all the stars | sonny carisi svu

chapter seven

i was getting ready to go to sunday mass as i always do every weekend. it was something i was raised doing and i go every week, even without my family.

sonny and i had a shit load of work to catch up on so we had made plans to go to mass together before heading to the squad room.

as i was fixing my hair, there was a knock at my apartment door as i rushed out of my bedroom to open it.

"you know you should really ask who's at the door first." sonny says standing there with bouquet of sunflowers, which happen to be my favorite flowers.

"sonny, hi!"

"how are ya?"

"i'm good. please come in." i say opening the door a little wider as he steps in.

"these are for you." he says handing me the flowers and smiling.

"thank you carisi. i love sunflowers." i say as i go to put them in a watered vase.

"i remember you telling me, when we were in the squad car the other day." he says. "you look pretty."

"you don't look too bad yourself." i compliment as he chuckles. "can i get you anything before we go?" 

"you got some coffee?"

"freshly brewed." i say as he made his way to the kitchen to pour himself a cup and down it in one shot.

i grabbed my badge and my gun, which was on my hip and under my winter jacket.

"looking forward to sharing the files between our desk after mass?"

"always." i laugh.

we walked out of my apartment and the church was only two blocks down so we walked there.

it turns out we had been going to the same church all this time, but he sits in the front and i always sit in the back so we never saw each other.

we decided to compromise since we couldn't figure out where to sit on the way there so this time we agreed to sit directly in the middle. 

after mass was over and we spoke to the priest, we started walking back to my apartment to get the car and head over to work. 

"so, why don't you tell me more about your family." dominick says as we walk back to my apartment afterwards.

"what do you wanna know?" 

"we've been partners for six months and i've only met your oldest brother. i know you're italian but tell me more. i feel like i'm always blabbing about my crazy italian family. don't make me feel like i'm the only one." he says. 

"alright, well we got my eight-six year old nonna. nothing can stop her, she's a machine. always going on walks with the other nonna's in the neighborhood. immigrated here from italy when she was eighteen with my grandfather. her and my mom are always cooking together. my mother has that strong italian new york accent that no one will ever get over. she's a labor and delivery nurse. there's nothing she wouldn't do for her kids. whenever nonna and mom get into full blown fights, they are always in italian and they are always hilarious. it's always over the silliest things."

"trust me i've seen it. my nonna and mother did that a lot too. my sisters and my parents got into it a lot. just not in italian, just strong new york accents." he says.

"gotta love our families."

"so what about your dad?"

"he was yes. typical italian man. him and my mom were basically the same person. he adores his kids, every single one of them. he died a couple of years ago on the job."

"captain russo right?"

"you got that right."

"i'm sorry for your loss."

"it's alright. we miss him a lot." i say. "as you know, i have two older brothers, who are both detectives in the nypd. sal is a sergeant and christian is a detective first grade. i have an older sister, who's an ada in queens, and a younger sister, who's a sophomore in high school. both my brothers are married, with children. sal has two, and christian has one, but there's another on the way. my valentina is getting married soon. and ariana is fifteen, about to turn sixteen in less than three months." i explain. "your turn carisi."

he chuckles as i tell him it was his turn.

"my family is very similar. my grandfather is ninety but you would never know. my mother is very much like yours. my father is a typical italian father. always looking to fix something around the house. i have three sisters, one older, two younger. my youngest sister is going to get married soon, she's having a child soon. my older sister is divorced, but i have an eighteen year old niece. and my other younger sister is married and she has two kids, who are adorable. and that's pretty much my family. well, my immediate family."

"well i know one thing, if our families meet, they'll get along very well." i say as sonny opens the door to his car for me as i get in.

"i very much agree with that as well." he smiles as he closes my door and gets into the drivers seat before we head down to the precinct.