Unraveling the Underboss

Mavis

{Sophie’s POV}

“You had a daughter.. all alone..” my mother whimpered, rushing around the bed and looking down at Mavis and I. “I’m so sorry darling, I never should have pushed you to stay with Austin.. this is my fault. If I hadn’t been so stubborn, and refusing to listen, we could have had time with you and our granddaughter.” She cried, placing her hands gently against my face. “Please, forgive me, come back home..” she plead.

I grabbed her hand with mine, smiling softly at her. “There’s nothing to forgive mom..” I whispered, as I felt Mavis begin to move in my arms. “Hey sweetie, wake up and meet gramma and grampa.” I smiled softly, kissing her forehead.

She sat up groggily, rubbing her eyes before smiling up at me. “I’m still sleepy mommy..” she whispered, turning around and looking at my parents.

“She’s beautiful Sophie..” my mother whimpered, reaching out and brushing some of Mavis’ hair behind her ear.

Mavis blinked up at me, smiling softly. “They look just like the pictures!” She cheered.

“She’s knows us?” My mother asked.

I nodded, kissing Mavis’ head. “Of course she knows her gramma and grampa. I know we weren’t in a great place, but I couldn’t bring myself to deprive her of you two. She’s heard stories, and seen pictures, and videos.”

“Can I.. can I hold her?” Mom asked, looking to me cautiously.

“Wanna go see gramma and grampa?” I asked, looking down to her.

Mavis nodded, crawling out of my arms and into my mother’s. “Hi gramma..” she smiled softly, looking up to my mother. “Hi grampa!” Her face turned towards my father, her smile growing wider, and warmer.

We sat and talked for hours, enjoying our ti e together, Mavis getting to know her grandfather, and grandmother, and then getting to know her. It was peaceful, quiet, and perfect. Then a knock sounded at the door, breaking us from this bubble, the pain and fear, filling me with anxiety, we’re in the hospital, and my father is ill. I held my breath, as a young woman walked into the room. She had curly red hair, and big green eyes, her skin was pale and sprinkled with freckles. As she walked into she looked surprised to see me, but pleasantly so.

“Oh! Hello there, I’m Doctor Maisie LaRoux!” She greeted me formally, extending her hand.

I reached out taking it in mine, and shaking it. “Hi, I’m Sophie Winters, are you here to check up on my father? Is there anything you can tell me about his condition, what could be done?” I asked, stopping myself as I realized I was asking too many questions, taking a moment to compose myself. “Sorry.. I’m just, anxious.”

“It’s alright Sophie!” She smiled softly, walking to my father’s bedside. “Sadly with this stage of liver failure.. there isn’t much to be done, we tried getting him on the donor list, but the list is so long, we weren’t able to find anyone.” She said. “I’m sorry, but we are trying to stay hopeful, maybe a miracle will pull through, occasionally it happens.” She smiled at me once again.

I nodded. “I know a lot about miracles..” I smiled back, before Mavis’ giggle erupted in the room, as she sat with mom and dad.

“And who is this?” She asked, walking around the bed, freezing when she saw Mavis. She looked stunned, her mouth hung open for a moment before she turned to me, trying to shake off the look on her face. “She is just precious! How old is she?”

“Five.” I said, smiling over at my precious girl. “I got pregnant right before I moved to England.”

“She must take after her father, that dark hair and blue eyes.” She smiled, looking between the two of us.

I nodded. “She does.. but he’s not in the picture..” my voice was a bit softer as I said those words, before walking to my daughter’s side. “Okay Mavis, time to go get our stuff taken to the hotel, it’s right across the street, so we can come visit first thing in the morning!”

“Awe mama, I don’t want to go!” She whimpered, pouting out her bottom lip.

“I know sweetie, but we need to get some rest, and we need to let gramma and grampa rest too!” I said, lifting her up into my arms. “First thing in the morning, we’ll be right back over here, and we’ll spend all day with gramma and grampa, we’ll play board games, and color! How does that sound?” I asked her.

Watching her frown slowly form into a smile. “Yeah! That sounds like fun!” She beamed, jumping from my arms and hugging her grandparents goodbye.

{Maisie’s POV}

I couldn’t shake the feeling.. after seeing her here.. the girl that Max bugged us about got over a year. She really got in his head.. and now, she had a daughter, one that looked just like him. I rushed home, seeing Angelo with our three kids, Aurelio, Bastian, and Bella, along with Max, Mikey, and Marco all trying to get the kids down for bed. They’d been fighting bedtime lately, and now it seems Angelo had called in the reinforcements.

I gulped, seeing Max here when I had something important to tell Angelo. I knew though, no matter what, Angelo would tell his brother about this, so I swallowed that lump in my throat, before clearing it, gaining their attention.

“I.. um.. there’s no way to say this that isn’t going to shock you, or that you’ll feel indifferent to.. so I’m just gonna say it. I saw Sophie Winters tonight..” I said, looking to Max. His eyes widened for a moment, before he pretended as though he didn’t care.

“Okay.” He said, smoothly, calmly.

“That isn’t all..” I muttered, wringing my hands, and looking anywhere but at him. “She.. she..”

“Spit it out Maisie!” He chuckled.

“She has a daughter.. and she looks just like you.” The words left my lips in a hurry, I wasn’t sure anyone understood me until Max jumped up, stalking towards me.

“Maisie, I need you to be positive.. are you sure she looked like me?” He asked.

I nodded. “And she’s five..”