His Promise: The Mafia’s Babies by C. Tamika novel Chapter 244

It was a bright and sunny day, filled with talks and laughter. The Lamberti estate was full of guests, including different families who were all present for Lucio’s birthday party. His birthday was two weeks ago, but today felt like a good day to celebrate his existence.

A month had passed since everything went down, and for the first time in forever, things were actually going great. Everything was nice and peaceful.

“I’m happy to see all of you here together.” Lucio grabbed my hand to connect it with Christian’s. We glanced at each other, and a soft smile appeared on Christian’s lips.

“So am I.” He spoke. It still seemed unreal, but our relationship was perfect. Every now and then, we had minor disagreements, but that was it.

“And you?” Lucio looked over at Cesca, who held Siena in her arms. “You should get along with your daughter-in-law.” He spoke. “Serena has always been like a daughter to me, so I need all of you to take care of her in the future.”

Hearing him speak as if he wasn’t going to be around anymore was hard to handle, but at the same time, it was something we couldn’t avoid. Despite his cheerfulness, he had become even skinnier and had lost most of his strength.

“Don’t worry. We get along very well.” Cesca cooed, kissing Siena. Whenever it didn’t involve the way I was raising Siena, sure—I would say we got along great.

“Uncle Chrissie, we need you to play hide-and-seek with us because they are cheating!” Gianna looked up at her uncle with her hands on her hips.

“S-sure.” Christian stuttered at the young girl bold enough to intimidate someone like him. She was starting to look more like Gio and acted like him too.

I giggled as Gianna pulled him to Dario and scolded them to pay attention to her rules.

After punishing his father, Dario had become a warm person and an even better leader.

Although it had been decided that he would be running the family business from the west coast to start over his life, having him around removed most of Christian’s burdens and granted him enough time to spend at home with his family.

“It’s good to see they’re getting along—isn’t it?” Lucio followed my eyes. “Shouldn’t you be with your family?” He looked at the Alfonzos.

As always, dad bragged about his achievements while Beau sent daggers with his eyes, joined by Franco who was trying to find away to make himself the topic of conversation. The relationship between dad and his so called enemies was still rocky, but it was definitely getting there.

“You’re my family.” I looked back at Cesca and Lucio. “I’m good here.”

“You’re right—you are.” Lucio had a proud look on his face. “Did you know who came to visit me yesterday? Marc!” I could hear the joy from his voice.

Marc, who had distanced himself from the Lamberti business, had become nothing more than a best friend to Christian, and in a way, it was a good thing.

Spending time with a longtime friend without having to talk about business all the time eased his mind.

“How is he doing?”

“Good.” Lucio informed me. “He also agrees that you and Christian should finally set a date for the wedding.”

“Oh, really?” I gulped, making him laugh. After all the things we had been through with the cheating drama—I felt unsure about my feelings.

I knew I wanted to be with Christian, and I did want to marry him, but endless thoughts were going through my head.

What if he got bored of me after our marriage and would find some other Serena at a stripclub?

What if I couldn’t live up to his expectations and he filed for divorce?

I trusted him, but at the same time, I knew we were still not at that place and had changed my mind about rushing things.

“Maybe after the baby is born.” I bit my lip, regretting my words. By the looks of it—Lucio wouldn’t even make it to the baby’s birth.

“Luc, should give her Siena’s presence.” Cesca saved the conversation, staring at her granddaughter. I felt terrible for admitting it, but Siena was definitely her favorite, and somehow I believed it had to do with her still not believing Christian had a daughter.

“Yes, yes—her present.” Lucio reached for the necklace around his neck, and I could already sense what he would do. “I got this from my father, and he got it from my grandfather and so on.” He struggled to release the necklace.

He was in a lot of pain; however, Lucio Lamberti would never admit it. Those were Franco’s traits and the same which got handed down to Christian and Gio.

The only one who had missed the family tradition was Enzo, who was still at the resort with Luca, trying to fix whatever this twisted family situation had done to him.

I couldn’t accept this necklace for my daughter—but I couldn’t disrespect Lucio either. Just nod and smile.

Cesca placed Siena on Lucio’s lap but did not let go of her. “Please grow up knowing grandpa loves you very much, and don’t ever forget about me.” He said before pushing the necklace into her little jean pocket.

I felt a sad feeling in my heart and held back my tears. Bawling my eyes out at this man’s party would just come off as plain disrespectful, and I couldn’t do that.

“I will remind you of her every single day.” Cesca kissed his cheek and grabbed Siena. “I’ll make sure she won’t forget about you and all you’ve done for this family, ever.”

Okay, that was it.

My lips trembled as I let the tears roll down my cheeks. “I’m sorry.” I covered my face with my hands and looked away, huffing.

“I told you no one is allowed to cry today.” Cesca rushed to my side, leaning her head against my shoulder so she wouldn’t drop Siena. “Today is supposed to be a happy day!”

“I know.” I wiped my tears. “I’m just so grateful—“

“Why is she crying?” A voice interrupted us. Ashamed and apologetic, I looked at Christian, who pulled me in his embrace. “What did you do, mom?”

I could hear the sound of Lucio’s laughter.

“Nothing, these are happy tears!” Cesca defended herself. “How am I to blame for this?”

Lucio cleared his throat, slowing down his laughter. “You must marry this girl, and the two of you must live a long and happy life.” He spoke, taking a peek at his wife.

Was that the same look Christian gave to me?

Looking at Cesca and Lucio, those two deserved much more time together, but fate had a different plan.

“We will get married.” Christian poked my invisible bump. “After the baby is born.”

Not if it was up to me.

Lucio coughed loudly, Cesca handed me Siena to rush to her husband’s side. “What is it?” She held his hands. “Are you tired? Do you need sleep? Do you need me to—“

“No.” Lucio yawned, grinning at her. “I’m still having fun. Take me around the garden.”

“Sure.” Cesca’s hand got pushed away before she could reach the wheelchair. “I want to take a walk…just this time.”

A walk?

I pushed Christian forward, telling him to respect his father’s wishes. Christian was the same man who didn’t want Lucio to hold his own knife, fork or glass. It was that serious.

“Yes, we can take a walk.” Christian surprisingly went with it. “Serena, you should come with us.”