Simply Sonny: An SVU love story

Chapter 32: Lunch

Sonny stands next to the women whom I know now as Anastasia's Godmother and he holds his niece in his arms, slowly bouncing her to keep her smiling, "now, lean in and kiss her cheeks!" Bella yells to them from behind her camera. They do as she says and takes a few more other photos. Bella comes to me, "would you mind getting one of all of us?" She sort of smiles as if she wasn't sure it was okay to ask.

"Of course!" I exclaim back, happy to do so. They all gather together and smile wide as I snap a few photos.

Bella returns to collect her camera with one of her sisters, "this is Theresa, the oldest."

"Hi, it's great to meet you." I reach my hand out.

"You too. Say, are you the one who got attacked and everything?" She asks blatantly, not shy or embarrassed."

I stutter a bit, not expecting the question, "Theresa, you can't just ask her that!" Bella tries to whisper to her.

"Oh, uhm. No, that's okay. Yeah, I'm.. I'm her I guess." I simply put unsure of how to even respond to that.

Sonny comes over with two of the other girls, "Addison, this is my other sister Gina and Bella's friend Cara." He introduces the other Godparent along with his sister.

"Hi, it's great to meet you two!" I open my hand to shake theirs.

Gina takes mine, returning the kind words and Cara smiles and says, "same! Say, should we get going to lunch? We don't want to miss the reservation!" She turns to Bella with a beautiful smile while clasping her hands.

Bella nods and wanders off to find who knows and I stand with Sonny, his two sisters, and Cara, "so, she's the one, huh?" Theresa nudges Sonny smiling at me.

"Oh, come on Theresa, give me a break." He rolls his eyes then gives me an apologetic smile. I can't tell what she meant by the one. The one who was raped, or the one he wants in his life? I try not to think about it too much and start to fiddle with the necklace on my neck.

"What? She's cute and she's Catholic! Mom and dad will be ecstatic!" Theresa responds and I feel more uncomfortable standing there listening as if I'm not around them.

Sonny takes my hand, "come on. We'll meet you guys at the restaurant!" He hollers back as we walk to the car.

Once we get moving he looks to me occasionally from driving, "so, how are you doing?" He asks.

I exhale for what feels like the first time in hours, "good, I'm glad to have met everyone. It seemed to go okay." I say.

"Yeah, don't worry about Gina and Theresa, they'll warm up to you! And almost everyone was here. My niece couldn't make it today, but I can already tell, my parents adore you though!" He says squeezing my knee.

"Thanks," I reply back.

I start to worry about what they know about me, and as usual, Sonny can tell I'm thinking too much, "what's wrong?"

I shake my head but say it anyway, "your sister asked if I was the girl that everything happened too. Did you tell them about the rape?" I look over to him.

His face registers shock and I know then that he didn't, "Addison, I would never disclose that to anyone. I'm so sorry she said that to you!" He rushes his words out to me.

"It's okay." I accept his apology, although he didn't have to say one.

"I'll talk to Bella later. I'm so sorry." He apologies again.

I shake my head, "no, don't talk to her today. Let's just let her celebrate her baby." I ask and say at the same time. I believe Sonny didn't say anything to his family, but I stayed with Bella for a few nights. She's smart and figured it all out.

He nods in agreement and by then we've reached the parking garage. I get out and walk hand in hand to the Italian restaurant we're eating at. We are seated right away and everyone else piles in soon after us. The noise quickly picks up as everyone starts to talk and drink. "So, how did you guys meet?" His mother asks us once we order the food.

I hesitate in answering but Sonny quickly swoops in, "I met her while I was at work one day." He keeps it short, not going into detail.

"And Bella tells me you're a school teacher?" His father adds on.

I nod with a smile, "yes, I've taught everything from 1st through 5th!"

"That's wonderful. You know, I used to teach as well!" His mom smiles, "my favorite was always 7th grade, those kids were so young, so confused. It was tough reaching them but once I did, it made everything worth it."

I nod, understanding a bit of what she's trying to explain. His sister Gina chimes into the conversation next, "where do you teach?"

"Oh, well, I was recently at P.S 156. But I just took a leave of absence to focus on some other things." I word myself carefully, hoping they don't ask too many questions.

"Mom, why don't you tell Gina who you ran into the other day!?" Sonny calls over all the side conversations so his mom can hear him. I give Sonny a knowing glare and a grateful smile for saving me from further job talk. I knew the next question would've been asking me about my leave of absence further.

She lights up at the memory and she turns to her daughter to explain, "oh! I saw Joey's mother at the store! I couldn't believe it, he's about to sell this app for like a million dollars!" She waves her finger towards her.

Gina rolls her eyes, "ma, Joey is still working down at the garage. He's not about to be some millionaire. Besides, last time I went out with Joey he left after my date and tried to hook up with Cara!" She chuckles and rolls her eyes again at her story.

"Luckily, Sonny and I were seeing each other so I pushed him right along and told Gina that same night!" Cara adds on. She then turns to Gina, "member how you went and keyed his car?" She chuckles, as does his two other sisters.

"He was so pissed, and still doesn't know it was me!" Gina laughs along with them.

I try not to let the idea of Cara and Sonny seeing each other bother me and keep my fake smile on as if the story they are sharing is interesting. Luckily, everyone's salads arrive then, diverting the conversations and slowing them down as we eat. Conversations continue through lunch and everything goes as smooth as I would've hoped it too. After saying goodbye to Cara, Theresa, and Gina, I move to say goodbye to Bella and Tommy. "I'm soooo happy you and Sonny are dating Addison! You'll be the best sister ever!" She hugs me tightly.

I laugh awkwardly and respond, "I mean we just started dating, but I'm also happy, Bella. He's an amazing guy."

"Thanks for being here today." She says once I move to hug Tommy and say goodbye to Anastasia.

I go to Sonny's mother and father next and she opens her arms for me to hug her, "you're a lovely girl Addison. Thank you for being with us today."

"Yes. Thank you, darling." His father reiterates as I hug him next.

"Thank you!" My smile stays on my face and I move aside for Sonny to say goodbye to his parents.

"Darling, she's lovely. Don't be shy now and bring her around for dinner! I'll make a lasagna!" I hear her tell him as they hug.

"Alright, mom." He says in return. He leans up from hugging her and quickly hugs his father, "good seeing you dad." He tells him.

"You too, son." He says and with that Sonny and I leave the restaurant together to go back to the motel.