For The Empire - Sempre

Chapter 23

"Only a couple more days!" I say excitedly to Annalisa as we wait for our lunch to be served.

The last few days have been jam-packed, thankfully, with making sure everything is ready for the wedding on Saturday and also with the training at work.

Letty was both excited and nervous after Rio told her she would take over as leader. I was happy to step back and watch her take charge, and the other girls were extremely supportive of the change.

With Sean gone for business with his family, we've talked through text and calls every night. But things are tense with us, to say the least. We haven't really had any time alone, and I know it's bothering him, but he doesn't want to push it either, especially after my panic attack.

Every conversation Sean and I have tends to revolve around the kids, the progress or lack of progress they're making on finding Jimmy to and also about JP. 

Sean was very supportive when I told him about the video message Timo left me, and I confided the guilt I felt for not making an effort to reach out to Timo before Jimmy killed him.

The memories of having almost the same conversation with JP after my dad-Dominic died replayed in my mind as well. I'm frustrated and annoyed that everything always seems to come back to JP. The good with the bad.

Annalisa grabs my attention again when she squeals happily. "I seriously can't wait. Do you remember how I used to write my name with the boy's last name that I was crushing on when we were kids? I've been practicing my signature with Joey's last name; since both mine and his name are so long, I decided to do a pretty "A" with his last name."

I smile at her, remembering exactly how she would write and rewrite her name with different last names—depending on who she was crushing on at the time.

"How's the move been going?" I ask.

"Great, everything is in and ready since we're going to be gone for two weeks on our honeymoon." She takes a sip of her Gingerale. "But the best part is how close we are to the house you'll be moving to when Mel..." She stops, widening her eyes.

"It's okay, I know what you mean, and I'm excited, too." I pat her hand softly to ease her distress. "Listen, are you sure you don't want to do something different for tonight?"

Annalisa looks at me, her eyebrows creasing. "No, why?"

"Well, because it's your bachelorette party, and I know combining bachelorette with bachelor parties is becoming a thing now, but I just want to make sure you really want everyone together?"

"Of course I do. I mean, the old me would probably have wanted a Vegas trip or something, right?" Annalisa laughs, "But the one thing that I've learned over the last few years is I want to be surrounded by the people I love. My friends and family. And you know there's never a dull moment when we party, Stella."

I laugh, "True that."

Isabella helped reserve the enormous dining hall for the party tonight and requested all the food we wanted to be catered for the night. With the connection of having the DJ of our club here, he was able to refer a few people, and I got someone who also had karaoke equipment.

And I also arranged the setup for several arcade games like Joey wanted.

There will be an open bar set up as well. Both Annalisa and Joey wanted to skip the rehearsal dinner and combine it with the idea they wanted for their bachelor and bachelorette parties.

"So, have you decided on names for the baby?" I ask.

Annalisa snorts, "Yeah, right. Joey's impossible. I just told him I needed to see the baby first before I could name him or her."