Two chapters in one weekend! They're probably going to slow down after this, because I now have two jobs and school, but I wanted to get another one out for you.
This chapter felt really good! It just poured itself onto the page, and that's my favorite way to write a chapter.
Thanks for reading!
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Francesca spent the night relaxing.
She watched a few episodes of a random telenovela with the captions on, took a quiet bath, and collapsed on the bed wearing her favorite pair of pajamas. It was only when Fran was about to fall asleep that she remembered she needed to call her husband.
Reaching for her phone that was charging on the dark wooden nightstand, she sat up with a sigh. Fran didn't really know how this conversation was going to go. She didn't know if she wanted to find out.
In all honesty, she didn't want to know, but she had made a promise to her husband.
As angry as she was at him, Fran didn't want their relationship to fade into nothing while she was away. She debated on which button to hit for a few minutes before placing her thumb on the bright green video-call button.
It barely rung before Tony picked up.
His eyes looked like they were about to shut and his hair was the frizziest she'd ever seen it. Tony looked so uncomfortable, and Fran wondered if it was about her. Lately she kept having to remind herself why she was mad at him.
"Fran?" He murmured like he needed to make sure she was really there.
"Hi, Tony," she responded. The awkwardness felt like she was trying to talk to her middle school crush. She rolled her eyes.
"What's wrong?" A blush covered her cheeks when she realized he had definitely seen the eye roll.
"I—I don't know, we're just acting a bit awkward." She didn't want to delve into the subject. Fran quickly changed the topic. "How was your day?"
"Not great, to be honest," he could only hold up a smile for a few seconds before it dropped off of his face. She gave him a sympathetic one back.
"Well, I have some news that might make it worse," she laughed bitterly. His eyes widened in confusion, and she had a feeling she'd really caught his attention now.
"Is something wrong? Did something happen? Nathan said everything went fine, did you convince him—"
"No," she responded, "I didn't. My mother is...um..." somehow the words couldn't come out of Francesca's mouth.
"Is she...okay?"
"As okay as she can be, Tony. She's pregnant."
"What the hell?" The volume of Tony's voice surprised her but he didn't seem to notice. "I don't think I heard you right, Fran. You froze for a second."
"You didn't hear wrong, Tony. I was just as surprised as you," Fran said, her voice a deep monotone. She hoped tomorrow when she woke up that this would all be a dream, but she knew deep down she would have to deal with more of this tomorrow.
"I—how?" Were the only words Tony could say. Fran felt tears building in her eyes and willed them not to spill over.
"She cheated on my dad," she wailed, unable to hold back the tears, "She's nine months pregnant, Tony."
"Hey, hey, don't cry, Fran," Tony tried to comfort to no avail. His hands twitched, just wishing his wife was in his arms instead of over a thousand miles away. She continued to cry, so hard at one point that she dropped the phone.
Tony had never felt this helpless before. He whispered soft words of encouragement and simply waited until she was calm enough to lift up the phone again. She sniffled and curled into a pillow, all in Tony's view.
"It'll be alright, baby, I promise. Do you want to talk about it some more?" He questioned. She shook her head with another sniffle.
"I just want to sleep...will you stay on until I fall asleep?"
"Of course I will, Fran, you don't even have to ask." His heart broke to watch her close her eyes and hiccup every few minutes and wondered if this was gonna be a long night for her. Sure enough, a few seconds later, her eyes opened and she let out a loud groan.
Francesca rose back into a sitting position and scrubbed at her eyes with her fists.
"I hate that I'm letting her get to me," Fran commented. She stopped rubbing her eyes and fiddled with the big, white, soft comforter.
"You're not, Fran, it just caught you by surprise. That's all. Don't worry too much about it, alright?" Tony knew she couldn't help when her mind thought the worst.
"I'll try," she said with a soft, reassuring smile, "thank you, babe. You'll stay on the phone?" He nodded and hummed in response to her question and watched as she turned the television on to have some background noise.
He too laid back in his bed, wearing the clothes he'd been wearing all day, and let his eyes shut. It had been a long day for both of them.
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Fran woke up to snoring and flew up so quickly in bed that her vision went black for a few seconds.
She let out a quick breath of relief when she realized Tony had never hung up the phone last night. He only ever really snored when he was absolutely exhausted, and felt a little guilty that she'd dragged him through that much.
She pushed away the guilt and assured herself that they both have endured worse.
When Fran realized why she was waking up, a nauseous feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. She didn't want to get ready, because getting ready meant leaving...she didn't want to see her mother.
It was apparent her husband needed sleep, so she whispered a quick, "I love you,", hung up the phone, and sent him a text of her plans for the day. He didn't need to be unnecessarily worrying all the time.
She got dressed as slow as she possibly could. They didn't have a set time they were leaving that morning, but maybe if Fran took a long time they wouldn't go. Why had she asked to come home in the first place?
Oh, right. The mafia. It was kind of a good reason to endure all of this voluntarily.
Once she was finished getting ready, she groaned when she realized only two hours had passed. Surely she could find something else to do?
Playing a game on her phone only lasted about five minutes, so she grunted angrily and called Nathan.
"Mrs. Romano," he answered immediately, waiting for a command.
"We'll eat lunch then go to my mother's house. Thank you for your help," her voice got softer towards the end of the sentence.
"It's not problem, Mrs. Romano," he cleared his throat, "we'll be in front of your door in a minute. Don't open it for anyone else."
"Yes sir," she joked, then sighed when she didn't get a response. "Thank you," Fran said curtly.
Sure enough, there was a knock on the door less than a minute later. She looked through the small glass hole in the door before pulling it open and greeting Nathan and Maran. They both nodded at her before motioning for her to step between them and they made their way to the car.
Nathan sat with her in the back again and the drive to her mom's house was way too quick.
"Can I have a moment?" She asked. Nathan nodded and him and Maran slid out of the car. She gathered her thoughts for a few minutes, then stepped out.
When she knocked on the door it was almost as if her mother was waiting for it. The door was opened quickly and Lucy immediately scowled at the two men surrounding Fran.
"They can't come in," she demanded. Francesca simply rolled her eyes.
"If they don't come in, I don't come in," and Fran had no problem with going back home and getting a good night's sleep with her husband. She was already so over this trip, and though she needed space this definitely wasn't the right decision.
As she thought about it more, she was glad Tony let her realize that rather than forcing her to stay. Her heart swelled a little bit, but it died down the longer she stared at her mother.
Lucy opened the door a bit wider to allow Nathan and Maran Innside before slamming it behind them. Francesca flinched at the noise, showing just how nervous she was. Nathan rested his hand on her arm and she cleared her throat.
Francesca helped herself to a glass of water before sitting at the same seat she had sat in the day before. Her mother was once again dolled up in heels and makeup, looking distastefully at Fran's outfit, which consisted of simple jeans and a comfortable t-shirt. She couldn't deal with her mother if she forced herself to wear a dress right now.
"I have questions for you, mother, and I'd like them answered politely. Understood?" Fran asked impatiently. She was already changing her mind...she wanted to go back home tomorrow. This is not where she belonged.
Lucy grumbled under her breath, rolled her eyes, but nodded for Fran to ask them.
"What are you going to do with the baby?" This was an answer Francesca was dreading.
"It's going up for adoption, Francesca. I obviously cannot take care of a baby right now," her mother muttered, looking surprised that Fran didn't already know the answer to that.
"What else do you possible have to do?" Fran asked incredulously. Her mother avoided eye contact.
"You wouldn't understand."
"Then tell me, mother!" The conversation had already escalated. Her mother always wanted to beat around the bush.
"I don't want it, okay?" Her mother snapped. She looked down at the table in shame. "I can't keep it."
"You can, mother, you created it and you need to take responsibility. How could you cheat on dad?"
"You don't know anything."
"So just tell me, god damnit!" Nathan took a step forward, just as he had yesterday. Fran swallowed.
"It's none of your business, alright? This is my decision. Leave it alone," her mother yelled. As much as Francesca wanted to argue, it was her mother's decision. She didn't want her half-sibling to be put into the system.
"Mother," an idea struck Fran, "what if..."
"What if what, Francesca? There's no way I'm keeping this child. You can't convince me otherwise."
"What if I took it?" Francesca blurted. She didn't miss the intake of breath in Nathan and Maran's direction.
"What did you just say?" Her mother asked in astonishment. She couldn't believe her ears.
"I'll take it," Fran muttered, tears streaming down her face, "I'll take the child."
She would live the rest of her life in guilt if she let her sibling go like this, and this was the only solution she could think of. She'd always loved and got along well with kids.
"Shit," Nathan muttered. Fran was sure she wasn't supposed to hear it, so she ignored it. Her and Tony could find a way to work through this.
They'd have to.
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What did y'all think?
Should she be doing this?
Is there another solution she didn't think of?
What do you think of Nathan's reaction?
Let me know what you thought :).
Thanks for reading!