My Mafia Romance

Capitolo Trentatre

"Why would I ever let you hold my child?" I spat out gripping my baby boy tighter than before.

"Fine," he held his hands up in surrender. "I'll let you handle them. I'm going to bed," my father stalked off slamming his bedroom door.

"Come on Danny," I urged the toddler. "Let's get you cleaned up."

I was woken up several times throughout the night, twice to Christian's crying and once to Domenico calling around midnight to make sure everything was still going okay. He sounded exhausted and stressed out and kept the conversation relatively short and to the point. In the morning my father was already gone and it was just the boys, two guards and myself.

"Ciao Mama," I smiled at hearing my mother's voice.

"Ciao amore how are you and the children?" She asked with her usual sweet and caring tone.

"We're fine," I said as I gently pushed Christian's baby swing gently with my shoe-clad foot. "What have you been up to?"

"I have been working in the garden. You won't believe how big it has gotten!" She rambled on excitedly. A year and a half ago I would have been been just as excited, maybe even more, but I felt like I had grown up so much since marrying Domenico. However unconventional our union began it had made me grow up in so many ways. I was a wife and a mother, and no longer the weak and naive girl I had been when I left New York.       

"That's great," I said absentmindedly twirling a piece of my long, dark brown hair around my finger. The phone conversation with my mother droned on and on with polite chitchat. So much time had passed that I didn't feel that I could connect with her the way I used to. I was a completely different person than who I used to be.

The phone conversation with my mother was the only highlight of the day. The boys and I weren't allowed to step foot outside of the hotel suite. Daniele was beginning to go stir crazy and was trying to get into anything he could. At least back at the villa in Sicily he could run and play outside but here it was a complete 180 for him.

My day consisted of taking care of the boys and waiting around for Domenico's phone call. He called at the most random times and during each phone call he sounded more irritated than before. I didn't dare ask what it was that he was doing and how long it would take to go back home, I knew better than to do that. If I wanted for my husband to be diligent then I needed to be supportive and patient, even if that meant I wouldn't be home next week for my twenty third birthday.

Daniele sat next to Christian and I on the couch, after we ordered lunch, and read one of his children's picture books to us. I encouraged him to read as many books as he wanted out loud to me. When I was growing up all I ever did was read books, it was a nice distraction from reality.

"Apollonia!" I heard my father call coming in through the front door followed by several guards, interrupting Danny mid sentence. "What?" I responded as both boys looked up at the intimidating man towering over us.

"We need to go," he said.

"Domenico has not said anything to me about leaving the hotel," I retorted placing Danny's book down on the coffee table.

"Your husband called me half an hour ago and wants me to take you to the doctor," my father said.

"I don't need to go to the doctor. I'm fine and the baby is fine, besides I'll be able to go home soon anyway." I turned my attention back to Christian who was turning his head between my father and myself as we spoke.

"I'm acting on Domenico's strict orders." He walked to the opposite side of the room and poured himself a glass of whiskey. "He told me to make sure that you went and to make sure that his new son is healthy."

"I don't want you taking me to the doctors," I rolled my eyes. How the hell does Domenico know that this baby will be a boy? It could very well be a girl!

"Tough luck," he said knocking back his glass of whiskey. "It's either go see the doctor or you can neglect your health and the health of your child."

He lite a cigarette and walked out onto the balcony. "Be ready in twenty minutes."

One hour later I was sitting in the deserted waiting room of the OBGYN with Daniele sitting to my right, my father to my left, and Christian on my lap. I didn't feel comfortable leaving the boys with the guards, even though I knew them my kids did not. I was going to have to leave the boys with my father for the duration of the doctors appointment, against my better judgement.

"Signora Manzoni?" The nurse called with a clipboard in hand. I got up handing Christian over for my father to hold for the first time as a guard followed me in so that he could stand guard outside of the room. After the nurse had taken my vitals and left for a period of time to retrieve the doctor, he came in with an uneasy smile on his face. He obviously knew the man sitting in the waiting room with two small boys and of course he recognized me as Domenico's wife. The doctor's hands mildly shook as he analyzed the information on the clipboard.

"Signora Manzoni all your vitals appear to be good with the exception of your high blood pressure. Now I'll perform a sonogram to ensure the baby's developing normally." I was eager to see how my baby was doing, I didn't have time to go to my normal physician before Domenico had us shipped to Italy.

"Well this looks like a healthy baby. It appears to be only about two and a half months." He moved the wand over various parts of my stomach pointing out basic features of the fetus. I'm going to give a prescription for the prenatal vitamins that you can pickup from the nurse out front."

After I had picked up the prescription and made my way back to the waiting room with the guard in tow I found Danny reading a new book to my father, who was bouncing a squirming Christian on his lap.

"Nonno are you listening?" Daniele scowled at the my father who was more so preoccupied with Christian. "Si Daniele," he sighed.

Once he saw me making my way back over to them he eagerly stood up and handed Christian back over to me. "Here Christian go back to your mama."

Christian latched back onto me and began harshly tugging on my dangling earrings with a slight grin on his face. "Christian stop," I scolded the four month old which only prompted him to pull harder. It's almost like he knew that Domenico wasn't around so he could act out, of course he's less than 6 months old so he obviously didn't know that. But in the back of my mind I entertained the possibility.

This was basically a filler chapter until the big plot climax happens!