LA's Finest - Tim Bradford

10

Valerie hurried around the house making sure everything was clean and ready for Antonio to come. She washed his bedsheets and made sure he had everything he needed, toothpaste, deodorant, mouthwash, shampoo, conditioner, and all other essentials. She wanted everything to be perfect when he arrives, he deserves the best.

"Hey I got the balloons," Lucy yelled walking into the house. "Wow, he's going to hate that," she said once she saw the big poster on the couch.

"Just like he's going to hate the balloons," Vincent gesture to the balloons she's holding.

"Everything looks fine right?" Valerie's asked, adjusting the throw pillows on the couch.

"Everything looks good Val, this place can be a pig style and he still will be glad to be home," Lucy assured her, causing Valerie to calm down a bit.

"I know I just want everything to be perfect," She stressed, she received a text from Athena that all of Antonio's favorite food will be finished by the time they will arrive at their house.

"We are here! And we got the balloons!" Buck yelled walking into the house with Victor. They walked into the living and paused when they saw Lucy with balloons already.

"Really guys?" Lucy said looking at the two. "I said I was going to get the balloons."

"Nooo, I remember saying I would get the balloons," Buck also said. "Maybe we should exchange numbers so something like this wouldn't happen again," Buck flirted causing Lucy to blush. Valerie, Vincent, and Victor shared amusing looks.

"You guys can flirt later, we gotta go," Victor told them, looking down at his phone.

"Yes, I wanna be there before my brother does," Vincent was the first one to leave the house. Valerie grabbed the poster while everyone else followed him, she locked the door behind her and walked towards Victor's SUV where everyone was already in.

"I'm thinking that bringing both is a bit too much," Buck said, he and Lucy sat in the back. Balloons surrounding them barely could see around them.

"Then let yours go," Victor told him, backing out of the driving.

"I spent good money, top quality balloons," Buck shook his head even though they couldn't see.

"Oh yeah? Where did you get them?" Vincent asked.

"......Dollar Tree," Lucy let out a laugh.

"Yeah, top quality."

"Oh yeah? Where did you get yours?" Buck hummed, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Party City," Buck pursed his lips and nodded his head.

"Mine is still better."

It took them almost thirty minutes to get to LAX, traffic was surprisingly light. All five stood outside the terminal waiting for Antonio to arrive. Everyone around them stared as they all held balloons and a big poster.

"Do you guys see him? His plane landed fifteen minutes ago," Vincent asked, he stood in front of the group. His eyes searched the crowd to look for his brother.

"Relax Vinny, he'll be here," Valerie assured him.

"There he is!" Lucy pointed happily at the older DeLuca. They all followed where she was pointing at and saw Antonio in his uniform looking for them, he froze when he saw them. He laughed shaking his head and ran his hands over his face in embarrassment.

Vincent was the first one to make a move and rushed toward his brother. Antonio opened his arms for his brother and hugged him, they held onto one another as they whispered how much they missed each other. The four let the brother have their moment, tears forming in their eyes as they watched this beautiful moment. The brothers pulled away and walked toward the group who waited to greet Antonio.

"Ant, welcome home," Valerie said, shaking the poster she held. He chuckled and brought her into a bear hug.

"I hate you," He told her.

"No you don't," Valerie let go of him.

"Welcome back to the motherland," Victor brought him into a hug, "Miss you so much, bro."

"Miss you too Vic," Antonio shifted his gaze to Lucy, a smile displaying on his face. "Hey, Lulu."

"Hey Ant," Her stomach flutter when he brought her into a hug. Being hugged by your childhood crush brought a lot of feelings back to life.

"Buckley!" Buck attacked Antonio with a hug. "Why are you crying."

"I always cry when I see things like this," Buck said causing the group to laugh.

"Come, everyone is waiting at Athena's," Valerie said, looping her arm with his.

"No, you know I hate parties," Antonio groaned as he was dragged out by her. Victor and Buck grabbed the luggage he dropped on the floor to hug the group.

"It's not a party, it's a get-together with all your favorite foods and the people you love," Valerie told them.

"Yes, we made it very clear to everyone it is not a welcome home party," Vincent said, "We would never put you in that position to be surrounded by a bunch of people."

"We all know you have to adjust first. We don't want to make you uncomfortable," Lucy added causing everyone to agree.

"You guys brought balloons and a poster," Antonio deadpanned.

"We always do this, and we will never stop," Victor told him, shaking his shoulder.

"It's to show how much we love you and miss you."