JOHN PAUL

The sound of my phone vibrating wakes me up, and I pick it up, seeing a message come in from Adonis regarding one of the underbosses in Chicago.

I skim it briefly and see a shipment was intercepted, and they believe it was the Albanians. I sigh, rubbing my face, and place my phone back on the nightstand.

A soft sigh catches my attention, and I look down and see Stella lying on me, and the events from yesterday replay in my mind. I smile as she tucks herself even closer to me and her leg comes over me.

I lower my head and inhale her deeply; memories flood my mind of our time together when we were younger.

So much has changed.

She's changed, but she's still the same in a lot of ways.

I groan quietly when my phone vibrates again, and I know I have to get up. I ease myself out of her arms and start to cover her, but something catches my eye on her foot. She's wearing an ankle bracelet, but it looks familiar as I move closer.

I carefully move it around her ankle and smile when I see it's the bracelet she had given me for my birthday years ago. Then, I thought I had lost it, remembering I didn't have it on me when I woke up in the hospital after the overdose.

She had come to see me after all; I smile as I look over her sleeping form.

I know I probably shouldn't do it, but I can't help myself as I carefully undo the clasp and pull it off of her ankle. She did give it to me after all.

After I'm changed, I write her a quick note and kiss her head lightly before I walk out of the room and head to my office feeling happy, truly happy for the first time in a long time.

I know I can't move as quickly as I'd like, but the fact that she asked for space from Sean gives me a glimmer of hope. I know she's hesitant because she's scared; I still have to prove to her that I will not hurt her as I had in the past.

I just hope she's willing to give me a chance to prove it.

<><><><>

STELLA

Loud crunching seeps into my sleep-infused haze, and I crack an eye open and see Lola sitting on the bed, eating a can of Pringles.

"Morning!" She grins at me with a mouthful of chips.

I smile at her at first, but then my eyes widen, remembering I'm in JP's room. I look over, and he's not in bed.

"JP's working," Lola informs me as she pops in another chip. "But he left you a love letter." She hands me a greased stained sticky note.

"Morning, princess. I had something come up, and I didn't want to wake you. I'll see you later."

"He called you princess," Lola smiles at me as she sucks the salt off of her fingers.

I chuckle, "You can read?"

She scowls back at me, "Duh? Mamma and Nonna Bella taught me. I like to read a lot."

I smile hearing her refer to my mom as her grandmother, "Well, that's pretty advanced for someone your age, Lolabug."

"I am one of a kind. JP says so," She tells me proudly as she eats another chip.

"Why are you eating chips? Have you had breakfast?" I sit up and stretch my arms over my head.

"Yes, I had eggs and bacon with orange juice. This is my second breakfast."

I don't have my phone to check the time, and I can only imagine the panic Lucy, Miles, and Kai are in right now. I slide off the bed and start making the bed, and Lola hops off the bed.

"I do that too," Lola gestures to the bed. "I like to make my bed, but Carmen tells me we don't have to because the staff will do it. But I like to do it." She sets the can of chips down on the nightstand and starts helping me by pulling the sheets over on her side. I smile as she sticks her tongue out in between her lips in concentration.

"Well, I appreciate the help, Lola. You know what they say, 'many hands make light work.'" I squeeze her shoulders.

She looks back at me, confused, "I don't get it."

"It means when a lot of people help do something, it makes what you're doing easier, and you get done faster," I explain.

"Tell Marco that he doesn't do anything," Lola says, sighing dramatically. "He's still sleeping too."

"We'll wake him up here in a bit. I just need to go shower and change my clothes. How about we do something fun today? Do you want to go to the Aquarium?" I ask her as I adjust the twisted clothing on me from sleep.

"Yay! I'll go tell the others," She says happily.

"Others?"

"Yeah, Lucy, Miles, and Kai. Hello?" She shakes her head at me like I'm an idiot. "We were looking for you this morning, and then we found you in here. They went to finish their breakfast, but I'll go tell them you're up, and we are going to the Aquarium."

"Okay," I sigh, wondering what the kids are thinking, finding me in JP's room.

I look around the room now that it's daylight. I'm surprised by how basic his room is. He has a few pictures of his mom, Carmela, Timo, and one of us, with Joey and Damien standing together outside of the high school we went to.

I look outside his balcony and realize his room is just above the downstairs terrace, off the kitchen. He's probably heard the fights Sean and I have had out there; I shake my head and remind myself I need to get ready and talk to the kids.

<><><><>

I find myself smiling as I look at myself in the mirror but know I need to focus. The space from Sean will be good, but moving out of the villa will help me clear my head. I won't be surrounded by JP's scent everywhere.

I head out of the room and make my way back to where his room is but stop when I see Miles and Kai are stepping out of their rooms as I turn down the hallway, and they both smile when they see me.

"Hi, Moms." They both say at the same time.

"Hi, guys." I chuckle as they shake their heads at each other. "You guys ready?"

"Yeah, I was just going to go get, little man," Kai tells me as he stretches his arms over his head, yawning.

"So, how was your night?" Miles asks while wiggling his eyebrows.

I chuckle and shake my head, "It was fine. We just talked."

"Uh-huh, sure," Miles says.

"Morning, guys!" Lucy beams at us; she has her hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun.

"How are things with you and JP?" Lucy asks me, grinning. Miles and Kai snicker behind her.

"He was upset like you guys but was also happy most of us came home safe," I tell them thinking sadly of Rocco.

Miles knocks on Marco's door, but he and Lucy start bantering and poking fun at each other. Lucy has one hand on her hip and is about to place the other one on the door. When it opens, she falls forward, "Ahhh! Whoa!"

She stumbles in, and Marco tries to catch her but trips over his own feet as he backs up, and she falls on top of him. Marco groans from the impact they make on the floor.

He's shirtless and in his boxers, a toothbrush in his mouth. Lucy peeks up at him and blushes. "Morning," She mumbles. She places her hand on his chest to lean away but then pulls it back, "Sorry, I--" She scrambles up quickly, and Miles holds his hand out to help Marco up.

"I just gotta get dressed." He says as the toothpaste is foaming in his mouth. We tell him we'll meet him downstairs.

He tries to smile at Lucy, but then toothpaste drips out of his mouth. I chuckle as he runs to his bathroom. Then, I realize it was the first time I've seen him attempt to smile in the last few weeks since his mom died.

Kai goes on ahead to get Tobin while the rest of us check on Carmen and Lola. Lola greets us happily and pulls Miles into her room, asking his opinion on which outfit to wear.

"You already have clothes on, Lola," I state, folding my arms.

"Yes, but now I need to change for the aquarium," Lola informs me and drags Miles into her room further.

Lucy and I head to Carmen's room and knock. When she doesn't answer, Lucy taps on the door as she opens it, "Car, you awake?"

I push the door open and see her bed is empty, but the sheets are rumpled. We hear some soft crying coming from the bathroom, and Lucy knocks softly, "Car? It's Lucy. Are you okay?"

The door opens a little, and we see Carmen's red, tear-streaked face partially. She sniffles, "It happened." She whimpers.

"Can I come in?" Lucy asks her quietly. Carmen opens the door a little, and Lucy walks in. I turn and straighten Carmen's room a little, picking up the clothes on the floor and making the bed. Even though JP has maids, I don't mind doing it.

Lucy walks out and tells me Carmen is going through her first menstrual cycle. I smile, "Well, isn't this coming full circle?" I tease Lucy.

Lucy smiles, "I remembered everything you told me and shared it with Carmen. But I need to grab her some stuff. I told her you'd be here while I run to grab it." She hurries out of the room.

I walk over to the bathroom and sit outside the door. "Carmen? It's Stella. I just wanted to let you know; I'm here if you want to talk. I know it's probably really scary, but it's something all girls go through."

Silence follows.

"I miss mamma; I wish she were here." She whispers, and my eyes prickle with tears. I sigh as I look up at the ceiling.

"You know, I didn't have my mom when mine first came, too. Serena had died, and Isabella wasn't here."

"Who helped you?" She cracks the door and peeks out at me.

"Carmela," I smile at her. "You know I didn't know she was my nonna?"

"She was like our nonna, too," Carmen says as she wipes her eyes. She doesn't say anything for a moment before she looks at me. "You, Lucy and Me, we're the same. We didn't have our moms when we got this..." Her eyes widen, and a beautiful smile comes to her face, "We should start a club!"

I laugh, "Good idea, Car."

Lucy rushes back in and goes over the how-to's, and then we grab her clothes and wait for her to change. Finally, she comes out dressed, and her hair is brushed. Her eyes and nose are still pink from crying, but she hugs us, thanking us.

As the kids begin to load up into the SUV, JP walks out with Nicky and Adonis. JP greets all of the kids. They ask him to come with us, but he tells them he has to go to work.

Nicky greets me and gets in the SUV with the kids. Then, another set of guards get into another SUV. My mom is also joining us; she said she wanted to make up for all the times she wished she could take me to places as a kid.

JP pulls me off to the side, "How'd you sleep?"

"Good, really good," I tell him honestly.

"Me too," He smiles at me almost shyly, and it warms my heart. "Call if anything comes up, okay?"

"I will," I smile at him and then lean in as I lower my voice. "Also, just so you know, Carmen is now officially a young lady. She's had the unfortunate displeasure of having her first monthly visitor."

JP's eyes widen, "I'm glad you were here to handle it. I mean, I've read up on some stuff and watched some videos on how to address it to be prepared, but if I'm honest, I was terrified of actually talking to her about it."

I laugh lightly, "I would have paid to listen in on that conversation."

JP smiles back at me and brushes some of my hair away from my face. "I hope you don't have any regrets about last night." His fingers linger on my face.

I bite my lip as I smile and shake my head at him. "No, but it will be good when we get to go the other house because, in all honesty, I can't think clearly when I'm around you, John Paul."

John Paul steps closer to me as his hand moves down the side of my neck, and he pulls me towards him slightly; my pulse starts accelerating. "Maybe you should stop resisting what you know you already want, amore."

"Are we going or not?" Lola calls out from the SUV, and we both look over and see everyone is watching us, including Nicky, who's smirking back at us.

I clear my throat and step away from JP. "We'll see you later."

"Can't wait," JP says as I step into the Car.

<><><><>

The Aquarium was packed, and having so many guards with us would not make it easy to navigate through the crowds. So I negotiated with Nicky that we only needed two guards with us while everyone else stationed themselves throughout the Aquarium and at the entrance. That way, we didn't have a huge group of men following us everywhere.

I took several pictures with the kids and my mom. Most of the kids were napping by the time we got home, and I even found myself dozing off. But we pulled up to the house before I could fall asleep.

The kids spend the rest of the day lounging around the house while I busy myself looking up other things to do with the kids for the summer. And then my mom reminded me of Lola's birthday coming up quickly, so we spent some time planning out what we could do for her.

JP had mentioned going to a lake house next month, but I don't know if that's still his plan. It makes me think of the summers we would spend at Timo's lake house, and I wonder if it's the same one.

I would always invite Annalisa, and JP had Joey, of course, with Damien and sometimes would be allowed to invite some of his teammates from football or baseball. I smile, remembering some of the fun things we would do, from using the long rope to jump into the lake, playing night games, or hanging out around a campfire.

"Dinner is ready, signorina." One of the staff members I've come to know named Concetta informs me smiling. I thank her and follow her down to the dining room. 

~~~~~~~

Some cute moments with the kids!