Round Here

Chapter Thirty Nine

September '90

Sonny's POV

A/N: The rest of the story will be in Sonny's POV

It's been a long, hard, four months without my wife. My kids have been good and bad. They're dealing with it the best they can and that's all that matters. I've had good and bad days too. It's so hard to believe that she's gone. It doesn't seem real, but the urn of ashes on my dresser make it seem real. I know she's in a better place and it eases my pain a bit. Her father has been taking it a bit better now. Her birthday was the worst for him. She would've been forty this year. Instead of being sad we watched her favourite movie and celebrated like we do every year. We released forty balloons in her honor. It was beautiful. I knew she was looking down on us. She knew we were celebrating.

The one's who have been struggling the most are Rafi, Freddie and Vinny. Every few days they have melt downs or so. I got it. I had a hard time last week since it was our twenty second anniversary. I celebrated it alone at our favourite restaurant. I ordered her favourite. I ate it alone. There was no bathroom sex like there always was. Instead it was me alone at the table eating and drinking her favourite things. I even had her favourite dessert. Their apple pie really was something to talk about. Now I knew what she was talking about. I went home that night and watched A Street Car and cried. The kids knew to leave me be. They knew it was a hard time for me. I knew my wife was with me that night. I saw the moon fuller than ever. The stars were twinkling. Every now and then I look at my tattoo we got together years ago. It reminds me of her so much, and every time I hear that song I bawl. It was hard when all the kids do is play the song she sang with George. They wanna hear her voice again. When I wanna hear her voice I wait til the kids are gone and watch that video of our wedding. I always fast forward to our wedding vows. I hear that laugh and see her smile and it gets me every time. It gets me every time I hear her say how much she loves me. I turn it off after that.

Today was an easier day. I was relaxing with the kids, the grand kids. The others were at work or school. Well, Vinny was home. He has gotten more anxious as the time goes on. I wouldn't blame him. He's so lost without her. I am too. Since she's passed, Sophia has really stepped up. I told her she didn't need to but she said she needed to. It was helping her cope supposedly. I just let her do what she needed to do. Tom had Lucas and Isabella down for a nap. He was probably napping as well since he never came back down. I was startled by the phone ringing. I got up to answer it. "Hello?" "Hi Mr. Corleone, it's Mrs. Jents calling." I looked at my watch. It was nearing lunch time. "How are you?" "I'm not bad. How are you?" "I'm good today. Is there something wrong?" She sighed. "Yes, Rafael is not doing good today." I took a deep breath. "Oh no, I'm sorry." "Don't be. We understand it's been hard. He apologized and we told him it was okay. He said he wants to come home. Is that alright?" "Yeah it's alright. I can come get the little guy." "Okay, he wants to talk to you for a minute." "Alright put him on please." She did. "Hi daddy. I'm sorry I called." "Bubba it's okay. Daddy understands. Daddy's gonna come get you." "Okay daddy. I need a new thingy." I knew what he meant. He's been having more troubles with that since San died. "Okay I'm gonna come now. So tell Mrs. Jents that." "I will daddy. I love you." "I love you too buddy." He hung up. I looked over to the younger kids. "You three go find Grampy. Poppa has to go get Uncle Rafi." "Okay Poppa." The three of them got up and ran to find Freddie and Dom.

I was at the school in no time. I brought him a new pull-up and pants just in case. I got into the office and he came over to me. "Daddy did you bring me it?" I slid it into his sweater pocket. He then went to the bathroom. Mrs. Jents came over to me. "He's been getting worse with the germ stuff." She said. "I know. He's always cleaning. One of the few who will clean." She smiled. "He is always very helpful when it comes to cleaning here. Some of the others won't clean up after themselves but know he will for them so they leave a mess. It's awful. They tease him a lot too. We try to stop it. They're just so mean." I sighed. "They're not making fun of him because of San being gone are they?" "No gosh no. They know that is a thing he struggles with. They make fun of him because he and Mike still are playing with cars. Also because of his anxiety. We have explained to the other kids that it's not okay but they are a little nasty sometimes." "I'll talk to him too. I'll try to help him with the anxiety better." She smiled as he came back in. "Okay, we'll see you again. See you tomorrow Rafi." "Bye Mrs. Jents." He said as he held onto my hand. I then led him to the car.