*Author's Note*

Thank you for the faves, follows, and reviews.

May-December Soulmate

October 15th, 2007

Gem POV:

Today was my 18th birthday, but it felt like any other day to me. I mean I woke up when my alarm went off, took a shower, got dressed in my horrible Catholic school uniform (I hated that powder blue collared shirt and powder blue/navy plaid skirt ensemble that was topped off with tights and black loafers) and went downstairs to eat a nutritious breakfast Special K (the only cereal Gramps lets in the house) at the kitchen table with my family. Only difference was that this morning at the breakfast table my Nonna told me to let her know as soon as I made my soulmate bond while my Gramps told me to make sure that the guy wasn't a bum. Uncle Rocco told me that he hoped I wasn't saddled with an asshole and Aunt Connie told me not to worry, unless the guy wasn't from the neighborhood. Then I'd have something to worry about.

After breakfast I walked to school, only to meet up with Geno a few blocks into my walk. He was walking down the stairs of his 65th Street rowhome, school uniform tie hung untied around his neck and a battered hand me down jean jacket on with the collar popped up. "Hey, Happy Birthday, Gemmie-Bear." Geno greeted me with a wide smile that showed off his perfectly white teeth.

"Thanks, Geno." I replied while making my way over to his car, a beat-up Pontiac from '92 that he was currently restoring.

"So, you talk to your soulmate yet?" He asked, bitterly spitting out the word soulmate, as he jogged over to his car with his keys jiggling in his hand and his books tucked under his left arm.

"No." I shook my head, leaning against the passenger side of the old car. "I was going to do it later. Like maybe when I'm bored to death in study hall." I told Geno as he reached his car, unlocking his door only to sit in the driver's seat.

Reaching over the seat to unlock and open the passenger's side door for me, he remarked, "Hmm, and miss helping me with my overdue homework. Yea…no…" As I sat down in the car and closed the door, Geno cranked on his engine with a loud sputter and suggested, "Why not do it in English class? Sister Mary's making her classes go to the library to work in peer groups for Dorian Gray."

"Yea, maybe I'll do that." I nodded as Geno placed his arm behind my seat and backed out of his driveway.

"Hopefully he's not gonna 'demand' that you get rid of me like my whinny bitch of a soulmate did." My boyfriend of a couple of years bitterly remarked, pulling his arm out from behind me and making air quotes for the word demand before shifting his car into gear and taking off down the road.

"You're still upset that you heard your soulmate last month, aren't you?" I asked, giving my boyfriend a knowing look. Poor Geno, he was so upset when he heard his soulmate; he even cried to me about it not being fair that his soulmate wasn't me. My family was relieved that we weren't soulmates, sad to say, but I couldn't tell Geno that.

"Yea, cause I don't like 'em. They're a whiny bitch and I'd much rather have you as a soulmate, Gem." And there is was, Geno's sulking about us not being soulmates.

"But I'm not your soulmate, Geno." I dryly retorted while playing with the sleeve of my navy-blue sweater. "And it's inevitable that in time we'll break up in order to be with our soulmates." Like after we graduate high school.

"Bullshit, Gemmie-Bear. This whole 'soulmate' deal is bullshit." Geno spat as he drove us to Bishop Kearney High School.

"Don't be getting worked up about us breaking up already, Geno. It hasn't happened yet, plus we already bought our homecoming tickets for both the game and dance that's at the end of the week." I told my boyfriend in a 'cheer up' type of way as he pressed a little bit harder on the gas.

"I still don't know why you want to go to that football game for. I mean we're gonna be stuck in the cold sitting on uncomfortable old bleachers at the community sports field watching the team get their ass kicked by those snobby rich St. Ann assholes from Brooklyn Heights."

"Don't be so pessimistic. Maybe the Kings'll kick the Owls' ass this year."

"And maybe they won't." Geno scoffed as he turned into the large lot across the street from the large cathedral style building that was our catholic high school. "I just don't get why you want to go to a football game that we're gonna lose, but yet again I don't get half the shit you do." He told me, shaking his head and making his dark chin length hair bounce and curl along his diamond shaped jaw, while pulling into a parking space and turning off the car.

"Like what?" I asked, grabbing my bag from the floor and slinging it over my shoulder.

"Like cutting your hair into a pixie cut this summer for one and two dragging me to every goddamned football game Bishop Kearney plays in." Geno told me, his tone a bit condescending, as he reached over to pick his books off of the passenger's side floorboard since they were resting there by my feet.

"I got tired of putting my hair up into ponytails and buns all the time so I decided to chop it all off and try something new last July." I told my boyfriend, lifting my books off of my lap and tucking them under my arm, as we got out of his car. "Plus, I happen to like football." I added in as we slammed the car doors shut, causing a loud clank to echo out into the crisp fall air.

"But you're a girl; you're not supposed to like football." Geno pointed out as a valid reason for his mindset as we started to walk across the lot.

"My mom was a big Jets fan; my Uncle Rocco and Gramps also raised me to love the Jets too. Oh, and Hudson's football team too." I explained for the hundredth time as we walked out of the lot, across the street, and up the sidewalk right by our school.

"Hmm…" Geno hummed as we joined the mass number of students walking up the stairs to the large front doors of Bishop Kearney. "Well, unlike you my family didn't shove football down my throat." He dryly remarked as we followed some giggling girls into the school.

"I bet my soulmate likes football." I muttered under my breath as I brisked by Geno on my way to my locker, which was on the second level of the large school.

"I heard that, Gemmie-Bear! Don't think I didn't!" Geno called out from behind me as I started to ascend the stairs with a herd of other students. Hell…my boyfriend would be upset that I'm going to 'meet' my soulmate thru the telepathic bond sometime today.

Brock POV:

I was sitting at my desk, squinting at my computer screen as I filled out electronic post-mission paperwork whenever I heard a feminine voice in my head say, "Hi, today's my birthday. I really hope you're not an asshole cause you're, you know, my soulmate."

What the fuck?! Am I going crazy? No way in hell did I really just hear my 'soulmate'. No, no, no…Fuck and it's her birthday today too? Really?... No, I must be hallucinating from lack of sleep…

"What're you doing? I'm in the library reading Dorian Gray and taking notes for some project my peer group has to do even tho those idiots are sleeping and playing on their phones. I swear, I'm happy that I'm a senior at Bishop Kearney's cause I don't think I can handle being the one in the peer group that's stuck doing the entire project much longer. Does that make sense?" The feminine voice rattled on in my head, making me blink a few times and realize that I did have a soulmate. A soulmate who A). is younger than me by 15-fucking-years and B.) is from Bensonhurst. Eh, at least she's a neighborhood girl even tho she's so much younger than me. I wonder why the universe threw me into a May-December soulmate bond.

Pausing in my electronic paperwork, I ran a hand thru my gelled hair and mentally responded to my soulmate with, "I'm at work trying to do some paperwork. So, you're a neighborhood girl, huh?"

"Oh, thank God you're from Bensonhusrt. If you weren't my Aunt Connie would flip her shit and forbid me from contacting you." My soulmate told me in a relieved tone. I swear, I could feel her relief. Damn, do we have both mental telepathy and empathy with our bond? "I mean my Great-Aunt Sophia, my Nonna's sister, got a guy from Brooklyn Heights and the family disowned her. Everyone hates her husband and calls their kids spawn so…" Well, that was insightful. She comes from one of those Italian-American families that still aides by the 'stay in your neighborhood' rule. "So, where do you work at and what do you do?" She asked, sounding genuinely interested about my career.

Shit, my career was being a fucking triple agent in SHIELD. Fuck, I was SHIELDRA; I couldn't tell her that tho. So, I told her what I could, which was, "I'm in DC and what I do's classified, but it's for the government."

"What, you're in DC and have a top-secret government job?" She asked, her voice sounding astonished in my mind.

"Yea, but before that I was a Navy SEAL." I honestly told her, hoping that the Navy SEAL bit would reel her in a little.

"You're older than me, aren't you?" She asked, most likely to confirm the conclusion she came to once she learned about my job and my time as a SEAL.

"Yea, baby, we're May-December soulmates." I told her, the endearment of bay just flowing naturally. I hope she doesn't mind it. I mean we just met, she might not like it.

I could feel her confusion before her voice appeared in my head with the innocent question of, "May-December? What does that mean?"

"It means we have a large age difference, 15-years to be exact." I explained while leaning back in my leather office chair.

"Oh, so you're 33 then."

"Yea. Does that bother you?" I asked onto to nervously ramble on with, "I mean I know you're legal, but I doubt you were expecting an old man as your soulmate." Damn, I hope she's okay with my age. I've waited so long for my soulmate; I don't want to be rejected before anything actually happens between us.

"No, it doesn't bother me and you're not an old man." Thank god my age isn't a deal breaker for her. Okay, that means we can continue to talk and get to know each other. Good. "I mean you're only a couple years younger than The Rock and he's pretty hot so…" She told me with a smirk, or at least I could sense that she was smirking thru the empathetic part of our bond.

"Oh, of course you like older tanned and muscular men." I mentally chuckled to my soulmate. "Well you're in luck cause I'm both tan and jacked. I got a good head of thick dark hair too. Hair that makes Elvis impersonators jealous." I half-teased, hoping to make her smile. For some reason I felt the need to cheer her up since she was stuck doing a peer project essentially by herself since her English peer group were either asleep or playing on their phones. Wonder if these neighborhood kids have that Jobs guy's new iPhone yet or if they're still texting and taking selfies on Razors and Blackberries.

"Of course, you're tan and jacked, you're Italian and used to be a SEAL." My soulmate said in a teasing way. Suddenly, I sensed a wave of seriousness thru the bond. "My name's Gem by the way. Gem Rizzo-Schulze."

"Brock." I simply replied.

"Brock what?"

"Just Brock for now, baby. My job's really dangerous and I don't need you googling me and bringing unwanted attention on yourself." I honestly told her since I really didn't want to endanger her. If she knew my full name she might be in danger or something from one of my bosses.

Hell, I didn't trust SHIELDRA one bit. Both Pierce and Fury were nuts. Different levels of nuts, one bad and one good, but they were still nuts and would stop at nothing for what they thought was the 'greater good' and that included holding people above employees heads in order to get them to do their bidding. As long as everyone thought I was soulless, both me and Gem were safe for harm and heartbreak.

"Oh, so you get to google me, but I can't google you? That's no fair."

"Life's not fair, Gem, but I won't google you. I promise."

"Okay, if you say so…" She trailed off in a sigh.

"I waited 15-years to hear from you, trust me I can retain from googling you." I couldn't help but smirk and tease her with, "All those years gave me time to build my credit and buy a house. So, at least we won't be living under the Brooklyn Bridge or in Central Park, like every other love-struck teenager and starving artist."

"Please, you couldn't get me to live under the Brooklyn Bridge or in Central Park even if you had a million dollars. There's rats there."

"That's my baby, run away from rats." I teased before adding in a chuckle, "You're definitely a New Yorker."

"Yea and don't tell me you don't run away screaming from rats too, fellow New Yorker." She flung right back at me, sending a sense of playful sarcasm thru the bond.

"I plead the fifth." I chuckled, letting her know that her take on me and rats was spot on.

"I gotta go, bell rang. Talk to you later?" Gem told me, sounding a bit disappointed that she had to cut things short via the bond. Well, if I'm being honest, I'm disappointed that she's got to cut things short. I was enjoying our banter.

"Yea, go on and just use the bond when you're free. I gotta finish my paperwork anyways." I responded to my soulmate (my much younger soulmate) as I surged forward and squinted at my computer screen once again. God, please, don't tell me my eyesight's going. I'm only 33, I'm not ready for fading eyesight and glasses just yet.

Gem POV:

"Hey, Gemmie-Bear. Say 'hi' to your soulmate yet?" Geno asked me, wrapping an arm around me from behind and pulling me into his chest, as he appeared behind me in the long cafeteria lunch line.

Looking over my shoulder at Geno, I nodded, "Yea, I said hi to him."

"So, who is he?" Geno asked, venom dripping from his words. I think he only asked cause he wanted to threaten my soulmate, something that was impossible since my soulmate was in DC and was older than us.

"Nobody that you know." I told my boyfriend, causing him to stiffen up.

Dropping his arm, only to rest his hand on my hip, he asked edgily, "So, your soulmate gotta name?"

"Yea, Brock." I simply replied while inching up in line.

"Brock? What kind of dumb shit name is that?" Geno sneered, his voice raw and cruel, in a mocking way.

"Don't call his name 'dumb shit'." I snapped at him, feeling an unexplainable urge to smack him in the face for making fun of my soulmate's name. Not like anybody really has much say in what name they get, plus he was born when disco was popular and people named their kids nontraditional things back then. I mean people did in the 80s too considering that I have a Sheena and a Sierra in my math and English classes. Scowling at Geno from over my shoulder, I made the informative remark of, "I happen to like his name, it's unique."

His eyes turned into thin slivers, reminding me of almonds, as he gritted out, "Goddamnit, you're already getting starry-eyed over this rat bastard."

If looks could kill, I'm pretty sure I'd have murdered Geno right now. "Don't call him a rat bastard either, Eugenio Benardo." I order in a tight and hard tone.

"Hell, Gem, you know I hate my name. Don't call me that."

"Don't make fun of my soulmate's name and I won't call you the name you hate." Were the terms I gave Geno for not using his true name of Eugenio. God, how he hated that name.

"Damn, girl, you sure do know how to strike a hard bargain." Geno chuckled as we shuffled forward in line. "Fine, you win." He relented in a long, rumbling sigh-groan. "So, you plan on meeting Brock anytime soon?" He asked, stressing Brock's name very harshly and dramatically.

"I dunno. Prolly not since he's in DC working right now." I honestly told Geno asked we reached the milk cooler.

"He works in DC? As what a politician or lobbyist?" Geno asked as we grabbed some cartoons of chocolate milk out of the milk cooler.

"I dunno, but he said he used to be a Navy Seal so I think it's something military related." I told Geno as we grabbed some red trays from a stack, set them down on the serving bar, and placed our milks on them.

"Oh, so you got some Modern Warfare dude?" Geno rhetorically asked as we both grabbed paper plates full of Shepard's pie. "Yea, bet he was a SEAL and works in DC." He sneered as we placed out plates on our trays and scooted forwards in line. I grabbed a cup of fruit cocktail and he grabbed an orange while he made the off-handed remark of, "He's probably some loser living in his parents' basements playing one too many army co-ops on his PS3, Gemmie-Bear."

"He's not some loser; he really is in DC doing top-secret government work." I told Geno while we both grabed some cups of cooked broccoli.

"Just cause he said so doesn't mean it's true; that you should believe him either." Geno said matter-of-factly while placing a salad bowl on my tray along with a packet of Ken's Zesty Italian Dressing. "You've got a homecoming dress to fit into, that salad'll counter react the heaviness of the Shepard's pie." He said very dickily. I just shook my head at him. Of course, he wanted to make sure that I fit into my homecoming dress. For not wanting to go to the dance he sure did want me to be skinny for it.

"I know that, but I also know, I don't know how, but I just know that he told me the truth about his job. I can't explain how I know, but his feelings felt genuine and honest thru the bond so…" Was my response to Geno about Brock's status in DC.

"What, you've got both a telepathic and empathetic soulmate bond?" Geno asked, his tone giving away that he was a bit shocked by my soulmate bond status, while we grabbed some slices of chocolate cake and placed them on our trays.

"Yes, I do." I told Geno before stopping in front of the lunch lady at the register and giving her my student-ID number.

"Fuck my bad luck…" I heard Geno mumble behind me before I walked away from him in search of either an open table or a table some of my few friends were at.

"What's wrong? I'm picking up an upset vibe from you. I'm in the middle of a debriefing that's going on and on and could use a distraction, so tell me what's got you feeling upset." Brock's voice sounded out in my head along with a feeling of genuine concern being sent thru the bond we shared.

"Geno, my boyfriend, asked about you and when I told him he just got really nasty. You know, he was making fun of your name and work and it just bothered me." I mentally replied while spotting an empty table and making my way over to it.

"Your boyfriend's a dick." Brock's voice sounded hard and blunt in my head as I took a seat at the empty lunch table. His tone softened just a tiny bit as he went on to say, "I'm not telling you what to do since you're young and will want to date before settling down, but maybe you shouldn't be seeing some dick that's making fun of who the universe gave you for a soulmate."

"Geno's not that bad, he's just a bit insensitive sometimes." I defended my boyfriend to my soulmate while said boyfriend took a seat next to me at the lunch table.

"Baby, Geno's a dick." Brock firmly told me via our bond. I felt a sense of wisdom mixed with experience travel thru the bond before I even heard his blunt words of, "Hell, even the name Geno's a dick name. Every fucker I knew named Geno always ended up in Rikers or shot for running their mouth."

"Oh…really?" I asked while eating some of my Shepard's pie.

"Yea, so it's safe to say that your Geno's gonna be no different than the ones I knew since they're all from the neighborhood."

"My uncle doesn't like him either, if it makes you feel better." I supplied before eating another spoonful of greasy Shepard's pie.

"Good, at least your uncle's got a solid head on his shoulders." He complimented Uncle Rocco before half-grumbling, "If only you'd dump Geno to the curb."

"I'm not dumping him to the curb, we've been together for a couple of years now." I told my soulmate while digging into my cup of steamed broccoli.

"You and Geno's got different soulmates, it's inevitable that you two go separate ways." Brock told me in a logical way as I ate my lunch right next to Geno, who was picking at his food; stirring it around and playing with it instead of eating it.

"I know, but I don't want to be single my Senior year. Especially for all the dances and functions." I mentally told Brock thru the bond, earning me both a sigh and a groan from him.

"Can you wrap up whatever with Brock, Gem?" Geno asked, putting extra emphasis on Brock's name; startling me a bit too since I was so engrossed in my mental telepathic conversation with my soulmate that I forgot about my boyfriend's tendency to talk and complain about his classes during lunch. Glowering at me with his almond eyes, Geno added in a bit coarsely, "It's fucking rude that you're talking to him when I'm right next to you."

"I gotta go. Geno wants to talk while we eat lunch." I quickly told Brock before he even had a chance to say one word to me thru our bond.

"Hopefully the little dickhead chokes…" Brock trailed off in a low grumble inside of my head before simply telling me, "Bye."

"You done with him yet?" Geno asked giving me a mean side-eye while plopping his melted cheese covered mashed potatoes onto his plate a bit dramatically with his plastic spork.

"Yes, I just said bye." I nodded, dropping my spork on my tray and picking up my milk carton.

"Good." Geno simply bit out as I opened my carton of chocolate milk and took a large sip of it.

"You're really jealous of a guy you don't even know, aren't you?" I asked, arching a brow at my boyfriend while setting my milk down on my red lunch tray.

"I'm not jealous." Geno quickly denied. Picking up his orange and peeling it with jerky hand movements, he snipped, "I just don't like how you got saddled with some older dude that we don't know's all."

"He's not that old, only 33, plus with the bond I'll get to know him." I told Geno, trying to get him to see that things weren't bad at all with Brock, while I ate some of my fruit cocktail.

"Gee, that's great…" Geno sarcastically trailed off before tossing an orange section into his mouth and chewing it.

"Maybe you should use your bond to get to know your soulmate? Terry? That's their name, right? Well, maybe you can start to connect with Terry." I suggested while I ate my lunch, hoping that Geno would start to bond with his soulmate so that he'd stop acting so jealous about me starting to use the bond with mine.

"I don't want to connect with Terry. Terry's a whinny bitch; don't want anything to do with 'em." Geno pouted in a toddler having a tantrum as he ate his orange.

When I walked thru the front door, I was immediately met by my Nonna asking me, "Gem, that you?", from the kitchen. She was always in the kitchen when I came home from school, prepping the time-consuming Italian dishes she always cooked for dinner. Wonder what's on the menu for dinner tonight.

"Yea, Nonna, it's me." I replied while hanging up my sweater on the wall hook and setting my books down on the bench under it.

"How was your day, sweetie?" She asked as I toed out of my shoes and made my way across the living room, towards the kitchen of the open layout floor plan that the first floor of our rowhome had.

"It was what is was." I told Nonna, walking by the white staircase and the long dining room table before entering the kitchen.

She was stirring a large pot of bechamel sauce while a large pot of red sauce boiled on another burner as I stopped at the kitchen island. Ah, so tonight was lasagna night. Looking over her shoulder, her eyes sparkling with wonder, she asked, "Did you find your soulmate?"

"Yea, we talked thru the bond when I was in the library for English. He also reached out during lunch when Geno got under my skin." I answered Nonna as she grabbed a wooden spoon from a spoon rest on the counter and stirred the bubbling red sauce.

"Geno's a little shithead. Nobody likes him, you know." My Nona remarked in a firm and unmoving tone as she tapped the wooden spoon against the boiling pot of red sauce before setting it backdown on the blue floral printed ceramic spoon rest she's had since she married my Gramps.

"My soulmate, Brock, called Geno a dick." I informed her, leaning against the island while watching her stir the bechamel sauce one more time before setting it aside.

"Smart man." Nonna smiled before waggling her brows and joining me at the island. "So, tell me all about him." Gosh, she was worse than a gossiping girl a school sometimes. Of course, she wanted all the details on my soulmate. She was the 'cool' grandma that liked to talk about boys. Who needed a bunch of girls to gossip with when you had Nonna?

"He's from the neighborhood, but he works in DC and he's older than me." I told her as she opened up the container of ricotta that she grabbed from the kitchen island. Biting my lip, worrying about how she'd take the age difference between me and rock, I told her in a slight whoosh of words, "He says we're May-December soulmates since he's 15-years older than me."

Nonna scrapped every last bit of ricotta out of its container and into the large class bowl on the island while giving me a soft, but wise look. "You've got a May-December soulmate with your Brock because you were born with an old soul, Gem."

"I have an old soul?" I asked, taken aback by my Nonna's words, while watching her crack some eggs into the large ricotta bowl.

"Yes, you do, sweetpea." She smiled warmly at me as she began mixing the contents of the bowl with wrinkled and age spotted her hands. "You're a classic old soul. You feel older than your actual age, you're very intuitive, highly intelligent, and you've got a keen insight about many things." She explained, her tone both wise and soothing as she mixed up her ricotta egg concoction. Wiping her hands off on her apron, she patted my cheek and gave me a sympathetic smile. "You've always felt like you didn't quite belong around others your age; that's cause you're an old soul." I didn't say a word, just nodded while letting her words sink in and wash over me like a tidal wave. Nonna pecked me on the cheek before assuring me, "Your soulmate, Brock's, perfect for you cause you're an old soul." Patting me on the cheek, she smirked wickedly, "Plus he's from the neighborhood, even if he moved away, so he ain't no pussy.", before going over to the stove to check on the bubbling red sauce.

"Nonna!" I exclaimed, wide-eyed and shocked at her antics. I mean, she said whatever blurted out, so I shouldn't be shocked, but I was.

Right at that moment, my Aunt Connie walked thru the door with a pair of grocery bags in one hand, an envelope in the other, and a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth. "What did I just walk into?" She asked, shoving her chunky Chanel sunglasses onto top of her overly teased dark highlighted hair, as she walked thru the entranceway of our house.

Nonna told my aunt while moving about the kitchen to grab an extra-large lasagna pan and bring it over to the kitchen island. "I told her that it's a good thing her soulmate's from the neighborhood, even tho he's older and moved away, cause it mean's he ain't a pussy and she had one of her 'Nonna!' shock moments."

"Oh, that's all." Aunt Connie shrugged as she set the bags from the local bodega onto the countertop by the pantry. Turning to me, while leaning against the counter and taking a drag from her smoke, she asked, "So, is he a couple of years older or are we talking May-December?"

"May-December, he's 33 so…" I told Aunt Connie while Nonna went to the fridge to grab a large package of ground beef to cook for the lasagna filling.

"Well, it could be worse. It could be some Anna Nicole Smith and old oil tycoon age shit." My aunt told me while my Nonna brought her ground beef over to the counter by the stove.

"Eww, Aunt Connie…" I shuddered. God, she would put that image of Anna Nicole Smith and old man husband into my head. For years Anna Nicole was still fighting her late husband's children over his will. God, even her step-kids were older than her. *Shudders* Poor thing died last February of an overdose or something shortly after her son died. So sad.

"Ooo, she's right you know. It could be worse, at least your soulmate's still at an acceptable age gap to be older than you where it's not socially 'unacceptable' yet." Nonna told me while grabbing a large skillet, oiling it up, and placing it onto a burner she turned up high (in order to heat up the pan).

"Oh, talk about socially unacceptable soulmates, Sophia sent us this." Aunt Connie said, waving an envelope in the air before passing it over to her mother-in-law. Without a word, Nonna took the offered envelope like it was something potentially poisonous that needed to be handled with caution. "I'll ground the beef while you open that, Ma." Aunt Connie told Nonna before stepping around her and going over to the stove.

I watched curiously as Nonna opened up the envelope, taking out a letter. She unfolded the letter and read it only to shake her head. I noticed that along with the letter she had a picture in her had. I couldn't see it, but I'm guessing it was of one Sophia's kids or grandkids (who I never met). Actually, the last time I ever saw Great-Aunt Sophia was at my mom's funeral, so I had an entire branch of the family I was estranged from (other than my deadbeat dad, of course).

"Sophia says that her youngest child, James, and his wife had their first child a few days ago. A baby boy they named Buckland."

"Buckland, what kind of name's that?" I asked while at the same time my Aunt Connie cackled, "What the fuck, Buckland? Is James on some shit?"

"It's an ode to his father's war buddy." Nonna scoffed before ripping the letter and picture into pieces and tossing them into the trash can that was hidden under the kitchen sink's cabinet. "Now that the trash's taken care of, let's make some lasagna, girls."

My family's something else. I really hope that Brock can handle it. He might've been raised in the neighborhood, but he moved out a long time ago so…

AN:

And that was the big soulmate reveal chapter. For time being Brock and Gem are going to be getting to know each other and connecting via the bond. Actually, this is gonna be a slow burn story so… Also, I put another Easter egg in this chapter about who Great-Aunt Sophia's soulmate is. Anyways, next up will be Brock telling Pops that he *FINALLY* got his soulmate bond along with some high school homecoming stuff on Gem's end.