LOGINMy dad greets him with such genuine joy and excitement that it makes my heart swell with joy. They talk for a few minutes about Dominic’s day before dad gives him a little nudge back towards the gate where Kent and I are waiting. Dominic gives dad a kiss before running ahead again. My dad waves to
“Papa!” Dominic shouts, startling me out of my reverie as he drops my hand and darts down the road. I look up, a huge smile breaking out on my face again as I see Kent on the sidewalk just ahead. His back is to us as he speaks companionably with the butcher, a heavy bag of his purchases already hung
As I walk down the street towards the little Italian kindergarten, the whispers start around me, as they always do. I listen to all of them, a big German Shepherd padding quietly at my heels. “Is that her?” “Yes, that’s the one – I heard she was her husband’s mistress before he married her – tha
Both Kent and I laugh, but Don Bianci – across the baptismal font from us – snaps his eyes up, perhaps not liking the joke as much as we do. But I just ignore it, because dad’s right, frankly – and it’s too happy a day to care. After the final blessing everyone applauds Dominic – he likes that, bl
“Well, it didn’t seem to affect your first very badly,” Ivan says with a shrug, peering around Kent to where Daniel is laughing with an arm around Jerome’s shoulders. “So…maybe keep it up.” I smirk, squeezing Ivan’s hand once more before standing and moving to Kent’s side, tucking myself against h
“Hey, gorgeous,” Ivan says, his mouth turned up in a smirk as I cross the churchyard, beaming at him. “Look who’s talking,” I say, laughing and reaching for him when I come close enough. Ivan wraps me in a hug, dropping a kiss to my cheek as I hold Dominic a bit to the side so he doesn’t get squis
The police process the bail faster than I thought they would – though, as I consider it, I realize that I have no idea how long it usually takes. Daniel gathers the car keys off the table, nodding to us after he hangs up with the police, letting us know that he’s going to go get Jerome. “Fill ‘er u
The doctor murmurs his agreement with Alessi but then moves around the room, preparing the tests and then calling a nurse into the room to prep my bloodwork. Daniel obligingly opens his mouth, letting the doctor swipe around the inside of his cheeks with a cotton swab, while the nurse ties a rubber
I glance at Daniel, frantic. Daniel looks back at me with the same expression, his face whiter than I’ve ever seen it. I whip my attention back to Ivan. “What,” I ask, my voice shaking. “What’s – what’s happening.” He just waves the gun at me, continuing to listen to something on his radio. Then,
Kent just shakes his head. It’s not that he’s actually comfortable…he just. There’s no reason to move. He is not going anywhere until he gets the word back from the lab. And considering that they paid an exorbitant amount of money to convince the lab workers to process his specimen immediately and







