Janeen just watches him with wide eyes as he pushes past her, not even looking at me once before he heads down the hall. Janeen stares after him before she turns her eyes to me. “Seriously, Fay,” she says, staring at me. “What the hell was that?” And I groan and fall back on the bed, covering my
But to Kent’s shock, Daniel just laughs at him. “You know you can do it too, dad,” he murmurs. “You won’t dissolve like a pillar of salt if you let loose a few tears.” Kent smirks a little, grateful for Daniel’s sense of humor. “You sure about that?” “Nope,” Daniel says, sniffing and shaking his
Slowly, Kent raises his head and meets his son’s gaze, but he doesn’t say anything. Daniel lets out his breath slowly, beginning to nod. “I don’t want to lie,” Kent says softly. “Or to undermine what I had with your mom. She was…my partner and my wife. I treasured her, and loved her deeply, but
“All right,” Daniel says, laughing a little and leaning back in his chair as he shakes his head in awe. “I think that’s enough therapy for one day. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cry – not once in my life.” “Well, don’t get used to it,” Kent mutters, wiping at his face. But then he lo
Kent nods slowly, looking down at me, but his face doesn’t register any surprise. “All right,” he says, his voice even. “Where do we begin?” I frown at this, a little – it’s almost as if he was expecting this. “Why aren’t you more surprised by this?” I ask, pulling back a little. “Are you – do y
“Well,” Kent says, leaning back against the pillows and taking me with him a bit so that I’m nestled warmly against his side. He lets his eyes glaze, clearly thinking it through. “I think Ivan’s own motives for asking you to be suspicious of Jerome are certainly a factor.” “And since you met Jerom
Kent laughs a little at my impudent question. “No,” he says. “I didn’t know Jerome was gay – I had no idea. Honestly, Fay, I thought he was into you. I’d heard him talk about girls before – just locker room kind of things with the other guys in the alley - which could very well be a defense mechanis
“I’m done having your prescribed chats,” he growls, bringing his face close to mine. “Fine,” I say, starting to run my fingers through his hair. “Just – you know, whenever you have a minute. Have a little chat with Jerome, please, and see where it takes you. And don’t tell him I’m behind it.”
My 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
He laughs, smiling at me genuinely. “Do I make you nervous?” he asks, blunt. I laugh, unable to help it. “Has no one bothered to tell you, in all these years, that you’re a little terrifying, Don Bianci?” He grins and shakes his head at me. “Well, considering what you accomplished, young lady, I
Two months later, we’re all gathered together again. And it is only with frustration that I see Gio and Janeen standing so close together that their arms nearly brush, even though they’re still not together. I roll my eyes, dismissing the problem for a moment as I move my eyes down to Dominic and
It's an incredible night. Kent didn’t lie, not at all, about the food either. I’m shocked by the mountains of dishes that continue to follow each other, one after another, long into the night. After a few hours of it I just mournfully watch the waiters go by because I couldn’t eat another bite if I