Kate

Six months later

"Okay are you ready?" I asked Alessio and turned around to face him as he straightened his tie. "Alessio?"

"Hm."

"I said are you ready?"

"Yeah, yeah." He muttered and took the seat next to me.

"This is important to me Alessio."

"I know, I know."

I gave him an exasperated look and then turned back to the screen. It was Sunday. I had a skype date with Uncle Sammy and none had been more important than this particular one. You see, no one exactly knew we were engaged. It's not as though it had been exactly a secret but we just knew the wedding wouldn't be something that happened anytime soon.

We had the big move on our hands, and Alessio's recovery. When Alessio was finally getting more mobility back in his arm and strength we'd made an agreement. Well, I had sort of made an agreement. When I thought Alessio was dying I had sprouted off so many random places that we still had to go to, told him I would leave everything behind and we could go to Paris, and Denmark and Ireland and this big long list. As it turned out Alessio had made a mental note that included each and every one of them.

We'd done some traveling. And by some, I meant a lot, and by a lot I mean, well, probably too much. We had only just settled back into Italy last week where we would be staying with his parents for a bit of time.

"Go ahead." He motioned towards the computer. I took a deep breath. I counted to five in my head, bringing up the courage to take the plunge and Alessio took it for me.

He hit the call button before I got a chance to. I shot him a dirty look and gave him a gentle shove. "I was going to do it."

"Uh huh." He teased and turned his attention towards the screen.

A few seconds later Uncle Sam popped up on the screen with a huge smile. "Katie-pie! And, oh, Alessio. Nice to see you too." His smile fell.

Alessio gave a half salute.

"Hi Sammy." I forced a nervous smile.

"How's my favorite girl? And her boyfriend or whatever too."

Alessio chuckled. Whether or not he was willing to admit it, Sammy didn't hate Alessio quite as much anymore. We'd made progress. He was a little sore about him taking me across the globe but also had a great deal of respect that he had given up the Mafia Legacy he had been building most of his life.

"We are very good."

"To what do I owe the honor?" Sammy motioned towards Alessio and I glanced to him nervously.

"We were wondering..." I said and put my hand on Alessio's chest. "Uh, well..."

"We'd be honored if you would come to visit us. I would of course make the flying arrangements and the house has more than enough room for everyone." Alessio said easily.

"Well shit, why didn't you say so? Of course I want to come up and see my Katie-pie!"

"Great. We were thinking you could come down in a few weeks and stay for, oh, I don't know...a month...month and a half maybe..."

Sammy laughed. "I can't stay for that long are you crazy! I still have a job to go to there's no way I can take that much time off!"

"Well I thought it sounded about right." I turned to Alessio. "I mean that would give us enough time to pick out dresses and tuxes, scope out the churches and bakeries, there's so much to do-"

"Wait! Wait! Hold up, hold up a Goddamned second. Churches? Dresses? Katie, what is going on?"

I gave nervous another nervous glance and then raised my left had straight up to show off the ring. "Surprise?" I said weakly.

He turned his gaze to Alessio, a dangerous, threatening gaze. I was relieved that we were only talking over skype, had we been in person the shotgun might have come out. "You're getting married?"

"Uh, yeah." I said and laughed nervously.

"In about three months." Alessio added on.

"What?" Sammy gaped.

I swatted Alessio. "What? It's not like he wouldn't have found out when he got here anyway."

"Three months?" Sammy continued.

"Well we could have at least handled it a bit more delicately?"

"Three months? Oh my God, you got her pregnant didn't you! You son of a-"

I rolled my eyes. "We'd have to be having sex to get pregnant."

"Kate!" Alessio snapped his head in my direction.

"What?" I tried back innocently. "I was just saying."

"We have sex." He muttered and then for good measure and to uphold his ego turned towards the screen again. "We have sex." He assured Sammy then turned back to me.

Alessio refused to be touched during the entire rehabilitation, when he started building strength up in his hand he seemed to uncertain. He would make an advance and as soon as I returned the gesture he pulled away. It was like we were starting all over again.

As soon as he had his strength up Alessio wanted to start traveling, I think he didn't know what to do without the mafia and couldn't face reality yet. He said he wanted me to see everything the world had to offer because he wouldn't even be here in this world anymore if not for me. I think it was a cop out from reality.

Alessio wasn't exactly 100% when we flew out of Italy, not even close. He'd made progress but he was pretty intolerable with the help. Maybe it was a pride thing, but he surely didn't put a very large effort into his rehab. He was restless. He agreed to continue with therapy while we traveled but in our travels he made so many more attempts to use his hand than he ever had in therapy he actually made a lot more progress with just our traveling than he had with his rehabilitation.

You would think being in the city of love, Paris, seeing the Eifel Tower romance would blossom between us, but it didn't. Most nights we were both exhausted by the time we pulled the night to a close we fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow. Between all the sight seeing and Alessio's rehab sessions and knowing how early we would have to get up the next day to complete all of our travels, we really didn't have the time or energy for certain intimacies...

We were exhausted, and overwhelmed, and since we had finally settled down in one place things would be getting better. But the risk of pregnancy was pretty low.

"Erm, and you choose now to bring this up?" He motioned back towards the computer and we both forced a smile.

"Damn it all to hell. Of course I'll be there, I'll...ah hell, I'll figure something out." Sammy mumbled rubbing the back of his head.

"Great, Alessio will text you the details of your flight. I love you Sammy."

"I love you to Katie-pie."

"I have to call Stace. I'll see you soon?"

"You know it."

I smiled until the camera cut out. "Honestly Kate?" Alessio snapped and stood up. He paced around the room for a few moments oblivious to the fact that I was already calling Stacey and Pietro. "We have sex, plenty of sex. If we aren't have enough sex you should tell me that in private! Not in front of your uncle, sometimes I swear you're so dense. This should be a private conversation damn it."

"Yeah, it probably should be."

Alessio whirled around when he heard the familiar voice of his cousin. "Son of a-" He started but cut himself off. He pulled his composure back together and sat down beside me.

On the screen Pietro was calmly trying to balance a bottle on Stacey's stomach, Stacey looked worse than I had ever seen her with messy hair and bag under her eyes she was still in a nightgown and oversized robe.

"So...how are you guys?"

"We're good." Pietro said pleasantly and Stacey turned to him with a scowl and then back to the screen.

"We are not good! My legs are like balloons, I have to pee every three minutes, my back is killing me and I can't sleep because I can't find a comfortable position and the second I do, I have to pee again!"

"Really good, we're really, really good." Pietro added with a chipper smile.

Stacey turned to Pietro and for a moment I really thought we were going to be witnesses to a murder, not like it would be the first time but she suddenly smiled and shoved him, the bottle on her stomach never even moving. "You're such an áss."

"You guys are cute." I chuckled. "What would be the odds that you'd be willing to make a trip up here in a few weeks for say, oh I don't know, two months."

"Now? I mean...I think that would be better after I have the baby, don't you? I won't really be able to do much of anything, not unless we pull around a portapotty or stick some diapers on me. I mean, don't get me wrong I'm so jealous of you being in Italy and I want to go sightseeing like you wouldn't believe but I mean...look at me!"

"Well..." She was going to be so mad. The ugly truth was even though Alessio and I had just decided to plan the wedding we had been engaged for months and hadn't told either. I had actually told Nash and Mia but we had neglected to tell our own families.

"If you come any later you'll miss the wedding." Alessio said boldly.

Stacey sat up abruptly and the bottle fell off. "What? Wedding? Who is getting married?"

I glared at Alessio. "You could have handled that more delicately!" I hissed.

"You could have not told your uncle about our sex life." He replied back and kissed me on the cheek. Bastard.

I turned back to Stacey and Pietro. Pietro looked completely calm. He probably did know, and even if he didn't he was more than accustomed to Alessio's spur of the moment plans. A very shortly planned wedding would be nothing to him but Stacey was a different story.

I raised my hand and shrugged sheepishly. "Surprise."

She was completely mute for almost thirty full seconds before the squealing began. Alessio jumped and quickly muted the computer and turned to look at me as though we'd just survived an atomic bomb. We both watched Stacey silently bobbing up and down, her lips moving rapidly and her hands weaving vividly throughout the air.

"Maybe we could fake a power outage." He whispered to me and I tried to suppress a smile. I was trying to be mad at him.

"We're on a laptop, it has a battery." I whispered back

"I can have Donato knock it down?"

"And break it?"

"I'll buy you a new one. Hell, I'll buy you three if you just make her stop doing, well, that."

I rolled my eyes and unmuted the computer. "Stace, Stacey, Stace!"

She finally stopped and waited for me to say something else.

"We have like so many people to call." I lied. "I'll text you with the details and flight information. I mean, you are coming right?"

"Of course I'm coming! Oh my gosh, this is so exciting. But so soon, oh God, you aren't pregnant too are you?"

"Baby, they'd have to be having sex to be pregnant." Pietro muttered loud enough for us to hear and I laughed while Alessio fumed beside me.

"Alright guys, love you, talk to you later." I said and sighed off.

I turned to Alessio who looked furious and laughed I wrapped my arms around him before he could storm away the way I knew he was going to and kissed him. "Wanna make a liar out of me?" I breathed into his ear.

"You little minx." He stood, taking my hand he pulled me across the room and onto the bed.

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Happy Monday readers!

Yes, Stacey and Pietro are expecting a baby! :O And a lot of you guys were pretty concerned Alessio was actually crippled, he just had a lot of recovery to go through, and the stubborn little shit he is made it so much more difficult by refusing help (;

If you're in the mood for a new read check out the newish story I've been working on called Heavy Wears The Crown. It is currently one of my favorite things I've ever written next to When Darkness Calls (brownie points if any of you guys remember that from before I took it down (;

Don't forget to vote and comment!