Billy quietly drove toward the Brooklyn Bridge and kept his eye in the rear view mirror to make sure the boys were keeping up with him. Satisfied with that, he rolled down his window to let the air car.

"So, Walton huh? What's he up to these days? A mutual friend of ours used to invest some money for him. I've recently taken that over for him, so he and I will be talking more often. Still, would be nice to know he's well after everything that happened. I assume he's well?"

He turned toward Dyker Heights then and watched out of the corner of his eye to see if the larger houses in the clearly more affluent area of Brooklyn were going to intimidate his guest.

Melanie nodded, she wasn't completely in close with Mr. Walton just yet. Yes she worked for him and resided with in his walls but she was just a lowly ranked member of his organization, someone just trying to make dues and someone trying to get noticed. She really only had talked to the man a handful of times but a man in his position had people to do those kind of things for him. It was why that when he personally asked her to run that errand in New York that she jumped at the chance, it was her proverbial foot in the door.

"Mr. Walton is, uh... Actually not really sure what he is up to. I'm not important enough to be privy to that kind of information, I kind of just go run errands when told. Hell I'm not even special enough to be given any sort of weapon just yet but I guess that is ok, I'd probably just hurt myself with it." She chuckled once softly.

She let out a sigh and began looking out the window of the car, this was all new to her. It was building after building and the streets were still rather busy. It was nothing like Seattle that was for sure.

She stayed rather quiet until then made a turn, the sign said Dyker Heights. Almost immediately her eyes widened, the houses grew in size quite drastically from where they just came from she could tell this was quite a nice part of town.

"One day I hope to have a place like some of these to call my own, do you live out here or are we just passing through?" 

Billy smiled. "I live out here with my family. Brooklyn is a nice place to grow up. It's where I grew up in fact." He found himself looking in the direction of Bay Ridge then. He was a stone's throw away from the house he grew up in. The house he was abandoned to by his father. The hell it turned into under the not-so-watchful eye of his mother. The world he ran from and found himself in Chicago to escape. He shook his head. That was no longer his world, his world was full of laughter and joy now. Full of Aurora and the children. His world now couldn't get any brighter.

"Well, if John isn't willing to give you work, I am, I'll tell you that. You can always come back to New York if you're looking for something to do. I won't put you out mind you, but I certainly won't run you into a dark park in the middle of the night without some way to protect yourself. There are dangerous creatures out there, and only some of them are men."

He turned into the driveway and watched as two men jumped out to open the gate for him. He waved and smiled at them as he pulled up to the front of the three story house.

"Come in, and I'll get you settled into the guest room. I'm sure you'll want to shower and change before you come to dinner. One of my family is bound to be your size, we'll find something for you to wear."

He smiled and left the car running in the front for his men to move more easily and made his way through the front door.

"Roar! Children! I'm home. I've brought a guest with me, she's going to be staying the night." He turned and took his jacket off of her shoulder, hanging it on the poster near the door. "Anyone home?"

Melanie didn't comment on it but she did note it, was always good to have connections. You never know when you would need to conduct business elsewhere, depending if it was just for a short term or hell even long term. Was always good to have options. It was something that was going about in her head, she could see herself in New York or maybe she couldn't. Hell she hadn't even been there half a day and already she needed rescued, perhaps New York wasn't the best choice.

That thought went right out of her head though once they turned into the driveway of a massive house. It was so big and so well protected that it had guys manning the gate. A gate..... It must have been her unlucky luck to run into this man in the middle of central park like she did.

The car came to a stop as her door opened up for her, a rather stout man reached his hand towards her. It was a gesture she was not used to, she grabbed the envelopes with one hand and the mans with another. He gently helped her out of the car. "Thank you!" She exclaimed as the man just smiled and closed the door behind her.

Billy walked around his side of the car and stood beside her, he mentioned something about a shower and a change of cloths before dinner. It was music to her ears but one thing she didn't fully understand, why was he being so nice to her? It was a thought that was running wildly in her head but a thought that faded away as the thought of the shower took it's place.

"A shower would be really nice but are you sure you don't mind all of this? I really don't want to impose, really I could find a hotel and leave you to spend time with your family."

Billy shook his head.

"Of course I don't mind. Listen, I'm a kid from Brooklyn, grew up just over there, maybe 15 or so blocks away, and look at me now huh? What kind of guy would I be if I didn't share what I built with everybody I could. Besides, it's not like I can take any of it with me. So come inside, take a shower and enjoy my dinner. I'm thinking my wife might not be around right now, and if the twins aren't here either, well it might be a school thing."

He shrugged and then gestured toward the living room.

"Oh and please don't mind the state of affairs in there, we're getting in new furniture and a new carpet, so there's not much to speak of about the living room right now. The den is nice though still, and the dining room is fine, and the kitchen. So really the house is fine, it's just that one room."

He looked toward the stairs.

"Can I show you upstairs to the guest room? You can take a shower and come down when you're ready?"

At this point it may have been a bit rude to turn down his hospitality, especially being that he knew her boss. That's all she needed was word from New York getting back to him that she was rude and disrespectful to their New York comrades. Melanie smiled as he ushered her inside the house and into the living room, he was going on about how the house wasn't in the best of shapes cause it was due to have new carpet and furniture. It wasn't a mess though, it was stunning. Yes the one room wasn't finished but it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Hell it was a million times nicer then the place she was currently living at and no not Mr. Walton's. His place was rather nice, well from the outside.

Melanie's place was what you can a shit hole, it's a single room in an apartment building. She didn't even have her own bathroom nor a kitchen, it was just a room. A very very small room, she made due though. What else could she do?

"Your house is amazing, absolutely stunning."

She could see him gazing up the stairs, then offered to show her up there. With envelope still grasped in her hands, she nodded.

"A shower would be really nice and I can just put these cloth back on, they aren't that dirty."

Glancing down are her dress, a couple noticeable dirt spots could be seen on it. They must have happened when she hit the ground from running into Billy. She tried to brush them off but they needed washed. 

"Well... it's ok, I'll still be fine."

"If you say so." Billy shrugged, smiled, and led the way upstairs to the guest room. He left Melanie to freshen up, and he went to get a dress from each of the girls' rooms as well as his wife's. It was difficult to find a dress in Tara's room though, so he settled on a pair of navy slacks and a cream colored blouse instead.

After laying out the options for Melanie, he made his way into the kitchen to whip up something for the two of them and there he found the note from Aurora.

Billy

The twins have cut school and ditched their bodyguards. I've gone to find them. I'm sorry for the short notice, but you know how to cook for yourself so I'm sure you'll be fine without me for one night.

Tua anima

The note smelled faintly of her perfume, but Billy knew all too well what was going to happen to his children. He was going to need to be quiet and reserved and not the normal jovial self he was. They were in trouble tonight and he would need to remember that.

"Well Miss, uh..." He paused a moment trying to think "You know, I don't think I know your name! But it looks like we'll be alone for a bit. What are you in the mood for for dinner?"

It was probably one of the better showers she had in a long time, usually the water in her apartment building is cold. Well not cold cold but definitely not hot in the slightest. The whole sharing a bathroom with an entire floor isn't ideal, sometimes you don't even feel overly clean when you're done. Not this time though, the hot water had relaxed her to the point she could have crawled into the bed and slept until the morning. It would have been rather rude though, it's just something that you don't do when someone has been as hospitable as Billy has been.

Coming out of the bathroom, Melanie noticed some clothes laid out onto the bed. There were a couple of dresses and a pair of slacks with a creamed colored shirt laying on top of the pants. It didn't take long for her to decide on what to wear, the pants and shirt were right up her alley. She never really was one to be overly fancy, sure she could easily pull it off but comfort to her was more important.

Melanie changed into the clothes, which may I add were spot on to her size. It was almost of if they were made especially for her. Kind of an odd coincidence she thought but shrugged it off rather quickly as she knew Billy was downstairs somewhere probably waiting on her. With a quick clean up Melanie headed out of the guest room and down the stairs, putting her hair until into a bun while walking. Her hair was still a bit wet, so it was her way of keeping the back of the shirt dry.

A mere couple moments later Melanie found her way to the kitchen, Billy had some sort of note in his hand. The note reminded her of the envelopes she had or that she didn't currently have in her possession. She had left them on the end table in the guest room, her heart sank for a moment. A feeling came over her, one that wanted to pull her back upstairs to grab them. It was a feeling she resisted, they were safe where they were. With as much protection that surrounded this house and the hospitality shown already, she was safe. Those envelopes were safe.

That's when Billy spoke up and commented about not knowing her name. She was pretty sure they had already done this but then again maybe they didn't? She gave him a slightly confused look before speaking up. "Melanie... I thought I introduced myself, I may be mistaken though. I truly apologize." She bit the right side of her bottom lip, it was something that she tended to do when she was nervous, was something she didn't even know she was doing.

Billy paused, the name did sound familiar to him but for the life of him he could remember. Quickly he changed the subject. "Food?"

Melanie nodded. "Yes please, whatever you're in the mood for."

Billy shook his head.

"Honestly? I probably just forgot. What with everything going on in the park." He tried his best smile and made his way to the cupboard. "Let's see, I could whip up some pasta, and it looks like... yes, perfect, I've got tomatoes, garlic, and pepperoni. Alright, pasta with some homemade sauce."

He walked over to the other cabinet and pulled out a large pot, pouring in just enough oil to coat the bottom he looked back toward Melanie.

"Those clothes fit alright? Seems like you're just about my daughter's size. The one in Vassar, not the actress I mean. My second daughter, Tara. She is not a fan of dresses either."

He pulled out a cutting board and a knife, sliding them across the table to Melanie. He gestured toward the pepperoni.

"So, this is going to take me a good twenty minutes or so, you can either help out, or you can talk, maybe both. If you decide to cut that up though, make sure it's not too thick or it won't come out right."

He smiled and took out another pot, making his way over to the sink.

"When you're done cutting, just toss it right into the oil, they will fry up quick and we can take them right back out again."

Melanie gazed down at herself then looked at both of her shoulders, it was more so confirmation that the clothes fit her and fit her well. "These are perfect, thank you! Just my size too, go figure." She said with a smile.

"I'll help! Not sure how much help I will be but I will help."

Melanie placed the log of pepperoni on the cutting board and picked up the knife that was laying next to it. She knew helping was the best route to go but she wasn't what you would call a pro with a knife. How hard could it be though, right? The log of pepperoni had already been opened, so step one was easy enough. She was about to place the knife on the log but wasn't exactly sure how thin to cut it. She looked up at Billy whom was mixing something in the pot.

"How small do you want these things cut?" He gave her a subtle measurement with his pointer finger and thumb, he wanted it super thin. With a nod she placed the knife onto the pepperoni and pushed down. The knife slid through the meat with ease. She placed the knife down and picked up the piece she had just cut. "This ok?" Billy nodded, Melanie immediately smiled and went back to slicing up the rest of it. It was a process that took her just a little bit, the whole knife skills weren't ideal. Though she did get it done, setting the cutting board with the sliced up pieces next to where Billy was cooking.

Melanie stood next to him, the scent of the garlic simmering in the oil gave off a smell like no other. It made her stomach growl ever so softly, up to this point she wasn't overly hungry but that changed once that smell hit her.

"Need me to do anything else?"

Billy nodded."You could chop up the onion if you want, only half of one, we don't need the whole thing." He picked up the pepperoni and slide them into the garlic and oil before handing the cutting board back to Melanie.

"So, what do you want to do tomorrow? If you could do anything in the big city that you wanted to, what would it be?"

He tipped the pot and scraped out the fried up pieces of pepperoni and lay them on a towel to dry out a little. Then he picked up the tomatoes and held them in the pot while he squashed them with his hands.

"This is the secret by the way to good sauce. Fresh tomatoes, squashed by hand. You try to use that canned crap and it won't taste right, promise you that."

He smiled and nodded toward Melanie.

"Go on then, one thing. Money's no object."

Melanie picked up the onion off the counter and precisely cut it in half and started to peel the outer layer, you know the layer. The one that flakes off and just isn't something you want in your food. Once it was ready to be diced up she put it on the cutting board and started going at it. It was at that point she wished she knew how to properly cut an onion. Cutting in half the way she did made the onion begin to weep out it's onion juices. Which also left off the oh so familiar chemicals that irritated your eyes. Within seconds Melanie had tears running down her cheeks, it wasn't until she wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand that Billy noticed.

"Everything ok?" He said with a bit of concern in the tone of his voice.

With a smile Melanie looked up. "Yeah, this onion is killing me."

Billy let out a chuckle. "Well you did it wrong, see you have to leave the root attached to it while you cut it. Otherwise that happens..." He shook his head and went back to stirring his concoction. She finished dicing up the remaining piece of onion and set it next to Billy then walked away from the cooking area to let her eyes breath. Eyes that were still watering quite heavily.

"What do you mean do tomorrow? Don't you have things to do, I don't want to interfere with anything you have going on. I mean I already feel like I've been quite the burden on you this evening."

She took a seat at the island, looking towards where Billy was cooking.

Billy chuckled at Melanie as he poured the onions into the sauce and let it heat up a bit. He turned the other burner on so the water would boil and he made his way to the cupboard again.

"No I didn't mean specifically with me, I have a feeling I'm going to be busy tomorrow, what with my children currently missing somewhere in the city..." He reached out and grabbed some pasta and brought it back over by the stove. He picked up the wooden spoon hanging on a hook and stirred the sauce. "Little more water in that, still too thick. No what I meant was, if you could do anything you wanted, what would it be? You know small talk, talk about something entertaining for a little while. This is what I do when I cook, I either talk to company, or hum to myself. Since I've got company, well, I'm talking."

He smiled and stirred again, the sauce was getting closer to the right consistency, and so he added in some more garlic and a few other choice spices.

"Ohhhhhhhh" Melanie chuckled to herself then sat back into her chair to give it a proper thought.

It was really something that she hadn't thought of, truly she thought she was just coming into New York to pick up the envelopes and then heading back to Seattle the following day. She didn't know New York, she really didn't know what made this city so special. She had spent basically her entire life in the Seattle area. Actually grew up in a little town just south of the Canadian boarder, that was until her parents were killed in an automobile wreck just after her 7th birthday.

The only family she had, that she knew of was her fathers brother. Her uncle that lived in a shit hole apartment, in Seattle. She spent the next couple years with him until one night he just never came home, to this day she still doesn't know what happened to him. She figured he was dead but no one truly know, nor really cared enough to look into it. 

She bounced in and out of foster care houses until finally being thrown out on her own, so yeah she hasn't much ventured out of Seattle. This was her first time out of the state, kind of sad.

"Well... really I don't know... This is the first time I've ever been here, the first time I've actually ever left the state of Washington."

She gave it some more thought, until something popped into her head.

"Oh wait... isn't there that statue out here? You know the one with the lady holding the torch thingy? I guess it would be pretty neat to see that."

Billy nodded. "Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. You know, the statue is actually on Liberty Island, and that's in New Jersey? New York pays all the taxes on the Statue though, that's the deal those two struck. NYC gets all the publicity, and Jersey gets all the money. Sounds like Jersey made out like bandits on that deal huh?"

He chuckled again and then as the water began to boil dropped the pasta in. A second later, he dropped the pepperoni into the sauce and turned it down to a simmer.

"So be another 5 minutes before that's done. If you want, I can arrange for you to go to the statue tomorrow. If not, then you'll have to promise to come back and visit so I can take you myself."

He smiled and then grabbed some plates from the cabinet and started to set the table.

"New Jersey you say? Go figure..." Melanie shrugged her shoulders. "Learn something new everyday."

Melanie jumped up when Billy grabbed a couple plates from the cabinet, she felt she needed to be useful somehow. "Need help?"

Billy motioned to the drawer just to his left. "Can you grab some utensils, forks and spoons." "Spoons? What do you need spoons for?" Billy chuckled and shook his head. "Just trust me, I'll show you." Melanie gave her shoulders another shrug and pulled a set of forks and spoons out of the drawer then set them on counter.

"I mean that would be great but honestly I'm not sure I want to do all that alone. Now if it were Seattle it would be no problem, I know that city like the back of my hand but New York... or wait... New Jersey... I'd get lost in a hurry. Plus I'm sure Mr. Walton will be expecting me back in Seattle some time tomorrow with his envelopes."

She took a seat back in the same spot she was previously sitting and started thinking rather deeply. She still has yet to figure out the man standing in front of her and yet there he was. Brought her into his house and has treated her nicer then just about anyone in years. He could see she was in deep thought but figured it as just about the New York, New Jersey thing.

Billy let the woman to her thoughts after the table was set and he pulled the food from the stove and placed it on the table in a nice ceramic bowl. The sauce wasn't perfect, but he didn't have time to make a bolognese he only had time for the red sauce. So that's what they were having. He made his way over to the bread box and pulled out what was left of the Italian loaf from yesterday, not stale, so it would do. Besides, it was for dipping in the sauce and nothing more really, just a vessel and that was alright.

He sat down at the head of the table then and crossed himself, saying grace before he stood up again and reached out to serve his guest.

"You know, I'm actually really glad you came back with me tonight. If it wasn't for you, I'd be here all alone eating dinner by myself and let me tell you, that is not a charming experience. I always make enough food for my whole family, because I never know which of my children will be around. My eldest daughter lives in Manhattan, so she's rarely home. My eldest son is normally around, but he's been with his sister lately. My next daughter, Tara, she's the one whose clothes you fit into so nicely, she is off at Vassar, I think I mentioned that already, so she's not home often either. Last there are my twins, and they are normally home, but like I said, they got lost today and my wife is out looking. Which means she's probably already found them and they are on their way home with their ears being boxed the entire way. Those two love to make trouble they do."

He put Melanie's plate in front of her and passed her the loaf of bread so she could take however much she wanted.

"Eat up Melanie, there's more than enough for the two of us."

Melanie listened as just took the bread from Billy, she tore off a little piece and gave it back to him. The heat from the food in front of her could be felt on her face when she leaned in. It had been forever since she had sat down like this and had a hot meal. Actually she couldn't even remember the last time she sat down like this, it had been that long.

She picked up her fork and dug in, making sure to leave the spoon on the table. She had the slightest idea why a spoon was needed but figured she didn't need it. She brought the first bite to her mouth and shoveled it in, making an absolute mess in the process. She felt like a bit of a child in this moment and knew she had a bit of sauce on her chin. Which she quickly wiped off with the back of her hand.

Looking up she gave him a big smile. "This is so good, like super good."

She took another bite before speaking up once more.

"Sounds like you have quite the big family and they all seem so busy. How do you even keep track of all of them? I mean from what you said you have what like 5 of them? or 6?"

Melanie picked up the piece of bread off the table and dipped it into the juices in her bowl and brought it up to her mouth. "How old is your oldest?" She asked just prior to shoving the bread into her mouth.

Billy smiled. "Only five, I think God stopped us at five. We're done here. And Brigitte, she's 23, a full adult by her own right, but I didn't get her in my life till she was for, so for me she's still nineteen. How's that for a trade?"

He chuckled and at some more of his food, and then nodded. "Thank you by the way, this isn't the best thing I've made in a while, it was something quick, I wish I could have done more." He shrugged "Sometimes you just have to handle what you've got as best you can." He yawned then and realized for the first time today, just how tired he was.

"Wow, pardon me for that. Not sure where that came from. Must just be getting old, talking about my kids being 23 and all." He smiled and took a second helping for himself, offering to get more for Melanie as well.

Melanie smiled to his comment about God stopping them at five, she kind of wished God had given her a sibling but it just wasn't in the card for her. She went in for another bite, then another. She just wanted to keep eating but could feel herself filling up, it had been a while since she had a meal this big and this filling. Her body just wasn't used to it, so she wasn't able to eat much more. With one more bite she placed the fork in the bowl and pushed it away from her slightly.

"So your oldest is older then I am but with all those kids of yours, I'm sure one of them is closer to my age." She smiled and sat back in her chair. That's when Billy let out a yawn, a yawn to Melanie matched. It was one of those things, always seemed like yawning was contagious. Not sure that was medically proven but she was pretty sure it was.

"Oh excuse me too, those things are contagious...."

Melanie pulled the bowl back in front of her and took another small bite and instantly pushed it back. "There's plenty more, please help yourself." Melanie shook her head giving her time to finish the bite in her mouth before speaking. "Oh I'm good but thank you, I'm so full right now. It's just hard to stop eating when it's in front of you like that, it was delicious though. Thank you!"

She stood up, grabbed her plate and walked over to Billy and took his plate. "Let me clean up, it's the least I can do."