your blood through my veins - vinnie hacker

sixteen

"a little birdy told me you want to go into soft ball?" said isabelle to her daughter as the family sat outside by vinnie's fire pit.

"was the birdie named vincent?" laughed nate.

"vincent?"

"thats me baby." said vinnie chuckling that his daughter was unaware. "what's my full name?"

"vinnie hacker." said his daughter.

"munchkin, his name is vincent cole hacker." said maria. "you know how your name is janelle but we call you jane? same concept."

"mom, she doesn't know what concept is."

"she does, she's very smart. she got invited to join her school's gifted program." said vinnie.

"and mommy's name is isabelle." said jane. "that's right."

"pardon me, your wines." said the chef coming out with a tray of wines. "merlot from southwest of france, given multiple prices in 2018. and for you my belle, your favorite moscato d'asti."

"oh, james, you know i love you." smiled isabelle grabbing her glass.

"what about me?" asked jane.

"oh, i couldn't forget about you princess, i have a surprise for you after dinner."

"okay." she smiled at the chef. "thank you."

"jane, do you want to practice some softball?" asked reggie picking her up as they went to the court side of vinnie's house. vinnie had every activity and toy for jane. he had a shed with every sport, he has a pool, a doll house, she pretty much had a mini village outside. besides that, she had a playroom. he was pretty big on his interior design, he liked his house clean, but jane had her details. like the barbies that were sitting around the house because according to jane they were lonely sleeping in a box.

"i'm scared of you anytime you drink moscato." vinnie said to isa.

"why?"

"i'm not going to say that in front of my parents."

both his parents 'ooed' at vinnie comment and isa rolled her eyes and smiled. vinnie's parents were very supportive on them getting back together. but vinnie told them to stop talking about it with isabelle there because it was awkward.

"your full of it." she said to vinnie. "maria defend me."

"i am your attorney at this point."

"are you? or am i just your favorite child?" laughed isabelle.

"probably. you know she calls me as much as you do." said maria to vinnie.

"yes, tomorrow your mom and i are going to go see my designs for paris, and a yoga class."

"suit yourselves. oh before i forget, empty your pockets." said vinnie to his parents, they wondered why put they put both their wallet on the table and keys at what not, vinnie just grabbed their wallets. "i'm giving you guys my card."

"vincent. please."

"what? if it wasn't for you guys i wouldn't be where i am today. i can afford this because of you guys."

"im proud of you. youre a great dad, and i'm happy how you guys are raising jane." said nate.

"i've always wondered, does jane know who her parents are?" asked maria.

"like our status?" asked isabelle.

"does she know her parents are A list."

"she wonders why when we go some places people look at us. but in paris will probably be one of the few times she encounters paparazzi." said isa.

"did you design outfits for her?"

"of course. i designed everyone's outfits. i styled all of vinnie's outfits."

"i have a fitting with loewe-"

"im going to be there." said isabelle. "and i am not a fan of them. its not very elegant."

"what is your favorite brand?"

"elles." said isabelle laughing, elles was her own brand.

"mine too." laughed vinnie.

***

"uno." smiled isa sitting across the table from vinnie. his parents were pretty tired from their travels, reggie was playing videogames in vinnie's game room, and jane knocked out on the couch after the chef made her hot chocolate, which was her favorite. he also made her cookies but she wasn't entertained by them. it was just vinnie and isa playing uno and listening to music, pretty tipsy.

it's not a silly little moment, it's not the storm before the calm. this is the deep and dying breath of this love that we've been working on.

"this is my most played song every year." said vinnie when the song came in and he put a card down."

"you like john mayer?" asked isa grabbing a card from the deck.

"you don't?"

"he's a dick."

"i dont care about him, i like his music. am i supposed to boycott his music?"

"no, you know i don't believe in boycotting." she put a card down. "uno."

"i listen to him a lot." he said putting a card down.

"i wonder why." said isa putting a +4 down. "i win."

"what do you mean by why?" he asked as isa sipped her wine.

"the lyrics." she said. "we were the ones slow dancing in a burning room."

"yea, we were."

-begin playing second song above-

"its getting late, i should get going."

"are you good to drive?"

"yes, im perfectly fine to drive." she said and they walked to walk isa out. "thank you for dinner, it was very fun. you know i love your parents."

"they love you." he said and pulled her in for a hug. they stayed like that for a while, he rested his head on top of hers. "were doing the right thing, elle."

"i know." she nodded. "sometimes i just wish..you know?"

"i do too. but remember were doing this for jane."

"i know. we are doing whats best for her." she said pulling away from him. "thanks again."

"no problem. text me when you get home." he said. "i love you."

"i love you too."