Giana was overwhelmed…in the best possible sense of the word.
The paperwork was signed, the Pod containing all her worldly possessions had been delivered on schedule to her new home in Trenton. Her brother had an unfortunately timed work emergency; gone were the days of actors pitching in to paint sets and rehearsing after other jobs were over. He was in the big leagues now, and the necessary funding for a musical theater production had to be sought through investors. A last-minute call from his frantic writing partner pulled him from Trenton for an impromptu presentation to a potential backer just as they were arriving to move his sister in.
Waving off his apologies, Giana sent him back towards New York and turned to Mark.
"Well, Tater," she stated, using her favorite nickname for her oldest friend, "Looks like it's just us for now. Stephanie said she'd come by to help; let's just make sure we get the bed set up and some boxes unloaded." She figured the three of them, plus Hector whenever he became available, should be able to at least unpack the necessities.
Just as Mark was scrolling through his phone's contact list to recruit some help, two black SUVs pulled into her small circle driveway. Hector stepped out and approached a very surprised Giana as the cars began emptying. There were a handful of muscled Rangemen and a pert and happy-looking Stephanie gathered in front of her home.
"What's all this?" she asked, bewildered.
Hector shrugged. "We're here to move you in. I wanted to make sure you were settled in by tonight so I brought help." He stated this as though it should be obvious to her. Gia was taken aback by his thoughtfulness and threw her arms around his neck.
"You're the best, Hector, thank you so much! I was starting to panic when Vaughn got called away; I can't believe you did this for me!" Her eyes shone with affection and gratitude and she dropped her arms only to take his hand in hers and squeeze it.
"Come on in, I'll show you around!" she called to the men. Tugging Hector behind her, she met Stephanie at the front door and the women greeted each other warmly while Mark shook hands with the rest of the party.
The men were, predictably, impressed with the recessed TV screen. They went a little crazy at the size of the screen when she lowered it, and by the time they discovered there was surround sound they were begging her to host a game night; the Rangers were playing the Devils in a few days time and Shorty's was sure to be packed when New York played New Jersey. The mood was light and jovial and she readily agreed to host as a thank-you for the help unpacking. Vince was closest to her and scooped her up into a hug, twirling her around. This earned him a frown from both Hector and Lester, each displeased for a different reason.
As the afternoon progressed and it became apparent that they'd be finished way ahead of schedule, Giana took Steph's advice on fare and ordered delivery from Pino's for everyone. The party disbursed to assemble furniture and empty boxes, so when the doorbell rang a short time later, Les was alone in the living room unpacking. He opened the door and was met by a very pretty, petite middle-aged woman with familiar russet colored hair.
"Uh…hello?" he stammered. He'd been expecting Arturo, the delivery boy Pino hired to distribute his pizzas. The woman smiled prettily at him and regarded him curiously.
"You are not Hector." She stated with some certainty.
"No, ma'am, I'm not." He agreed, confused. Just then, Gia came around the corner to see who her visitor was.
"Momma!" she gasped, then hurried to hug and greet her mother.
"What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you! Did you drive all the way here without telling anyone? Did you eat yet?" Gia fired questions at her mother without pausing to let her answer them.
"Oh, I'm sorry…Momma, this is my friend, Lester. He works at Rangeman with Hector. Les, this is my mom, Charlene." Gia swiftly made an introduction that Les was surprised to find he was nervous about receiving.
"It's lovely to meet you, Lester. And yes, I drove up to help you unpack, Giana." Charlene McGovern exuded charm and oozed classic gracefulness. She was an inch or so shorter than her daughter, but the kind smile they wore was the same and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who couldn't tell they were related.
Gia narrowed her eyes for a moment and then smirked at Charlene.
"You did not! You wanted to come check out Hector!" She teased.
Charlene sighed, then leaned in conspiratorially and placed a hand on both Gia and Lester's forearms. "All right. The jig is up. Your brother called to tell me he'd been called into New York today and I'm desperate to meet Hector. Lord knows if I wait for Vaughn to introduce me, it won't happen until I've started to gray and, well, I just can't meet Hector all gray, darling." She absently touched her still vibrant hair and mock-shuddered.
Lester chuckled and relaxed. Giana had been gracious and sweet all day, an easy smile on her beautiful face as she bounced around the piles of boxes. Lester felt warmth spreading through his chest when he thought of her and found himself smiling any time their hands touched. It surprised him to discover that he felt anxious when he found out that it was Giana's mother he was meeting, but Charlene had quickly assuaged the feelings of nervousness. And why should he feel nervous, he thought. It was something he'd put away to consider later.
"Well, come on, let's give you your money's worth." Giana ushered them towards the back of the house, stopping first in the spare bedroom and introducing her mother to Bobby and a still slightly bruised Vince. She, of course, knew Mark and was greeted with a resounding kiss on her cheek. They moved down the hallway to the master bedroom where Hector was assembling the bedframe with Zero while Stephanie was threading the curtain rod through the rivets of Gia's new curtains.
"This is Stephanie, Zero, and this" Gia stepped forward and linked an arm through Hector's, "is Hector Gutierrez. Hec, this is my mom, Charlene. She drove up to surprise me and help me unpack." She left off any teasing remarks, rightly guessing it would make Hector uncomfortable.
Hector recovered admirably, a slight widening of his eyes the only indication that he was anything but prepared for this meeting. He stepped forward and extended his hand to his lover's mother and tried to still the slight tremble.
Charlene McGovern took him in, this man that finally caused her Vaughn to pause and take notice. Hector had her affection and approval long before she set eyes on him simply because he made her career-focused son accept what he'd formerly referred to as a 'distraction'. Her romance with her husband, God rest him, had been one for the record books, and she yearned for her children to experience love without limits, the way she had.
It was with these thoughts that she stepped forward and accepted Hector's hand, smiling, and quickly dropped it to embrace him tightly.
"It's so, so lovely to meet you, darling boy." She breathed while hugging him. She stepped back only slightly and rested a hand on either of his shoulders. "I've waited a very long time to know you, Hector." She beamed at him, overcome with the waves of contentment washing over her.
They were interrupted by the doorbell. "That'll be the pizza." Giana announced. They paraded down the hallway, retrieved the other men from the spare room and assembled in the kitchen to dig in. The rest of the afternoon went by swiftly, and the men were thanked profusely for their help. Stephanie, not normally a hugger, was happy to accept a grateful squeeze from Giana and invited her out for a girl's night with ML, Connie, and Lula next Saturday, which Giana happily accepted. After making sure to exchange phone numbers with Hector ("In case I need to meddle in my son's life and Vaughn won't spill the beans.", she reasoned), he was also thoroughly hugged by Charlene before the men of Rangeman departed, reminding Gia that they were promised a game night viewing for Friday's game. Mark was also hugged tightly and smiled while being instructed by Charlene that she expected to spend some time with him and Sophie before she left for Virginia Beach.
Back at Rangeman, the men dispersed to their various pursuits and duties. After changing into workout clothes, Les headed down to the gym for a rare evening workout; the earlier he started fighting the effects of Pino's for dinner, the better.
He was surprised to find Hector circling the kick bag, his focus entirely internal. Lester mounted the elliptical and set it for a nice warm-up. Thirty minutes later he slowed to a stop and climbed slowly off. The gym had emptied in the last half hour and he was alone with Hector, who was still viciously working the bag over. Lester slowly approached and stopped a few feet away.
"Hec, man, you alright?" he asked. Lester was starting to worry; Hector was notoriously close-mouthed and intense, but his present state bordered on frantic.
Hector ignored Les and continued punching and kicking the bag. Just as he was about to ask Hector if there was anything he needed, Hector abruptly stopped. He stood, sweat dripping off his well-cut physique, chest heaving from his exertion while staring at the swaying bag. They remained silent for a few moments, and then Hector spoke so quietly that Lester almost missed it.
"I've never had that."
Les wrinkled his brow. "Never had what, Hec?" He asked.
"The way she hugged me and talked to me, like I mattered. Like I wasn't staring at her with a teardrop tattooed on my cheek. She wasn't disgusted; she didn't even politely dismiss me, man. She just…." Here, Hector trailed off. Lester realized that he was referring to meeting Vaughn's mother. He wasn't sure if Hec was at a loss for words or if he didn't realize he was no longer speaking. The man before him was introspective and deep in thought; he nodded to encourage Hec to continue, to work it out before he got so overwhelmed he shut down.
"It was Gia, you know." Hector said, then stilled again.
"What was Gia?" Lester coaxed him along.
"The reason Charlene was so…accepting. It was Giana. She had to've told her all those nice things about me, about my work and stuff. If Vaughn told his mom all that, she would have just thought he was smitten with some new piece. She listened to whatever Giana told her about me. She must have really gone to bat…." He trailed off and rocked back on his heels.
"She was right, hermano. You are a good man, you deserve good things, Hector. That bad shit is behind you now. It's time you start forgiving yourself." Lester realized, as he was affirming to Hector that he was deserving and worthy of love, that he was, in fact, repeating the same thing Stephanie had tried to intone to Lester himself. In dozens of small ways, she tried to maintain an atmosphere of acceptance at Rangeman and it struck Les that maybe, just maybe, he was starting to believe her.
Still staring at the bag, Hector murmured, "Maybe…" and trailed off. He inhaled sharply, shook himself, and nodded at Lester before walking toward the exit. He paused, still a few feet from the doors, and spoke without turning around.
"I know that you want her; I see the way you look at her. I value this brotherhood above my own life, Santos, because without it I would be dead. But I cannot allow you, any of you, to pursue her. Especially not now."
Hector walked out of the gym, leaving lighter than when he'd entered it. Lester remained, rooted in the same position for some time, feeling as though the load that sat on his own shoulders had increased tenfold. Hector's words hung in the air, effectively dampening the light, elated awareness that had taken residence in Les's chest for the past several hours. The feeling of loss over something that wasn't his to begin with cut Lester Santos to the quick. He turned to the kick bag and picked up where Hector left off.