Her Home

Vincent had been sitting with his father waiting for Chaykovsky. He was already a half hour late and Vincent was agitated. He had made a reservation for dinner with Rebecca and he was not going to miss it because the damn Russian asshole thought that his time was more important than Vincent's. "Where the hell is he?" He asked his father who shrugged back at him.

Vincent wasn't completely sure but, he was pretty sure that Francesco was mad at him about something. He would have to ask him when the meeting was over though, because Domenico swung the door open and walked in. He stepped out of the way so that Chaykovsky could walk through followed by the last person Vincent wanted to see, a very pregnant Milena. Gio followed her in sending Vincent an eyeroll before taking his place at the table. They had decided to have the meeting at one of their warehouses as to make sure that it was known as a business meeting and not a friendly one.

The rest of the men took their seats but, Vincent stayed standing sending a glare at Milena. She was causing a problem and he wished that he could just read her mind and figure out what it was so that he could move on from this drama. "What is this all about, Chaykovsky?" Francesco asked the tall overweight man that sat at the opposite end of the table from him. Chaykovsky looked exactly like you would think a Russian mobster would look like. Vincent would have laughed like he had the other three times he had seen the man, if this wasn't such a serious situation.

"Your son got my daughter pregnant." Vincent cringed at the man's thick accent. He had never been a fan of Russian or Irish accents. The deal with Milena for most of the time had been she could be around as long as she didn't talk. Her accent wasn't as thick as her father's but it still annoyed him.

Vincent was drawn out of his thoughts when he heard Domenico snicker. His head snapped to his left so he could glare at his cousin. Domenico stopped laughing when he noticed that Vincent and his uncle were both sending him the same deadly glare. He held his hands up in surrender, "Sorry."

"I understand that your daughter has gotten herself into quite the predicament. But, how can she know for sure that it is my sons?" Francesco asked.

"What are you implying?" Chaykovsky's voice came out loud and angry.

"He's not implying anything," Vincent spoke before his father could. "He is saying," he paused and looked at Milena with another glare, "that your daughter is a whore," he finished and looked at the man who was getting on his last nerve and noticed his eyes widening. This made his smirk a little.

"I sent her to you to be cared for and loved," he shouted as he stood up. Vincent snorted as did Domenico and Gio.

"You sent her to me to get fucked," Vincent said with venom. "You knew that no one in my family would willingly wife a Russian. We like to keep to our own and you know it. This was probably your plan from the beginning. You thought you saw an opportunity to move in on our family and you jumped on it," Vincent noticed his father sat back as he continued. He was allowing him to deal with this and he was thankful. "You jumped but you missed the mark. Completely." Vincent crossed his arms and waited.

"I did nothing of the sort. You were to care for her."

"She had a place in my building and she never wanted for anything," Vincent responded. Chaykovsky scoffed.

"The reason I am here now, is because my daughter is pregnant... with your child," he folded his arms across his chest as best her could with his protruding stomach and glared at Vincent. "If you don't marry her, there will be war," he threatened. Vincent rolled his eyes and finally took his seat to the right of his father. He looked at him and raised a brow, silently asking him if he had anything to say. The man nodded toward him and cleared his throat.

"I think obviously a paternity test is in order. I will speak with our doctor and have him let you know what she will need to do," Francesco said as he stood up and buttoned his jacket. He walked to the door and opened it. He watched as Chaykovsky stood and told his daughter to follow.

"We will be waiting. You have one week," he told Vincent before turning and leaving.

"Vince. You know this is your child," Milena said to him. Vincent rolled his eyes and looked away. When it became obvious to her that he wasn't going to respond, she turned and stomped after her father.

Gio and Domenico were talking quietly to each other when Francesco turned around and motioned for both of them to leave. They nodded before standing and walking to the door both throwing a "good luck," Vincent's way as they passed him.

When they left Francesco sat at the table across from Vincent. "You know, Chaykovsky wasn't wrong. Joining the two families wouldn't be horrible."

"It will never happen," Vincent said through gritted teeth. Francesco sat forward and laced his fingers together in front of him on the table. "Why are you fighting this so hard?" Vincent sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"Rebecca is pregnant. And I know it's mine," he tells his father. "I won't marry Milena or play any of her games." Francesco nodded his head.

"I like Rebecca, Figlio. I do. But I need you to make a choice. I don't want to sound heartless but either way you have an heir and a wife. That will look good to the rest of the family and make things easier for you. I would never force you to marry anyone you didn't want to..."

"Good. Because I will never marry Milena," Vincent cut him off. Francesco raised his eyebrows at him. "I won't do it but I would marry Rebecca," he sighed. "The problem is... she isn't even sure if she wants me in the baby's life let alone them both be a permanent part of this world."

"Remember what I told you about your mother. It may take her time to accept the type of lifestyle that comes with being with you but if she really loves you. Like I think she does, she will eventually," Francesco slapped him on the shoulder as he stood up. He stopped after a couple steps and turned to look at his son to add one more thing. "Chi non va non vede, chi non vede non sa e chi non sa se lo prende sempre in culo," he smiled wide when he watched Vincent roll his eyes. He had said the saying to Vincent many times throughout his life and it was more fitting than anything other time before.

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Vincent sat and thought about everything for nearly an hour before deciding to send a text to Rebecca.

I have a couple things to take care of. I am sending a car to pick you up at work and I will pick you up for dinner. I promise I won't be late for that. - Vince.

He then headed for the club sending a text to the driver so he knew what time to get Rebecca from work. He would blow of some steam at the club before getting her for dinner.

Rebecca had been a little upset when she received the text from Vincent saying he would not be picking her up after work. She told herself that even men with regular jobs had to work longer than planned sometimes. She willed herself not to think of stereotypical mafia things Vincent may doing. She was going to give him a chance. A real chance.

She had showered and gotten dressed when Vincent driver had dropped her off in front of her building. She was finishing up her makeup when there was a knock on the door. Vincent stood in front of her looking like he had a rough day. "Vince? What's wrong?" She asked him as she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. She led him to couch and sat down pulling him with her. "Did something happen?" Vincent started to shake his head before stopping and nodding it. "Telling you will change so much," he sighed running his hands through his hair over and over. Rebecca reached up and grabbed both hands to stop him.

"Tell me. Give me a chance. You never know unless you try, right?" she sent him a pleading smile. Vincent sighed and nodded. He thought about how to say what he wanted to tell her. He knew that he would need to say more than she would probably let him before she kicked him out but he knew he had to be honest with her.

"Okay," he started taking a deep breath, "do you remember Milena?" Rebecca nodded.

"Your girlfriend," she smiled as she lifted her hands and placed air quotes around the word girlfriend.

"Never been my girlfriend," he said pointedly. "But I see you remember her. Well she is trying to say that I got her pregnant," he said looking down at his hands. He paused and waited for her to start yelling or hitting him even. When several seconds went by and she hadn't said anything he looked up at her and saw that her eyebrows were raised but she still said nothing. She just looked at him. She was letting him continue. He sighed in relief. "Her father and her are demanding that I marry her," Rebecca was still silent. "I have no intention to do that if course," still silent. He wasn't sure what she wanted him to say that would make her say something. "Say something. Please."

"Do you believe that the baby is yours?" Vincent shook his head frantically.

"Of course not!"

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"Do you want it to be?" Vincent felt his eye grow wide. How could she think that?

"No," he grabbed her hands and looked her deep in the eyes. "She was just a peace offering of sorts," he told her. "I know how bad that sounds," he cut her off before she could tell him what she thought about that. "I do. But I'm trying to be honest with you. She never meant a thing to me. I love you and I only want a family, if I can have it with you." Rebecca felt the need to pull her hands from his so she could pick at her nails but he had a firm grip on them. She settled for chewing on the inside of her lip while she thought about what he had said.

Rebecca didn't know what to say. This was so big and she was so confused. Vincent seemed to be telling the truth. She wanted to think about it maybe even talk to the girls about it. She hoped Vincent wouldn't care if she did that. He had been understanding before about her needing to be able to talk them about things before, she was sure he would be fine with it still. Until then she would not let the night be dampened by this news.

"Why don't we just order in tonight and watch a movie?" Vincent smiled at her tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Are you sure? You're already dressed up and ready to go. You deserve a proper date."

"It's fine. Really. I never know when my pesky morning sickness will come on anyway. It's probably better this way," She shrugged. "You order food and I will go change." Vincent nodded and grabbed phone. Rebecca kissed him on the cheek before sending him a smile and heading up to her room to change.

She knew exactly what she would change into. She pulled the drawer that held her pajamas out and dug to the bottom. She had never worn this set before and she knew Vincent would like them.

By the time she got to the bottom of the stairs again Vincent had already ordered the food. She stopped on the last step and watched as he took his suit jacket off and rolled up his sleeves revealing his left arm tattoo sleeve and the start of one on his right. "You got a new tattoo?" she asked him causing him to spin around. He looked down at his arm at the tattoo that ran down the length of his arm from his crease of his elbow to his wrist. He had gotten it just two days after he had walked away from her the last time. Her hand reached for his arm and he looked up at her. "What does it say?"

"nel perdere te, mi perdo," he read the Italian words with a vocal gulp following. "It means... in losing you, I lose myself," he looked up at her and saw she had tears in her eyes. "Hey. Don't cry," he whispered wiping them away when they began to fall.

"Why did you get that?" Rebecca's voice was dry from trying to keep from crying.

"Because it's true. I felt that the second I turned away from you that day. I walked away because I thought it was the right thing to do. Not because I wanted to," he wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her as close to himself as he could. "I love you," he kissed the top of her head, "no matter what you decide. I always will." Rebecca heard herself sobbing and wanted to kick herself. Her hormones were all over the place and she couldn't help it. Especially not after he said things like that.

She didn't know how long they stood there. Vincent with his arms around her holding her close neither of them saying nothing. They didn't need to. Just being in one another's presence was enough at that moment. When there was a knock on the door, Vincent reluctantly pulled away. "That's dinner," he looked at Rebecca who nodded her head and wiped away the tears that were still on her face as he turned to answer the door.

They spent the rest of the evening eating, watching movies, and talking about the baby. Rebecca remembered to ask him about family names and he told her that he didn't expect her to follow any traditions if she didn't feel comfortable doing so. The truth was she didn't think she would mind doing that for him. When he yawned, she noticed and stood up. Turning the television off she reached for his hand and pulled him up from the couch. "Let's go to sleep," she told him. Nodding Vincent followed her to her bedroom. Crawling into bed, he wrapped his arms around her pulling her closer to him so her back was against his front. He protectively placed his hands over her stomach and whispered a good night to both her and the baby before contently falling asleep.