Will — Epilogue 1
Six months later…
"I'm so going to be late," said Bianca, emerging into the kitchen, dressed in a white pantsuit.
Before she could get past me and make a play for the coffee, my arms went around her waist and I pulled her towards me.
"You're about to be even later, looking like you do," I said, looking her up and down appreciatively before stealing a kiss.
"You see people in suits all day," she said, rolling her eyes playfully as she locked her fingers behind my neck.
"I do, but you're the only one of those people I've fucked all over this kitchen," I cooed, stealing another kiss, my lips lingering on hers a little longer.
She deepened the kiss, leaning into me. My hand slid up to cup and squeeze her breast, causing her to moan, slap my hand and pull away.
"I can't be late. It's my first day at the DA's office. I need to make a good impression," she insisted, slipping out of my arms.
"Trust me, you've already made an impression on your new boss," I sassed. "Are you sure you don't want to work at literally any firm in LA? They certainly want you."
It was obvious that the DA had the hots for Bianca. After Bianca discovered an extended video on Jason's cloud showing him setting up the phone to record an hour before he and Britney had sex, she won Britney's civil suit and became the talk of the town. It irritated me that of all the job offers she got, she ended up accepting the DA's. Jason heard from the DA soon thereafter and was now awaiting a criminal trial, with Bianca as the prosecutor.
"Don't be petty," she said, sitting down next to me with a cup of coffee in hand. "Those law firms can't give me what I want right now."
"Flirty looks from the DA?"
"No, a chance to make myself proud. I'm not looking to stand out for anyone. I just want to be proud of what I do."
I gave her a smile and a kiss on the forehead.
"Fine, but if he makes a pass at you—"
"I'll suckerpunch him on your behalf," she teased, giving me a final kiss before she got back up.
"See you tonight for dinner at our home," I said with amusement.
We hadn't discussed living together or me talking to Sandra since our first night in Rome. As it was, I didn't want to push Bianca into something she wasn't ready for. Gradually, over the last six months, she slowly but surely went from having a drawer at my place to taking up more than half of the closet space. Never having talked about it again worked out just fine for us, as she was here almost every night anyway.
"Still don't live here," she called back, insisting that we didn't live together, which we pretty much did.
"Whatever you say. Proud of you," I called back, shaking my head.
When I arrived at the office that morning, I was nervous. My first meeting of the day was with Sandra.
"I've postponed all your meetings for today," said Harmon, awaiting my presence at the elevator.
"Well that answers that. This must be an on again week for you and Macy if you're being incompetent at your job. Tell her she's been missed. You're a lot less grumpy when you're getting laid," I responded as we swiftly made our way to my office.
"Not that it's any of your business, but Macy and I have been getting along great."
"You broke up last Tuesday, for the seventh time," I reminded him as I sat down in my chair.
"Inconsequential. Shall I let your mother know that you'll be canceling your breakfast appointment?" Harmon shot back, hitting where it hurt.
After a long pause, I answered, "Not this time."
I dug into my pocket to produce the engagement ring I had designed especially for Bianca.
"After ten years of bitching about meeting your mother, all this for a girl? She must be something in—"
"Bianca deserves a husband without mommy issues," I said, cutting Harmon off with a scowl. "Someone who can rise above the past the way she has and offer her a future. I'm doing this for both of our sakes."
What exactly was I doing? Hell if I knew. Today was our six month anniversary though. Watching Bianca patch things up with Britney made it clear to me how important family was to both of us. That was why before I could offer to make her my family, I had to do this. Whatever the hell this was.
Watching me sweat bullets, Harmon said with a grin, "I'll send for the car then, Mr. Hunter."
Breakfast started out like any other meal shared by myself, Sandra and Olivia, with the exception being that made a point of being on time. To my surprise, so did Sandra. We were halfway through breakfast, when Olivia broke the silence.
"I'm quitting my job at Hunter Industries," she said, still looking down at her plate. "Billy's right. I need to focus on business school and just being a kid."
Just when I was getting used to having her around too. This was all I ever wanted for Olivia. For her to focus on her own life and not fuss about me all the time. She thought she was being subtle about it, but she really wasn't. Now was her time to enjoy life.
"About time. You never get anyone's coffee orders right anyway," I said with an approving smile.
Olivia raised her eyes to mine, then reached over and threw her arms around me.
"I love you too, Billy," she said, squishing her cheek up against mine.
I put a hand on her back for a change and patted it gently, letting her know that I was grateful for her presence in my life, even if it didn't always seem that way.
My eyes went to Sandra's and I blurted out, "You need to start showing up again. Everyone at this table lost someone when Edgar bailed. I'm getting engaged tonight, hopefully, fingers crossed, and I want to give Bianca more than just me. I want to give her a family. So San— mom, do you think you can help me out with that? Meet me, us halfway?"
Olivia pulled away from me, took my hand and gave it a tight squeeze, before looking back at our mother.
"Please mom? Bianca's amazing. She's beautiful, smart, funny and we do spa days and go shopping. Her winning Britney's case was so badass. Most importantly, she and Billy are so obvious, it's kind of gross, but—"
"Bring her by the house tomorrow. We'll all do lunch," said Sandra, slowly reaching out to grasp each of her children's hands.
"Sure," was the best I could do, as I held my mother's hand for the first time in ten years.
This was about as close to an apology as I could hope for. Sandra didn't actually say the words, but I didn't care. Being loved by Bianca had dulled the pain of Sandra and Edgar's absences. Bianca taught me how to be patient with others and more importantly, with myself. For the first time in ten years, my family sat through an entire meal together and I was okay.