𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥 ⚔︎

11

a party was being held at the lavigne house. almost two weeks had passed since chantelle had opened her letter from columbia — eddie wanted to celebrate his daughter's graduation, as well as how highly she had scored on her final exams.

despite the party being for her, chantelle had taken full reign over the planning — she thought her father and jesse (particular men in general) were useless when it came to things such as this — which is partly why she didn't let johnny have a say in anything about the wedding other than its location. she made sure of everything: she checked over the food, the selection of drinks, the music, the decorations on display. she wanted it to be absolutely perfect.

she was not, however, in control of who was invited. eddie had made sure of that. news of the party had spread quickly through to the other four families. all the other bosses had been informed of the coming celebration — tony, marc, frank, and bruno — as well as their closest relatives and friends.

meanwhile, giovanni had been living with the lavignes for the better half of a month now. he didn't know how long this situation was going to last, but so far, his time in the house had been rather pleasant; chantelle wasn't home much, but when she was, she would always greet him with a smile and ask him how he was doing. she always had errands to run, whether that be with johnny or seeing her friends and family — she always made sure to visit her grandparents too, eddie's mother and father, henry and camille — whom resided in bellrose, on the other side of queens.

jesse, on the other hand, was not at all thrilled that giovanni was living with them; but the two of them had been strictly ordered by eddie to get along. they often stayed out of each other's way. in the evenings, when the family sat down for dinner in the dining room, there was an incredible and unignorable awkwardness between the two young men that was only cut when eddie cleared his throat and announced: 'so, how is everyone today?'

giovanni had no quarrel with jesse. he couldn't see why the younger didn't like him. yes, he had followed him one time, but surely jesse couldn't be mad at him forever?

the man had since felt like a burden to his boss for moving in with them, and every day he insisted on paying some kind of rent or board to contribute to the household. no matter how hard he tried, eddie always refused, telling giovanni that he needed some time to get back on his feet after his cousins had kicked him out. besides, he quite liked having giovanni around — he was like a son that eddie never had. their interactions often made jesse jealous.

currently, jesse and giovanni were stood at the top of the huge, white stone steps that joined onto the veranda. in the garden, the flowers and plants were in full bloom now that it was late spring, their petals unfurling and their fronds as green as emeralds. cecelia was tending to the soil with a watering can and gardening gloves, as she usually did during a spare hour in the mornings. ever since marissa's death, eddie had instructed her to keep the flowers alive and flourishing — it was what she would have wanted. he would always ensure the garden was well looked after: just for her, off the slight chance that she was watching from above.

the two young men stared up at the house. neither of them were dressed for the party yet, simply clothed in jeans and vests. the patio had tables and chairs set out, covered in white linen cloths; glasses, plates, cutlery and silver platters of food laid untouched atop the surfaces. many bottles of expensive wine were cooling in iceboxes close by. gold streamers hung from the doors and the windows of the mansion. the beaucerons were beside the pool, both of their tongues lolling out of their mouths as they lay panting in the sun. gigi was in the garden with cecelia, brushing her fluffy tail against the woman's leg as she planted handfuls of rose seeds.

jesse spoke first, puffing a cigarette. "so, what d'you think?"

giovanni shrugged. "it looks good."

jesse looked at him. "you don't think it's too much?"