Five months later

    I feel so numb.

I've been feeling like absolute shit for the past few months. The pain inside of me hurts more than anything.

"Francesca." Helene gives me a warm smile, one that I can't bring myself to reciprocate. Not since Vincenzo's death.

She sets a plate down in front of me filled with all the usual foods that I have been craving lately.

Steak, crispy French fries with ketchup, juicy watermelon chunks and a generous piece of glazed pineapple cake.

"Thank you." I nod; never forgetting my manners.

"Anything else for you, darling? We want those babies to be strong." Helene grins, pushing back the brown hair that had fallen in my eyes.

I went through a whole change after Vincenzo's death. I didn't want to feel pain so I figured why not push everything that reminded me of him away.

I lived on my own for a while in a little apartment. I couldn't bare to see the faces of sympathy and pain.

I dyed my hair a golden brown that surprisingly looked nice, I changed up my whole wardrobe, shopped until my own credit cards were maxed out, yet all this did nothing to push my progress onto a healing mode.

After I found out I was pregnant with fucking twins, I moved back to the Valentino estate without a blink of an eye.

These babies are the heir to the mafia. I know Vincenzo would want his children to carry on his lasting legacy.

He deserves that much.

Now, here I am. Fucking six months pregnant with back pain and a damn broken heart.

I dig into my food like a fat pig without a care in the world. I pretty much retired from the whole "man-eater assassin" thing. I don't want to see anymore spilt blood in my lifetime.

"Oh, Topolina." Lorenzo's sickeningly sweet voice sings. He has been a pain in my ass, but somehow I grow fonder and fonder of his sympathy each day.

He's done a lot to attempt to make a smile appear on my face. He treats me like his own little sister and makes sure to include me in everything that goes on.

Of course, I decline the gritty part of the he offers me to watch. My pregnant ass can barley keep and food down better yet watch a man get his eyes cut out with a dull knife.

I meant it when I said I'm done with violence.

"Look what I found in the attic." Lorenzo hands me a wrinkled black and white paper. "I thought you might enjoy seeing this."

I flip over the small paper and tears immediately spill from my tired eyes.

Cute.

It's a picture with Vincenzo and Lorenzo around the young age of six. They're dressed in matching Christmas pajamas and white socks. Vincenzo smiles at the camera with a baby in his hands.

I assume it's Ria, born a few weeks after this was taken. Next to Vincenzo a beautiful petite woman holds both the boys with a smile on her face.

Aww, this must be his mother.

I clutch the photo to my beating heart and sob into Lorenzo's chest. "Thank you." I whisper, trying my best to handle these stupid emotions.

Lorenzo patiently rubs my back waiting for my tears to come to a stop.

{} {} {}

I lay in bed with a sketch pad and earbuds in. The quiet music has been a tool that I use a lot lately. The relaxation it brings me makes me escape the evils of this world for a few hours.

I drew a straight line through the middle of the page as a chart. One side is for baby boy names and the other is for baby girl names.

The list in front of me was for the twins that are trapped inside of me, making me feel like a fat ass, making me have to pee a lot, making my back hurt.... I already suspect these two little shits are going to be a handful.

I already decided my future son's name. I'm already getting emotional with the meaning behind it too.

My future daughter however, I had more than a couple names on my list.

"Francesca!"

Ria walks in with a flustered looking Maple on her arm. "Hey girlie. Want to go shopping with us?"

"No-!"

"I don't care what you want actually." Ria's sassy attitude starts to reveal itself. Maple hits her girlfriend on the back of the head before hissing something at her.

"You're coming with us whether you like to or not." Ria remarks, playfully poking Maple's puffed out cheeks. "Let's go. We can get some baby clothes too!"

I sigh and accept the defeat. Shopping for baby stuff is my fucking weakness.

"Fine, but I expect some spicy chicken wings from the restaurant in the mall." I've been craving those motherfuckers all day.

I get dressed in a loose pink sundress and slide some comfortable sneakers on my feet. I'm not walking the big ass mall in pain.

Once we are there, both Maple and Ria's attempts to buy out the whole baby store is shot down by me.

"I'm having twins, ladies. Not a whole army of bastard children." My hands grab the wad of clothes Ria stuffed in my shopping basket and put them back, neatly folded.

"Oh please, don't act like your children won't be spoiled. The whole family is going to treat them like a  princess and prince." Maple chimes in, slipping a sparkly baby dress in my basket.

"Why don't we get them that new gaming console that came out? I swore I saw it in one of the display windows."

What the hell!?

"Ria. You do realize two babies will pop out my vagina, right? Not a full grown teenagers." I emphasize the word babies, seeing she is forgetting her common sense today.

"Fine." She pouts, grabbing tiny pink shoes that have Disney Princesses on them. "We at least have to get these though..."

"Kill me, God." I groan, smacking my palm against my forehead before walking towards the long checkout line.

After more hours of dreadful shopping my poor ankles are now swollen and throbbing.

Ria walks out with a tray full of chicken wings, salad and plastic cups of soda. "Okay you two, I have garlic parmesan wings, spicy buffalo wings and lemon cheddar wings." She sets the large plates on our table. "Choose your poison."

I immediately dig into the spicy and Parmesan wings, forgetting my manner to the oncoming shoppers. We sit at a small indoor picnic table inside the food court. The smells of different foods had my mouthwatering and had me begging Ria and Maple to eat with me.

"Do you mind if I go to the restroom? I'll be a couple minutes." Maple asks through a mouthful of chicken.

"I need to pee too." Ria stands, taking a big gulp of her soda. "France, want to join us?"

I'm caught off guard, my mouth stuffed with food. I quickly shake my head, shooing the two off with a wave of my hand.

There is no way in hell that I'm risking someone stealing all my food!

Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if their little "restroom break" is a ploy to go fuck like horny little rabbits.

Seems like that's all I hear late at night when I'm trying to sleep.

I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous. I haven't had sexy time in months. Nobody wants a one-night stand with a pregnant woman.

Not that I can bring myself to go out looking for sex. No one would compare to my deceased lover.

My breath catches as I see someone move out the corner of my eye. I flinch as I see a strangely familiar silhouette lurking in the shadows of the back of the food court. The ceiling lights were out in the very back, making everyone steer clear of that area, except apparently one person.

I rub my eyes aggressively with my clenched fists making sure I'm not seeing things.

Nope, there is definitely someone standing there.

Someone who should be fucking dead.

No, no, no!

I HAVE to be seeing things.

My mind HAS to be playing tricks on me.

Tears brink at my eyes. I squeeze them shut, my heart beating rapidly against my chest like a pounding drum.

Please.

Taking a deep breath, I open my eyes to reveal that nobody is there.

A sob threatens to leave my throat but I hold it back. I have to be strong. I'm going to be a mother of two beautiful twins. I need to stop dwelling over past tragedies.

Enough is enough.

I am Francesca Walsh.

A strong, passionate, courageous, and fucking stunning ass boss woman.

It's time I start acting like that again.

{} {} {}

   Once we get home from the five-hour long shopping trip, I go straight to my bathroom with red hair dye in my hands.

If  'The' Francesca Walsh is back, that means my signature vibrant red hair better be back too!

I dye my hair back from the boring light brown back to red in record time. I straighten my hair, and add a bit of makeup on my face.

"Guess, who's back."

"Back again."

"Francesca's back."

"Tell a friend."

I whistle to myself as I grab my notebook with possible baby names in it. I walk down the stairs, huffing and puffing sounding like Darth Vader the whole way down.

I can't wait to give birth and get my old body back.

I sit in the empty living room, turning on the TV for some background noise. I open up the book with the eagerness to decide on my future daughter's name.

After a few minutes of going back and forth with myself, I find the most perfect name!

I draw a big heart around both my future children's names and grin to myself.

Everything will turn out fine.

The doorbell rings making me jump slightly. My eyebrows knit together after a few minutes of no one in the house answering the door.

The door bell rings a second time, this time fists slamming against the door shortly after the ring.

For fucks sake.

"Yeah. Yeah." I yell loudly, hoping everyone in the estate can hear me. "Make the pregnant woman do everything!"

I sigh, unlocking the door halfway expecting a delivery man, but I couldn't be more wrong.

I whimper, slumping my shoulders as realization hits me.

Vincenzo is alive.

My dead fiancée is standing on my doorstep.

Oh my God, he's alive!

•

A/N- 😈
(to think I was gonna kill him off, smh)