Sunny Moore Times Four

Grannies and Grenades

Dear Diary,

I'm not sure how I'm gonna make it ten more weeks with these boys! I'm always really positive with these kinds of things, but my belly is getting so big, and my back is hurting so bad, even with the support strap we bought to help lift my bump. All I want is fish, and I'm going through a box of fish sticks a day. Everyone is complaining about how bad the house smells, and with this chilly October weather, we can't even open the windows.

I was really excited to have Grammy's birthday party today, but the Dutch Inn called me this morning to say that a pipe burst and they had to cancel it until next week. I'm really disappointed, but it's nice to at least get a relaxing day at home. I've got lots of baby clothes to fold, and I promised Luna that we'd make candy apples together. I

"Sunny! Sunny!" I turned around and saw Luna flying through the door. "You gotta come see this! They just interrupted the show we were watching! The Dutch Inn just exploded!"

"What? I thought there was a burst pipe!" I said.

"No, it literally just blew up. Something else was going on."

"Wow, good thing we weren't there! We would've been right in the middle of the party right now." I used my desk for support and hoisted myself up. "Let's go check this out."

Right as I was about to leave my room, I saw my phone lighting up. Leo was calling me.

"Oh, hang on. I need to take this. I'll meet you down there," I said.

"You don't need help getting down the stairs again?" she asked.

"If I do, I'll holler," I said.

Luna shut the door and walked away from my room. I quickly answered the phone. Leo was in a full-blown panic.

"Sunny, my love, where are you?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"I-I'm at home."

"You are? You're not at the Dutch Inn?" he asked.

"No. They called me this morning because they had a burst pipe. We had to cancel the whole party. Luna and I were on the phone all morning calling and texting everyone so they didn't come. Luna just told me there was an explosion. I'm so glad we weren't there."

"Are you alone right now?" Leo whispered.

"Yup," I said.

"We're doing everything we can, but it's like they're one step ahead of us."

"Who?"

"Babe, the mafia. Who else?"

"Oh."

"They're a lot bigger and a lot faster-moving than we thought. I can't give you all the details but...they know you're my girlfriend. Sunny...they're starting to get tipped off by me. I...I had to do something drastic."

"What do you mean? Are you okay?" I held myself up with my desk for support. It was already getting tough to breathe with these babies taking up so much room, but I was getting so nervous that it made it even harder. "Leo, what do you mean, 'do something drastic?'"

There was a long pause before he took a breath and said what he said. It felt like a dream. It couldn't be real.

"That wasn't just an ordinary explosion. It was a grenade. I was the one who threw it." I had to sit back down to catch my breath. I just...didn't understand how this could be possible. "It was to send a message and show them I really was betraying my dad. The target wasn't you. It was Angelina."

"What? Enzo's wife? Enzo's wife, who is the Dutch Inn's event coordinator that gave us a super good deal on the party room?" I asked.

"Yeah. She's a rat. I can't say much more. This stuff is classified."

"I just don't understand why you would do something like that. I feel like I don't know who you are anymore, Leo. You'd never do something like that. You won't even squish a spider in the winter because you feel bad that they came inside because it's cold out! And today you...threw a grenade? You caused all that damage. You could've hurt somebody!"

"It's all gonna pay off, Sunny. I promise. Nobody was hurt. Theresa knew ahead of time to cancel the party and get everyone out of there. The government is going to pay for an all-new, upgraded party room. The FBI worked everything out with the hotel. It's okay. I promise."

I tried to force myself to smile. "Okay. If you say so."

"Sunny, I'm gonna help take down the Cavelli family mafia. We'll finally be safe. My dad and my mom will be safe. Our boys will grow up in a world where the mafia is just something from TV, movies, and those internet stories you love. It won't be a real threat to them when we're all done with this mission."

"But when is that gonna be?" I asked.

"Soon. Don't worry."

I sighed. "I hope so."

"I gotta get going. I love you." I felt like I couldn't answer. "Hello? Sunny?"

"Yeah. Love you too," I finally said before hanging up.

I always loved Leo so much, but I was having trouble loving this kind of Leo with all my heart. In five and a half years, the "I love yous" just kind of rolled off the tongue. But not today. Not today.

"Sunny! Are you coming or what?" Luna yelled from downstairs.

"Be right there!" I said.

I hoisted myself up and slowly made my way downstairs and to the couch. Grammy, Luna, and Aunt Linda were all sitting around in front of the TV, watching the footage of the smoke billowing up from the back of the Dutch Inn.

"Thanks to the Oak County Fire Department, the flames were extinguished in no time at all," said the girl on the screen. "The police said they're unsure as to why the explosion happened, but the investigation is underway. Thankfully, no one was hurt due to the hotel being empty from a burst pipe. No one was in the building when the explosion happened."

"If that's not an act of God, I don't know what is," Grammy said. "I don't want to live too much longer, but I don't want to go out like that."

"It's a good thing that pipe burst," Luna said.

"But when are we gonna reschedule the party to now?" Aunt Linda asked.

"Who cares?" Grammy said. "Less work for me to do. Let's just focus on the baby shower for now."
"That's right! We've got lots of work to do, and only two more weeks to do it!" Aunt Linda said.

"That's right," I said, smiling and rubbing my baby bump.

Hopefully it would be safe enough to have my baby shower. Leo really needed to finish this mission soon. 

***

Thank you for 1,500 reads! I still can't believe how popular this book is getting. Thank you all so much for your reads and votes! 

This book will be switching to my main upload slot on Fridays, so the next chapter will be uploaded on 10/18/24