I responded with a smile on my face. It would be good to have him there, but after learning that the two families were not exactly best friends— I knew that I had to stay on my best behavior.

“Excuse me?” A male voice spoke. I quickly put my phone away and looked at Emilio who was leaning against the door with another guy. “Hey!” I greeted him and made my way to him.

“I see you’re still wearing your necklace!” He said and pulled me into a warm hug. Even though I knew that he was also in the mafia he had never occurred as dangerous to me and I had never feared him the way I had once feared Christian, he was as kind as he looked. “I am, I love it.”

“That’s good, having a good bond with you might also help us in the future.” The other guy next to him spoke. “Brother, always the business talk.” Emilio sighed.

“Oh, my bad.” The other guy apologized and stuck out his hand. “Marcello.”

“Serena, it’s really nice to meet you.” I smiled back. “I really wanted to see you again...but Christian told me you were busy.”

“That’s strange, I never told him that.” Emilio frowned his eyebrows while Marcello laughed. “He probably thought you were going to steal her away from him.” He winked at me.

“That must be it.” Emilio agreed. “Please walk with us, my father would like to meet you.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the living room. There was a man around Lucio’s age sitting on the sofa and had a conversation with Francesca.

“Dad, look!” Emilio told the man who had immediately stood up and walked to me with big eyes, pushing his son away. I got anxious and looked around the room, trying to avoid his eyes but his gaze kept following me.

“Angelica...” He whispered. “Huh?” I asked, but he shook his head. “No it’s just your eyes, you look so-” He took a deep breath.

“It’s really nice to meet you, I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time now— Christian is like family.” He pulled me into a warm hug. Hugging the Alfonzo’s felt comfortable and almost just like hugging my teddy bear. “Nice to meet you, I’m Serena.” I hugged him back and looked at Francesca who rolled her eyes at me. That woman was confusing.

“Matteo Alfonzo.” The man introduced himself and pulled back. “I told you so dad, I’m not crazy.” Emilio stood next to his dad and inspected me while I gave him a questioning look.

“Uh, I told him about you being an absolute beauty.” He explained himself as I shyly nodded my head. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-one?” I spoke confused as to why he would be asking me about my age. Matteo’s widened his eyes and placed his warm hand on my cheek. “You came to us like a blessing.” He said, and I couldn’t help but notice the painful look behind his eyes.

“Serena.” I heard Christian’s voice as he came down from the stairs and grabbed my hand to take a step back while Lucio and Enzo followed behind him. “I haven’t seen you in a long time.” Matteo gave him a smile which he had returned.

“I will come by more often, sir,” Christian said and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. A week ago I would’ve probably fainted, but by now it was something I was used to. Him being touchy and it not meaning anything. “Please do, and take Serena with you.”

“I didn’t know you would be here.” Lucio walked towards the man and hugged him. Just as I had heard, both families appeared to be extremely close. “I wouldn’t, but after hearing Serena was here I came right away. If I didn’t know any better I would say you didn’t want me to meet her.” He laughed at Lucio who denied his accusation.

“Yes, you are always welcome Christian— I’ll make time for you, always.” Emilio agreed and placed a hand on his shoulder before turning to me. “You see that cold look on his face? I liked him better when he was a baby, always happy and energetic—you should’ve seen him running around in his poopy diapers.”

“I was around four but even I remember— we all liked him better back then.” Enzo grinned.

I laughed at this new information Emilio had given me and looked at Christian who seemed embarrassed. “How many times are you going to bring that up.” He rolled his eyes.

“Mom is always asking for you...you should really visit.” Marcello said, while I could read a worried look on Lucio’s face.

“How is she doing?” He asked and Marcello shrugged his shoulders. “It shifts a lot, one day she’s fine— the other day she isn’t.”

“Tell her I’ll let the twins visit her very soon.” Lucio placed his hand on his shoulder.

“No sad talk today...I want to get to know Serena better.” Matteo who had been staring at me the entire time spoke and sat on the sofa again.

For the rest of the day, we had many conversations and I was glad to know that I had found people like the Alfonzo’s— people who I bonded with, without even having to try.

But as curious as I was, I knew there was more to the Alfonzo’s— and it started with the name Matteo had spoken, Angelica.

And to find out about this person I could ask the person who I always ran to, Vincenzo.