《The Mafia's Heirs》60. I Panicked, People!
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"You are pregnant?" Mateo asked.
River blinked. And blinked. And blinked.
"OH MY GOD YOU ARE PREGNANT!" River jumped but before she could even comprehend what was going on, Adam had picked her up and was twirling her around.
"Adam, let me down!" River squealed.
"Wait, more demon spawns??" Sebastian clutched his hair. "What if it's twins this time too?"
"Shut up Sebastian, my kids are angel spawns." Mateo hissed at him.
"Adam, my head's spinning!" River slapped his shoulder.
"Oops."
"Sia!" Jacqueline hissed.
"She is not pregnant." Alessia said.
Adam stopped and let her down. Mateo quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him.
"You are not pregnant?" The sheer disappointment in his voice made her wish that she was actually pregnant.
Oh my god, you are gone for! Her inner voice chided. Why did the bitch have to speak up at random moments like this?
The man was a living embodiment of baby fever. Did he think giving birth was that easy? Why did he want more kids? He already had two!
But River loved him so much that even she would comply, and that was so not like the old her. She didn't know whether it was for better or worse, but Mateo really had changed her.
River shook her head, looking over at Alessia.
"Then who is pregnant?" Sebastian asked.
"Jacqueline." Alessia shrugged.
Jacqueline was shocked. She looked over at her best friend for help, who was giving Alessia a look that said 'are you kidding me?'.
"Jacqueline is what?" Adam asked.
"Jacqueline is pregnant." Alessia asserted.
Shattering of glasses on the patio flooring had the company turn to the source of the sound, and they saw Victor standing there looking dumbfounded.
River mentally face-palmed. This was another one of her ships and she did not want anything happening to it. But unfortunately, her darling sister in law was ruining it.
"Sorry, the tray slipped." He muttered, stepping over the mess.
"The help will clean it." Mateo waved him off. "You come here."
Jacqueline was all the more uncomfortable. It was bad enough that Alessia had gone cuckoo and was telling everyone that she was pregnant. But now, Mateo was inviting Victor into the discussion. Honestly, Victor. Could this get any more mortifying?
She looked over at her best friend again, begging her with her eyes to get her out of the mess that Alessia had pushed her into.
River nodded, and then turned to Alessia, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her away.
"How the hell did you get pregnant?" Sebastian asked. "Are you following Johnson's path?"
"Excuse me?" River was about to talk to Alessia when she heard her stupid brother say that. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"And you love him more than you love me. Great." Adam was ready to add fuel to the fire. The man child was not going to let go of River's betrayal any time soon.
"Shut up, Adam." River rolled her eyes.
"She wanted a child, you people." Alessia spoke up, the story brewing in her mind as she spoke. "So she went for artificial insemination."
Jacqueline sat down. She really did not know where this was going any more.
"Why?" Victor finally spoke up.
"Because she wanted a child. Are you deaf?" Adam said, his eyes trained seriously on his girlfriend, ready to hear the rest of the story.
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"I gotta go." Jacqueline said. "See you at the hospital, Johnson."
River nodded defeatedly, and then gave her sister in law the side eye. And that little piece of shit had the audacity to give her a cheeky grin.
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"WHAT THE HELL, SIA!!!" River yelled at the top of her lungs.
"I panicked, people!" Alessia threw her hands up in the air as she sat down on the floor.
River pinched the skin between her eye brows.
"The Alessia Adesso panicked?" Jacqueline asked. She was too embarrassed and overwhelmed by the situation, and especially by the way Victor was looking at her. So she had scooted from the place, but that did not stop the nurse from calling her best friend as soon as she got home so that she could have a little chat with Alessia.
"I don't want anyone to know yet." Alessia said.
"Okay, I get it." River said. "You are waiting for the right time to tell Mateo about you and Adam."
"And then you will disclose this new happy news." Jacqueline was not very happy with the situation she was put in, but she was willing to play along for a little longer, for Alessia's sake.
"No." Alessia said.
River and Jacqueline paused.
"Why not?" River asked, signaling to Jacqueline that she was hanging up. She put her phone down and joined Alessia on the floor.
"I need to kill Antonio." She sighed. "Before the world becomes aware of the existence of my child."
She looked over at the closest thing she had to a best friend. "I know it is stupid River, but I really thought all these years that Papa or Mateo will kill him for me, some day. But now that this one-" She patted her flat belly. "-is on the way, I feel like there is no use waiting any longer. I need to kill him and make my baby's future safe."
"I will talk to Mateo." River said, grabbing her hand. "Honestly, I feel like he would end that motherfucker for good if you would just tell him about you and Adam."
"No.. I don't-"
"Sia." River said seriously. "I know you feel like your brother and father are deliberately taking no action against Antonio."
"Why would they?" She sighed. "He is Savio de Pedis' son."
River shook her head. "I don't know about your father, but I think I know my boyfriend enough to think that he is just leaving Antonio to you. He is yours to kill."
"I don't think that is-"
River held up her hand and took her phone, dialing Mateo's number.
"Tesoro, is everything alright?" He asked as soon as he picked up the phone.
"Sia just realized that she shares the same planet as that fucker Antonio, and she wants him dead."
"She is going to kill him?" Alessia was surprised to hear the joy in her brother's voice as he asked that.
"No." She spoke up, grabbing the phone from River's hand. "I don't want even his blood on me. I want you to kill him."
"Of course, I will give him the death that he deserves. And if there is any particular way you want him killed, I will do that too."
River mentally face palmed. Yes yes, she had gotten used to the deaths in the Mafia, but she still had a lot to get used to.
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"Abrianna." River smiled as she walked into the room where Alessia and Mateo's Nonna was seated.
"I hear your husband killed his own brother in law." Abrianna spoke coldly.
River was surprised how Abrianna looked pretty calm and composed about the whole murder, when she was the one who was fiercely defending Antonio when he was here the last time. It was just how Abrianna Costello worked. She would protect you with her life if you are a loyal subject to her, despite whatever you do, but once you are dead, she couldn't give a shit.
"I think you should rephrase and say his own sister's abuser and rapist." River was shocked to see the slight flinch, so invisible that she didn't almost catch it, when the old woman heard the terms used. River guessed that at the end of the time, deep within all the coldness, Abrianna Costello really did care for her family. Or maybe it was an illusion. Whatever. It did not matter.
Abrianna stood up from her seat and walked out into the lawn, leaving River along in the room, only for a few seconds.
"There she is!" Lucas' voice boomed as two pairs of tiny footsteps hurried into the room, followed by their paternal grandmother's.
"Here I am!" River exclaimed as she laughed, picking both her babies' up and placing them on her hips. She knew that they were going to outgrow her soon, so she was going to carry them around for as long as she could.
"Alessia is talking about making some announcement." Katrina spoke, looking lovingly at her soon to be daughter in law, and grandchildren.
River blinked. Oh my god, it was happening. She was finally going to tell everyone.
"Where?"
"At the deck by the pool. Almost everyone's there." Katrina looked out at her mother in law. "Except for you two. Go on. I will get mother and be there."
River nodded and adjusted the kids on her hips one more time before walking off to where the others were.
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"You know what this is about?" Mateo's eyes were on Alessia, but River was having her own fun watching the condition dear old Adam was in. He looked ready to wet his pants.
"Yep." River shrugged.
"Why aren't you telling me?"
"Because there is something else I need to tell you."
"You are pregnant?" Mateo's eyes were so big and full of hope when he asked that.
River mentally face palmed. "Shut up stupid-"
"This better be good." Abrianna said as she walked over with Katrina.
"Um, English please." Lucas held his hand up politely.
Alessio patted the head of his cheeky grandson while Mateo and Katrina looked pleadingly at the old woman not to say anything mean to her great grandchild.
"You both NEED to learn Italian, is that clear?" She said after a pause. "You are half-Italian, it's in your blood. Next time, I see you, you both better be talking in Italian." She gave Mateo a pointed look in the end and he got the message.
Lucas and Kiara nodded earnestly.
"Okay, Great Nonna!" Kiara exclaimed.
Abrianna clenched her jaw and sat down and huffed, "America has infiltrated my bloodline."
Alessia looked over at Adam. Oh boy, the woman really was not going to be happy to hear what she was announcing here then.
Alessia cleared her throat.
"I have an announcement." She said.
"Please don't tell me you are a lesbian." Abrianna commented.
"What's a lesbian?" Kiara asked cluelessly.
Lucas smacked his head with his hand. "When both parents are moms, Ki. Lucy's two moms, remember? They are lesbians."
"Ohhhh...." Kiara nodded, remembering that one of her friends did have two moms.
Mateo and River looked at each other dumbfounded. Why did their son act like a full grown adult at times?
"I am not." Alessia barked and then took a deep breath. "I am pregnant."
As much as River felt sorry for Adam that he was caught off guard and all hell was going to break loose and he would not get the chance to properly celebrate becoming a father, she could not help but look over at him devilishly and enjoy the dumbstruck look on his face.
"What?" Everyone was on their feet, except Abrianna.
"We are having a cousin?" Kiara asked.
"YES!" Lucas yelled.
"Babies, just go play with George and Davis!" Alessio shooed them off.
"You knew about this?" Mateo whispered to River.
"That was not Jacqueline's test that day. It was Sia's." She whispered back.
"Who's the father?" Abrianna asked calmly.
"Him." Alessia gestured to Adam casually, like it was the normal thing in the world. River knew not to expect anything grand from Alessia just because she said she was announcing it to the family. It was a big deal that she did announce and not just disappear with Adam. But, the drama loving surgeon was a bit disappointed.
"WHAT?" Mateo turned to Adam, who stood motionless, still in shock from the news of becoming a father.
"Yeah, I knew about that too." River sighed. "I got to know while we were in the hospital when I got shot."
"That was the announcement. Now disperse." Alessia said.
"I would have been less angry if you had said you were a lesbian." That was all the comment Abrianna made.
And that was how the Adesso family came to know about the next non-purebreed on the way. Of course, Adam got punched in the face by Mateo for keeping this big a secret from him, and River had to intervene and remind him how scary Alessia could be due to which both of them kept the secret from him. Adam still had to digest the fact that he was becoming a father.
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"Why the beach?" Mateo was still pissed at the world. Deep down, he himself and River knew that he was happy for the both of them. Mateo could not think of a man better for his sister than Adam. He was simply wounded that he had been kept in the dark for this long.
"Because we are in Amalfi, you dumbass." River laughed as she dragged him to the waters.
"I am not in the mood for this, River."
Lies. He was always in the mood for romance when it was his lady love.
"You sure?" River let go of his hand and held her hands up in surrender. "Because I can wait you know. I will tell you the important thing I was talking about some other time."
Mateo closed his eyes, knowing very well that he will never be able to win this fight because he did not have the strength to wait.
"Okay okay, I lose." He put his hands up in surrender. "Now, would you kindly tell me what's going on?"
And then his face lit up again, "Are you pregnant?"
River scrunched up her face. "What is with you? Why are you always asking that?"
Mateo scratched the back of his neck. "We have two kids."
"Exactly, why do you need more?"
"You don't want any more kids?" He looked thoroughly disappointed. And he had that look on his face that gave River baby fever.
"It's not that I don't want more kids. It's just that I want to know why you want more kids."
"Because I didn't get to see the twins' infancy. Nor did I get to see you pregnant." He pouted.
River blinked. That was the reason? That's probably the cutest reason out there.
"And what's wrong with wanting to have more kids with the woman I love?" Mateo asked, grabbing her by her waist.
"You have a point there." She said.
"I have something very urgent to tell you." River said, dead serious.
Mateo's eye brows furrowed, his playful cute side disappearing at once. "What is it?"
"I love you." River breathed out.
And Mateo felt his heart stop. He was sure that he was hearing things.
"What did you just say?" He asked, just to be sure.
River smiled. What the hell did she do to deserve this goofball? And when the hell did she become the kind of woman who would fall for all this goofiness.
"I said I love you, you dumbass!" She yelled in his face.
Mateo laughed out loud, tears of joy filling his eyes. Who said a made man of the Mafia can't cry tears of joy?
"I love you too, you stubborn woman!" He hugged her tight before pulling back and capturing her lips with his.
It had been a tough few months for the two of them. Ever since they met one year after meeting at the hospital, and five years after their first encounter, they had gone through a lot. One got stabbed and got in an accident with their children, the other one got poisoned and then shot. But at the end of it all, they were together.
And they were in love.
"I am the luckiest man in the world." Mateo said after he pulled back.
"You sure?" River asked.
"Pretty sure." Mateo didn't skip a beat in replying.
He hugged her again, closing his eyes and enjoying the moment, because he knew that he would be busy planning a proposal after this.
"Oh, and one more thing." River smiled into his shoulder.
"I AM pregnant."
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Sword System Academia
2/17 NOTICE: I'm putting this on hiatus, possibly permanently. I didn't want to spam with an "update chapter", so hopefully here and in the story blurb will get enough eyeballs. There are a couple reasons for ending SSA for now. 1) I wrote the next chapter but wasn't happy with it. I've been less and less satisfied with SSA's quality the more I thought about it. Part of the reason is... 2) I am seriously thinking about trying to publish some novels to help pay the bills, since I don't have my other source of income anymore. I have never asked for anything from SSA readers, no money, not even a review or rating. SSA is written for fun to amuse myself, primarily, and I would kind of feel bad actually charging someone money for something as unserious as that. I don't think it is good enough to ask anything in return. To use an analogy from music, SSA is more like a jam session with a bunch of friends. You're just chiling and having fun playing some music. I mean, if you are Mozart or even Eminem, your jam session is good enough to sell, but for an amateur beginner like myself, haha, no. If I want to publish something, I feel like I need to go the proper route of practice and rehearsals, which might be more similar to a classical concert performance. With SSA, I work from worldbuilding notes and a loose outline, but what you are essentially getting is the first draft with lots of so-called pantsing. Pushing out a web novel like this also means it is very difficult to go back and improve things without breaking everything else downstream. I wanted to try this "jamming" approach, as it was a good way to teach me about another aspect of writing, but to move forward, I think I need to hone my "classical" techniques, which emphasize rewriting, or at least, revising outlines. 3) While I intend to try to make $$$, my actual current goal is to "get gud". I've spent a lot of time recently trying to understand the self-publishing industry, and I'm pretty sure I can make some money by using short-term strategies with my current amateur skill level. But I've seen too many authors come and go/burnout, and really, the only way that I think I can enjoy writing and still make money on a long-term basis is to become a better writer. And the next step for me, which I haven't done much before, is to spend more time on rewriting and outlines. That is pretty much antithetical to the way SSA is developing. I've always been kind of 20/80 plotting/pantsing, but I want to spend a lot more time outlining before I even start writing. SSA jam sessions don't really fit my goal anymore. If you're curious about what's next, read on... Among other regrets, I regret not finishing SSA. It's the first story I've dropped, but then again, it's the first web novel I've attempted, so I suppose that's not a surprise. I don't think traditional web novel formats suit me that well. The whole SSA story I had loosely planned (beyond a first book or major arc) is way too large as well. Big story = good for neverending webnovel with Patreons, bad for penniless and fickle writer like me. I am currently outlining a complete trilogy to another story in great detail. I want the story to end concisely, and I also want the chance to really spend a lot of time on the full outline to spot pacing problems, character issues, lost themes, and so on. I'll still share this story on RR. What I intend to do is finish book 1, flash-publish the whole thing here for a few weeks, then publish on the big Zon. Repeat for books 2 and 3. The upcoming story will be about crafting heroes. The backdrop is an isekai-like setting, where elves will summon humans to their world as heroes, but the whole hero crafting business is still in its infancy. The elven mage researchers are figuring out how to imbue heroes with power, while the heroes are trying to figure out how to use the powers that they gain. Humans are the best hero templates because they are blank and have no intrinsic magic. Or at least that what the elves thought. The human MC has his own secrets... There will be some similarities with litrpgs, but I would call it more a progression fantasy or gamelit story. For example, the stats are very low, at least initially. Say we have a stat called Str. Going from Str = 1 to Str = 2 is a huge deal. Also, going from Dex = 0 to Dex = 1 is an even bigger deal. I guess you could call it a "low-stat litrpg", haha. Also, the heroes won't be gaining stats simply by killing things or leveling up. You can't increase stats arbitrarily, either. There will be rules to how stats can increase, and how they work with each other. The elven mages will be figuring out these rules in order to craft stronger and stronger heroes. Some inspiration will be from cultivation magic systems, but there won't be overt cultivation, at least for now. A theme I really want to explore is the idea of interactions. That includes things like hero crafter vs hero, tactics vs strategy, skill synergies, racial interactions (dwarves, elves, etc), and son. Yeah, so hero crafting. I'm super excited about this project and venturing into publishing. If you want to check out the upcoming story, you can follow my RR author profile to see when it drops here. Finally... THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! I'm very sorry that SSA is stopping, but I hope at least some of you will find the next story at least as enjoyable, if not more. Thanks to all the readers who gave SSA a shot. Big hug or solid fistbump to all of you, whichever you prefer! I hope this message is not a downer but an upper, because I am psyched!! -purlcray -------------- BLURB: Talen, youngest Master of the Koroi, makes his way to the Empire's capital to salvage his clan's fate. But the bustling city has few opportunities for the traditionalist. For the old sword clans are fading. With the rise of alchemy, gold can purchase strength that ordinarily took years of training to cultivate. Sword artists, once rare and accomplished, are quickly growing in number, especially among the wealthy noble class. Even with such alchemy, though, no one has advanced to the rank of Grandmaster in countless years. Talen's true dream is to walk the path of a sword artist to the very end while fulfilling his clan duties. And then the Swordgeists return, fabled founders of all sword arts, gods who had touched the world long ago and vanished. These myths turned into reality warn of a coming threat. Alongside this warning, they issue an invitation to the Sword System Academy, a path to power beyond the mortal realm. But first, they will hold an entrance exam... Story notes:Sword System Academia blends elements of western and asian fantasy such as xianxia and litrpg. I took parts from different genres I enjoyed and twisted them into my own creation. There will be an explicit system, both of the litrpg kind and the hard(ish) magic kind, but it is embedded within an academic structure that will develop over the course of the story. This is my attempt to design a unique type of system, the System Academia.
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