Sun City, Illington

"Rocco, for the love of god, wake up and shut off that damn alarm already!"

A cold voice pulled Rocco Romano out of his peaceful dreams. He groaned and rolled over as he turned off the alarm, and then begrudgingly crawled out of bed. He stretched out his long, lean, muscular body before crossing the room to the dresser to grab clothes.

"Could you be any louder?" Alyssa whined as she pulled the blankets over her head.

"Not my fault you were out till three am, Lys," he snapped.

"It was work-related!"

"Sure," he refrained from rolling his eyes.

"It was, and I have a casting call at noon." Alyssa sat up, and her imploring cat-like eyes bored into his intensely. He wondered where she got the energy this early. It was as if she woke up prepared for war.

"You do recall that Mary's gone, right?" Rocco felt that frustration grow. How could she be booking things before they had childcare?

"Didn't you hire another nanny?" Alyssa asked with an annoyed look crossing her face. 

"No, I didn't hire another nanny; it's only been two days, and you're not working." He almost laughed. He would if it didn't piss him off so much.

"I am modeling Rocco!" she yelled, her dark brown eyes flashing angrily.

When was the last time you booked a job? He refrained from asking out loud.

When he met Alyssa, she was an up-and-coming model—not a surprise, as she was gorgeous and loved the camera as much as it loved her. She was booking many jobs, and everyone wanted her. She loved it, but she also started acting like she was much bigger than she was. She was flighty, often late, and rude to anyone she deemed beneath her. That kind of reputation haunts you, and Rocco had tried to warn her.

Alyssa took a hiatus during her pregnancy and after Gavin was born and got back to it recently, but her hype faded while she was gone. The lack of interest wasn't just that she took a break; a lot of it had to do with reputation following her, just like he told her, though she denied that.

Rocco wanted to empathize with her anyway. It was too hard to fall from grace, but she learned nothing from it and blamed him and, worse, Gavin for her failure instead.

"Can't you just take lunch at that time and watch him? I can even take him to your office first. This is so important. " Alyssa pouted and batted her eyes at Rocco. Her smudged-up red lips did nothing for him, and he almost laughed again.

"How long is the casting call going to be? We have a huge case going on right now."

"I don't know. An hour."

"Which is at least two. I can't. You're going to have to skip this one."

"You're an asshole Rocco. This is my career. I can't miss any of these things, and you know it!".

"It's one casting call. You went to three parties and at least four auditions this week."

"You've been working extra hours on your case all week," she spat instantly.

"The case is important, Lys. This is someone's life. We don't have a nanny right now so we need to work together," he said instead.

"Fix it. Get a nanny ASAP. I still can't believe she gave us so little notice!"

"Lys," he sighed. "Mary found out she was pregnant and moved up to her wedding. Besides, I was never a big fan of her being here all day with Gavin. Maybe we can hire a nanny or just a few trusted sitters to be on call or part-time. That way, they can come when you have an appointment."

"That's not going to work. These things can just come up."

"I know they can, but a lot of these 'things' tend to be lunches, shopping dates, and parties and haven't been leading to any actual jobs." Rocca said this carefully, not wanting this to blow up into a huge thing.

"I have been networking, and that's huge," Alyssa argued. "It's going to eat up my time for a while."

"You have to figure out the balance. I work sixty hours a week, but I still see Gavin every day and spend the entire weekends with him."

"I see him every day, too!" She said, her eyes narrowed as her cheeks flushed.

"Yeah, coming home or leaving."

"That's not true! I missed out on the prime of my career for him! I made my sacrifices, but I'm not going to give up. I will get my career back." She got up and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Rocco cringed, hoping she didn't wake up Gavin.

He didn't bother following her to comfort her or smooth things over, he didn't have time, and it wasn't like she expected it anyway. All they ever did these days was fight, it seemed.

Instead, he quickly showered and got ready for work. He chose a simple pair of black slacks and a button-up gray shirt. His thick dark hair was left slightly spiky, roughing up his appearance.

After he got himself ready, Rocco was sure his little boy would be up, so he hurriedly made the big four-poster bed. The comforter was white and fluffy --the only warm thing in this room.  Alyssa had a minimalist decorating style, but she had no décor for the bedroom other than some black-and-white photos of herself. She claimed it kept her calm. If only that were true.

He headed to the bedroom next door, a much more cheerful space that Rocco insisted on decorating himself.

 Gavin, was awake and sitting on his bed in his red Spider-Man pajamas watching his television when Rocco walked in. 

"Daddy!" The little boy's green eyes lit up excitedly as he beamed happily. With his thick, wavy hair and olive skin tone, he looked so much like Rocco that people loved to gush about them being twins. It annoyed Alyssa even when Rocco would try to point out Gavin has features from her too, like his heart-shaped face and chestnut hair color. 

"Morning, bud," Rocco sat down next to Gavin in the twin bed and pulled him in for a big cuddle.

"Mornin'!" Gavin chirped as he snuggled closer.

"Sponge Bob?" Rocco groaned as he looked at the television. "What happened to cartoons? You should see the shows I watched."

"Why?" Gavin asked.

"Why? Cause they were cool!" Rocco said. "Way cooler than sponges. Like the road runner, now he was awesome."

"No. I like Sponge Bob," Gavin declared.

"Well, I still think my cartoons were way cooler." Rocco grinned at Gavin's furrowed brows.

"Sponge Bob is cool!"

"Not as cool as your dad."

"Is too." Gavin laughed as Rocco attacked him with tickles.

"Stop, Daddy!" He squealed and squirmed, his little laughter filling the air as Rocco tickled him.

"Breakfast is ready!" Alyssa's shrill voice screamed up the stairs.

"She cooked?" Rocco's eyebrows raised.

"When is Mary coming back?" Gavin asked, his eyes full of confusion.

"Mary isn't going to live here anymore, buddy remember?" Rocco said gently.

"Cause she got married?" Gavin recalled.

"Yes, you remember her husband, Steve? He brought you that cool truck."

"Yeah, he's cool."

"Sure is, and Mary agrees," Rocco chuckled. "So, she is going to marry and live with him."

"But I want her to live here in the basement," Gavin said, his lips quivering.

"I know you do, but Mary wants to live with her husband so that they can start their life and family. Soon, she will have her own baby to care for."

"But who will take care of me?" Gavin asked.

"Your mommy and I will, buddy, you know that." Rocco scooped him up and threw him over his shoulder.

"Now to the kitchen." He declared in a booming voice, and Gavin started squealing and laughing again as Rocco carried them down the hall to the large stairs. They led down to the first floor, where the carpet stopped, and the floors were all white marble. It was a beautiful floor, but paired with the bright white walls and white leather furniture, it was all so... bland. Alyssa called it clean décor. She had a few built-in shelves displaying expensive glass artwork and one large painting above the fireplace, and that was it.

A large, beautiful archway led to the kitchen. Rocco set Gavin down as they walked through it to the equally white kitchen, apart from the stainless-steel appliances.

"What is this?" In dismay, Rocco stared at the plates of the weird green blobs on the three plates at the table as he settled Gavin into his booster seat.

"It's a spinach and egg substitute scramble, no meat, dairy, or fat. It's a heat-and-eat meal to make it even easier," Alyssa explained. "I got them at that little health food market down the block."

"We're not eating this crap. It looks like sludge," Rocco took his fork and poked it, and it bounced right back to shape. "It is sludge."

"Ewe sludge!" Gavin repeated, and Alyssa grimaced.

"It's healthy, Rocco. The other day, I was reading about how bad meat can be for you, and I decided we should all go vegetarian."

"You can do what you want, but I'm not, and we're not changing Gavin's diet that drastically.  He's too young for such a big change. Besides, Gavi loves meat, don't you, buddy?"

"Yes, meat!"

"See?"

"He'll repeat whatever you say." Alyssa rolled her eyes. "And tofu is good for him."

"It came out of a box." Rocco gestured to the empty boxes in the garbage. "If you want to go vegetarian. I'm pretty sure this isn't how."

"So, what if it's out of the box?" Alyssa scoffed. "I think it tastes great. Just try it."

Rocco watched her take a big bite and cringe at the taste before chewing and swallowing. She looked down in dismay at the remaining food on her plate.

"Is it now?" He smirked as he went to the fridge to prepare a real breakfast for them. "You want scrambled eggs, too?"

"The way you smother nasty cheese all over them, no thanks," she scoffed. "I'm still trying to get my figure back, remember?"

"You don't need to lose any more weight." Rocco wondered how many times he said that in any given week. It sure got old.

"You have no idea what this industry demands. Maybe if you supported me a little, you'd understand."

"Just enjoy your blob of green crap." He turned his back on her and started a batch of eggs, adding a few extras because he knew she'd eat the leftovers as soon as he left.