Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 75107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
“We knew you’d just love her!” Andy said, rushing into the apartment.
“Wait! Who is that?”
“This is Potroast,” Andy said, snuggling the puppy.
“Oh, my God. I love him too.”
“So does Meatball. And Noel, by the way. Just so you know. She’s been an angel.”
“So, that’s why you’ve been so weird the last couple of days,” Steph said, small-eyeing her friends. “No steamy sex. Just present-hiding.”
“I mean… we can have both,” Andy insisted.
“Except we haven’t,” Sammy added. “Not with a new puppy needing to go potty every two hours. Noel is amazing on a leash too. She loves a walk.”
“But also loves laying around on the couch for half the day,” Andy added. “She’s the perfect dog. Your man chose well.”
“To be fair, Brio was the one to point her out to me.”
“That’s where you went when you left me with Salvatore.”
“Guilty. Brio thought now was a good time to get a dog. To have company while you’re laid up. I agreed.”
“I love her,” Steph said, leaning down to bury her face in the dog’s soft fur. “So are those presents for her?” she asked, nodding toward the tree.
“Yeah, just some toys. I got the rest stored at the girls’ place.”
“Speaking of, I’m going to go grab it all,” Sammy said, setting Meatball down. “We have to get going to Andy’s family.”
“Are you guys bringing Meatball and Potroast?” Steph asked.
“You mean our sons?” Andy asked. “Of course.”
I helped Sammy haul in the massive bag of dog food, bed, toys, food dishes, and a bag full of various other things like shampoo and toothpaste that Brio insisted we needed.
Then the girls exchanged quick presents before Andy and Sammy (and their sons) had to get going.
“You know what I think would be an amazing new Christmas tradition?” Stephanie asked when we were alone again, all three of us cuddled on the couch.
“What’s that?” I asked, petting Noel’s velvety ears.
“A long walk through Central Park with Noel.”
“I like it,” I decided.
And in my mind, I could see many years ahead of us doing exactly that.
I couldn’t wait.
Stephanie - 7 Months
“Is that wrapping paper?” Venezio asked, coming into the apartment where I had four rolls on the coffee table.
“Your observation skills remain unmatched,” I said, leaning my head back for a quick kiss.
“I get Christmas is your thing, babe. But it’s July.”
“I’m not decorating or anything. Yet. That is obviously what you do on Halloween night.”
“Right. Obviously,” he said, dropping down onto the couch with a huff of laughter. Noel was quick to join him, getting all her loving.
“There is just a Christmas-in-July sale. I wanted to take advantage. This is just the first shipment. We’re going to need like twenty times this for the presents this year.”
Not to toot my own horn, but I’d been kicking ass even in the off-season in raising money for Giftmas. So, yeah, beep beep.
We’d reached our goal last year. I planned to smash through it before the season even started.
Along with the little bribe-slash-donation from the Costas.
“How did it go?” I asked once he stopped telling Noel about all the ‘good smells’ she was going to come across when we took our long walk.
“I’m Made,” he said.
“How does it feel?”
“Weird.”
“Care to use more words?” I suggested, shooting him a smirk.
He would never be the most talkative man in the world, but he usually had more to say than he originally seemed to. He just required a little coaxing.
“The whole point of becoming a capo is to take a step back from the grind. To find all the best soldiers and associates and let them do the dirty work.”
“And you don’t like that?”
“I’ve busted my ass every day of my life since I was fucking eleven. I don’t know what it’s like to have time off.”
“I mean… you kind of do, though,” I reminded him. “You’ve taken a lot of days off since we’ve met.”
“When we were being chased through two boroughs?”
“And after, when you were taking care of me. And on Sundays, so we can have date nights with Andy and Sammy. And random afternoons here or there.”
He sat with that a minute.
“Isn’t this just letting you choose when to bust your ass and when to let someone else, er, earn their stripes? Sorry, I don’t know the mafia term.”
“Make your bones,” Venezio said with that smirk I loved so much.
“How does one make bones?”
“Think about that for a second.”
“Oh. Oh. Well, that wasn’t exactly what I meant, but, yeah, the point of being a boss—and kind of boss—is that you can take a step back, not that you have to.”
“True,” he agreed. “You ready to take a walk?” he asked, patting his pocket for, I guess, his phone.
“Sure. Just let me put Noel’s shoes on. We can’t have you burning your toesies, now, can we?” I cooed at her, making her tail twirl around.