Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
“What?”
“I can’t tell since I’m not pregnant,” She told Mimi with a tinge of regret in her tone. Rhea knew deep down that being with Lukas would be so much better if she was pregnant for him. Then, her mother wouldn’t have any choice but to accept Lukas and her grandchild.
“Maybe I should ask your mother, and since she doesn’t exactly like me because I’m associated with Luciano, we can take it as a bonding exercise. She can’t refuse to advise a pregnant woman young enough to be her daughter,” Mimi planned on using the sympathy card.
“Perhaps, you can do that after she’s done with her wedding and honeymoon,” Rhea could not imagine Mimi and her mother being besties before the wedding. It was just not possible.
“Although I have a question for your mother.” Mimi sure had a lot of energy today and Rhea sighed inwardly.
“What now?”
Rhea knew she prayed for a distraction to get through this, but it looks like she got more than what she asked for.
“How does…” She tactically pointed to Eric and Ephraim, “I mean both of them are identical twins. How does Natalie know not to do it with the wrong twin?”
By now, Rhea wished the ground would open up and swallow her up. Who knew Mimi would be so excited to meet her new family more than her?
She breathed,” For starters, they don’t live together and Ephraim is married and is growing out his beards for that same purpose.”
“Yeah, sexy beards,” Mimi swooned, staring at the man.
“Mimi,”
“I’ll have Victor try out a beard too,”
And Rhea could see Victor having a checklist after this was over.
“Alright, let’s look at it from this perspective.” Mimi continued, “Plot twist, it so happens that your mother fell for the wrong twin and it has been Ephraim all along,”
Rhea opened her mouth to speak but Mimi beat her to it.
“And I’m saying all of it happened while they lived together, before he got married and grew the beards. You did say she stayed with them and many things could have happened then. So what if Ephraim is really the one your mother loves and Natalie doesn’t know she fell for the wrong twin? “
“In that case, we pray she never finds out,” Rhea answered smartly while praying in her mind that Mimi goes for a break. Pregnancy was scary.
And the break came in the form of an announcement, “The bride is coming out!”
Start Over As Friends
The wedding didn’t follow any of the usual church protocols since Natalie was catholic. For starters, Natalie didn’t have any family – even though all of them were alive – except for Rhea, while Eric’s parents were late. Not to mention that the wedding was rushed, hence a lot of frivolous and unnecessary decorum like the father walking her up the aisle was not observed.
The whole family accompanied the couples up the aisle. While Rose held up Natalie’s wedding dress train, Ephraim’s kids served as the flower boys and Rhea of course was the lone bridesmaid – with Mimi by her side. Nonetheless, the walk up the aisle was a memorable one and her mother looked so beautiful.
Rhea couldn’t help but envision her and Lukas in their place instead. It would be the happiest day of her life – she could tell how her mother felt right now. However, Rhea had to snap out of her imagination real fast because she couldn’t go any further and returned to their seats like everyone else.
It so happened that Ezra, the brother directly older than Elijah happened to seat beside Mimi and the both of them got off to a great start immediately. If asked about her relationship with Eric’s other brothers, except Elijah of course, Rhea would say good. They hadn’t gotten the chance to know each other that much but the brothers were chill and looked genuinely happy to know that she was Natalie’s daughter.
However, with the way Ezra was staring Mimi up and down like a piece of meat, Rhea would make sure to remind him later that Mimi was practically a “married” woman. Yep, she would do the horny, hormonal, pregnant woman the favor. The tension between Elijah and Lukas was real enough, add Ezra and Victor to the mix and Rhea was sure it would be a nuclear explosion. Both families wouldn’t be able to survive it.
The wedding went by really fast and Rhea actually cried when her mother read her vows. It was so real and touching especially the part where Natalie mentioned that she has been searching for what they shared for a long time until she found him. It was cheesy but it depicted the struggles her mother had over the years.
In the end, Rhea might have sympathized and understood why her mother was being this way. For a woman who went through such traumatizing struggle, it’s not surprising that she wants the best for her daughter. Daniel destroyed her life. He was not going to destroy her own life, Rhea would prove that to her.
The priest went on to say, “Today, Eric Draven and Natalie Valeria through their words, have joined together in holy wedlock. Because they have exchanged their vows before God and these witnesses, have pledged their commitment each to the other, and have declared the same by joining hands and by exchanging rings, I now pronounce that they are husband and wife. Those whom God hath joined together, let no one put asunder. You can now seal the agreement with a kiss.”
There was a great celebration as her mother and Eric locked lips and the next Rhea knew, Rose threw herself in her, shouting gleefully,
…..
“You are now my sister!”
Yep, the girl was right in that aspect. They were legally sisters now, well, half-sister to be precise, while Elijah was her brother-in-law. In one word, that means Elijah’s problems were her problem and if there was going to be a war with the Luciano’s, Rhea was very much involved now. She was family with Elijah.
On the brighter side, her mother was married to Eric and not Daniel, which means she and Lukas were good to go. Hallelujah! Although that would only happen if she manages to convince Lukas to make up with her. What if it doesn’t work out the way she wants? What if Lukas decides he’s done with her even after she begs for forgiveness? What if he’s moved on without her?
Her insecurities crept up again and Rhea became nervous. She needed something strong to drink and thankfully they’d moved to reception already hence no one would question her drinking.
However, in her haste to locate the servers, Rhea bumped into someone and she looked up only to find out that it was Elijah. Nope, not happening. As if Elijah knew what was better for him, he didn’t speak to her and merely moved out of the way for her. But then, Rhea took one step and stopped.
How was she going to convince Elijah to let her out of here tonight if they weren’t on talking terms? If not for anything, at least for the sake of seeing Lukas, Rhea would be the first to wave the white flag.
“Hey!” Rhea called him and he halted in his steps. He turned to her and pointed to his chest,
“Did you just talk to me?”
Rhea nodded with a sigh. She walked over to him, “My mother is married to your brother, which makes us family and we can’t ignore each other forever. So why don’t we for the sake of our family members put aside our differences?”
“I never had any problem with you, Rhea. You are the one who decided to hate me,” He told her.
“You took me away from Lukas amid all of my pleading, Elijah. What did you expect me to do?!” She glared at him
“And what did you expect me to do either?! Your mother wanted you home and it wasn’t like you were going to readily come with me even if I asked.”
“That doesn’t excuse the fact you didn’t ask!”
“You fainted the first time I told you about your mother, nearly blowing my cover and you liked Lukas so much that the both of you are attached to the hips like conjoined twins. So ask yourself the question, would you have come even if I told you?”
The answer was no, Rhea knew it deep down. She would always doubt that or find ways to ignore the woman who abandoned her.
“Nonetheless, I’m sorry, okay? I had no choice and if there’s a way to make it up to you, I would do it.” Elijah said without seeing the small smile that curved her lips to the side.
Well, if you’re that sorry, there’s already a way to remedy that, the wheels turned in her head.
“In that case, let’s start over as friends then.” Rhea offered him her hand.
Elijah looked at her hand suspiciously before accepting it cautiously,
“Friends then,”