Aurora leaned up against her car parked outside of Billy's apartment in the early morning light.  Phil and Marcus stood watch for trouble, but at this early hour it was unlikely much would trouble the young gangster as she waited for her boyfriend and his bodyguards to appear.

Aurora wore slacks, today.  Casual in appearance, her dark hair hanging long around her shoulders, her blouse only slightly feminine in it's cut.  She wore her shoulder holster, with her jacket over it, but to the trained eye, the gun would still be obvious.  

Upon seeing Billy_Mastrosimone appear in the doorway she crossed her arms in front of her breasts and smirked.  "Well, now, that's a sight I enjoy waking up to.  Good morning Don Mastrosimone ... I hope you don't mind but I've taken the liberty of calling your hands and clearing your schedule for today.  You, sir, are all mine until tomorrow afternoon.  Unless, of course, you object?"

Billy squinted through the morning light and held up one finger.

"I only object to the fact that you didn't come in for breakfast. Well, that and the fact that my hands cleared my schedule without telling me. But to get to spend the better part of two days with the woman I love? What could I be upset about?."

He smiled then and wrapped his arms around her, leaning down to kiss her.

"Do we need to pack for this trip of ours?"

He voice was low and solemn, he let his hand linger over her side where he knew her gun to be holstered.

"You could do for an overnight bag.  Toothbrush, comb and such, change of clothes for tomorrow if you like... but no need to pack any pajamas."  She smirked.  "They're just gonna get in the way."  

She gave him a wink and wrapped her arm around his.

"I thought we'd go to Chicago, like we've been talking about.  There's some things there I'd like to show you and a hotel on the mile that we really need to stay in.  It has a suite with this new invention that is going to knock your socks off."

Billy nodded toward Rebecca and the girl ran inside to grab his go-bag. She was back in a flash and into the car with Aurora he went. His guys followed in the car behind since Marcus and Phil clearly knew where they were going and he did not.

"Alright, so, Chicago it is. You want to tell me anything about our mystery trip while we drive? Or am I just going to have to wait? And if I do have to wait, what will we do to pass the time?"

He asked playfully, knowing full well that there was a lot to talk about. She had been at school, he had been expanding the business. They had not seen each other in what felt like quite a while. Though in truth, it could have been less than a week, Billy sort of lost sense of time when he was deep into a project the way he was currently.

When he asked what they might do to pass the time, she blushed.

"Slow down, buckeroo."  She said patting his leg.  "There will be plenty of time for being frisky later this evening.  During the day, however, I plan on having us address some pretty heavy topics and I think it's fair to warn you that not everything we're going to encounter today is going to inspire your desires."

She kissed his cheek.

"But, since everything we're going to see has a lot to do with me... who I am... and our future together, it's important.  And it's a part of my life I don't share with a lot of others.  In fact, so far as I know, even my mother and father don't know about this little secret of mine.  You see, ever since Salvatore's passing I've had access to the trusts that were put in my name.  Businesses that they opened and made sure were set aside for me.  It's a fraction of what their empire was, but it's more than enough for my needs, especially with my own family gives me a generous monthly allowance.  So... I find other things to spend my money on.  Things that I wasn't aware needed my attention or money until I had become an adult and could look into it for myself."

She shrugged.

"Chicago connects you and I, in a way, its where we began, even if we don't know a bit about the things that went on there... well, I suppose due to that journal you know some of what happened there, but you get my meaning.  Seems to me the Windy City should be important to us if only because of that.  So... it's due a visit.  I thought we'd spend the day visiting a few sites of importance, talking about our past and our future.... cause, well, things have gotten serious between us."

She took his hand and laced her fingers into his.

"And I've never been gun shy when it comes to talking about the things I want once I've made up my mind that I want them... so... now that I know you're serious too, it's time we have a conversation or two which I felt was better put off until now."

She adjusted herself to look more towards him as the car headed towards the airport.  "But I'm getting ahead of myself.  What have you been doing all week?  Anything you can, or want to share?"

Billy listened intently, but he was very confused when Aurora started talking about decided that she wanted him, and things that had to do with him. Why now? Had it been just that one night? That one thing between them that was the barrier to everything? Billy knew he wanted Aurora from the moment at Nick's diner when she sent her bodyguards away. Had everything after that really been a test? Had he taken bullets for the woman in front of him, and she was only thinking about, 'well, maybe I suppose I'll thank him later.'? Billy shook his hard then. He did not want to think about that. She loved him now, and he loved her, and that's what mattered.

"Yeah, if you want to talk about serious stuff, then I have a thing or two to tell you too. I've been working on a project outside of Detroit, maybe we can stop there tomorrow after we get back and I'll show you. For now, we can table that though. It's not business, it's personal."

He then smiled and squeezed her hand.

"You're right though, Chicago should be somewhere that means something other than where my dad died to me. So I would like to try and make it something else with you. This will be a good trip. I can tell already."

He nodded. He could tell. Even if they didn't wind up sleeping together again. Billy just had a feeling that something good was going to come of this.

"Oh, and also, after your semester, you should plan for a week or two away from home. We're going on a trip. That's the other thing I was working on."

"A trip?  Oh, I like the sound of that!  Seriously school is draining the life out of me at this point.  I honestly question why I'm there sometimes."  She sighed.  "I mean, it's not like they teach us girls the same things they are teaching the guys over at Yale or Harvard."  

Clearly, this was a point of annoyance for her.

"Next term I have to take a class called, 'Domestic studies' as part of my business degree.  Do you KNOW what domestic studies is?  Basically, it's home economics for adult women.  Cooking, cleaning, child rearing... I'm sure the men who are going for business degrees don't have to take classes in how to be good husbands and yet..."

She sighed.

"You wouldn't believe the song they sing in my dorm."  She cleared her throat and sang a single verse of a much longer song, "You’re sharp as a pinpoint, Your marks are really ten point, You are Dean’s List, Sophia Smith – But if a man wants a kiss, kid, He doesn’t want a Quiz Kid – Oh, you can’t get a man with your brains!"

She rolled her eyes.

"I mean, it's not as though it's not on my mind too... of course I'm excited to get married."  she blushed slightly.  "But must we act as though our education means nothing and worse that it's unattractive?  You like that I'm smart... right?"

Billy picked up Aurora's hand.

"You got more smarts here than I got in my whole body. And I got a lot of body to be smart with." He chuckled "You're the tops Roar, no question in my mind. Honestly, it's one of the best things about you. It's why I like Integra, and Eva too. All real smart ladies. You all learned your smarts and you do different stuff with them, but any one of you could teach circles around me."

He turned and looked her in the eye then.

"You're excited to get married though? Really?" 

He paused to let the question sink in, but pressed on before she had a chance to answer. 

"I didn't peg you for the marrying type honestly. I thought that was gonna be a big fight between you and me down the road. I mean, I want to get married, I told you that, but you? Getting married kinda screws your life up a bit. You would become Mrs. whatshisface, not Miss Aurora Byrne. You ain't no Mrs. nobody Roar, you just ain't got that in you. They say behind every great man there is a woman. Problem is, I don't see any great man in your life for you to stand behind." He shrugged. "Guess you're gonna have to stand up front."

He turned and looked out the window then. Not a single cloud in the sky. It really was going to be a good day all round.

Aurora was offended, a little but she forced herself to smile realizing what he was doing.  He wasn't saying she was unmarriageable as she first imagined he was saying, but that he wasn't worthy of her.

"Whatever man I choose to accept the offer of, he'll spend his life working very hard to prove strong enough to keep up with me.  I never stop pushing myself, never.  I can't accept a man who assumes his work is done the moment I say I do.  It's not about muscles or brains... strength comes from much more than our bodies.  It's a part of our... well, to use a term you might embrace, our souls."

She smiled at him.

"You're one of the strongest souls I know Billy and your power isn't just in your arms - though, admittedly, I am particularly fond of that sort of strength too."  She gave him a wink and then looked out her window at the airport as they pulled into the drive leading out back to where her private plane was waiting.

"I suppose it's just as well that you realize now that you've got a lifetime of work ahead of you, if you should decide to ever propose marriage to me."

Billy held the door handle closed for a second.

"Who said anything about marriage? Clearly I'm just here for your mother's cooking."

He smiled and let the door handle go as he pushed the door open and stepped out into the air. It was probably wise that he not look back at Aurora in that moment. He was willing to put good money down that he could feel her scowling at his back. He was joking though, and she knew that. He would have married her already if everything had been put in place sooner. He would rather have married her than continuing on the way they were, but he needed everything in place before he could even ask Gavin or Bella. Let alone tackle other problems.

"So, I got a question for you. What's your favorite color?"

Aurora narrowed her eyes sharply at Billy as he joked that he was only hanging about for her mother's food.  She had half a mind to hit him for such a joke.  It was worthy of William, it truly was, and the fact that Billy and William shared any traits at all was annoying as hell.

Instead, she rolled her eyes and came up beside him as he asked about her favorite color and proceeded up the stairs to the door of the plane.  "A strange question to ask.  I suppose it's red."  She said after only a moment of thought.

"You were wearing a red tie when we danced the Tango, do you remember?"  She smiled at him as she entered the plane and walked over to a seat where she could sit beside him.

"I thought it looked really nice on you.  So, why do you ask and what's yours?" 

"I'm asking because I'm bu... I've got a present in the works, and the color will help to add a little touch."

Billy made note to use the phrase 'present in the works' more often so he didn't give anything away. He also made not to have rose bushes planted in the front of the house along the long driveway.

"Mine is gold actually. Something about that color that just pops no matter where you see it you know?"

He made his way toward the plane and held out his hand for Aurora to step up first. He followed behind her and ducked his way onto the plane and into a seat. Airplanes were not built for men like Billy Mastrosimone. A fact he had gotten used to with his own plane, by removing two rows of seats. Aurora had not yet thought to do the same on her plane.

"This is gonna be a long flight huh?"

He said with a smile. On the bright side, he wouldn't bounce around all that much no matter how choppy the air was. If he was stuck in one spot, that was his spot for the whole flight.

Aurora frowned noting how cramped Billy was going to be.  "Hmmm.  Seems I'm going to have to make some adjustments if I'm going to make a habit of kidnapping you from time to time."

Gold?  Who outside of Ebenezer Scrooge liked gold best?  It was going to take some work to find a dress in gold that didn't look either gaudy or trashy... but she made a note to herself she was going to do it if she had to have the damn thing made to order.

"So this trip... am I going to get to know anything about it beforehand?  If it's going to be a long one, I should at least let my family know where I'm going and such.  Unless, of course, you've already done that?  The way my mother won't shut up about you these days, I can't help but feel she probably already knows all about this.  If I told you half the things she's been saying and doing lately, I think you'd be highly uncomfortable with her and those dinners wouldn't be half-so-appetizing.  They'd feel a lot more like entrapment."

Billy chuckled.

"If your mother feeding me is entrapment, she really is a good Italian."

He looked over to Aurora.

"I haven't spoken to your parents yet though, no. I haven't had time, been too busy. You see, I have family. None left in the States, but in the old country my Nona is still alive. Pretty sure I have cousins out there I've never met too, at least one or two. So I figured if there was anyone in my life that I should introduce you to before I decided whether or not I should have a serious chat with Gavin, It's my Nona."

He nodded as if that were all the reason he needed to take his girlfriend on an international trip to Sicily. Truth be told, he really just wanted to impress Aurora a bit, and he knew that was difficult to do. This though? This was going to be impressive whether she liked it or not.

"I only ever have been there once before.  I was very little though so I don't remember much.  It was when they moved Marie's body to my grandparent's compound, just after William was born.  I met Marie's mother.  I only barely remember her though.  We still write and I send her pictures from time to time, but I've always wanted to go back and visit.  There are a lot of places that are dear to my family over there."

She smiled at Billy.

"And a long trip away from everything... just you and I, that sounds really nice.  And, of course, meeting your family will be nice too."  she leaned close to him and whispered, "But forgive me if meeting your Nona isn't the part I most look forward too."

She laughed.

"The flight isn't a terribly long one.  Detroit to Chicago, on a fair day like today, we should be there in two hours."  she reached into her pocket, having planned ahead.  Pulling down her tray table she rolled out a handful of dice.

"I seem to recall you were going to teach me a game or two?  We might take this little bit of time trapped together with no real room to move to do that..."  she leaned over to whisper in Billy's ear.  "We could do something more interesting but it's broad daylight and we've scarred Charlie and Oscar enough - let alone poor Phil and Marcus.  So... maybe we should keep our hands, feet, and other objects to ourselves for the duration of the flight, yes?"  

Billy nodded.

"I was thinking much the same thing."

He reached out with his arm and picked up the dice.

By the time they got off the flight Billy was down a few bucks, Aurora had done well. There was something about playing against the Byrnes apparently that did not bode well for Billy Mastrosimone. He took that as a sign. The one time against Gavin? That could have been a fluke. But against both Gavin and Aurora? That was a sign. No more dicing against the Byrnes family.

"Well, you know how to play Chicago, and now here we stand in the city of that name. You got a car waiting for us somewhere, or are we hoofing it?"

Billy was quite in the mood for a walk truth be told, and it was nice out.

"We can walk."  She admitted.  "We'll have the guys follow in the car in case we decide to ride at some point.  It's a bit of a walk from here, but it's a nice day and I'm not wearing pumps so I'll be okay."  

She flirted as she noted, "I did pack them though."

She took his hand and began to walk, leaving the bodyguards to put their bags into a car and follow them down the road.  It wouldn't be hard to catch up, Billy and she couldn't get too far away on foot.  The car would find them soon enough.

"So part of this trip is to show you a little about why I reacted as badly as did ... you know, that day with Eva."  She knew it was still a sore topic but her mother always said the sorer the topic, the more it needed talking about. 

"If we're going to be together, maybe married one day, then you deserve to know more about what makes me tick... and sometimes act the way I do.  I mean, I want us to be like my parents one day.  My dad can just look at my mom and know how she's screwed up and why and ... well, their marriage is about the best one know.  I want us to know each other that well.  If that makes sense?"

She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it.

"So, let's talk about kids again.  I know you told me before but I'll be honest, my brain shut down a whole lot and I turned inward when you started talking about the family you hoped to have one day.  I was so ... focused on my own fears that I wasn't being fair to you.  I wasn't open and willing to objectively absorb what you were trying to share with me.  I wasn't listening like I should have been and for that I'm sorry."  She shook her head.

"I want to do more than hear you.  I want to really listen and understand.  So I'd like to hear what it is you want again, in an ideal world.  What would you have our future look like... and why.  That part is important too, you know?  The why is the most important part really cause it tells me more about the man I love."  She smiled at Billy.

"So... can we start at the beginning again?"

Billy nodded, and made sure as they turned the corner that Aurora was on the "inside" part of the sidewalk. He kept his head on a swivel. He wasn't concerned about the danger that might be lurking around any corner. They were both packing, and they both had their knives. A small army would be needed to take them down and it was very rare that you could hide one of those in an alleyway.

No. He kept watching men's faces. Staring at them as they walked down the street. Daring them to even glance at Aurora around him. Nobody did. Nobody even broke eye contact with him once they realized he was looking at them. Most folks just went on, but the few who saw Billy looking? Billy made sure they knew not to look nowhere else.

"What do you mean by beginning? Like about how I want kids? I said that. I want kids. I want to be a dad. I want to love my blood the way I wasn't loved. I mean, I guess part of it is that I just want to be a real dad one day, not just a Don. Don is all good, but you always gotta do the right thing when you're a Don. Always gotta watch your back and what you say. Anyone can be your enemy, even your hands one day could turn on you to taste that power."

He sighed and then looked to Aurora as they walked.

"But I'll bet dollars to donuts you'd still love your dad and your mom if they messed up." He paused. "I want a family Roar. A real one, with love there instead of sadness and loneliness. I want smiles. I want a puppy. I want a yard to play in with my kids. I want Christmas, a real one, with presents. I want to go to a little league game and cheer my boy on. I want a birthday where the candles are lit on a cake and where someone actually sings to me like my dad used to when I was little. I want to hold my whole family in my arms. You and whatever kid I can make trick you into giving me. My arms are big enough for like five kids and you, but I won't push it."

Billy gave a half smile, but he wasn't feeling like today was a good day anymore. Damned dice started it all!

"If you don't think parent have to worry about doing the right thing, or are always watching over their shoulders and what they say in front of their kids... oh Billy.  My parents are always worried about that sort of thing.  Worried they're messing up Will with something they've said or done, worried they're putting us in danger with what they do or don't do, and I think it's fair to say they are constantly looking over their shoulders not just in fear for themselves but mostly for us."

She shrugged.  

"I do know what you mean though.  Puppies are nice... we had once.  Bo.  I hadn't thought about him in years.  I got him the Christmas I was six from Aunt Tara."  Her voice trailed off and a darker look fell over her face, as if the topic of her dog or that Christmas was a painful one.

"But yes," She admitted, "This is what I wanted to hear from you.  I wanted you to tell me more about your feelings.  Obviously right now, I'm doing everything I can to prevent us from having a child out of wedlock... but once we're married, well, I think I know how you feel about wanting them and obviously things will change.  I just... wanted a little insight into why it was so important to you because today I'm taking you to meet some friends of mine and I hope they'll help you to understand a little more about why I'm hesitant."

At the corner, Aurora turned down a street that indicated that Union station was half a mile ahead.

Billy cocked his head to the side. He could feel himself getting a little angry and ashamed when she mentioned trying not to have kids. It was one thing to live in sin, it was another to completely throw away God's will like that. And then she said something that completely caught him off guard.

'once we're married'

She really did want it. It wasn't a question he was gonna have to ask. It was more like he just had to tell her when he was ready for it. Billy nodded a satisfied nod. He knew today was gonna be a good day.

Then, when Aurora had finished, Billy took a deep breath.

"Roar, I'm not stupid. I didn't mean that parent's don't worry. The ones that do that are bad at it. You've got good folks who care about you. I didn't. I don't want to be that kind of a dad. But Roar..."

He stopped for a second and kicked a beat up old sign across the sidewalk out of his way. Damned thing looked like a clock. He looked up and nodded. It must have fallen from the signpost above them. The depression certainly hit hard, not everyone could stay in business after all.

He moved to block Aurora's path and held both of her hands then.

"I want to know what you want though. I mean, clearly it's not what I want. It's alright not to see eye to eye on most stuff, but I think the 'have kids' or 'don't have kids' line is a pretty solid line. We can't just not see eye to eye on that if that's what we're doing.