Dynamite wasn't old per se, but he could feel something his bones. He felt a slight ache around his knee joints and lower back. He walked out of his office at his Paramount Hotel in Los Angeles toward the front doors and was met with a big gust of frigid wind. A deep shiver was sent throughout his body as his suit jacket was ill-equipped to defend the whip of cold air. He went back inside to grab a thick trench coat he had in his coat closet. It was quite dusty as it had not seen daylight since the last cold front which had been a while ago. The coat was made of wool and a deep black, with 1-inch wide tan buttons that closed the coat.

He walked out to his favorite smoking spot, a bench near a big oak tree in front of the hotel and lit a cigar. It took a few tries to light as the wind gusted quite often. He usually spent a 20 minute session smoking, but the cold weather was cold as hell and found himself coming back into the hotel after 5 minutes.

Dynamite thought that this weather was a great opportunity to call his Ligambi family together. He thought about meal ideas that they could enjoy together as it would be great for them to have some good times. He remembered that BillyMastrosimone had mentioned a family recipe that Dynamite always wanted to try out. He remembered that it was a homemade Italian pasta, but Billy kept the secret under wraps.

Dynamite went back to his office and dialed Billy's phone number.

"Hey boss," Dynamite said, "Would you be able to come over to the hotel and prepare a meal for the family? If you can make your family recipe pasta, it would be great to make for the family so they can get a taste of your heritage. You have me for however I can assist, just give the word."

Dynamite awaited his response.

Billy nodded at the phone, a bad habit he could never break himself of.

"Of course I can be there to make pasta. Gotta make sauce with it to, not the same without sauce. You get some folks to bring in bread, and butter too, and anything else they want to bring along. I'll stop at the market on the way and we'll make a thing of it."

With that he hung up the phone and threw on a coat from his closet. Nothing he was wearing was anything special, and he didn't need it to be, he was going to sweat through it all so there was no reason to get changed. He started making a mental list along the way to the kitchen. At least to him it was a mental list, to anyone around it, it was very much a vocal one.

"Tomaotes, basil, oregano, garlic, butter..." He made his way down the hall of his apartment and stoppe at his pantry to reach in and grab a bottle of oil. "This. Gonna need to make more sauce oil soon..." He mentioned to himself as he made his way toward the door, hoping he had not forgotten anything. Cooking for the family was something he hadn't done in a while, but he knew how long good food took. The earlier he started, the better.

Slipping his shoes on as he reached the door he could feel the chill of the air outside and grabbed a grey woll scarf off the hat stand he had next to the door. "Oh. I get it now." He said aloud to noone in particular. "Cold weather does need good food. Dynamite's got the right idea." The door latched behind him and he was off to the hotel.

Dynamite was quite excited for all the delightful scents that would soon fill the kitchen at the Paramount Hotel. He was delighted that Billy would make a great homemade meal for the family.

He picked up the phone and started calling the family to see if they can attend and if they can and would like to bring anything. Dynamite would buy anything else that Billy needed to make the meal if they still needed supplies.

Hopes phone rang and caused her to jump.  She wasn’t used to the phone  always being for her! But at this point it was so she reached over to snag the receiver curious as to who was on the other side of it.  The voice that met her ears brightened her day.  “Oh hey Dynamite! Yea I have no plans for dinner, I’d love to come! I’ll bring brownies! Maybe a pie?” Wait would a pie be out of place? Heck she could bring one anyway.  Surely they wouldn’t mind!  “See you then!”

It wasn't long before Billy had found himself at the kitchen entrance of the hotel. He made his way inside and shooed away one or two people who tried to stop him from taking over a small section. He grabbed a few large pots, walked over to the pantry and started taking out tomatoes and herbs as he had remembered them.

"Hey! Whose got a knife I can use?"

It was a terrible question to ask in a kitchen full of chefs who poured their entire lives into their craft. Nobody was about to lend him a knife. He sighed after a long moment of silence.

"I'll buy it off you for a thousand dollars."

A few skeptical murmurs rose then from the galley, but someone came forward after a moment, a tall, thin, balding man, produced a chef's knife, and Billy gladly handed over the offered cash.

"Thanks." He smiled toward the man, who seemed shocked that Billy held up his end of the bargain, and then even further shocked when he realized that Billy knew how to use it.

Dynamite got off the phone with MamaPhoenix and was delighted to hear that she would be coming. He had also been notified that BillyMastrosimone had arrived and hastily went to the kitchen where his boss was.

Upon arriving to the kitchen, the hotel chef all seemed quiet which was out of the ordinary. Though, looking further, Dynamite could see a chef handing over a knife to Billy and Billy handing him a stack of cash.

Dynamite clapped his hands twice to get the attention of all the chefs who were quietly gossiping amongst themselves about the renegade chef.

"Let's get back to work," Dynamite told the chefs. He pointed to 4 different chefs. "I want you all to help Mr. Mastrosimone where ever he needs it. We are preparing a meal for some VIPs and I want you all to be at his command."

The chefs were back to their tasks, afraid of pissing off Dynamite or his boss.

Oh how incredible her house smelled...  Part of her wondered if she should have taken the batter over to bake it over at the hotel, but too late now!  The beautiful pan of brownies was pulled from the oven and Hope reveled in the smell.  The pan was huge...  Probably big enough to be a meal in of themselves, but hey.  She nodded and covered it before wrapping it up.  It could cool once she got to the Hotel...  The Hotel.  Shoot, she forgot to ask Dynamite when she should arrive.  Well she had been very prompt with her brownies and also a couple loaves of garlic bread just in case no one else brought some.  Besides, you could never have too much garlic bread and if there was extra, she was sure that she could find something to do with it...  So she carefully wrapped the baked goodies before heading out to drive on over to the Hotel.  Excitement spread through the young woman as she drove the short distance on over to the Hotel.  She loved spending time with her family, tonight would be no different.

Stepping into the Hotel, she allowed her eyes to close.  She did so love this place as she did any of the establishments owned by her beloveds.  Sweeping in, she cast a bright smile to Tommy_Vitale as she swept on toward the kitchen.  Tossing her head a little in greeting as her hands were very full, she would give a grin to the man.  "Evening Tommy!  Wonderful evening for a gathering wouldn't you say?"  But she was mid stride heading for the kitchen to find a place to stash her food items.

Dynamite saw Tommy_Vitale and MamaPhoenix talking after having arrived a short while ago. They were speaking near the kitchen.

"Welcome in!" Dynamite said.

Dynamite first went to MamaPhoenix where they greeted with a quick kiss on each cheek and then with Tommy where they shook hands.

"Please, get comfy and enjoy a drink at our bar. Billy is back in the kitchen preparing the meal."

He grabbed the brownies and garlic bread that MamaPhoenix had brought and finished their journey to the kitchen. He set them down on the counter and Billy looked over and nodded, then went back to his work.

Liv had her invite and she was ready! She decided on the red flower in the front pocket of her suit and a pink tie for the occasion. This was the first time she was going to be able to spend some real time with her family and she was super excited. She showed up to the hotel casually late, and it was a poor decision because the place was packed with people.

"Oh my. They weren't kidding when they called this a party."

She shuffled through the front doors and was instantly greeted by people. Liv was shaking hands and giving hugs. The first one she was to was MamaPheonix.

"MamaPheonix, how are you? It's so nice to see you again." Liv saw that MamaPheonix brought her own dish for the party.

"Oh... I didn't bring anything." Liv quipped. "But I have an idea. Where is Billy?" She was pointed in the right direction and gave MamaPheonix a polite nod. 

She next came across her direct boss in Dynamite and gave him a hug as well. "Thank you for helping put this together, Dynamite. This is very nice and very thoughtful." 

Liv gave Tommy Vitale a wave whenever she saw him walk past, then turned her attention back to Dynamite. "What kind of drinks are we working with here? I hope ones a little on the hard side?" She giggled and looked into his cup. "Can I have what you're having?" 

Finally, she saw Billy cooking because of course he was the cook. She had heard so many thing from her family and associates about how well of a dinner he could put together. He looked busy and focused, but Liv was determined to make sure Billy added the special ingredient to the process. She had a big smile on her face that almost looked fake when she made her was up to her crewleader.

"Hiiiiiiiiii, Billlllllllllyyyyyyyy." Liv stared at him.

She pulled a can of mushrooms out of her bag and smiled wide. "Can we add this? Please, please, please." She continued to smile as wide as she could to charm Billy over to the idea. "It's mushrooms. Mushrooms make everything better."

Dynamite was delighted to see Liv42Day make it safely. After hugging, he saw her head to the kitchen to convince BillyMastrosimone to add a can of mushrooms to the meal. He thought they would go pretty well with the meal and add a nice flavor, but wasn't sure how solid Billy was on deviating from his family's recipe. Though, she had done a lot of work for the crew in a short amount of time so she might be able to successfully persuade Billy.

Dynamite waited to see if any more family would be arriving.

Billy was in the middle of checking on the braciola in the oven when Liv42Day walking in with a can of mushrooms. He looked up from the oven toward her just in time to see one of the chefs that Dynamite had assigned to him, straining pepperoni.

"Sorry Liv, one second." He turned toward the chef, and could not control the volume of his voice while he watched the grease and rendered fat from the pepperoni just slip down the drain.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" He stormed over as quick as he could, grabbing the pot from the chef by the handles.

"I was straining the pepperoni so the sauce isn't greasy?" The other man replied by way of asking, as if Billy had never done this before and had no idea what cooking was.

Billy slammed the heavy pot down and pinched the bridge of his nose to stop from punching the man.

"You are now on stromboli duty. Take the mushrooms from Liv, take the now ruined fuckery of pepperoni that you have here, and go make a stromboli. And when it's done, I'm going to tell everyone at the fucking table that the stromboli was you, so you had better make the best goddamned one of your life!" He turned and looked back to Liv with an exasperated sigh.

"Sorry about that hun, but thank you for the mushrooms. Now I get to go start all over on my sauce. Incompetence in chefs these days huh?"

He wiped his hands on a towel he had slung over his shoulder, and made his way to the counter where MamaPhoenix was lurking.

"That smells good. Looks good too. I didn't know you cooked!" He smiled as he ripped another large pot from it's place and began to put it on a burner and heat it. "Busy in here though, so why don't you pop those in the warmer so they don't get cold yeah?"

He turned back and picked up his new knife, chopping up another stick of pepperoni. "Someone keep an eye on that pot and strat tossing these in there as I cut them, and where is the basil boy? I sent someone for fresh basil five minutes ago! How hard is that to find in a kitchen?!"

Hope beamed wildly as she saw Dynamite's approach and almost gave a very awkward collision as he came in for the double cheek kiss and she went straight for the hug.  But they managed, with quite a bit of laughter and merriment.  She relinquished her food items for the time being with a broad grin, quite happy to contribute if she could!  "Good to see you Dynamite!  Wait Billy cooks?"  She grinned, her eyes twinkling a bit to show she wasn't as shocked as she sounded.  He was a talented man so it stood to reason that could be a part of his repertoire.  But as he indicated they should take a seat at the bar and enjoy a drink, she wasn't sure she could sit still.  So instead she'd just mingle and meander a little bit.  

She didn't have long to her own devices before a very friendly new friend of hers approached.  She beamed brightly at Liv's approach and didn't miss a beat, pulling her into a light hug of greeting.  "Good to see you Liv!  I love your tie.  I'm doing very well, thank you!  I hope you can say the same?"  She allowed her gaze to move about the room as it grew steadily more crowded.  That didn't bother her too much, and she greeted people as they came by until Liv excused herself with a can of mushrooms.  She grinned a bit and nodded.  Mushrooms did make a nice addition to many dishes.  She doubted Billy would mind too much either.  And with that Liv was headed off into the kitchen.

Before too long, she heard Billy's voice rising in the kitchen and she grinned a little.  Oh someone was in trouble.  She couldn't help but chuckle lightly as a touch of curiosity sparked within her and very quietly she made her way to the kitchen door.  Peeking within at the hustle and panicked bustle, it was all she could do not to giggle at the sight.  She moved in without very many people even noting her arrival.  Quietly she leaned against an unoccupied space of counter near where her brownie pan and bread could be found.  She stayed easily out of the way and just watched for a moment.  But it took hardly a moment before she was noticed by Billy.  That almost ever-present grin spread easily across her face as her eyebrows lifted just a tad.  It was serious business in here and she adored everything about it.  His words brought a light shrug.  "I dabble in a few things.  Baking is surprisingly easy if you're flexible and not worried when things don't come out like the pictures!  Will do!  Just let me know if I can help.  I know nothing about cooking."  Quickly she moved to grab the baked items and placed them carefully into the warmer as directed before moving out of the way, earning some dirty looks from some frantic chefs.  Yea she probably shouldn't be in here, but here was where all the action was!  "It looks like everything is handled in here, maybe I'll just go and see if anyone else has shown up yet."  She shot a broad grin at their boss before disappearing back out the doors before she got murdered by some flustered chef.

Dynamite began to set the table as it looks like everyone who RSVPed had arrived. He took a peek into the kitchen to see how everything was coming along. It looked chaotic but looked like everyone had a task to complete and had a wonderful aroma of spices. The smell of garlic stood out the most but all the smells came together very well. Dynamite could see Billy masterfully coordinating the chefs like a conductor directing a symphony.

Dynamite noticed they were beginning to lay down the hotel's finest white ceramic plates to start plating the meal. He went to the lobby where he could see everyone.

"Good evening all," Dynamite addressed to the dinner attendees, "Please find a seat at the table as our honored chef, Billy, is about to finish and dinner will be served shortly."

Dynamite motioned for everyone to grab a seat and gestured for one of his servers to begin offering a choice of red or white wine as the people sat down.

Oh Hope was so excited for this evening!  The smells wafting from the kitchens were absolutely heavenly.  They were going to have one incredible meal, of this she was certain.  But she was pulled back to the here and now as Dynamite's voice rang out over the din.  Her attention leapt to him as she listened intently.  Oh yay!  They were close.  Soon enough the meal would be ready.  She moved to take a seat as she was bid and looked up as she was approached by a server who asked very politely if she'd like red or white wine.  Oh either usually suited her just fine but a quick glance down at her attire, which naturally was a very colorful casual evening dress, she figured red wine might not be the best option lest she succumb to her typical excitability and occasional clumsiness.  Then again any of the red sauces might be just as bad.  Ah well, hopefully this evening would go without any sort of incident.  "White wine please."  She stated softly in response to the question, giving the server a light smile.  Better to not tempt fate too far, no?  

Billy nodded through the kitchen, stopping at each of the few things he had other people prepare to take a taste. He didn't give very many notes, some of this was actually really good, but that didn't stop him from keeping an eye on every single thing that went out. Of course, it was going to be a large gathering, and it was meant to be family, so servers were going to take all of the items out on rolling trays and serve them all straight out of the pots or pans, or baking dishes that they were all in.

"Pepperoni stomboli, go now. Pizza, you follow right after. Take a boat of my sauce with it, they're going to need that for the stromboli."

He turned to one of the other chef's. "How are those shrimp coming along?" He chef simply nodded his reply and Billy turned.

"Alright, drop the past then, that'll only take a few minutes, bring the parma roas up to temperature and drop those shrimp in. That's going to be the second course after the pizza and the stromboli. Hope brought garlic bread, that goes with that entree."

He made his way to the large ovens and opened the door a crack, taking in the smells of the interior and then nodding to himself.

"Those are almost done, so that will be the third, have the plates ready, everyone out there should be able to get their own little braciole. I've got half beef and half pork, so if someone has a preference they can have whichever they like. We server that with more of my sauce, and the rest of the pasta. Everybody on the same page?"

A singular shout of "yes chef" came out of everyone in the kitchen and Billy just shook his head.

"I'm never getting used to that."