Word Count: 1711

Warning: of ' Abbachio finding out about secret child

(f/n) did her best to give her daughter the world, forcing herself to show the world a smile that truly didn't match up with her heart, all for her child's sake.

Because, while Leone had broken her own heart, it was no reason to let her own child go through the same wretched pain.

'You'll never know he rejected you.' (f/n) mused, watching her little girl as she opened up her eyes to her mother, the baby releasing little whimpers that begged for attention,

'You'll never know the feeling...' The woman then thought to herself, all while eyeing the beautiful golden orbs which were nearly identical to the mafioso's own gaze.

"It breaks my heart to see you...to know that you'll more than likely be the spitting image of him, and not just what I see now," She started,

" But his smile as well...

His way of seldom...

Even his way of chewing...

- All the stupid little habits he'd acquired throughout the years," (f/n) chuckled with tears in her eyes, "I can already tell that you'll somehow be just like him." she mused.

"In fact, I might just break down the first time you curse at someone!" She added, all while laughing, amused at her own stupidity.

" Oh, My love, When you take your first bite of Margherita Pizza... I just know you'll love it too! It'll be your favorite! " (f/n) then said while throwing her head back, "...And I'll just think of Leone," She murmured while still facing up at the ceiling, her eyes momentarily closed as she thought of the man.

" I'll think of the silly way he'd accidentally take a bite of his own hair, which is just so similar to yours my dear..." She said with the same touch of softness, saddened eyes gazing up at the roof,

" I'll cry my eyes out when you beg me to teach you how to make it...

because...

because...

he'd taught me how to make it just right!" she said while the tip of her index and thumb met, the universal signal of perfection being made,

"I couldn't eat anyone else's besides your papa's classic recipe... as silly as it sounds," She admitted, trailing her gaze back down to her sweetly gurgling angel.

" Oh (d/n)... I'll break down...

I just know it." She said with certainty, the pads of her fingers trailing down the side of (d/n)'s chubby cheek,

" I just hope you never see it, and if you do catch a glimpse of my tears...I hope you never remember them." She said with melancholy.

"I'd pray you never ask about him...but I know that eventually, you will." She said with a small grimacing grin,

" I know one day you'll ask why every other child gets to have both parents, all while your mother remains the same lonely fool I am now," (f/n) said while shaking her head,

"Please...don't hate me," (f/n) breathed, " Please just... whatever you do...

Don't hate me.

You can be similar to him in every way you want, just promise me that unlike him, you won't push me away..." She said with falling tears, holding her little girl close to her chest.

"Promise me that you will always love your mother, ok?"

(f/n) had felt anxious throughout the entire route back to the place she had once called home, her heart tightening more the closer she drew, because she knew that it was inevitable.

She was well aware that eventually, she'd be face to face with him.

She had expected it, but even then while she was before him, she froze.

When he was the first to greet her, she found herself unable to properly function, rigidly standing beneath the golden gaze of the man she'd left behind, the woman nearly struck stupid,

" Ah... Leone," (f/n) said with a follow-up of a short, single cough, her eyes drawing away from him as her hold on her sleeping child tightened.

" (F/n)," he said back, sounding flat as he tried to hold himself together.

He felt his heart race, his stomach being in twisted knots as he got a clear view of his sleeping child as well as the beauty before him.

To him, (f/n) hadn't changed much, except in the aspect that now, after all the time she'd been away, she now held an alluring air that left him intoxicated, his entire body which had once been touched by her, itching to step even closer.

He could then see her face visually fall as her bottom lip was tucked beneath her teeth at his rather curt response, and it made his breath hitch.

'I see,' She thought to herself, feeling her heart slowly cracking, the last bits of what had remained being stepped on by his own two feet.

' You don't seem to want to be here.' she mused, feeling it best to leave in order to spare him the effort of putting up an act.

However, she was stuck wanting to stay, but not wanting to stay all the same.

She was itching to hold him, but stopped by the aloofness he presented himself with, taking it all as an indication that he was unaffected by her, and much more the child in her arms.

'It's not as though I expected him to run to me...

To greet me with a kiss...

To have him ... I...' She stopped her train of thought, inwardly cursing at herself for even having had the slightest bit of hope.

She nodded with understanding, her eyes shut tight for just a moment before she seemed to stare at him dead on, when in reality they glanced above him, too weak to align with his,

"I'm here to speak with Bucciarrati, " She said firmly, her voice thickened slightly as the knot in her throat began to clump it.

'That's what I'm here for,' She told herself, trying to convince herself that it was the only thing she'd come back for.

"- He's not here," he stated, and as soon as the words left him she turned, quickly hiding her face of dejection and disappointment, " Then I'll come back later," She said quietly, choosing to retreat, not wanting to sit through the discomfort and pain.

' Shit.' Leone cursed, ' Shit, shit, shit, No,' he thought to himself, knowing he was screwing up his chance already.

" (f/n) please, wait ! " he told her, his tone begging, something that made her eyes round, the female halting her steps as she heard the loud plea.

" Don't go," he begged her, his voice resonating with an air of desperation that could be detected a mile away.

" I've missed you...I've missed you so, so much," he confessed to her, a hand clutching his chest as he tried to relieve the ache that had begun as soon as he'd seen her draw away from him.

" I'm an idiot when it comes to this," he admitted,

"But ..." He started, taking in a long, low breath,

" But I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was a piece of shit to you.

I'm sorry I missed out on so much.

I'm sorry I wasn't there for you.

I'm sorry that...

I'm sorry there's too much for me to apologize for," He said while he stepped towards her, moving only by a single step before he watched her stand stiffly still, her breath halted for just a moment as she collected herself before turning back to him, her body trembling all the while.

"I'm sorry that I never told you I loved you," he went on, keeping his eyes glued to her widened (e/c) colored ones,

" I'm sorry that during all the time we were together, I was too stupid to see how much I was hurting you," He told her.

"You didn't deserve it...Just like I didn't deserve you,"

"Leone," she breathed in disbelief.

It felt strange to stand before him while being so bashful, her face suddenly glowing as she felt younger, smaller, and inexperienced as though it was the first time she'd ever laid eyes on him.

chuckling softly, he thought back to their first kiss, remembering she'd made the same sweet expression that had been caught between surprise as well as joy, and so much more he didn't properly appreciate back then,

The lilac of his lipstick smudged over the corner of her lips, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the color invading her face and staining it pink.

"Your first?" He asked her, sounding cocky, pridefully gazing at her flustered daze, finding it utterly adorable.

"No," She breathed before giggling, fingers touching her tingling, purple-stained lips,

" Just the best," she revealed to him, backing away from him, playfully grinning before he reached her, giving her another press, the second time holding her so tightly she could feel his muscles flex.

His lips fell over her, softly grazing hers until she responded back, slowly at first before she came to, not having realized how much they'd gravitated towards each other until she tasted the familiar addicting savor of his mouth.

"Leone..?" She murmured again, small, light tears falling down her face.

'You...You really mean to tell me that all this time.. all this time you thought of me too?' She thought with a heavy heart.

Stepping back, he offered her a soft smile, one that became even gentler as he noticed a pair of large, glossy eyes blinking up at him, eyeing him curiously.

"Mamma?" (d/n) asked, her voice soft and sweet, though still laced with sleep,

"Who's that?" she murmured, wondering just who was the man that stood before her mother.

(f/n) had always figured she'd bawl at the question, but somehow she held back her tears, a soft smile coming into play as she gently wiped back the little tears that had escaped earlier,

"(d/n)..." (f/n) started, introducing the little girl to the man before her,

- the same one whose eyes shined, nearly tearing up, but holding back all the pain of before to show his child a smile of welcome and nothing less,

"Welcome Home," he said softly, looking towards them both while he tried to settle the unsteady pace of his heart.