CROSSING BRIDGES

Chapter 9

"Maybe Rico and I should go back to the…." Sonny started.

"You can't…Sonny, please…. Daddy, make him stay!" Cassidy pleaded.

"I'm not leaving town, Cassidy." Sonny sighed. "We're just going back to the hotel. "It's been a long day and neither of us have eaten in a while."

"You can stay here. Eat with us." Cassidy announced.

Nash shrugged. "You and your mother are doing all the cooking."

Cassidy looked at Lisa. Lisa nodded.

Sonny's eyes wandered to Nick's door.

Lisa grabbed Sonny's hand and squeezed it. Sonny looked at her. "Nick'll be alright."

"Rico, you and Sonny are in for a treat. Mom's a chef." Cassidy replied as she headed into the kitchen.

Sonny nodded. "You have a catering company, right? Bridges' Deserts Company Products."

Lisa stared at him for a moment.

"I checked Nash out, and the SIU…and everybody he works with." Sonny replied.

Lisa nodded. "I'm sure Nash did the same." She continued to stare, then averted her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm still…this twin thing."

"Understood," Sonny nodded. "I'm still...I'm getting used to it, too."

"Nash," Sonny called to his brother. "Should we go and talk to…Nick?" He shook his head. "Why don't you call him Dad?" Sonny had never ever called Joe by his first name. That was considered a major disrespect.

"We were distant. When Mom was alive, he was always working." Nash explained. "When…after Mom died we struggled to be close. But, Bobby seemed more like a father to me then Nick did. I guess that that's where it all started."

Sonny couldn't believe his ears. "Dad/Nick is okay with it?"

Nash shrugged his shoulders. "He agreed. He admitted he worked too many long hours back then. Things are much better now though."

"Should we talk to him together?" Sonny asked. It hadn't been long, only about 15 minutes. But, Sonny still wanted to check on Nick.

Nash nodded and he and Sonny went to Nick's door. Nash knocked. Nick invited him and Sonny in. Sonny shut the door behind them.

Nick was sitting on the edge of his bed. He looked as if he had been crying. He was busy trying to wipe his tears away.

Sonny sat down beside Nick on the bed. Nash pulled a chair up beside the bed.

Nash took one of Nick's hands. "What's going on, Nick?"

Nick shook his head. "I was angry. I'm not angry at you, Sonny. I'm sorry."

"I know." Sonny took his other hand. "And you have nothing to be sorry about."

"I didn't get to raise you." Nick shook his head. "I missed so much…. They had no right! They had no right to take you from us! Virginia and I were so heartbroken." Nick shook his head, again. "I don't think that she ever really got over it. She was so young when…when we lost her."

Sonny let go of Nick's hand and put his arm around Nick's shoulders. "I'm here now. You got me. I'm not going anywhere. I'm in your life, now." He paused. "And, I'll introduce you to your grandson, Billy. And maybe my ex, Caroline, if she is willing to come to California."

Nick grinned. "I have a grandson?"

Sonny nodded. William Allan…." He grinned. "Wow, I just realized…. We call him Billy. We never use his middle name. But still…."

Both Nick and Nash grinned.

Sonny patted Nick on the shoulder. "Well, we got your name. It just took us two generations to do it."

They all chuckled.

"Cassidy!" Lisa half-whispered, half-yelled to her daughter when she noticed her help had suddenly vanished. "Get away from that door!"

"I was getting something out of Daddy's room." Cassidy said, despite the fact that she was crouched down outside Nick's room, a good 5 feet from her the doorway of Nash's room.

"You were not! Get back down here!" Lisa demanded.

Cassidy stood up, sighed and walked slowly back down the stairs.

"Well?" Joe asked when she didn't say anything.

Lisa stepped away from the stove. "What did you hear?"

"Mom!" Cassidy couldn't believe it.

"You were listening anyway. What did you hear?" Lisa asked.

"They were laughing." Cassidy replied.

Joe nodded. "Laughter is good."

Rico agreed. "Very good."

Lisa nodded. "Food's almost ready. Cassidy, set the table. Rico, would you mind pouring the wine? And Joe, could you take the bread out of the oven? I hope it's not burned."

"They all got to work as Lisa sat the pasta on the table. She then tossed the salad one last time before distributing it into individual salad bowls. Cassidy followed behind her with plates and silverware. Rico filled the wine glasses. He gave Cassidy a glass of sparking grape juice. And Joe moved the bread off the sheet pan and put it into a basket lined with dish towels. He covered the bread to keep it warm and then dit it on the table.

They all stopped and looked at the table.

"It's ready." Lisa announced. She then looked at Nick's door. "Who's going to…?"

Joe and Rico both took steps back, at the same time.

Cassidy rolled her eyes and protested, when she realized what they had done. Both men laughed. She shook her head. "I'm not…!"

"You were very willing to listen before." Joe reminded her.

"I love you, too, Uncle Joe!" Cassidy said as she reluctantly headed up the stairs. She leaned in to listen one more time before she knocked on the door. She could only hear muffled talking.

"Billy is probably a couple of years younger than Cassidy." Sonny stated. "He knows all about the adoption, and he is very anxious to meet you all. He…."

"Nash told you about Bobby and Stacey?" Nick asked.

Sonny nodded. "And I did my research."

"What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a private investigator now." Sonny stated. "But, I was a cop for about 15 years in Miami. I worked undercover vice for about half that time."

"Dangerous job." Nick replied.

"Yep. But, I helped get a lot of dangerous drug dealers off the street. We kept a lot of drugs off the street, too. Sonny chuckled. "My current gig is a lot safer."

"What?" Nash asked.

"We got paid $5,000 by a woman who claimed her ex stole her dog. One of those little yapper breeds. The wife showed Fifi at all the Florida dog shows." Sonny paused. "And Florida has a hell of a lot of dog shows. I had no idea. Anyway, we find Fifi. She's waiting in a car with the window cracked. I got the window down and reached in to get her. It was unreal, instant Cujo. She bit my hand. Then she lunged at Rico. He was so surprised, he moved out of the way." Crockett said, laughing at the memory. "Then Fifi took off down the street. We were after her for over two hours. She would hide under the parked cars. And she was very tiny and very fast. So when we went to the middle of the car she would go to one end of the other. She finally ran into an ally, and we trapped her." He chuckled. "We found an old cardboard box. We taped her in. I punched some holes. Then we put her in the trunk, in case she managed to escape. We got $7,000 for that one: Medical bills, emotional distress, and dry cleaning."

"Dry cleaning?" Nash chuckled.

"I got blood all over a very nice pair of Gucci shoes." Sonny sighed. "It never came out. She's lucky I didn't charge her for them."

"Sounds like the cases we get." Nash chuckled. "Joe will take any case. I'm a little more selective."

Sonny nodded. "It averaged out to about a grand an hour. I would chase Fifi all over Florida for a grand an hour."

TBC