Lulu's POV
It was my first time seeing my son in two years, I was both nervous and excited. I pulled into the car rider line at his school, soon the passenger door opened and Rocco slid into his seat.
"Mom???" Rocco gasped, clearly Dante and Sam had kept my being awake a secret from Rocco.
"Oh, my baby boy is so grown up. Come here." I wrapped him into a hug, he sunk into my embrace.
"You're not too old for mama bear hugs, are you?" I laughed as we both pulled away.
"Of course not mom." Rocco smiled brightly at her, before pulling something from his backpack.
"Look mom I got all A's on my report card!" Lulu looked at his report card feeling very proud of her son.
"I think that warrants ice cream. What do you think?" Lulu smirked.
"Triple yes!!!" Rocco cheered, earning a giggle from Lulu.
"Alright boss man, let's go get some ice cream." Lulu begins her drive to the local ice cream shop, they walked inside and perused the list of ice creams.
"What are you getting, buddy?"Lulu ruffles her son's hair.
"Mint chocolate chip." He decided, after looking at the menu again.
"I'm going to get chocolate almond." Lulu decided, she was definitely a fan of anything chocolate. They sat outside as they ate their ice cream, catching up on the things Lulu had missed.
"Since you're Dad and Sam have our old house, we're going to be staying with a friend of mine until we can find a house. His name is Johnny, he's got Charlotte's stamp of approval already." Lulu didn't know how Rocco would handle the news.
"Are you dating him?" Rocco asked.
"We're going to go on a few dates first to see if there's something there but, that's the goal. Johnny and I...we have a long history. I really hope you like him, because I think Johnny could be the one I'm meant to be with." Lulu really wanted to be with Johnny for the rest of her life.
"You sound happier than you ever were with dad. I just want you to be happy, mom.*
Johnny's POV
I walked into the living room of my penthouse to see Charlotte sitting on the couch, she looked really bored as she switched the television off.
"You know, mommy and Dante used to argue about you all the time." Charlotte says, out of the blue.
"Oh, I can only imagine." Johnny chuckled, trying not to shake his head.
"I know that you've probably heard some stuff about me that isn't true and some stuff that is true but, I'm not out to hurt your mother. You have my word on that. I've loved your mother for fifteen years. It was...love at first sight. Even though I didn't know her, I just wanted to see her smile again. I swear Lulu's smile could light up even the darkest cave. My life didn't start until the night I picked your mom up. I don't want you and Rocco to feel like I'm trying to steal her away from you, I know that you guys come first. I just want Lulu to be happy, that's all I've ever wanted." Johnny sat down beside the teenage girl, Charlotte glanced at Johnny in wonder.
"Dante doesn't exactly have the best track record, I don't pay attention to half of the things he says. I know that Dante took care of me while Mom was incapable of taking care of me but, I could tell that he just felt obligated. It's different. I always get treated differently because I wasn't convinced in the natural way. I didn't get to meet my mom until I was about seven or eight. I don't really have friends, I feel like people get weirded out by me for something that isn't even my fault. That's why losing mom hit me so hard...I know I didn't really lose her but, during those two years...my daddy was murdered. I didn't even want to stay with Dante and Sam, what I really wanted was to stay with Grandma Laura or Aunt Maxie. Aunt Maxie is so great, she never treats me differently or thinks I'm weird. I know I'm getting off of topic but, I don't think mom was happy with Dante. I think that she could be happy with you and, I think that it's great that you want us to come first. Rocco might not appreciate that at first because he's spoiled but, I do. Tell me more about the night you met mom, I'd love to hear it. Nobody ever tells me anything." Charlotte clearly felt comfortable with him, as she poured her heart out. Johnny really felt for the girl, he understood a lot of what she was saying.
"I understand and I hear you, people have never really understood me either. I've never been the type of person that's had a lot of friends or family, for that matter. I know that Lulu loves you very much, she talks about you and Rocco all the time. I can say that Dante never truly appreciated having Lulu. I'm sorry about you're dad...I lost my mom when I was young. I...met your mom on a windy September night, I was going for a drive when I couldn't help but see the most beautiful woman I'd ever layed eyes on. Your mom was hitchhiking and, Lulu was lucky that I was the one who showed up. At first she was upset but, the more we talked the more your mom laughed and smiled. Of course, everyone freaked out that they couldn't get in touch with Lulu so...they track us down. Nobody wanted us together." I slowly smiled.
"I think we'll get along just fine, mister Johnny."