Text received March 15th, 2022
R.A.: Mom called. I’m done with your fucking lies.
Me: Stay out of my life.
R.A.: I stayed out of it, but now it’s not just about you.
Me: My family is none of your business.
R.A.: Tell her, or I will.
Me: Fuck off.
Me: You won’t go near her.
Me: If I find out you went anywhere near her, I’ll ruin you.
Me: That’s a promise
____________________________
Morning of Friday, October 7th, 2022
~Brielle~
I chewed the skin on the outside of my nail, sitting with my legs crossed on the toilet seat, and stared at the stupid piece of white plastic that had been holding me hostage for the last several minutes.
Please, please, please… I prayed to any god that wanted to listen.
“Ugh.” I groaned, tapping my phone screen again. “Two-minute results, my ass,” I muttered.
The stupid thing made me wait a whole five minutes before it finally decided to give me the results.
“Fuck.” I groaned, closing my eyes and fighting the tears that threatened to come.
Getting my shit together, I stood up, washed my hands, and brought the test down to the kitchen with me. In search of the one person with whom I needed to share the news immediately. Trying not to get too fucking emotional as I moved through the house.
Roman was where I left him, sitting at the island with his laptop. Typing away with his mug of piping hot coffee steaming beside him. Looking handsome and fuckable with his bed-messy blonde hair spilling into his eyes.
He smiled at me as I moved to stand on the opposite side of the island. “Hi, gorgeous.”
I glared at him and stepped on the lever for the garbage can before waving the stupid plastic stick angrily and slamming it into the trash.
“Oof,” he grimaced. “No luck, eh?”
“No!” I snapped, arms flailing. “What the fuck, Rome? We’ve been trying for months!”
“I’m sorry, babe.” He gave me a soft smile. “Do you want a hug?”
I glared at him. “No, I want you to go see the doctor.”
He sighed, giving me a knowing look. “Brielle, the doctor said it can take a while. Remember, he said it takes months to clear the effects of your birth control. He said to come back in a year if we don’t get a positive test.”
I continued to glare at him with my hands on my hips. “Yes, Roman, I was there. But I was also off my birth control for like three months before we stopped using condoms. So what the fuck? I should be holding a baby by now, not still desperately trying to get knocked up.”
My idiot husband had the gall to laugh at my frustration. “Babe, I know you really want this, but you just have to be patient. It’ll happen when it happens.”
“What if it doesn’t?” I pressed. “What if your sperm is broken? What if my eggs are fucked up? What then?”
Rome moved out of his chair and over to me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders from behind and planting a kiss on my neck. My eyes closed automatically, and I leaned into him, reveling in the familiar warmth there.
“If our shits fucked, we’ll just buy our babies, how about that?” He offered, with a smile in his voice.
I let out an exasperated laugh and pulled away as I shook my head. “That’s a terrible thing to say, Rome.”
“It’s kind of funny.” He argued, giving me his best fuckboy grin as he leaned over the island and grabbed his coffee mug.
“I’m serious,” I reiterated. “I want a baby, Rome.”
He nodded as he sipped his coffee. “Well, we could go try to make one if you want?” He wiggled his brows at me.
I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help but smile as he placed the mug down and stalked towards me like a man starved.
The minute he reached me, he ripped off my tank top and pushed my sleep shorts down my legs, letting them fall to the ground before picking me up by my ass and carrying me over to the dining table.
I gasped as he pushed me down on the cold table top, forcing me onto my back and pushing my legs apart as he pushed down his sweats and freed his already hard cock. I sat up a bit and grabbed his cock, stroking him and meeting his gaze from underneath my eyelashes.
He leaned forward and sucked my bottom lip into his mouth before he kissed me, telling me just how much he wanted me with that heavenly tongue of his. He rewarded me by groaning into my mouth as I squeezed and jerked off his cock between our bodies.
Rome broke the kiss and took his cock in his hand again, sliding the tip of it up and down the lips of my pussy and teasing my clit. I leaned back on my elbows and moaned, tipping my head back, letting my hair fall behind me.
“I want you inside me.” I groaned, meeting his hungry gaze with my own.
“You want me to fuck you, Bri?” He grinned, slipping the tip of his cock in before pulling it out and going back to teasing my lips.
I bucked my hips with a whiny moan. “Yes, Roman, fuck me please,” I begged.
“I don’t know if you want it enough.” He teased, that fuckboy smile creeping back onto his lips again.
It was disgusting how wet he always made me. Since the first day I laid eyes on him in college, my pussy knew this was the guy I’d sell myself to for life, only a few years after graduation. I didn’t care about his whore reputation because once he got a taste of my pussy, I had the only pussy he wanted to whore out for.
“Please, babe, I need you inside me,” I begged, thrusting my hips for him again. “I need you to fill me up.”
His free hand grabbed my left ankle, and he pressed his cock into me so slowly that I let out a low and continuous groan. I wanted him to end the torture sooner rather than later. I needed release. I needed his fucking cum buried inside me.
“My girl’s so fucking tight.” He praised, balls deep, and grabbed my other ankle, using it to thrust harder into me. Once, twice, three times before picking up the pace and grabbing my ass and forcefully fucking me so hard I needed to grip the table edge behind my head. I whimpered like a virgin as he bullied my pussy hard and fast.
“Fuck, Rome, don’t fucking stop.”
“Oh fuck,” he groaned, sucking in a sharp breath through his teeth.
I reached for my clit and started massaging sharp, tight circles, feeling my vagina walls starting to spasm tighter around his rock-hard cock as he kept up his pace. Bumping against my G-spot in the most delicious of angles. My toes flexed and curled as the tightening in the pit of my stomach grew and grew.
“Oh fuck,” I gasped. “Oh god, Rome, I’m coming. Oh my god!” I yelled, head snapping back on the table as my pelvis twitched and pussy clamped down on his dick.
“Fuck yes, Bri.” He groaned. “Fuck, I’m cumming.” He thrusted hard, hitting my cervix and making me cry out in pain as he unloaded his sperm deep inside me. Holding my ass up and filling me up so much his cum started dripping out around his cock and down my asshole as he did.
When he finally pulled out, a thick pool of cum dripped out of me onto our table. I sat up and fingered the remnants of his baby batter into my mouth for him. Smiling and satisfied to hell as he grabbed my chin and pulled me into another heavenly kiss.
God, this fucking man…
/ / / / /
Afternoon on Friday, October 7th, 2022
“You know I love you, right?”
Ivanna’s copper eyes peered at me over the top of her glasses. “Why do I feel a but coming…” She mused, pushing up her sunglasses and looking off to where her kids ran screaming through her massive backyard.
“But, I also really fucking hate you right now,” I grumbled. “You already have those three gorgeous boys over there, why can’t you just give me that one when he’s done cooking?” I pouted and pointed to the swelling in her belly.
Her laugh was as beautiful as she was, regal and full of money. “Oh, Bri,” She smiled as she reached over to pat my hand affectionately. “You’ll have your own little gremlins one day - soon by the sounds of it.”
She wiggled her perfectly shaped eyebrows at me knowingly. I’d told her all about my morning. From the disappointing negative pregnancy test to the hot table top quickie I had before heading over to hers.
“You get pregnant just by looking at Joey,” I complained, crossing my arms.
“Trust me, it’s a curse as much as it is a blessing.” She muttered, shaking the fake blonde hair I knew she spent a small fortune to maintain every month. “Honestly, I fuck the man one time while breastfeeding and boom, back to raging cravings and rapid weight gain.”
Her current youngest - not the one still cooking - was only just about to have his first birthday in the coming weeks. One would think that after having her first three kids all less than twenty months apart, she or Joey would remember to wrap things up or at least pull things out… but no. My best friend was a baby-making factory, and her hot pro-hockey player husband had the seed of the gods.
“I can’t believe you’re having another boy.” I smiled, watching as the older boys tried their best to keep the youngest brother from eating a fistful of grass.
Ivanna scoffed. “Apparently, we don’t have the recipe for the other sex.”
“Do you think you’ll try again, see if you end up with a girl?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Honestly, I thought I cared. I mean, I was a pissed off mess when I found out James was a boy. I literally went to three other doctors' offices and had them redo the ultrasound because I wanted them to be wrong so badly. I honestly felt depressed for the rest of his pregnancy.”
She lifted her sunglasses, giving me a sad look. “But, the minute I pushed the little guy out, I was in love. This time around, I just didn’t have any expectations. I don’t want to miss out on being pregnant this time, you know? I mean, we don’t really know if we’ll want another after.”
“Yeah,” I understood where she was coming from. You might think you give a crap about the sexes of your children, but at the end of the day, you just want a healthy baby. Or just to be able to get pregnant and have a baby… “Wait, you think you’re actually done after this one?” I asked.
She smirked, giving me a knowing look. “Every time we bring a new one home, Joseph threatens to get a vasectomy for the first few months. Then he gets balls deep in me and forgets, apparently.”
“Oh my god, Ivy.” I laughed. “Gross visual.”
“Gross, my ass,” she giggled. “I know I’m sexy as hell, and my man is fucking delicious.”
She wasn’t wrong. They made the perfect sports couple. Ivy was queen of the hockey WAGs - the wives and girlfriends of players, and she knew it. Being the wife of the captain of the city’s pro-hockey team would earn you that crown. Not that she was as obnoxious or vain as the other WAGs. I had met most of them and would only willingly spend any time with maybe two. Ivy was one of them.
“I just feel like Roman doesn’t care as much as I do,” I admitted.
“Oh, Bri, he does, but he’s a man. They don’t think about it like we do. They’re not the ones that get knocked up, so they’re not always wondering and worrying.” She laughed, rolling her eyes. “Seriously, just keep fucking and it’ll happen.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, taking a sip of my water. “I guess…”
____________________
Later on Saturday, October 8th, 2022
~Russel~
“Oh fuck,” Nadia groaned as I sucked on her clit, teasing her G-spot with two of my fingers as she thrusted into my face.
“Mmm,” I hummed, sucking and flicking my tongue in tight circles, drowning in the fucking smell of her.
Her hands fisted in my hair, driving me fucking crazy. God, this woman. I swore she tasted better since she’d given birth to the most recent addition to her clan of kids.
“Russ,” She gasped, grinding into me harder. “Oh yes, oh right there, fuck!” She yelped.
I held the position, sucking that exact way and flicking my fingers inside her faster, knowing she was about to cum all over my face and desperate for it.
“Oh, oh my god,” She cried. “Yes, oh-my-god, I’m cumming.”
I never let up pressure, sucking on her clit as her entire body trembled against me. The juices coming out of her pussy soaked my fingers, and only when she thrashed and begged me to stop did I move my tongue to lap up her mess. God, she tasted so fucking good.
She gasped and giggled as she came down from the orgasm high, grinning down at me and biting her lips. “How are you so good at that?” She panted.
I raised a brow at her and grinned. “Lots of practice.”
Her nose scrunched up at that, and I laughed as I pushed myself up onto my knees and looked down at her. Her breasts were swollen with milk from nursing her newest kid, and her stomach showed the trauma of having brought four new people into the world. The soft, stretched skin puckered in the middle, forever announcing to the world that she was a mother.
It was fucking sexy as hell.
“How's the kid?” I asked as I rolled a condom onto my cock and lifted her legs, giving me access to that glorious pussy.
She hummed a laugh. “She’s rolling around like crazy, I swear she’ll be walking in a month. Plus, she is so chatty, babbles all the time.”
I smiled knowingly. “Sounds like her mom.”
She rolled her eyes, “Whatever.”
Nadia grabbed the back of her knees, holding them as I hit my cock against her clit a few times before sliding up and down the length of her pussy lips. She hummed in appreciation, and I teased her with the tip of my cock until she let out an exasperated groan and moved her legs to wrap around my hips.
“Impatient, are we?” I snickered, coming down to rest on top of her.
“If you don’t fuck me right now, I might die.” She breathed against my weight atop her.
I thrust into her, slow and hard, forcing her brown eyes into the back of her head with every single one of those movements. Her fingers gripped onto my shoulders, digging in as I sped up the thrusts and fucked her faster. It wasn’t long before she was purring moans at me and her body pinked with the heat of us moving together.
I kissed and sucked the soft area of her neck under her ear, and those fingers found their way to my hair and stayed there, pulling and gripping tighter as I continued to fuck her faster and harder. My god, the pain of it made me want to blow my load immediately.
I groaned into her ear, and she echoed it, wrapping her legs tighter around my waist.
“I fucking missed this.” She gasped, “God, you fuck me so fucking good.”
“Yeah, Nad’s?” I groaned.
“I want your cum,” She purred, pulling my head up so I stared at her in the eyes. “I want it in me.”
Not a chance. “You can have it in your mouth.” I offered, and she pouted in return. “I’m not cumming inside you,” I whispered, kissing her neck again.
I wasn’t about to cum in some other guy's wife, especially not when I knew she wasn’t on any birth control. Not even once. Those kids she had were her husband's, and I wasn’t going to add a rogue of mine into the mix. Not a fucking chance.
“Ugh,” She groaned. “Fine, cum in my mouth.”
I grinned against her neck and kissed it once more before pulling out of her and stepping off the bed. She slid off the bed and knelt in front of my raging cock and peeled off the condom before sucking my dick like a god-damn pro. I guess she was in a way. She had four kids to prove it.
I let my thoughts fucking evaporate as she spat and gagged and sucked me off so well I was standing there groaning and gripping onto her long black hair, thrusting into that filthy throat of hers. She never let up, stroking my cock as she bounced her head up and down my shaft and massaging my balls as if coaxing the cum from me. She brought me over the fucking edge in minutes.
“Ugh, fuck,” I groaned out. “I’m going to fucking cum.”
She flicked those lashes at me, brown eyes burning with want, and I was done for. I felt my balls tighten and shaft twitch in that hot mouth of hers, unloading a week's worth of pent-up cum into her mouth with a vengeance.
She moaned in appreciation around my cock, taking it all in her mouth without losing a drop. Once I finished pulsing, she opened her mouth to show me her treasure just before swallowing every single drop with a wicked grin on her face.
I groaned and stroked myself a few more times, relishing in the moment as she moved to the bathroom.
“I can’t believe you won’t cum in anyone.” She called from my bathroom before coming back into my bedroom.
I had watched enough guys fuck their lives over after going raw with their girls, or special friends, to know it wasn’t worth a second of my time. Especially not with married women who had no concept of pregnancy prevention.
“It’s not up for debate, Nadia.” I gave her a pointed look; conversation over.
She rolled her eyes as she threw her clothes back on. “Seriously, it’s weird.”
I shrugged.
She sighed. “So, you’ll fuck women in relationships, but you won’t cum in them?”
“I don’t cum in any women.” I corrected, slipping into a pair of boxers and sweats before facing her again. “What does it matter to you? You have a husband for that.”
She blushed pink, and her nostrils flared a bit. “What?” I pressed. “I’m not the guy in your life interested in making babies with you, Nadia. That’s his job, not mine. I’m not interested in making babies with anyone.”
“I wasn’t asking you to,” She tried.
“Yeah, well, we’ve talked about it. I’m not fucking you without a condom, if you have an issue with that, fuck someone else.” I ran a frustrated hand through my hair.
“You know,” She muttered, head shaking with anger. “You don’t even kiss me. What the fuck is up with that? You’ve been fucking me for what a year-”
“Off and on.” I corrected her.
We started hooking up midway through her pregnancy last year. I hadn’t touched her since she had the baby 7 months ago.
Her nostrils flared wider. “Yeah, well, it’s weird. You don’t kiss me or do anything remotely intimate, you won’t budge on the condom thing -”
“I’m not your boyfriend,” I said dryly. “I’m not your lover, or your fucking husband. I fuck you, periodically, when you’re horny and don’t want him to fuck you. I don’t give a shit about kissing you, Nadia. That’s not the deal here.”
The pink in her cheeks burned. “Wow, you’re a prick.” She snapped.
I gave her a solid what the fuck expression and raised my hands in defeat. “Find someone else to romance you, I’m not willing to do that.”
“You won’t even talk to me about it!” She pressed.
“Nope,” I nodded. “Because I only want you to fuck you, I don’t want anything else. If you don’t like that, delete my number.”
“Wow.” She scoffed, snatching her purse from my dresser and ripping her keys out, staring daggers at me. “You’re seriously an emotionless asshole, you know that?”
I didn’t even dignify that with a reply.
I knew I was a prick for fucking women in relationships, especially married ones. But I wasn’t emotionless. I just had boundaries and self-respect enough to know there were lines I wasn’t even willing to cross.
Nadia stormed out, slamming my apartment door as she left. I deleted the fury of angry texts she sent to me as they came in. Not even bothering to give them a second glance before deciding I was going to be the one to go no contact, and blocked her number.
/ / / /
Midday Tuesday, October 11th, 2022
Perinni’s Trattoria was the best authentic Italian restaurant on the island. Hands down. Not only was the food to fucking die for, but Momma Sofia - the owner and granddaughter of one of Canada’s original tycoons from the wartime era - was the heart of the community. A mother to all, she used that wealth to better the communities that needed it most.
While Sofia’s mother, Nonna Alessia, had married rich, she had been born in Canada between the world wars to her Italian immigrant parents. Alessia suffered greatly for it as a child. As a result, Momma Sofia made it her mission in life to give her mom back the dreams that were stolen from her as a young girl. Thirty-five years ago, when Sofia opened the restaurant in her mother’s name, she fulfilled that dream. A dream of bringing people together with authentic Sicilian/Italian food and a warm place to land.
“Looking good, Lieutenant. ” Mack grinned at me with a nod as he was followed out of the rear kitchen by the rest of the crew.
“Hai scoperto l’acqua calda.” Momma muttered as she grabbed the certifications from Mack’s outstretched hand.
“What does-” He started.
“It’s a required inspection, Momma Sof, you know that,” I replied, cutting off my deckie.
She scoffed at me as she replaced the old inspection certifications on the wall. The woman was a spicy one; as loving as a Labrador with the bite of a god damned Cane Corso.
Mack tucked his helmet under an arm and scratched the top of his head as he came to stand beside me. We’d graduated from high school together and gone on to do our paramedic and firefighting certifications together. Twelve years of saving lives later, and he was still my closest friend in the world.
“Hi, can I get the mafalde con polpette and panzanella, please?”
I stiffened at the sound of the familiar voice.
Glancing over my left shoulder, I saw the backside of the woman; fit as hell, and looking rosy and slightly wind-burnt with a pink flush on her cheeks. It was clear she'd come into the restaurant mid-run. I could see the hint of perspiration along her forehead as she reached up to adjust the headband, pushing her dark hair out of her face.
The skin-tight leggings she wore left nothing to question, and I gave my crew a death glare when I turned back to find all of them blatantly staring.
“Get the truck ready to go, now,” I barked.
Some of them muttered apologies as they walked out, tails tucked back to the truck. Mack just gave me a shit eating grin.
“Actually, sorry… do you mind adding some arancini, too?” She asked the younger girl working the counter. The girl nodded enthusiastically as she took down the order and brought it to the chef's window. “Thanks so much.” She smiled gratefully.
“Damn, Bri,” Mack called with that stupid grin stretching across his face as my sister-in-law glanced over at the two of us in shock.
“You eating for two or what?” He teased.
Brielle’s face faltered, and I gave him a look that told him to fuck right off.
“Ah, shit, Bri,” Mack muttered, running another hand through his mess of black hair. “I was just fucking around. How’ve you been?”
“Good.” She said curtly, the smile she attempted wasn’t even half-hearted. “You?”
“Mack’s going to make sure the truck’s good to go,” I interjected, wanting to get the fuck out of there sooner than later.
Mack saluted like a moron, “Aye, aye, Lieutenant. Nice see’n ya, Bri.” He waved, which she returned with a cautious lift of her hand.
“Oh, Cucciola.” Momma Sofia cooed, moving around the counter to scoop Brielle into one of her famous hugs.
The previous tension in Briella evaporated as Momma squeezed her tight. I understood that. Those hugs could make any day better.
“Hi, Momma,” Brielle murmured before gently stepping out of the embrace. “Was something wrong?” She asked, gesturing to me, standing there in my firefighting gear.
Momma scoffed and waved an annoyed hand to dismiss the idea.
“Just a safety inspection,” I answered for her.
Brielle nodded, giving me a weary look. It made sense. After I’d threatened Roman that I’d expose his fucked up lying to his wife, I’m sure he told her all sorts of things to make me seem like a bad guy.
“Well,” I said, shifting my helmet under my arm and stepping forward to give Momma a quick hug. “I’ll come by for some dinner when I’m off shift,” I told her, planting a kiss on her dark, wiry curls.
“You do that, Ometto.” She patted the side of my cheek with a wink.
I shook my head at the nickname. She’d given it to me when I was a scrawny little kid chasing after her daughters around the park across from the restaurant. It clearly never mattered that I’d hit six-foot-four when I was seventeen and hadn’t been under a hundred and eighty pounds since I was twenty.
Momma walked into the rear kitchen, leaving me to stand awkwardly with my sister-in-law and several others eating their lunches in the booths and tables around us.
“You look good,” I said awkwardly. “How’s Rome?”
“Like you care.” She glared.
Oh yeah, he definitely made me out to be some fucking monster. I just shifted my helmet into my hands and shrugged.
“He’s my brother,” I replied coolly. “I care if he’s okay.”
“He’s fine.” She bit out, those blue eyes were frozen tundras. “I know he misses his brother. I know he wishes his twin would care about us wanting to expand our family instead of being the selfish anti-baby douchebag he is.”
I couldn’t help but snort. Roman was something else. Sure, I wasn’t interested in having kids, never really had been. Comes with the job - I didn’t know if I was going to be coming out of most of the fucked up fires I had to run into. Or more likely, when a heart attack or cancer would finally take me out after all these years of doing this job. Better not to leave behind a wife and kids when the inevitable happens.
But I wasn’t willing to let him fuck around with everyone’s emotions and lives anymore. I was done protecting him from his bullshit lies.
“He’s still saying that, huh?” I kept all emotion off my face as I held her gaze. “Kinda surprised you haven’t figured out that’s all bullshit, honestly.”
Those blue eyes narrowed to slits. “What are you talking about?”
“Roman,” I said simply. “He’s lying to you.”
She snorted, shaking her head in disbelief. “Right, okay then, Russel, enlighten me then. What would my husband possibly be lying about?”
I held her expression, letting that fury on her face marinate in my mind. I’d decided months ago that I wasn’t willing to keep up the lies for my brother. I was serious when I told him I would tell his wife about the lies he was keeping from her if it came down to it.
He didn’t believe me, or rather, he thought he could scare me off with petty threats. I could understand why he never told Mom. After our dad’s death and her subsequent heart attack, the woman didn’t need any more heartbreak or disappointment. But the fact that he was willing to lie and keep Brielle hostage in their marriage, and she didn’t even know it was happening, that I wasn’t willing to play around with.
She was too fucking good for him. Always had been.
“Ask him about the accident,” I said, not wanting to cause a big scene in Perinni’s, and moved to the door.
“The accident? You mean the motorcycle crash, when he was eighteen?” She called out after me, following me out, standing in the doorway of the restaurant.
I stopped short, sighing and pressing my fingers to my forehead. “Ask about the complications, Bri.”
“I know about all of that.” She snapped.
I knew by the hard look on her face that she had no idea what I was talking about. “No,” I said, shaking my head curtly. “You don’t.”
My twin had always been the serious, studious one out of the two of us. Whereas I craved adrenaline. But he went through a midlife crisis of sorts post high school and ended up getting his motorcycle license that summer. Our mother had been distraught and thought it was a suicide mission. To be honest, I considered getting a bike myself. Thought it might be a fun thing for us to do together.
That is, until that fall just after the semester started, and a drunk driver cut him off, clipping the front end of his bike in such a way that it sent Roman flying into oncoming traffic. To be honest, it was a fucking miracle he was alive with minimal long-term deficits.
There was only one thing that had been taken from him forever: the functionality of his testicles. See, when that piece of shit clipped him, Roman’s body propelled forward, and he was forced into the bike hard. Before flipping and, well, you can imagine the rest of the damage.
That movement forward caused him to suffer bilateral testicular torsion. But the sheer number of other actually life-threatening injuries he’d sustained took precedence. It wasn’t until after they had stabilized him that they were able to address the twisted testicles issue. At that point, so many hours had passed, there wasn’t much to be salvaged.
He was left essentially infertile. Subsequent appointments with urologists throughout the years confirmed that he would be hard-pressed to father his own child. I only knew about the infertility issue because he was living with me during his recovery. He never told either of our parents. And when I found out earlier this year that he and Brielle were trying to have a baby, I realized he’d never told her either.
“He suffered bilateral testicular torsion.” I sighed, shaking my head. “He can’t get you pregnant.”
Horror flashed in those blue eyes, and I felt a hot rush of guilt.
“You’re a liar.” She breathed, but I saw it on her face: a flicker of realization. As if she had already been considering the possibility. Or maybe just assumed something wasn’t right with her not getting knocked up within the last year.
“Ask him,” I muttered, turning to join my men on the truck and wishing that I had just called in sick for once.
___________________
Thanks for reading chapter one of this new wife lovers series. Let me know you loved it by liking and favouriting it. I also appreciate comments, both criticism and praise. So, let me know what you think.
I wanted to add in a little Italian translation glossary here for you as well:
- When Momma Sofia mutters, "Hai scoperto l’acqua calda." To Mack and Russel in Perinni's, she's saying, "You've discovered hot water." Essentially, this is her sarcastically saying "no shit" / "you don't say."
-When Momma Sofia refers to Brielle as "Cucciola," this is basically a term of endearment similar to saying "sweatheart" or "honey" in English. You would typically refer to a child in this way and the literal translation is "female puppy/cub." Cucciolo would be the male equivalent.
-She also refers to Russel as "Ometto," which is another term of endearment, though this one means "little man." While these might not be commonly used in reference to adults, if you know anything about Italian mommas, or nonnas, you're always a kid.
-Finally, let's talk cuisine! Brielle orders three things from Perinni's: mafalde con polpette, panzanella, and arancini.
-Mafalde con polpette is a pasta dish made with mafalde noodles (they're like a hybrid of lasagna and spaghetti noodles) and polpette (slow cooked meatballs) served with a tomato sauce. This would be similar to North America's spaghetti and meatballs.
-Panzanella is, well, bread salad. It's a way to use up stale bread, but it's delicious and simple. The perfect dinner in the hottest part of the summer, honestly. My favourite way to have this is with some rosemary focaccia (an Italian bread) with fresh tomatoes and cucumbers tossed in oil, vinegar, and basil. (For those not allergic to onions like me, you would add those as well.)
-Arancini is like mozzarella sticks, but way better. These are made from seasoned risotto rice that is stuffed with cheese and rolled in bread crumbs before being deep-fried and served. So, they're literally balls of fried, cheesy rice.
-xoxo Lia
