The Dancer and the Don | ✔️

Chapter 24

Two chapters in one weekend! They're probably going to slow down after this, because I now have two jobs and school, but I wanted to get another one out for you. 

This chapter felt really good! It just poured itself onto the page, and that's my favorite way to write a chapter.

Thanks for reading!

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Francesca spent the night relaxing.

She watched a few episodes of a random telenovela with the captions on, took a quiet bath, and collapsed on the bed wearing her favorite pair of pajamas. It was only when Fran was about to fall asleep that she remembered she needed to call her husband.

Reaching for her phone that was charging on the dark wooden nightstand, she sat up with a sigh. Fran didn't really know how this conversation was going to go. She didn't know if she wanted to find out.

In all honesty, she didn't want to know, but she had made a promise to her husband.

As angry as she was at him, Fran didn't want their relationship to fade into nothing while she was away. She debated on which button to hit for a few minutes before placing her thumb on the bright green video-call button.

It barely rung before Tony picked up.

His eyes looked like they were about to shut and his hair was the frizziest she'd ever seen it. Tony looked so uncomfortable, and Fran wondered if it was about her. Lately she kept having to remind herself why she was mad at him.

"Fran?" He murmured like he needed to make sure she was really there.

"Hi, Tony," she responded. The awkwardness felt like she was trying to talk to her middle school crush. She rolled her eyes.

"What's wrong?" A blush covered her cheeks when she realized he had definitely seen the eye roll.

"I—I don't know, we're just acting a bit awkward." She didn't want to delve into the subject. Fran quickly changed the topic. "How was your day?"

"Not great, to be honest," he could only hold up a smile for a few seconds before it dropped off of his face. She gave him a sympathetic one back.

"Well, I have some news that might make it worse," she laughed bitterly. His eyes widened in confusion, and she had a feeling she'd really caught his attention now.

"Is something wrong? Did something happen? Nathan said everything went fine, did you convince him—"

"No," she responded, "I didn't. My mother is...um..." somehow the words couldn't come out of Francesca's mouth.

"Is she...okay?"

"As okay as she can be, Tony. She's pregnant."

"What the hell?" The volume of Tony's voice surprised her but he didn't seem to notice. "I don't think I heard you right, Fran. You froze for a second."

"You didn't hear wrong, Tony. I was just as surprised as you," Fran said, her voice a deep monotone. She hoped tomorrow when she woke up that this would all be a dream, but she knew deep down she would have to deal with more of this tomorrow.

"I—how?" Were the only words Tony could say. Fran felt tears building in her eyes and willed them not to spill over.

"She cheated on my dad," she wailed, unable to hold back the tears, "She's nine months pregnant, Tony."