Chapter 20 Angelo
ANGELO
“That was ridiculously fast.” Vinnie wraps his arm around his new wife’s middle and pulls her close to his side. “It took us longer to drive there than for the entire ceremony.”
“The next one will be longer,” Bianca tells him as she rests her head on his arm and walks toward the pizza place. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m officially Mrs. Vincent Gallo.” She holds up her hand and stares at the ring as its light splinters in the setting sun.
“You made me the happiest man in the world today,” he tells her.
Tilly looks up at me, our hands linked, and smiles. She’s been like an entirely different person since her talk with Suzy last night. I’m not sure what they said, but whatever it was, it changed her.
“You ready for this?” Tilly calls out before Bianca and Vinnie make it to the front door.
Bianca stops and turns, taking a deep breath. “Let’s just hope my dad doesn’t lose his shit. The last thing we need is someone getting arrested.”
“You think that’ll happen?” Tilly’s mouth falls open.
Bianca shrugs. “Hopefully my parents will be happy. But my father has a temper, and I don’t know how they’ll feel about me being pregnant.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t tell them that,” Vinnie says as his shoulders tense. “We can wait.”
I slap him on the back, trying to knock some sense into him. “Stop the bullshit. We’ll all be here. Nothing will happen. Just tell the old man and give him a few minutes to realize he’s going to be a grandfather.”
Tilly stares at the happy couple. “Do your parents know we’re here to celebrate you two getting married?”
Bianca shakes her head. “Nope. It’s going to be like a one-two punch.”
“Oh, lordie,” Tilly whispers and bites her bottom lip.
“Yep. It might get a little out of hand.” Vinnie grimaces for a moment before pulling his lips into a tight smile. “But at least everything will be out in the open.”
We’ll add this day to the list of dumb shit Vinnie’s done in his life.
They should’ve been honest about the baby to begin with.
I’m pretty sure my mother is going to go apeshit when she finds out about the shotgun wedding.
Her anger won’t have anything to do with the wedding not taking place in a church, but the fact that she wasn’t there to witness the blessed event.
“Last chance to run,” I tease as he reaches for the door handle, and Tilly swats my chest.
“Stop. Leave them be. It’ll all be fine.”
She thinks so, which is cute, but I’ve met many men like Mr. Hernandez, and I can say it won’t be fine. He’s going to go crazy, probably close to nuclear, when he hears his baby girl is knocked up and they snuck away to get married at city hall instead of in a church and before God.
I lean down and kiss Tilly’s cheek. “I’ll remind you of that in a half hour.”
“Let’s do this, baby,” Vinnie says to Bianca, ushering her through the door.
Half the pizza shop is filled with family. Everyone’s here, including Bianca’s parents, grandmother, and brothers who look a little out of place and overly curious about why they’ve been asked to attend a dinner at a restaurant they probably wouldn’t normally be caught dead in.
It takes ten minutes to say hello, including hugs and kisses. That’s the rub of an Italian family. Hellos and goodbyes take forever.
“Why are we here, Bianca?” her mother asks as soon as the family starts to settle back into their seats.
Bianca turns to Vinnie, twisting her hands in front of herself, and gives him a nervous smile. “You say it,” she says softly. “I can’t.”
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Sick?” Her mother’s gaze roams Bianca’s body, and I can see the worry on her face.
“No, Mom. I’m not sick,” Bianca says quickly, but it does nothing to alleviate the tension.
Tilly squeezes my hand and leans over. “This is going to be intense, isn’t it?”
“Maybe they’ll take it well, like you said,” I tell her, but I know it’s complete bullshit.
“Then what is it? Why are we all here?”
Vinnie steps forward, his hand linked with Bianca’s as his eyes move across the room. “Bianca and I have an announcement to make.”
Bianca’s mother quickly does the sign of the cross, touching her head, heart, and each shoulder. Bianca’s father’s hand is already clenched so tightly, I’m pretty sure he’s about ready to pop.
“Spit it out, guys. You’re killing us!” Mike yells out, but he knows everything. The parents are the only ones in the dark.
Vinnie holds out Bianca’s hand, showing off the ring. “Bianca and I were married today.”
The people not in the know, my parents and Bianca’s family, all gasp with wide eyes. The rest of the family, my cousins and siblings, all start clapping and hollering for the happy couple.
Bianca’s father stands straight up, hand still curled in a fist. “You what?”
“We got married at city hall, Papa.”
Bianca’s father’s eyes slice to his wife, but she’s too busy crying, and I’m not sure they’re entirely tears of joy either.
“How could you do this to your mother?”
Tilly’s eyes find mine, and I cringe because this isn’t going as happily as Vinnie and Bianca hoped, and they haven’t even dropped the biggest bomb yet.
“We couldn’t wait,” Vinnie says, not giving one shit that her dad is mad.
“We’ll still get married in the church. We’ll renew our vows before God, Papa.”
“The green-eyed one,” Bianca’s grandmother says with a big smile. “I knew. I always knew.”
“How could you not tell us or, hell, invite us to the ceremony?” her father seethes.
Bianca’s grandmother reaches up and grabs her son’s hand. “Calm down, my son. She’s with child. This is a celebration.”
Bianca’s father’s head jerks back at his mother-in-law’s words. “She is not. She can’t be.” He turns his narrowed eyes toward Bianca and Vinnie. “Are you?”
“Surprise,” Bianca exclaims, waving her hands in the air like she’s trying to make light of the situation.
“Should we take cover?” Tilly whispers in my ear.
“I don’t know, sweetheart. Just keep still and see what happens. I think the old woman has it covered.”
“How could you?” Bianca’s dad asks.
The grandmother tightens her grip on his arm. “Sit down,” she tells him, and there’s no missing the agitation in her tone. “You will not ruin this happy day.”
His lip curls in a snarl. “Happy? How is this happy? My little girl is knocked up and got married at city hall because she’s carrying his child.”
“This is fate. I saw it many years ago, just as I saw you for my daughter.”
“You’re going to have a baby?” Bianca’s mother asks like she’s just coming out of shock.
“Yes, Mama. I’m so sorry,” Bianca tells her from a safe distance away.
Her mother rises and wipes the tears from her face as she walks around the table and approaches her daughter.
“Should I go to Bianca in case something bad happens?” Tilly asks, but I shake my head.
Bianca’s mother reaches out, cradling her daughter’s face in her hand. “My baby’s going to have a baby?”
“Yes,” Bianca says with watery eyes. “Don’t be mad, Mama. We’re so happy. So very happy.”
“I’m going to be a grandmother?” she asks again like she’s still in disbelief.
Bianca nods. “You are.”
A smile spreads across her mother’s face. “You’ve made me very happy, little girl. So very happy.”
“You’re okay with this?” her father asks.
Bianca’s mother turns her attention toward her husband for a moment. “Yes, Grandpa, I am. Do not ruin this day for our daughter. Do not taint her pregnancy like your mother did mine.”
That is enough to shut him up as he sits back down and unclenches his fist, but he keeps his eyes focused on Vinnie.
“You’re not mad at me, Mama?” Bianca swallows, trying to hold the smile on her face.
“A life is never anything to be mad about, child. You have a good man, a loving husband, and you’re both giving me the greatest gift ever.”
I finally let out a long breath I didn’t even realize I’d been holding. “Well, that wasn’t so bad.”
“I told you so,” Tilly says and elbows me in the side.
“I’m going to be a grandmother again,” my mother says, having been uncharacteristically quiet until now. “This is the best week ever.”
The news of the pregnancy, along with the wedding, causes another round of hugs and kisses. At this rate, we’ll never eat.
Suzy leans over to Tilly. “Tonight, you tell me how everyone here got together. I want to know all the dirt.”
Tilly winks at her. “Girl, I have you covered.”
“Are you two gossiping?” I ask, nuzzling my face into my wife’s neck.
“It’s not gossip if it’s true.” Tilly smirks.
“We have so much to plan,” Bianca’s mother says as she takes her seat next to her still shell-shocked husband. “We must have you married before God, plan the christening, and your baby shower, of course.”
“We have time for that, Mama.”
Vinnie pulls out a chair for his wife and takes the seat next to her at the extremely long table filled with two families and many generations. The kids are at another table, a small army on their own.
Something about tonight, sitting at the pizza place we spent time in as kids, feels right. I haven’t felt this at peace in so long, the sensation is almost foreign. The calm among the chaos I grew up with is back, and for the first time in a long time, anything seems possible.