by Rumer Raines
“Lola, we have been fucking like rabbits to get you pregnant. You’re huddled over the toilet like it’s a swimming pool and you’re about to jump in. I think you’re pregnant.”
“Oh shit. You think I am?” Frank tilts his head and smiles.
“I think so. After we get married, we’ll stop by the pharmacy and pick up a test,” he says and I start to laugh hysterically as Frank looks at me with a frown. “What is so funny?” he asks.
“I am living every girl’s dream. A courthouse wedding and then a stop by the drug store for a pregnancy test. It’s not how I imagined.” Frank is still looking at me, but I notice sadness in his eyes.
“Lola, I realize this is a shitty way to start our lives together. I will promise you that once everything is settled we can have a real wedding and honeymoon.”
“Are you serious? “ I ask as I start to feel sick once again.
“Yes, I am. My parents took their vows seriously. ‘Till death do us part’ meant something to them. It means something to me too. When I say those vows to you, I will mean them. I don’t know if it will be in a few months or next year, but I will make sure you have your dream wedding.”
FRANK
Oliver has us scheduled to get married at 4 pm on Saturday. The courthouse is closed on Saturday, but when you’re the mob and own judges it will open when needed. After I pried Lola away from the toilet, I ran out to run a few errands before the wedding. The first stop was the station. I called Captain Hill yesterday and told him that I needed to talk to him. He said he would be in on Saturday for a few hours, so I decided to man up and go talk to him. I have known Hill for years, so this won’t be an easy conversation. Even though his door is open, I decide to knock. He hates when people just walk into his office without knocking. He has an open-door policy, but that doesn’t mean just walk in.
“Come in, Deluca. What is so important that you would drag your ass in here on a Saturday? Especially considering you didn’t drag it in any other day this week.” He looks over the top of his glasses with his eyebrows raised.
“Sorry about that. I just thought it would be better to work the streets than being in the office.”
“I wish you would have checked in more, Deluca. With you out, I am down three cops. Lola is still out with her fucking stress leave; you have been MIA and so is fucking Marcus.”
“Wait. Marcus is missing?” I already know he is, but I have to play stupid with Hill.
“Yes he is. He left the station one morning and never came back. No one has seen or heard from him. The odd thing is his emergency contact person was some fucking judge in New York. We called him and he said Marcus called him from Canada saying he needed a fresh start.”
“Wow. That sounds strange. I have to tell you I never liked the guy. It doesn’t surprise me that he would do something like that,” I admit. Hill sighs and takes off his glasses tossing them on the desk.
“What is it that you wanted to talk about, Deluca?”
“I am resigning.” Hill shakes his head as if he misheard me.
“You’re what?” he asks and I can tell this is a shock to him.
“I am resigning. You know my father died and I think I need to focus more on my family. He really wanted me to work the family business, Deluca’s. I am going to focus on the club. Maybe I can even turn it into a restaurant during the day.” I notice Hill hasn’t said anything and he is still staring at me.
“I don’t want my mother to worry about me being shot, either,” I add and Hill is still silent.
“There is something else I should tell you. Lola and I are getting married. I don’t think her stress level will improve if I am still dodging the occasional bullet.” With that statement, Hill’s eyes widen and he stands up from his desk.
“You and Lola are getting married? Are you telling me that you went against department policy and were screwing around under my watch?” Hill shouts the last words and I can’t help but smirk.
“We did, but don’t worry. Neither one of us works here anymore.”
“Lola didn’t quit. She is on medical leave,” Hill practically yells.
“I’ll have her call you later.” As I am walking out, Hill calls me and I turn around to look at him.
“Deluca, you have made the right decision.” Hill gives me a quick nod and sits back down and goes back to his paperwork. As I am cleaning out my desk, his words stick with me. I made the right decision. It almost felt like he knew the choices I had to make and was telling me I made the right ones. I had a choice of living my own dreams or living the dreams my family had for me. I hope Hill was right and I have made the right decision.
LOLA
I am Mrs. Frank Deluca and I can’t believe I am staring down at my finger that now has a two-carat princess cut diamond and gold band. I look up to see Frank is huddled with Oliver, Thomas, and Alex and they are obviously talking about something important. I turn to see Ruth, or I guess she is now my mother-in-law, headed in my direction with a genuine smile on her face. She pulls me into a big hug and I can’t help but feel her warmth as I hug her back.
“Congratulations, Lola. I look forward to getting to know you better and having another daughter. I can’t wait for Alexis to meet you tomorrow at dinner.”
“I look forward to meeting her too. I just hope I can live up to everyone’s expectations. I don’t know how I will explain this to my parents.” I notice that Ruth turns to look back at Frank.
“I think Frank already took care of that.” I look over to Frank and then back to Ruth
“I’m sorry? What do you mean he took care of that?” Ruth opens her mouth to answer, but before she does Frank is standing next to her and kisses her on the cheek.
“Ma. We’re all about to get out of here. Alex is waiting for you outside.” Ruth gives us both quick hugs and heads out the courthouse.
“What’s wrong Lola?” Frank puts his hand on my arm giving me a little squeeze.
“Have you talked to my father? Please tell me that you didn’t tell him we were getting married.” Frank closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before answering
“Yes, I did, Lola. I talked to him a few days ago. I wanted to let him know that I am running Chicago and that you were now by my side.”
“Is that all you told him? Did you tell him that Brandon is dead?”
Frank narrows his eyes and tilts his head. “I told him several things,” he says.
“What exactly are several things, Frank?” He lifts his head as my voice starts to rise.
“I told him that Brandon and Marcus have been dealt with. I also told him that you are carrying my kid and that his grandchild and daughter’s future is now tied to mine.”
I shake my head in disbelief and turn my back to Frank.
“You told him this days ago? Why would you tell him that I was pregnant days ago? We don’t even know yet! It was my place to tell my family, Frank. Not yours!” I start to walk away and Frank grabs me by the arm to stop me.
“Lola, calm down. I did what I had to do. I had to put an end to this takeover attempt by your father. He will pull back knowing that you are with me and pregnant. At least we hope you’re pregnant; if not we can keep working at it.” I look up at Frank and he has a smirk on his face.
Frank and I leave the courthouse and stop at the drugstore to pick up a few pregnancy tests. He thought we would only need one, but I decided we might need backups. I would feel much better if more than one test came out positive. An hour later we are lying on his bed and holding three positive pregnancy tests.
FRANK
I wake up early and stand at the bedroom door watching Lola sleep. I can’t believe I am watching my pregnant wife sleep. Life has a funny way of happening in ways we don’t plan. If you would have asked me last year where I’d be in one year, I would have said I would be a dedicated Chicago detective. I would still be spending my Sundays with both my parents, Alexis, and Alex. I would never have imagined that cancer would have taken pop and that he
would have left me in charge of the Chicago mob. I often think back to Pop and laugh at all the little things I didn’t notice when he was here. If he wasn’t my father, I would have investigated anyone else that showed fewer signs of being connected to the mob than he did. I guess love is sometimes blind. Now I am about to meet with my associates for the first time to discuss how everything will now run. Oliver told me that everyone is nervous about me taking over. I think of this as a real business and I plan on running it that way. I never understood why when something works and someone new takes over, they go changing shit that already works. I believe the if it ‘ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ adage. I don’t plan on making any major changes except one. Pop had Alex as his right-hand man. He was Pop’s counselor and would represent him if he wasn’t able to attend. I am making Oliver my right-hand man. I want him to represent me and to be my underboss. I want him to take over if anything happens to me. The only stipulation is that if anything happens to me, Lola and my kids will be taken care of. Oliver is the only one I trust to make this request of. Alex is my brother, but I know he doesn’t like Lola. I know him well enough to know that time will hide it, but it won’t change it.
LOLA
Six months have flown by and I can’t believe that Frank and I are happily married. We bought a new house once we found out that I am pregnant with twins. Our son and daughter will be raised a few blocks from his ma, Ruth. Frank was so right about Alexis and me. We have become the best of friends. She was suspicious as hell when I was announced as Frank’s wife, but she softened a little once we got to know each other. Alex and I co-exist which is a step up from our previous relationship. I don’t think he plans to kill me anytime soon, but I wouldn’t give him my power of attorney or anything.
A few months after Frank and I got married, I called my parents. They were very happy to hear from me and my mom even wanted to visit. Frank is very close to his own family and understood why I needed to see them. They did come and I must admit I was very worried about my dad and Frank being it the same city. They stayed with us, which I think was Frank’s way of keeping an eye on my dad, but I loved having everyone I love in the same house.
After a few days, I even caught them at the kitchen table having beers. I was even more shocked when we took them to the airport and Frank and my father shook hands before they boarded the plane. On the ride back home Frank advised they have reached a compromise and he would have people in New York doing business and my father would have people in Chicago. The agreement was they wouldn’t cross into the other’s business and would share the profits with the others.
FRANK
I can’t believe the crowd at Deluca’s tonight. We just had our family business meeting, as I like to call them and I am standing at the top of the stairs in disbelief. Business has increased beyond my wildest expectations. I made a few changes to the place and added some of Oliver’s ideas as well. Deluca’s was officially the hottest night club in Chicago. Oliver wanted us to cash in on sex. We came up with the idea of building onto Deluca’s and we opened a sex club upstairs. I didn’t want it to be a trashy prostitution ring where anyone can come in with a few dollars. We decided it would be a paid membership for the affluent. We run complete background checks on anyone that wants a membership. Ironically, I have the perfect person to run these background checks -- Captain Hill. It seems that Captain Hill was so concerned about me when I wasn’t showing up for work, he went to visit Ma. They started secretly dating a few weeks later.
Alex still takes care of the day-to-day operations at Deluca’s. He appears to be at peace with Lola and me. He even gives us ideas for baby names at our Sunday family dinners, that we all still attend. I noticed that he spends more time at the bar, with the new cute little waitress that Oliver hired than in his office, but if he is happy I am happy.
Lola and I are perfect. I don’t think it could be any better. It feels like I married my soul mate. Sometimes when you are put into the most fucked up situation, it’s the situation that will give you the greatest reward. As I am looking over at Oliver and Alex at the bar, I think back to Pop asking me to take over the family business and I know that I made the right decision.
