The Don Giovanna's Family

by BIAK, Giorno_x_Jolyne

Summary:

Giorno Giovanna, Don di Passione, wants to start a family with Jolyne Kujo. Or that would be his intention if family life with the Joestars were not so challenging.

Post Eyes Of Heaven

Notes:

• A translation of [Restricted Work] by BIAK (Log in to access.)

Series of vignettes with Headcanons about the GioLyne (GiornoxJolyne) Universe post Eyes of Heavens. Continuation of the previous fanfiction, "Catharsis".

A million thanks to Foenix8 for the translation of this fanfiction.

Chapter 1: Waiting

Summary:

After an attack on the Don and his girlfriend, and after discovering that Jolyne is pregnant, Giorno proposes marriage to her at the site of the event and receives an ambiguous response.

Notes:

Many thanks to Foenix8, and Liby for the cover art, it's beautiful!

As soon as she arrived at Giorno's mansion, Jolyne went up to her room and locked herself in with the express wish that no one would disturb her. Alone, she had time to take a shower to wash off all the dust and dirt that the explosion had left behind, as well as the remains of dried blood. As soon as she got out, she looked at herself naked in front of the mirror. She felt her belly; if it hadn't been for today, she would not have realized she was pregnant.

Twins. Two creatures growing inside her. Two. Wow. It was too much to process.

She covered herself with a bathrobe and sought to put something light on before walking around the mansion, knowing that Giorno would not allow her to set foot outside of his home after the attack, not for today at least. Normally, she would have disobeyed him, but just for today, she could understand. She still had too much to process.

Not just one child. Two, two times one! What was she supposed to do?

It's not like the idea of motherhood scared her, since she had always known she wanted to be a mother in some form or another. Taking care of Emporio had done nothing but confirm to her that being a babysitter wouldn't be enough.

However, it was a plan she had saved for later, not now when she was twenty-one and still in college. There were a million things she wanted to do first, especially after being in jail and having to save the world afterwards.

She wanted to enjoy every damn second of her life. The scenario of being dedicated to her children at such a young age was... overwhelming. She wasn't ready. She didn't think she was ready to make the same mistakes her parents made bringing a child into the world at such a young age.

But seeing Giorno on his knees beside her, holding her twin zygotes in his hands, his adonis face covered in sweat, tears, dust, and some blood; with that strange glow to him and his turquoise irises, in that instant when she almost thought it would be all over for them, she had told him to put them back in her womb.

She had told him she wanted to give birth to their children.

And yet here she was now, full of doubt, fear, and uncertainty. She positioned herself on the bed and hugged her knees, confused, with the thought that when her belly grew bigger, she wouldn't be able to make that position.

She wasn't even sure how things were going with Giorno, her very distant relative who was taking care of her while she studied there at the university in Italy. It had been so nice to have all that time to spend together and ride Pasione's don day in and day out, depending on her exam schedule and his work schedule. Which was why they shared a bed.

Sometimes they would joke about having a sugar relationship. She would call him daddy in the bedroom, and they would laugh and bump foreheads as they copulated. Their eyes would meet, and as soon as they finished or she sensed he wanted to get serious, she would deflect the subject and they would go back to bed or back to whatever they were doing, which usually ended in sex as well.

She didn't want to commit. It was fear of commitment, maybe. Or a trauma with men and her bad luck with them. Being honest with herself, she never imagined introducing Giorno to her family as her boyfriend, not when the Joestars were somewhat reticent about Dio's son. She knew how complicated her father's relationship with GioGio's father was.

The two of them kept in line with the hot and the forbidden, the fun and the erotic. Not serious, not to an end. At least not for now while they were still young and free.

Be that as it may, she had never allowed the Don to formally ask her for a serious commitment that would break her bubble of endless fun. So when he asked her to marry him after the attack, bending down on one knee, offering her little zygotes instead of a ring, she only gritted her teeth with a smile and let the air contained in her lungs escape.

Man, GioGio's face completely froze until the Don's escort came to pick them up and bring them safely back to the mansion. Giorno insisted on going in the private ambulance to check that nothing had escaped him, and when they were there with the paramedics, she on the stretcher and he on the passenger side, the silence between the two was awkward. With an exchange of glances, she already knew that her response—or lack of it rather—had hurt him, but he wasn't going to insist by probing where she didn't want him.

Of course, she had always wanted to get married, but... was it really necessary to do so after learning about the pregnancy? Really? Was he also thinking of her walking down the aisle in white? Would she dare say yes in front of a priest after Pucci? Did Don Giovanna really think it was a good idea to ask her to marry him?

This time, the sound of the door went noticed. So much so that she knew it was Giorno even before he asked her permission to enter, which he did so as soon as she granted it.

Like her, he too had cleaned up and changed into new, relatively comfortable clothes, but the Don's always neat face did not look as put together as usual.

"You look like you were about to lose someone dear to you in an explosion," she said helplessly.

The Don's pale face softened slightly and he smiled.

"Don't joke about it, Jolyne," he said, even though his arched eyebrow and the amused expression on his face told her otherwise.

Silence. Again the atmosphere was getting weird between the two of them.

Okay, she knew she had to tell him a couple of things before deciding anything. Giorno was respectful enough not to ask or demand anything if she didn't bring it up first.

"About today…"

Giorno was a little startled.

"Please, we don't have to deal with this matter now if you don't want to. Everything is okay, I'm fine," he said, looking at her with that sincere, penetrating gaze.

"Yeah... I'm a little tired, but it'll be better if we talk about it sooner rather than later."

The Don's gaze studied her, gentle but interested.

"I hear you," he said.

Finally, she exhaled with outstretched arms.

"I didn't plan any of this. I... it was an accident."

"I know, Jolyne. I never thought otherwise."

She squinted at him.

"I swear I took every blessed pill in the dispenser religiously. I even took an extra that time I got diarrhea."

Giorno couldn't help but choke back a laugh.

"I know," he said.

"And we used a condom every chance we got, didn't we?"

"That’s correct."

Jolyne jumped to her feet and walked around the room barefoot to think.

"I know I had a fever that time, but I took the pills anyway, damn it."

Giorno watched her from the door, not moving nor intending to. He sighed.

"I guess you weren't counting on your boyfriend being super fertile and being able to get you pregnant at the slightest drop in contraceptive effectiveness."

Jolyne stopped dead in her tracks, turned, and looked him over from head to toe, then pointed her finger at him.

"You...! You, did you know?!"

Of course. The guy gave life to things that previously had none with his hands. How could he not do the same by sticking his penis in?

Giorno exhaled wearily.

"I could say I had my suspicions." Before Jolyne pounced on him, he stopped her by putting his hands in front of him, as serious as when he started talking. "I don't like to repeat myself twice, and I'm not going to do it in the future to apologize. No, I didn't know. I had the theory going around in my head, which is why I wanted to check it out after having sex, but you stopped me in my tracks before I could ask your permission to examine you."

So that's what he opened his mouth for. So he didn't always insist on deepening their relationship.

"You're a bastard, Giorno Giovanna! You and your fucking cock!"

He looked at her, very serious.

"Technically, it was my testicles."

"Argh! I hate you and your balls." Jolyne massaged her temple, irritated. "I swear, if you don't get a vasectomy, I'll slice them off myself with Stone Free."

Giorno was silent for a few seconds before speaking.

"Is that what it’s going to take for you to accept my proposal? For me to go through outpatient surgery so that this doesn't happen again?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

How she hated it when he looked at her like that.

"Forget it," she sputtered.

The Don sighed. For a moment, he watched her as if studying her, but soon, he exhaled a sigh and his gaze softened.

"Do you mind if I check you again? I know I've done it before and the paramedics already did it too, but I want to be sure…"

The concern in his voice warmed something in her chest. He really was worried about her.

"O-okay..."

Giorno approached her, very close to the bed, and leaned over slightly to examine her with Gold Experience. Just as in the ambulance, Jolyne was in perfect condition. Even her pregnancy seemed to be going quite well. 

What a relief.

Giorno didn't want to downplay the fact that, just a while before, she hadn't responded to his marriage proposal, but he understood that everything was moving too fast. Pushing her to accept would be rushed, almost suffocating. He could be persuasive later, but right now, he wanted—no, needed—to hear what she demanded from him in order to give him a yes.

"See? I'm perfectly fine."

Giorno's gaze met hers as he brought up the hands that probed the life in her belly with his stand. Their eyes stared. Their lips, just inches apart, brushed as he sat up. She did not reject him.

All was well. They had each other. Or at least that could be.

"I want to hear your terms…"

"Terms for what?"

The Don's eyes looked at her with genuine love and appreciation in them, which was hard to believe for someone with her background.

"Take as much time as you need before you give me an answer."

Jolyne scratched her head.

"Honey, my parents married young and made the biggest mistake of their lives just because my mother was going to have me. I vowed not to repeat history, and now that I have, I'm waiting to receive my prize for stupidity."

GioGio cradled her face in his hands.

"We are not our parents."

Jolyne knew that, but hell, making comparisons was inevitable...

At that moment, Mista peeked through the door and spoke.

"I just got a call informing me that Miss Costello is here." He looked at the two. Passing his eyes over each, he realized that he had interrupted a moment between them. He hesitated before continuing. "Shall I tell them to let her in?"

"Oh, Ermes!" Jolyne said. In all the hustle and bustle, she had forgotten that her best friend was visiting today.

Giorno signalled with a nod, and Mista left at once, giving instructions over the phone.

Alone again, he and Jolyne looked at each other.

"If you need space, I'm going to sleep tonight in my office in the tower across the street," he explained, looking at her, holding both her hands in his as he pulled away. "I know you need to think things over and talking it over with your friend will help. Call me... if you want to talk to me," he added, with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. "Call me if you need my company."

As soon as she was sure of what to do with her life, she would call him talk. That was a given.

Chapter 2: Godfather

Summary:

Josuke becoming a father. Giorno becomes godfather and Jolyne makes an important decision.

But the conversation didn't come the next morning. In fact, it would not come for several days. The commotion made them both forget that that break, Josuke and the entire Joestar clan would be coming to visit them for the christening of the family's new JoJo.

There was a very special event several months ago. On the day of the birth of Josuke's son, Giorno and Jolyne traveled in the Don's private plane to support their relative in that family moment. Jolyne had been impatient to accompany her favorite uncle until the aircraft landed and both could reach the hospital where the birth took place.

"His name will be Josefumi Higashikata," Josuke pronounced, holding his firstborn through the maternity window for the whole family to witness his happiness.

The Joestar clan patriarch's eyes watered as he heard his words. Even though his son had refused to take his surname, having Josuke name his little boy after him was all the recognition he needed, even more than he thought he deserved after his absence in his early years.

As with all celebrations, Giorno soon realized that he was being cast aside among relatives with varying degrees of relationship with one another, amidst plans that of course excluded him and complicit whispers. He understood perfectly the suspicion with which the rest of the family treated him, but that did not mean that he did not feel out of place in this scenario. He smiled and addressed everyone with the same courtesy with which he addressed politicians and diplomats.

It was what he had been dealt, even if they were also his family.

Josuke, seeing him stand in the corner silently while watching the scene, not participating in any of the actions of the rest of the family surrounding him, his wife, and the baby, decided it was time to intervene.

"Giorno, you know..." he began to say, somewhat nervously. Giorno found it as strange as the rest of the family that someone suddenly seemed to remember that he was there too "Kiyomi and I talked about it, and we think... We would like to ask you to be Josefumi's godfather."

The rest of the Joestars were just as astounded, if not more, than he was when they heard those words. Josuke, who had always tried to integrate him, along with Jolyne, was one of the people with whom he had been able to bond with the most, not counting Holly Joestar, whose kindness knew no bounds.

The request came as such a surprise that a couple of seconds later, he realized that the rest of the family was watching him, attentive to his response. After the initial shock that made him widen his eyes in surprise, the next thing that formed on his face was a smile. A genuine smile and not one for the cameras.

"It would be an honor to be the godfather," he said, knowing there was truth and heart in his every word, as well as in Josuke's pure intentions in asking him.

It had been almost a year since then, and between the gifts' schedules and the vacations, they had not found the time to keep their word, with the entire clan invited, until now. He didn't think that not being very Christian mattered at that point.

The announcement of the Higashikata's arrival woke him from his comfortable couch in the office, putting his thoughts in order.

Shit, Jolyne!

She hadn't remembered the visit either. He prayed that at least his darling had had a second to remove some of her belongings from his bedroom that would give away that she was not, in fact, sleeping in the room she designated for herself, that her parents must well remember.

That morning, he passed her and Ermes at the breakfast table, and for a brief moment, their eyes met before the caravan of vehicles settled into the mansion's parking lots. Jolyne waved her index finger over her lips, making it clear that she wanted him to keep the secret.

Yet another secret to hide from the family.

Mista approached the breakfast table to let him know that Josuke and company were already on their way up the driveway

"Gruncle Josuke!" As soon as she saw him walk through the door, Jolyne threw herself into his arms as if she were still nine years old again and back in Morioh for the vacations with her uncle.

Far from annoyed, Josuke spun her around in his arms a couple of times.

"Look at you, Jolyne! You're looking more dazzling every day. Jotaro won't be able to beat Giorno for not taking care of you as you deserve."

His wife, Kiyomi Higashikata, came to his side as the baby stretched his arms out for his father to hold him as well. Giorno was amused that he wasn't the only one feeling jealous of the complicity between those two.

Josuke fixed his gaze on him and smiled.

"Don't tell me you're going to make me an offer I won't be able to resist."

It was hard not to feel sympathy for someone with a heart of gold like Josuke.

xox

"Are you sure you're not going to accompany us to church?" asked Giorno in the limousine for the second time to his beloved before it was time to get out.

Jolyne made an attempt at a smile by gritting her teeth.

"Yeah. I hate to miss it, but I don't feel comfortable stepping in one. I don't know if it will burn if I step foot inside or something. I know it's an irrational excuse…"

Giorno watched her without judgment, as straightforward as ever.

"Not at all. It's understandable that you don't feel comfortable after what happened with Pucci…"

The mere mention of the priest's name made her face contort. She shook her head to get rid of that emotion and gave her boyfriend a tender look.

"You're going to be the sexiest godfather ever," she said, caressing his cheek.

If it had been other eyes and not those of Mista, Fugo, Sheila or Ermes that accompanied them to the front, she would have had to restrain herself; but being that it was them, who already knew about their relationship, Jolyne took the opportunity to give him a kiss deep enough to convey to GioGio how much she would miss him, although not so ardent to make him leave with his perfect hair tousled and face embarrassed the moment he got out of the limo.

"I'll see you back at the mansion. Ermes and I are going to tour the city and video call Emporio while we're out," she said as soon as she parted her lips from his. She knew well that if they continued with the affectionate demonstrations, Giorno would find it impossible to get out of the vehicle.

Before getting out of the car, the Don took his beloved's hand and kissed it.

"I'll be looking forward to the moment when we meet again," he said with that penetrating look that sometimes made Jolyne blush.

He got out of the limo and headed towards the church where they had stopped, with Mista, Sheila and Fugo accompanying him. As soon as the passengers left the Don’s caravan of vehicles which consisted of the rest of the Joestar family, Ermes jumped to occupy the seat that Giorno had just vacated next to her friend, eager to talk.

"Girl, you caught yourself a fine narc," she said.

Jolyne blushed with embarrassment at that remark. 

"I told you, he's not a narc. I guess..." She touched her wallet, remembering the unlimited platinum card he had left her, the same one they would use now to shop and spend a nice afternoon before going back.

She wanted to avoid running into her family and seeing their faces, knowing that she was keeping at least two huge secrets from them.

"That's what they all say," Ermes said, pouring herself another glass of champagne from the limo bar.

In the church, the priest who officiated the baptism misspelled the child's name, even though he knew Japanese kanji, for that was well taken care of by the Don. Instead of calling the child "Josefumi," he repeated in the record the name of his father, "Josuke," with only one character difference. A curious fact to say the least.

xox

 

Back at the mansion, Jolyne went to the terrace where she was told that the Don was, while Ermes went up to her room to leave her purchases. Arriving with Giorno, she found him talking to her parents. For a moment, she stopped breathing.

"There you are, JoJo..." her mom called out to her, inviting her to join the conversation.

Jolyne looked at Giorno, afraid that he had opened his mouth. Although she knew how much he respected her decisions, it was hard to imagine him running away from the danger her dad represented.

"Mom, Dad... How... good to see you."

When Giorno gave her one of his fake smiles, she understood that all was well. He hadn't spoken.

Her mom’s eyes shone with love.

"We were talking to Mr. Giovanna, JoJo. Perhaps we’ve been abusing his generosity by allowing you to live here for so long."

Giorno was diplomatic. 

"On the contrary, Mrs. Kujo, it has been a great pleasure to have Jolyne living under my roof. She has brought joy to the solemnity of this home. However, after the recent attempt on my life and Jolyne's as unintended collateral, I am able to understand your misgivings."

Crap. Giorno had indeed told her parents about that. She should have been more explicit and told him to shut the fuck up about that too.

Her mom, on the other hand, took her dad's hand, who seemed to be getting impatient.

"Jolyne, your dad and I talked it over and... we think it's best for you to have your own space, renting yourself an apartment."

"After what you did for the world, the Speedwagon Foundation funds are at your disposal," her dad added, lowering his hat to keep his face hidden, showing his characteristic indifference.

"And I was about to tell to Mr. and Mrs. Kujo that the decision to leave or stay was entirely yours," the Don finished explaining.

"Please, Mr. Giovanna, as much as we appreciate the support you have given Jolyne all this time, we can no longer take advantage of your hospitality."

Her mom spoke those words to Giorno, but the warning look was definitely meant for her.

Jolyne bit her lip. How could she tell her?

She already had a nice house there in Italy, courtesy of Don Giovanna. On her last birthday and in the not-so-intimate privacy of his office, her beloved had presented her with the keys and deeds to a property just outside Naples, close enough that it was a couple of minutes’ drive away from the university.

"This way, you will always have the security of a home here in Italy and never feel obligated to do anything," he had told her, kissing her knuckles. "I want you to enjoy a place of your own to take refuge in if one day you decide to leave my side."

She would be lying if she said she wasn't upset with him that day for doing that and for rushing into a possible breakup that at the time seemed so far away. However, as the weeks went by, she understood his perspective better.

He had left the door to the golden cage open all along.

She gave Giorno a glance, only to collide head-on with that fake smile of his, so diplomatic, so correct. So perfect.

Giorno Giovanna's home was not like the ocean of stone from which she once longed to break free.

"I want to stay here with Giorno."

The Don seemed unfazed by her answer, but the months of intimacy made her notice the slight gesture that curved his lips as he listened to her, far removed from the haughtiness her dad usually attributed to him.

That was a smile of secret, personal victory. 

xox

As a young man, he had to fend for himself when living with his stepfather became untenable. It was necessary for him to get out of there if he wanted to keep his sanity intact and not allow hatred to dominate him.

"Forget it, I won't pay for a boarding school," his mother had said, painting her lips as she handed him back the brochure. Giorno's eyes swept over his mother's entire collection of makeup and expensive jewelry. "What was wrong with public school?"

He knew boarding school would solve his problems with living together and give him the chance he needed to get into a good college. Being a gangstar was his dream, but he was aware that he wouldn't get very far without the right knowledge and connections.

Since his mother turned a blind eye to his needs—something that shouldn't even have surprised him in the first place—he had to live on his own by committing all sorts of crimes to pay his tuition. The little savings and his first thefts helped him buy a second-hand car he could use for "work" in robbing naïve tourists. He found himself having to make do by polishing himself as a criminal to survive in this world at such a young age.

He soon realized that also having an attractive face could open many doors for him.

The financial dependency was fucked up. He definitely didn't want JoJo to think she owed him something and force her to be with him for the wrong reasons. That's why he bought that house for her. He didn't want her to feel like she was dependent on him.

As he was reading one of the reports on his plush couch, he heard tapping on the window, finding his darling on the other side. Where there was no balcony.

At once, he hurried to the window to let her in.

"JoJo, what are you doing here?" the Don asked her as soon as he saw her come through the window into his room, the same room he was forced to take back after the Joestar's arrival.

"It's good to see you, honey," she said, recollecting Stone Free around her finger again.

There was a considerable height from "her room" to Giorno's she had to climb, though she was able to manage more than well.

He continued to look at her, very serious. 

"You could have hurt yourself," he said, coming to the same conclusion as she had a moment ago.

Jolyne shrugged her shoulders.

"You would have healed me," she said, not giving it much thought.

He was still standing in front of her, undeterred. Jolyne knew he wanted a hug, but he would never ask for one, so she was the one who gave him one as she rushed to kiss him, grabbing the back of his neck to pull his head forward, panting against his mouth and enjoying the kiss as if she hadn't kissed him in weeks, even though it had only been a couple of hours.

"Thank you..." he murmured softly, just for her to hear.

"For what?"Jolyne smiled at him.

He tightened the embrace she held him in more than one way.

"For staying."

She took the opportunity to give him a firm squeeze in the buttock while their mouths and tongues remained joined.

"JoJo..." He uttered her name in a slurred voice, not so secretly delighted by her sass.

He slipped his practiced hand under her top and even under her bra to cup her breast and fiddle with the tip using his thumb.

Giorno didn't know how to keep his restless fingers away from her skin. Not that she was complaining because his delicate hands always knew where to press in the right way.

He smiled.

"GioGio, I want to tell you that, well, I thought maybe…"

"Giorno, excuse me for coming in without knocking. I have Josefumi in one hand and the bottle in the other. Do you happen to know where Ho...lly is?" No sooner had Josuke entered the Don’s room, with his attention previously focused on his baby, than he was confronted with such a scene. Hastily, he covered his firstborn's eyes with his forearm.

Until only a moment ago, Josuke had thought the worst he could encounter was Giorno naked or in shady business. Not this kind of business, of course.

Notes:

I'm a big fan of the Josuke/Ayana (Koichi's sister), but I didn't want to introduce unnecessary psudo-incest with where this is going.

Thank you for reading this far. ☺️

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Chapter 3: Parenting Lessons

Summary:

Giorno and Jolyne tell Josuke about their relationship. Giorno learns a thing or two about responsible parenting.

"It started when I was still in jail," said Jolyne.

"I went to visit to find out what kind of person Dr. Kujo's daughter was and to make sure it was worth pulling some strings to get her out of there."

Josuke listened attentively as Josefumi played on the rug. The three of them were sitting in the armchairs of the Don's alcove. The scene would be very homey were it not for the detail that Giorno's room itself was the size of Josuke’s entire house back in Japan and that corner was, in fact, a living room, complete with a coffee table and expensive furniture.

Ignoring that detail, Josuke paid attention to the story of those two after the unusual discovery a few minutes ago.

"I met Gio... Giorno during a visit. Visits were banned since dad tried to break a few laws to get me out of there." Jolyne blushed a little, scratching her cheek. What came next must have been even more embarrassing if her ears were now turning that color as well.

"As I said, I made a few interventions, and a couple of calls later, my visit was arranged." Although Giorno didn't seem embarrassed like Jolyne and kept a calm countenance, Josuke noticed the change in his voice. "I had to pass information to her and make sure she was a trustworthy person."

Josuke looked at the two of them. Of course, he would never have guessed that they were a couple. How could he, anyway? Despite the fact that he was similar in age to the Don, they were very different from each other. And counting the times when the three of them were together, there were few occasions when he could tell the difference in Jolyne's manner around Giorno and him.

"Yeah," Jolyne said. "This bastard arranged a conjugal visit."

Josuke almost choked on his saliva.

"What?"

"As I said, the information I had to give her was confidential and it was up to me to make sure I had the necessary privacy."

Josuke looked at one and then the other.

"Did you two do it... there?"

"Oh, God, no," Jolyne said.

"We had dinner and I told Jolyne everything I knew. About the time travel whose timeline changed many events for you guys, but not for me, and how Father Pucci was behind my father's diary."

"I imagine it was hard to process. I had a hard time believing it when Jotaro told me about that crazy time travel and the fact that it changed the lives of many."

He and Giorno nodded.

"We made use of the bed the next time he came to see me," Jolyne echoed, blushing a little at the confession.

Josuke coughed a little. Giorno smiled, nostalgic. 

"They really went out of their way to give us a very sturdy one."

"Yeah. But the candles and the bathtub full of petals was a bit over the top and obvious. Tough favoritism, I say."

"Honey, prisons distinguish between first and second class inmates. Polpo, one of the previous boss's capos, lived in one for convenience and not exactly to serve time. Your jailers, like anyone else, only sought to please the Don on duty."

"One of the perks of the Green Dolphin Street Prison, I guess. It was nice, I'll admit."

Josuke couldn't believe it.

"Does Jotaro know?" he asked.

Giorno and Jolyne slowly shook their heads.

"Actually, the old man doesn't know anything at all. You're the first in the family to find out."

"But didn't he let you come to study here in Italy?"

"Mom and Giorno did their best to convince him, although I'm afraid I also lied to Mom by not telling her that he was my lover…"

"It was inevitable. I set out to be a good host, and now we…"

Jolyne stopped his speech in its tracks. 

"And now I'm distracting Passione's Don from his duties by keeping him entertained, riding him in his office."

"Jolyne!" Josuke scolded her, placing his hands over his little boy's ears. "Watch your language. There are children present."

Giorno understood at once that this would be the limit of his confessions for now and did not insist on the matter. He regained his posture and watched the two of them discuss how the years had made Detective Higashikata more rule-bound than in his younger days. He rested his cheek on top of his fist, again feeling envious of their closeness.

They, unlike him, shared a family history and were closer to each other than he was.

Giorno smiled a sad smile.

"Unfortunately for me, my story didn't change much unlike yours because my dream and my mission as a don depended on it," he reflected, not without some melancholy in his voice. "That doesn't take away the fact that I am grateful to Dr. Kujo. His visit brought dear friends back to life."

Josuke nodded and wanted to probe a little further, but he felt that now was not the time. It was too much information to process in a single night and he had only entered the room to seek help finding his sister.

"Wow, I... I don't know what to tell you." Josuke scratched his temple, thoughtfully. "Are you happy? Are you good together?"

Jolyne looked at Giorno and the love he saw in her eyes did its thing, melting his heart. That was a question he had been afraid to ask her and put off for fear of hearing her answer. Seeing her affirmation to someone who was important to her made him feel valid and loved. Two feelings he didn't think could go hand in hand.

"We are," Jolyne affirmed.

"I’ll do whatever it takes to make Jolyne happy," he said, with the implied meaning he knew she would pick up on. 

Josuke smiled. Tenderness twinkled in his eyes.

"That's all that matters."

When Giorno thought he couldn't be surprised anymore, they stood up and Josuke approached them both for a hug.

"Guys, if you need help, I'm here to support you. I'm your big bro. Don't ever keep secrets from me again."

Jolyne and Giorno looked at each other from either side of his big shoulders, knowing they couldn't tell him anything else for the moment.

"I appreciate your support, Josuke. Jolyne and I are happy to have your approval."

The detective turned away from them with a look touched with emotion.

"You know Jotaro is going to kill you when he finds out, right?"

Giorno set his eyes on Jolyne, knowing that he was only stopped from speaking due to her desire to keep it all a secret.

"I know. And I don't care," he said.

Jolyne laughed a little.

"Let's just say GioGio is... rather masochistic."

Josuke didn't have to know that much either. He looked at his phone. A call from his wife and he knew he was in trouble.

"Hi, honey, what's up? I got lost because this place is so big. Yes, Josefumi is fine..." He looked towards the Don, asking for help. "I already met Giorno and he will take me to Holly. Don't worry…"

Meanwhile, Giorno returned his eyes to Jolyne. 

"After I leave here with Josuke, it would be convenient if you wait about ten minutes before leaving the room so as not to arouse suspicion."

"Or I could go out the window like how I came in," she replied. Giorno stared at her, serious. She rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine, daddy. Don't look at me like that."

Josuke cut the call and turned to them.

"Daddy?" he asked.

"A game Giorno and I have. Like he's my sugar daddy, you know, even though we don't..." She mused a bit, cocking her head to the side and remembering that he gave her his own credit card, and every chance he got, he bought her expensive gifts. "OK, some people would say he's my sugar daddy."

Josuke shook his head.

"Too much information."

After Jolyne offered her hand to Giorno to reassure him, her fingers slid across his palm before she turned away toward the window and left. He found himself missing her instantly but didn't say a word. Josuke grabbed his toddler and the baby bag, and together, they left the room in search of Holly and to at last conclude the task that had brought him there in the first place.

The walk down the hallway got too quiet after all those confessions.

"So... Jolyne, huh?" he commented to break the mood.

The Don's eyes watched him again with a calmness unbecoming of someone who knew too valuable a secret, with a few questions he might have thought to ask the oldest of the three, the most experienced and the most stable of them all.

Before he could open his mouth, he had to turn up his nose. Josuke did too.

"Dada, poopy..." Josefumi stammered.

The two adults darkened their countenance.

xox

"Giorno, I'm sorry to interrupt your evening again," apologized Josuke in the bathroom of that wing of the mansion, looking for the most suitable place in the fine room to change diapers.

"It's all right. It's normal for a baby to need a diaper change."

"Damn it, GioGio. All this luxury and you don't have a single blessed place for a changing table," he exclaimed, exasperated.

Giorno watched him put the baby on the marble of the sink, assuming he would end up ruining something anyway.

"I'll make a note of it," the Don said in a calm voice.

The truth was that in the next renovation, he was going to have to include some of those spaces in all the bathrooms. Whatever Jolyne decided, he was obliged to start making changes. They were no longer young and it was time to make some modifications to their schedule.

Josuke alternated his gaze between himself and the baby. Then, he smiled as if a brilliant idea crossed his mind. 

"Would you like to change your godson's diaper?"

Giorno's eyes widened in surprise.

"That's not the kind of offer people usually make me."

"Does it bother you?" Josuke asked.

Giono shook his head slightly.

"Not at all. I can't imagine anyone else asking me to change dirty diapers so casually."

Josuke smiled, which, as Jolyne had told him many times, instilled a warm sense of welcome. Something he and his sister Holly shared. After a second, he stepped aside to yield his place to the Don.

"All yours."

Giorno inhaled deeply before acting.

"You're going to have to give me directions."

"Of course. Go ahead."

The Don stretched out his hands and began to work on the dirty diaper. Fortunately, he knew how to find the right items in the bag, and he used Josuke's facial expressions to know when he was doing it right and when he was skipping a step.

"Wow, not bad for a first time."

Giorno reached for the wet wipes and his fingers for the ointment as his mind brought back memories of that same container many years ago in Japan, on dark nights with dirty diaper stings from hours unchanged. The need to take it off and walk around naked so as not to hurt his skin, like a little wild child, before his mother slapped him for making a mess of his excrement and urine in her apartment while she was away.

He had needed to learn to change his diaper alone as best he could if he didn't want to get sores. Sometimes he succeeded, while at other times the clumsiness of his tiny growing body took its toll. As soon as his mother had the good sense to buy him a training potty, he needed to learn how to use it to leave those diapers and sores behind.

The need to learn to change his own diaper caused some to say he was a smart kid from a very young age, but he was just trying to survive the life he was dealt.

"Giorno?" Josuke called out to him as soon as he noticed the shift in his attention.

The Don took a step back as he looked at the big picture after putting on the still unzipped clean diaper.

"Josuke, I don't know if I did something wrong, but..." he hesitated. Josuke watched him, trying to guess what was next. "Josefumi... Has he always had four balls?"

Josuke burst out laughing at his look of shock. Giorno didn't think Josuke would find it funny if it had been his fault while trying to change the diaper. He was going to proceed to fix it with Golden Experience, but Josuke stopped him by grabbing him by the wrist.

"It's from birth, like a sixth finger or something, only more intimate," he said, slightly embarrassed. "Come on, Kiyomi and I weren't going to announce it to the four winds to the family. Only people who have changed his diaper know." He gave the Don an encouraging smile. "Welcome to the club."

Giorno sighed. Wow, apparently, he wasn't the only one keeping family secrets.

"I can fix it," he offered with genuine sincerity. He knew what it was like to be different from the rest, and if he could take that burden off his godson's shoulders, he might as well do it.

Josuke shrugged.

"Man, his mother and I think it's best for him to grow up and decide before we try anything with Crazy Diamond or Golden Experience, but thanks for your offer."

Giorno nodded in agreement.

Josuke again pointed out what he left unfinished.

"You're one step away from graduating from changing diapers."

Giorno smiled back. He finished molting the baby and handed him back to his father, giving a smile to the growing little Josuke.

Josuke looked at the dirty diaper that didn't fit with anything in that thin bathroom. He looked around for a trash can that didn't seem to cost more than his salary.

"I know we have to take care of the environment and stuff, and I get overwhelmed thinking about how much a single baby can pollute in a month, but cloth diapers are not compatible with mine and Kiyomi's lifestyle..." He sighed with obvious weariness.

Giorno seemed to understand his relative's tirade and took the soiled diaper in his hands, turning it into a nice potted plant with the help of his stand. After that, he just left it there near the sink wall as if nothing had happened.

It was to be expected that soon the mansion would be filled with those ornamental plants in all the bathrooms. Giorno believed that, as grotesque as it was, he would be delighted to turn dirty diapers into plants for those rooms.

"Graduated with honors," joked the father, impressed with the Don's skill and kissing his baby's forehead before speaking to him. "Let's go to Aunt Holly now so your mommy doesn't kill me for ruining our evening."

The Don looked at the eldest Higashikata and noticed the dark circles under his eyes hidden behind his heart of gold and bright smile that lit up his face with love and happiness. Fatherhood was a hard thing and the poor guy needed more than a well-deserved rest.

"You know, you and Kiyomi deserve more than just a night alone. Downstairs Jolyne and I have... a special room. You can use it with your wife and whatever toys are in her unopened box." He reflected for a second, trying to remember. "There are also condoms and a Jacuzzi. I think this week the bed is still a boxing ring, if you don't mind?"

Josuke's jaw dropped open and he went back to covering his son's ears, sitting on the sink.

"Do you have your own love hotel here in your mansion?" He wanted to know.

"Jolyne and I use it from time to time for moments of dispersion or relaxation." He frowned slightly, as if the question surprised him. "We had to order an entertainment room to avoid prying eyes in the garden."

Of course, he would have mentioned the secret passage to his dungeon as well if he had thought Josuke was one of his own, but he didn't think that was the case.

"Tell me where you've got that damn paradise," he said with puppy dog eyes.

Giorno gave him directions, and when he saw that it was impossible for Josuke to memorize them, he eventually told him that he would send one of his staff to drive the couple from their designated room to their special corner.

"You're a good guy, Giorno. Come here, give me a hug."

From the tight squeeze he gave him, GioGio was sure that, even if it was a minimal gesture on his part, it meant a lot to him. Marriage and parenthood seemed to be very hard things. Even so, he allowed himself to relax into the hug he gave him and returned it because he believed he would need that support soon.

Josuke was surprised that Giorno hugged him back and seemed to need it. Either that or it was another cultural difference between Italy and Japan that he didn't quite understand. In any case, the squeeze was quick but highly symbolic. Josuke hoped that, from now on, the three of them could be closer.

"We should go out for a drink one of these days, the three of us, and talk about how fucked up it is to be a Joestar."

Giorno knew he shouldn't say anything for now, but he agreed.

Josuke phone rang again and he didn't have to look at the screen to know it was his wife and that she was worried about his long absence.

"Let's go to Mrs. Holly," Giorno said, thinking that the poor lady must also be worried that her brother had not yet arrived with his nephew for her to shower him with cuddles while he and his wife took a short break.

"Let's go to Holly." Josuke nodded, carrying Josefumi in one arm and the purse in the other.

‘Josuke, I'm going to be a father and I'm terrified. I don't want Jolyne to suffer the consequences of my parental incompetence or my childhood traumas. I don't quite know what to do. I've never felt so confused or overwhelmed as I do now.’

That was a thought that Don Giovanna would never dare to say out loud.

Notes:

As I said at the beginning, I just present a bunch of headcanons I have about the ship Giolyne and they are not the absolute truth or anything. Although, if I'm honest, my dream would be to write one of JoJo's light novels even as a ghostwriter.

Little by little, we will know the aftermath of the time travel of Eyes of Heaven.

Read & Review :D

Kudos are always welcome ;)

Chapter 4: Agreement

Summary:

Ridiculous dances, imagination at the height of a movie and an "I do".

After Hurricane Joestar passed and everyone said goodbye at the private airport, with Jolyne receiving kisses and hugs from all her relatives, it dawned on Giorno that he would finally be able to have her back and in his bed.

If she wanted to. Just in case she didn't prefer to have a sleepover with her friend, with whom she also hadn't had time to hang out peacefully, with the Joestars' visit on top of it. If the latter happened, the wait for the answer he thought she was going to give him would be even longer.

In his office, and with a few papers to go through, he returned his gaze over his desk to Guido Mista, who was looking in the direction of the window almost as lost in thought as he was, while pretending the papers had his full attention when, in reality, his mind was flitting around Jolyne and what she had to tell him the moment they were alone.

That is, until No. 5 appeared whimpering in front of his user.

"Mista, No. 3 stole the fine chocolates that the boss keeps in his drawer!"

At once, the guilty bullet appeared to hit No. 5 and call him a snitch.

"Hey, hey, behave yourselves. No. 3, stop harassing No. 5! And you, don't cry but defend yourself, No. 5!" Mista turned his head and, as he thought, the other pistols had been accomplices and were carrying the remains of the evidence in their hands and mouths. "You, stop that, and come and apologize! There will be no salami today at dinner for any of you! Did you hear?"

"Mistaaaa!" the pistols shrieked his name at the severity of their punishment.

To anyone who didn't possess a stand, Guido Mista would look like a person with schizophrenia who wasn't taking his meds, but to him and the others, the scene was so commonplace that he rarely stopped to think about the fact that, at a very young age, Mista became the babysitter for his pistols, who were no less than six creatures that looked and acted like children.

Six little living creatures in his care.

Unbelievable.

He and Jolyne were going to have two babies, and the scene now made him wonder what it would be like to have two children—his own children, dammit—in that office, in a very similar setting.

"Don't open that drawer, it's dangerous," he imagined himself saying, as he heard the other's footsteps playing with something expensive or, worse, downright dangerous just at the opposite end. "Leave that there, or you're going to hurt yourself!" Just as he sighed and turned his attention back to the other by swiveling his chair around, he found him making mischief with a lighter. "You, put that out!"

He could see in the little pistols the future imps he would have to deal with. For a moment, he almost forgot to breathe when reality hit him with all its weight.

"Man, you look pale. Are you all right?" asked his bodyguard, waving his hand in front of him as he realized he had lost him for a moment. "Come on, GioGio, they're just chocolates. It's not like they're your favorite or a gift from some important figure."

"Gift from a senator," he answered automatically. Mista turned pale too. "Don't worry, I wasn't going to eat them."

"Pistols, apologize to Giorno."

The six creatures gathered in the air around the Don's desk to bow and apologize in chorus.

"Forgive us, boss!"

Giorno had to wave his hand to get them to disperse and excuse them, but that did little to make him feel better after that bucket of cold water.

This was no place for two children to grow up healthy and happy.

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. It was no wonder Jolyne had turned down his marriage proposal. In fact, it was even sensible of her to do so.

Even though Jolyne decided to have his children, that didn't mean she wanted them to grow up near him and the dark world he was immersed in. Nor could he blame her for rejecting his dream and doing what was best for his offspring. Of course, they would lack nothing financially, but he even went so far as to have serious doubts about whether she wanted him along with her little ones, even though they were also his children. He understood perfectly well that she didn't want him involved in their upbringing because of the kind of life he led.

So what were his options: would Jolyne move out with them and he would have to visit them by appointment? Or would they have joint custody? Or would they each take one of the twins?

He imagined that last scenario. He and Jolyne separated, each with a child in their care. He visualized her going back to America with her parents and great-grandparents, specifically to New York to develop in her career, not wanting to hear from him; and himself with his little boy there in Italy, certain that he would not be able to give him the care he needed personally and sending him to boarding school—just like him—but in London, for he had spent the last few years listening to too many influential people say that London boarding schools were best for the education of their offspring.

Then, many years later, he imagined that his children would meet at some sort of equestrian camp—as rich kids do there abroad—and, not knowing each other and not looking enough alike, would hate each other's guts and make each other's lives impossible until, one stormy night in the punishment hut, they would discover that they shared birthdays and both carried half a picture of that parent they never knew, only to discover that they were siblings and decide that they would go to each other's house at the end of the vacation.

The horrible thing about it all was the certainty that, with the pace of life he was living, he would find himself unable to recognize the twin in his care from his other son, because of course, he would not be an attentive parent. Mista, on the other hand, would recognize him and any of his subordinates at once.

The worst part? He was sure that the nightmare in front of him was the plot of a movie he once saw with Jolyne in the movie theater. It was on one of those days when she was getting nostalgic for her homeland, and instead of paying attention to the screen, he was more occupied with watching her eat her popcorn and drink from her soda, almost as if they were two normal individuals in love, not the Don and his beloved.

This was just a trick of his subconscious panicking about parenthood.

"Giorno!" Mista was about to throw the water from the glass at him, believing that his boss was under a stand attack and that was why he was not reacting, until at last his eyes came back into focus and his skin regained its color. "Giorno! Is everything all right?"

Giorno blinked a couple of times before answering.

"Yes," he answered.

His bodyguard was not so convinced.

The Don had been acting strangely for days. At first, he thought there were problems with Passione's handling, but he soon dismissed it because, if so, Fugo would have long ago thrown fire out of his mouth and kicked some ass, but the lawyer seemed too calm to be dealing with that. On the other hand, if it was some inconvenience with the Don's health, Buccellati would have taken a break from his extended parental leave and brought Abbacchio and that Emporio boy with him to take care of GioGio in a personal way. Giorno was kind of like his favorite son, or at least he was until Buccellati officially adopted the little boy who came along with Jolyne. Giorno wanted him and Abbacchio to put some distance from the business while they fully dedicated themselves to being parents. Mista had no complaints about GioGio's special place in the heart of the one who was once his capo. There was no way he could bother with that.

The Don gave him a look that made him uncomfortable, making him feel like an animal on display.

"GioGio?"

With a heavy sigh, his boss finally opened his mouth. 

"I was wondering why you haven't had children yet. It seems natural for you," he said. "Passione hasn't left you enough free time to meet someone?"

Guido Mista almost left his jaw open for too long. Sometimes he forgot that his boss wasn't into conventions and, in the physical realm in particular, he didn't seem to know the meaning of "personal space".

"Yeah. It just hasn't happened, that's all. My pistols take up every minute of my free time."

Giorno nodded to himself thoughtfully.

"I thought you had a thing for Miss Costello," he speculated. "I mean, I saw you punching that Sports Maxx underling's ribs so hard when we claimed her family's restaurant area as Passione territory, so much so that I thought it was a personal matter."

Mista cursed through his teeth.

"It was nothing, I did what needed to be done."

Giorno wanted to probe further.

"I guess the way you reacted to her gratitude made me think so."

Mista remembered the day the Don bought the restaurant that had once belonged to the Costello family so that his beloved could give it to her friend in gratitude for her support in the fight against Father Pucci. The gunman himself took it upon himself to take out the trash and send a message to other families about Passione's ferocity if they dared to intrude on his territory.

What Mista never expected was that he couldn't get Miss Jolyne's friend out of his head, not when she cooked for them in person for several days, not because of the way they talked and seemed to connect almost instantly.

Except for one little huge detail. He looked in the direction of the window somewhat sadly.

"She doesn't want anything to do with a gangster. She has her reasons; you know the story."

Giorno felt sympathy for his friend.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

He was even sorrier.

xox

In the recreation room, after a round of dancing, Jolyne decided it was time for her to be the one asking the questions and not answering them. For that reason, she took advantage of the break to sink into the soft poufs and drink something to rehydrate herself.

"How about Guido Mista?"

"Mista?"

"The one with the hat with an arrow, who drove you here in the car the day you arrived."

Ermes looked away. She remembered him. She sure did.

"Not bad," she said.

Jolyne arched an eyebrow, curious about the ambiguity of her answer.

"Bad good or bad, like, terrible?"

Ermes sipped her drink through the straw.

"His manly scent turns me on."

"What?"

Jolyne knew that tastes were many and varied. She just hadn't expected that one.

Ermes almost seemed offended that she had been taken by surprise by her answer.

"Girl, I don't expect you to understand when your little boyfriend smells like flowers even while going to the bathroom or getting laid, but real men have a macho scent."

Now it was Jolyne who was fiddling with her drink. Yes, Ermes had a point. She knew that smell played an important role in sex. On a personal note, she also believed that Trish had been too picky about it once and the poor bodyguard was left with the shame of a bad week of not being able to bathe with the right hygiene product.

Only she wasn't crazy about men like him, unlike her friend apparently.

"Did you ask him out? He never takes his eyes off you."

"Not a chance. Gloria would never approve."

Jolyne felt sad for her friend. From her tone of voice, she understood that her sister's opinion was very important to her, even after her death. Although her father rewrote history, unfortunately, the murder of Ermes' older sister was not one of the things that could have been avoided, not at least without changing the fate of many people.

"If Mista weren’t a gangster, do you think she would have liked him?"

Ermes had a sad smile.

"Gloria would have loved anyone who would throw a punch to protect me and who appreciated our food."

Jolyne wanted to encourage her to try something when the song loaded and her friend encouraged her to get back on the dance floor. In the middle of that dance, the Don showed up in the room accompanied by his bodyguard, who they were talking about just moments before.

"Are they...?" said Mista, pointing to the two women doing the most ridiculous dance steps in known history.

"Dancing the Gangnam Style? Yes, they are. That's what they're doing."

The two were familiar with the song since, one wedding anniversary ago, Narancia had encouraged Mista and Fugo to get on the dance floor and dance to Gangnam Style like in the old Torture Dance days. To say that it hadn't livened up the atmosphere would be lying. Soon Jolyne even dragged him to dance with the others and have a few laughs.

That was what Giorno loved about Jolyne. She enjoyed life to the fullest, without fear or shame, not caring what anyone thought of her. Free of prejudice, able to go for what she wanted and make her own decisions.

The girls stopped dancing the moment they noticed their presence.

Giorno looked at Jolyne for a moment and then passed his gaze over Ermes before returning his gaze to his beloved.

"They told me you were here," he said very seriously but with his heart pumping slowly. "I was looking forward to seeing you."

The normal thing for her to do would have been to drag him to dance beside her and cause him to make a fool of himself without caring that he was wearing his work clothes, but she seemed too tense to flaunt her skills. Or so Giorno thought until the next song started playing in the room.

The two girls looked at each other before shouting in unison like teenagers.

"The Macarena!"

Before they knew it, Jolyne and Ermes were leading them in imitating the ridiculous steps set by the choreography on the screen.

Of course, it took him by surprise, even more so when she approached him to whisper to him. 

"In prison, Ermes taught F.F. and me these steps. Consider it an exchange for those of Canzoni Preferite."

Giorno wanted to say something to object, although he decided to keep silent as he was forced by his manners to dance with her. 

A few steps away, they heard Ermes raise her voice over the music. 

"Dishonor to your Latin blood," she said in Spanish, laughing.

"Fuck you!" Mista replied, letting her understand that he did understand her Spanish.

They continued shouting at each other for several seconds more.

"Twenty bucks says they end up making out," Jolyne said.

Giorno looked at her, interested.

"Thirty says they’ll do it tonight."

Jolyne clenched her jaw and sucked in through her mouth.

"Hell, I forgot who I was talking to, Mr. I-Read-People."

The Don froze, but Jolyne saw something in his eyes that she didn't like by the way he cracked. She didn't like it at all, just like the other night when he went around the room looking for her during the christening celebration, only to exchange her alcoholic beverages for water on the sly because of her secret pregnant state.

"Dad is right, you are like the antichrist," she had said jokingly, but Giorno had been as stunned by her comparision as he was now.

Although he made no comment then or now, Jolyne realized she had screwed up.

"Excuse me, GioGio?"

Finally, he decided to say something.

"I don't read minds, Jolyne. I just observe the people around me and act accordingly." He put his hands to the bridge of his nose, exhausted after such a long day. "If I had the power to do so, it wouldn't be difficult for me to understand what goes on in yours."

Now it was her turn to probe. 

"What do you want to know?"

The Don clenched his fists at his sides. Did she really have no idea that waiting for her answer was killing his sanity?

"Jolyne, I want to know…"

Jolyne took his hand and pointed to the screen. 

"Aserejé!"

Forced to dance again, Giorno involuntarily accompanied her during the next song.

"Jolyne..." he said warningly, his tone a little impatient. He didn't like having to repeat himself.

She evaded him again as she danced.

"If we have a child, I'd like to name him Diego."

Giorno stopped dancing and began to look at her, making it evident from his eyes that her words filled him with tenderness and pride.

"It's... a good name."

"Yeah. We'll need at least one more. A few names that start with "Jo" or "Gio" to keep the family happy. We're going to have to get together one day to think it through."

"We could hire a naming specialist…"

Jolyne smiled and he did too, releasing the tension. They continued to look at each other like that without saying anything until the next song began to play.   

"This is the one I want to play at our wedding," she said with some embarrassment.

Giorno's eyes traveled over the title on the screen, processing Jolyne's words and what they meant to him.

"Get Lucky? Why?"

"Oh, I don't know. Actually, it makes me think of you and me," she said, scratching the back of her neck, blushing. "Do you think Narancia would mind putting the choreography together for us?"

Of course, Trish Una's choreographer husband would love that more than anything in the world.

"Jolyne, then, do you accept?"

Before he had a chance to get down on one knee, take out the ring he had been carrying with him since the attack—an exquisite piece of exclusive rhinestones, the uselessness of which he had been dreading until then—and offer it to her instead of her zygotes like the previous time, Jolyne gave him a condition. 

"I don’t want to marry in a church."

That did not lessen the smile on the Don's lips.

"The archbishop won't like that at all," he commented, not caring too much.

"Then fuck him."

Now he bent down on one knee in front of her to offer her the ring.

"Would you, Jolyne Kujo, do me the honor of being my wife?"

Mista and Ermes stopped talking and held their hands to their faces expectantly.

Jolyne smiled. To the Don, her smile was more precious than any of his jewels.

"I do, Giorno Giovanna. I agree to be your mafia queen."

Notes:

Chapters like this remind me that I wanted this fanfiction to be pure crack, but the Domestic Fluff and the Hurt/Comfort are my undeniable favorites, so there will be more of that in the following vignettes.

+ After the Torture Dance, I think those three can dance to anything (!).

+ What do you mean Diego isn't named after the Aserejé? What do you mean it's after the Chilesaurus diegosuarezi? (!) I'll have a better look around to see if I can find it around here (?)

+ The rectal discharge of an African civet smells like flowers. That was a tidbit from the Beastars manga that I don't know if I needed to know, but now I can't get it out of my head. Same goes for me with the vanilla and beavers thing.

Thanks for reading :3

Read & Review

Chapter 5: Wedding Proposal

Giorno licked the corner of his lip where blood had just spurted. He wiped his shirt cuff to clean the area where Jotaro Kujo had landed the punch that knocked him to the floor of his home in Florida.

It stung like hell, but what hurt even more was the repudiation emanating from the eyes of the one he expected to soon start calling "father-in-law".

He didn't expect a hug or a pat on the back, much less congratulations. He was not surprised by Dr. Kujo's reaction, if he was honest. And from the way Jotaro's greenish eyes sank into him, he knew he was holding his gaze as well, with the not-so-discreet invitation to try to raise his hand against him again, as G.E.R. peeked out from behind his shoulders.

 

xox

 

The days following Jolyne's yes were chaotic. In fact, time for her and Giorno had become scarcer between preparations for the wedding and the twins' arrival into this world. With all the fuss of her guests, Jolyne finally agreed to have an ultrasound, because the Gold Experience was an experience in itself, but Giorno was the only one who could feel the embryos as he placed his hands over her womb, activated his stand, and examined her with details that only he could see, and that she could only imagine from his descriptions.

At times, Giorno would fall asleep listening to his children's heartbeats, with one hand on his darling's belly and the other acting as a pillow for her, in a big spoon position on the bed that now housed their little family of four. Jolyne would lay her hand on top of his to sleep, dreaming of what he did see.

They both knew they were already a family, but this made it even more real.

 

xox

 

"How come you haven't asked me for help yet?" Trish voiced on the other end of the phone. Giorno put his free hand to his temple, realizing that Narancia must have accidentally mentioned the details of their wedding to her. "Do you have a wedding planner yet? Let me recommend one you're going to love. Or better yet, leave it to me. I don't think Jolyne can do it all by herself in her condition."

Ok, all in all, Narancia and Trish had had plenty of free time to gossip and draw conclusions for themselves. He wasn't going to take the bait.

"Buon giorno, Trish," he said with an inauthentic, but very much his own smile. "It's good to hear your voice. Yes, we already have a wedding planner in charge of the organization, thank you very much for your interest. Jolyne is fine." Jolyne blew him a kiss as she stood in front of his office desk, overhearing part of the conversation. "She sends her regards."

"What a sweetheart. Tell her my number is available for whatever she needs," Trish said, while in the background he heard Narancia calling her back to rehearsals. "I'll leave you two lovebirds. Leave something for the honeymoon."

Giorno cut the call and returned his attention to the huge lists and paperwork piling up on his desk, with Jolyne checking off a few items. He watched her intently, noting the stark dark color under her eyes.

"You still have time to break off the engagement and run away," he said casually, like someone talking about the weather.

Jolyne looked at him as if the remark offended her deeply. She became obfuscated.

"Give me a break. I had no idea that celebrating a civil wedding was as outlandish as one in front of the altar."

Giorno moved the fountain pen between his fingers.

"If I'm honest, I would also have preferred a small reception, with our extended family and friends," he reflected. "But I'm the leader of an organization in private view. Not inviting my capos, some of my associates, or a few elite people would be a huge slight that I do not wish to have on my shoulders. Even more so when... " He didn't say it at the time, although his gaze had stopped on his fiancée's belly.

Jolyne was still frowning. She crossed her arms across her chest and didn't say anything right away.

"Yeah. News seems to circulate too fast."

They didn't say it out loud, but they both knew what he meant. If the people around them ended up finding out sooner or later, the good news would soon reach the ears of Dr. Kujo and his wife, before he and Jolyne could travel to have "the talk" with the bride's parents.

Giorno had not pressured Jolyne to say anything during the Joestars’ previous visit and, after she agreed to marry him, he completely heeded her request that she be the one to handle the matter with the family. He agreed. As the days went by, however, Jolyne seemed increasingly uncomfortable with the subject.

The Don reached out to shake hands with his fiancée's on the table, amidst the chaos of all the papers.

"I will not leave you alone."

Only a few hours ago, Giorno Giovanna had held a meeting with his select group of Passione members to announce their engagement and future wedding, as well as to confide in his consiglieri about Jolyne's pregnancy so that they would be aware of the urgency of the matter and the importance of celebrating their union soon. Except for the detail that they were expecting twins, he and Jolyne agreed that it was enough that Mista, Fugo, Polnareff—and Narancia, Bucciarati and Abbacchio by videoconference—knew that.

None of their consiglieri actually seemed surprised. Giorno suspected that they had long ago made some bet about that scenario, but he had neither proof nor the time to look for it. Besides, he and Jolyne had not been very discreet about hiding their affections. How many times had one of them walked into his office and found Jolyne sitting on his lap, her hands clasped around his neck while her exposed skin bore no discreet signs of their kissing?

It was only a matter of time before this happened.

Jolyne squeezed his hand. Giorno had rarely seen her so unsure of herself.

"I'm going to call my parents. Tomorrow you and I will travel to the US," she said, blushing slightly. "Is that all right with you?"

Giorno smiled and brought the knuckles of his darling's hand to his lips.

"I'll give notice to get the private plane ready for us.”

 

xox

 

And so, Don Giovanna found himself standing next to Jolyne at the Kujo family's door in Florida. The suitcases piled on either side of them both made it look like a typical daughter's visit to her parental home, when a young couple was still on their honeymoon.

Jolyne released her hand from the Don's hip before her mom opened the door. She even stopped leaning her weight on him. Until the announcement, she and Giorno were only distant uncle and niece. That was the only behavior they had to maintain in front of their parents.

"JoJo, Mr. Giovanna..." she said as soon as she opened the door, with concern reflected on her face, as if she had been wondering hours before about the reason for their sudden visit.

From inside the home, Jotaro approached his wife's side.

"Mom, Dad," Jolyne began to say. She didn't usually call the old man 'dad'. "Can we come in?"

The reunion didn't get any more comfortable once inside the house. Jolyne and Giorno took seats in the adjoining armchairs, while Dr. Kujo and his wife shared the sofa. A terrible silence reigned in the living room as the four of them looked at each other.

"Jolyne, why have you come?" asked her dad, breaking the ice. Although his voice was hard, there was a certain impatience in it.

"JoJo, is everything all right?" asked her mom, sensing that the sudden visit had a strong reason behind it.

Giorno's eyes slid from Mr. and Mrs. Kujo to Jolyne at his side. The only reason he was keeping silent and not intervening was because he promised to let her handle the matter. However, the fear in Jolyne's eyes told him that maybe he should say something.

Jolyne saw the worried look on her parents' faces and felt bad, really bad. A few years ago, they had to deal with her unjust prison sentence. The disappointment she saw on their faces back then, the doubt in the looks on both of their faces when she asked them to believe her that she was innocent, to trust her, was still burned into her memory.

Looking at them there, in front of her, with her dad folding his arms, his expression distant and distrustful, and her mom with a nervous gesture, waiting for any misfortune, was like going back in time to the years of her tumultuous adolescence.

It was as if they had always expected her to disappoint them, as she was about to do in the next few minutes.

What was she going to tell them now that she really let them down, after realizing that she betrayed the very trust she had asked them to place in her by leaving for Italy?

Her mom's almost pleading gaze shifted to Giorno:

"Mr. Giovanna... Do you know anything? Why did you come so suddenly?"

The Don opened his mouth to answer, but Jolyne stopped him with a sign of her hand in front of him to remain silent.

"Mom, Dad, you're going to be grandparents."

Dr. Kujo uncrossed his arms and leaned forward as he listened to her. Mrs. Kujo put her hands to her face.

Giorno hesitated. Of all the starters for this awkward talk, Jolyne chose the most difficult part to begin with. But it wasn't that that tore him up inside, it was the fact that, there beside her and in front of her parents, she looked more fragile than ever. Like a child. A child who had just let her parents down. And no one but him was to blame for Jolyne's panic.

"Jolyne! What did you just say?" her dad growled.

Jolyne wasn't sure why she had said that in the first place. She bit her tongue, cursing inwardly.

"Give me a break," her dad said.

"Tell us this is a bad joke, JoJo," her mom demanded.

Jolyne looked down and shook her head.

"Give me a fucking break," she said, overwhelmed.

Her mom's face went through all the colors, from surprise, to anger, to embarrassment. She looked up at Giorno, embarrassed as she suddenly remembered that he was there too.

"How sorry I am, Mr. Giovanna, to break into your schedule, having to accompany Jolyne to tell us this and to witness this whole scene…"

The Don decided it was time to speak and intervene.

"I am the father."

If they were surprised before, now Mr. and Mrs. Kujo could not believe their own astonishment.

"What?" Mrs. Kujo couldn't believe it.

Giorno looked over at Jolyne, who was looking nervously to his side. He tried to convey his warmth, confidence and love for her, a feeling they rarely talked about, but it was time to put her in the leading role.

"Mr. and Mrs. Kujo, I love Jolyne. I want to love her every single day—"

"Ora!"

Dr. Kujo, quicker than his rhetoric, had delivered a punch in Giorno’s face that threw him off the couch and sent him to the floor.

"Dad!"

"Dear!"

Without listening to the pleas of his wife and his daughter, Jotaro stepped forward to grab the Don by the shirt, lift him off the floor and slam him against the wall. Giorno Giovanna was tall, almost as tall as Jotaro, but Dr. Kujo was stockier, so lifting him was like lifting a rag. Giorno was out of shape after repeatedly delegating fights.

"You bastard son of a bitch," Dr. Kujo shouted at him. "Damn the day I let them talk me into trusting you!"

Even though his face was bleeding from his forehead and lips, Giorno looked him straight in the eye, as dignified as if he hadn't just been beaten.

"I love Jolyne. Please, I want your permission and blessing to marry us before the babies are born."

"The babies?" Jotaro's furious face contracted in astonishment.

Mrs. Kujo looked from the two men to her daughter.

"I'm expecting twins," Jolyne said, flushed, scratching her cheek.

Jotaro let out another war cry before shoving Giorno against the wall again, making the house rumble.

"You bastard!"

"Stop it, Dad!" Jolyne shouted, releasing Stone Free. She didn't understand why the Don wasn't fighting back. If there was a stand capable of standing up to Star Platinum, it was Giorno's Gold Experience Requiem.

Giorno placed his hands on top of Jotaro's on the lapel of his jacket before speaking confidently.

"I understand your anger, Mr. and Mrs. Kujo," he expressed calmly. "You entrusted your daughter to my care, yet I present her back to you carrying my children in her womb. You have every right to be upset." He wasn't lying. In Jotaro's shoes, he would also want to murder anyone who dared to harm any of his offspring. It was for that reason that he allowed him those blows, because he knew he deserved every one he wanted to give him. "However, Dr. Kujo, you will understand that I will not allow you to continue beating me without defending myself. I will not let you make my children fatherless, nor Jolyne an unwed mother, without giving me the opportunity to ask you for her hand in marriage."

"You bastard!" he snarled, dropping him to the ground and making him fall on his ass.

Mrs. Kujo reacted.

"Have you come to ask for our daughter's hand?"

Only then did her parents notice that Jolyne had a ring hanging around her neck on a chain, which she had previously hidden between her breasts under the buttons of her almost open blouse.

Jotaro snorted.

"This wretch didn't even wait to ask for my blessing before proposing marriage."

"Hey, he had to ask me for my hand first, didn't he?" Jolyne said. "Give me a break. Be thankful that I let him convince me to come and ask you and not just bring the wedding invitations when they were ready." Jolyne sighed, tired, fed up with it all. "Sorry, mom and dad. I failed you, I'm sorry, but I don't regret being with Giorno because I love him and forming a family with him is…" She tried to explain, exhaling. The air leaving her lungs pushed the fringe away from her face. "Forming a family together is rushed, yes, but sooner or later, it was bound to happen. Is there room in your heart to forgive your rebellious daughter and give our union and children a chance?"

After the initial shock, her mom's eyes filled with tears and she hugged her tightly, saying words of sincere love and affection. Jolyne refused to cry. By the way her dad joined the embrace behind her and squeezed her as well, she knew that her mom must have beckoned him from over her shoulder to rightly come with them.

From the floor, Giorno stroked his unhinged jaw with a smile of genuine affection as he saw that his beloved's parents were not retaliating against their daughter. On the contrary, their love for her was stronger than their hatred for him.

 

xox

 

"Were you really going to let yourself almost get killed by the old man?" Jolyne asked him, the two of them sitting on the bed in her room as she helped him disinfect the wound with traditional medicine. Although Giorno had fixed his missing teeth and other more serious wounds, they both agreed that showing up downstairs without wounds would infuriate Dr. Kujo even more, giving him the perfect excuse to hit Giorno again, something that was not in anyone's best interest.

They were both in Jolyne's room at Mr. and Mrs. Kujo's house. Despite having told her parents that they had a hotel room reserved in their name, they refused to let them go, even more so knowing the latest news and being aware that the two were a couple.

"You can stay in Jolyne's room. It's tidy just like the last time she came on her vacation," said her mother.

'Where my eyes see you,' Jotaro Kujo's gaze had warned Giorno Giovanna.

Giorno closed his eyes as he felt the pain stinging in his wound.

"Dr. Kujo had his reasons for wanting to kill me and I respect them, but as I told him, I would not allow myself to leave this world without a fight," he said. "Besides, I needed someone to give me a reality punch in the face."

"What do you mean?"

Giorno was silent for a moment.

"That maybe we still have time to stop all this and that I should have the guts to let you go. As much as the thought of you leaving my side kills me inside, that would be the best thing for you."

She gave him a light smack on the back of the head with more indignation than hatred.

"Don't be an idiot. I already told you that having our children was my decision. In the long run, marrying will be best for all four of us."

Jolyne put the medicine aside and looked him straight in the eye, with a smile that held a secret satisfaction. The two of them there, in the room that used to belong to a rebellious teenager, seemed completely disengaged from the scene now that they had decided to take the step of marriage.

"Let me see if I get this. Are we your reason for living now?" she said, more as a sensual statement than a question.

Despite having been beaten, Giorno recognized that the burning in his cheeks had nothing to do with the marks of the punches, no, no. Jolyne kissed his lips and he felt pleasure and pain in equal parts, but since he liked pain and it made him feel alive, it was like receiving a new, renewed life impulse.

"Jolyne, we're at your parents' house..." he reminded her in a whisper. He couldn’t deny that having her around was good, and now that he had managed to survive the request for her hand, he felt excited.

She bit his jaw playfully.

"So what?"

Jolyne knew where to massage to get her hands on him. It didn't matter that it was Passione's don. Under Jolyne's lips and fingers, she would always be on top.

"Jolyne…"

"You've been a good boy, Giorno Giovanna." She smiled, sliding down his body until she was on her knees beside his bed, in between her fiancé's legs, fumbling with the zipper of his pants. "Just relax and enjoy."

Giorno pulled back, propped himself up on his elbows, and rolled his head back with his eyes closed as she began to stroke him over his underwear before pulling him out of his boxers. All was going well, beautifully, until he opened his eyes and saw Jotaro on the other side of the window with his nostrils flaring in restrained fury. He placed a hand on the glass to let them both know he was there and had somehow been walking across the roof to catch them red-handed.

That image could render anyone impotent for life.

"Dad!" Jolyne said, getting up from the floor.

Giorno paled just before Jotaro's fist broke the glass and pulled him out by the collar of his clothes, with the purpose of sending him flying.

 

Notes:

"Roundabout" plays in the background as the JoJo "To be Continued" sign slides down.

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Chapter 6: Restraint

Summary:

Giorno and Jolyne tell Josuke about their engagement. Gio receives a phone call and Jo is suspicious of him. In the end, he reveals part of his traumas to his fiancée.

"Tell me Jotaro didn't do that! Holy crap!" Josuke mumbled in amazement on the other end of the video call. Of course he did totally believe it coming from his nephew, but believing it and seeing it were entirely different things.

Giorno settled in next to Jolyne on the couch in his bedroom to join the video call. The poor don looked completely exhausted.

"Yeah. I caught Giorno with Stone Free just in time before he fell head first to the ground," replied Jolyne. It gave her a good laugh to remember it now, but at the time, she almost had a heart attack. "Don Giovanna with Gold Experience."

"Wow... What did you guys do to piss Jotaro off so much?" Josuke blurted, sighing with relief.

Giorno and Jolyne blushed as soon as the memory came to their minds.

"Well... I was... you know, giving Giorno some..."

Josuke realized very quickly where she was going with it.

"Okay, no shit. God, I'm not going to be able to get that mental image out of my mind…"

Giorno was quick to interject.

"Jolyne took my side in facing her parents. As soon as I recovered from the fall, she dragged me with her to a hotel for the night," he said, watching his darling with dreamy eyes and a certain smile, as if the whole thing was very funny.

Jolyne turned her face to look at him with a blush before playing it down. "I wasn't going to let the old man have another chance to murder you."

"Your parents insisted we stay. Even your mother promised to keep an eye on Dr. Kujo if we stayed there."

"I wasn't going to take any chances," his JoJo declared.

A second passed where they remained silent, looking at each other without saying anything. Josuke watched them, attentive.

"Thank you," murmured Giorno.

Jolyne didn't know so much could be said with a single word.

"Y-you're welcome, man. You're going to be my husband, so I have to take care of you."

They looked at each other again and were about to kiss until Josuke cleared his throat to remind them that he was still video calling them.

"Guys, you know, I'm sorry I couldn't make the meeting in New York. I'm a father now and last minute meetings get difficult for me, even if you offer a private plane to pick me up." He looked at them. "What did I miss?"

Giorno and Jolyne looked at each other and nodded. She then raised her hand in front of the screen to show him her ring.

"We're getting married."

Josuke brought his hands to his face.

"Oh, my God!" he gasped, not quite able to believe it. "You've got to be kidding. I can't believe I missed it!"

At first glance, it might appear that Jolyne was blushing out of shyness, but it was more like embarrassment that she was trying to hide.

"It was no big deal," she expressed.

"We just made a big fuss at the fancy Italian restaurant we booked for the occasion," Giorno commented without making a big deal out of it.

Josuke alternated his gaze between one and the other.

"Let me guess. Jotaro and my father didn't look convinced. Holly sure would have called me by now to tell me the good news if she didn't know you guys wanted to surprise me." Josuke looked at both of them.

Giorno and Jolyne looked at each other again as if they couldn't take another minute of surprise.

"You're not far off from what happened," Jolyne confessed.

"There's a reason JoJo and I are rushing the wedding preparations..." the Don commented, with a slight crimson tinge to his cheeks.

Josuke looked at each of them who had such suspicious attitudes. The moment he realized what that meant, he opened his mouth wide and put his hands on his cheeks. "Guys, don't tell me you're…"

"We're going to be parents, yeah," Giorno confirmed, taking his future wife's hand and depositing a kiss on her knuckles in front of the screen to show off their love.

"With twins, yeah," Jolyne said. "Two for the price of one thanks to Mr. Super Fertile."

Josuke let out a squeal of delight.

"Oh my gosh, guys, congratulations!" he expressed with genuine joy for his relatives, wiping away a small tear that peeked out of the corner of his eyes.

This time, Giorno didn't suppress a titter and Jolyne had a huge urge to kiss him. God, his laugh was a precious treasure.

"I'm pretty sure you enjoyed your part in the conception of our children," he teased.

"Oh, please..." Jolyne leaned in for a kiss, taking him by surprise. A second later, they were kissing in a very un-demure way.

"Guys, I'm still here and I'm still kind of sorry you didn't tell me earlier."

Giorno and Jolyne parted their lips, embarrassed for putting on that show in front of Josuke.

"Sorry. We wanted to tell you everything the same day you found us out," Jolyne confessed.

"But we didn't think it was right that JoJo's parents found out before we had a chance to tell them ourselves," added Giorno.

"Hey, are you guys insinuating that I'm a snitch?" Josuke pretended to be extremely offended, holding a hand to his chest. "Because I'll remind you that, when Mr. Joestar traveled to Morioh, I didn't mention a single word to my mother so as not to make her feel bad."

Jolyne and Giorno looked at each other, feeling guilty.

"We couldn't take the risk," admitted Giorno.

"That. My dad already tried to kill him. If he had found out on the day of the christening, it would have been a family spectacle not fit for the whole family."

Giorno was about to say something when his phone started vibrating. He glanced at the screen before trying to decide whether or not to answer. The gesture of his eyebrows arching for a second put Jolyne on alert.

"Please excuse me, it's an urgent call," Giorno remarked as he stood up and left the room with the phone still ringing in his hand.

Jolyne stood looking in the direction GioGio had just left suspiciously. Josuke watched her for a moment from the view the cell phone afforded him from the second she stopped paying attention to him.

"What are you thinking?" He wanted to know from the limited view he had of the situation.

Jolyne frowned and clicked her tongue.

"Giorno is hiding something. Did you see how he reaction when he got that call?" she said, pointing with her thumb, her face glued to the screen as if she was physically confiding a secret to him.

"Well, it's not always nice to get calls, especially from work," Josuke admitted, scratching his cheek.

Jolyne didn't look too convinced. "Did you see the rush he was in to step aside to answer it?"

Josuke arched an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you distrust your future husband, dear Jo."

"Give me a fucking break." Jolyne snorted. "It's not jealousy or shit. That bastard is hiding something from me, and I'm going to find out what it is."

"Jolyne, you shouldn't..." he advised her.

"You said it yourself, Giorno is going to become my husband, and the natural thing to do is to be aware of the kind of business the Mafia's Don is running."

She pulled Stone Free's strings to follow her fiancé wherever the sound of his voice and footsteps led. It wasn't long before she found him in his office, sitting at his desk with a poker face as he attended to the voice of a woman Jolyne didn't recognize.

"Yes. I understand. I'll send you the money right away," the Don said in a level voice.

Jolyne became alert in the other room. She didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"What are you listening to?" Josuke wanted to know, alerted by the position Jolyne had taken as soon as she informed him that she'd gotten Giorno's location in the mansion.

Jolyne motioned for him to be quiet and let her listen to the talk her fiancé was holding. Josuke covered his mouth with both hands.

"I have to cut you off now," she told him. "This is between me and Giorno."

"Jolyne…"

She ended the call before her granduncle could convince her to stop eavesdropping. Now she could concentrate on Giorno and whatever he was saying on the phone.

The closer that Stone Free's threads drew to the Don's office, the better she could hear the reason for their talk. Although she could not see Giorno's face, she could imagine it through the flatness of his voice. Don Giovanna was being diplomatic.

"I understand..." he said after a prolonged silence on his part during which Jolyne deduced that the other person was speaking. She wanted to better hear what she was saying, but bringing her string closer would cause Giorno to discover her eavesdropping; all she could make out was that it was a woman from the sharpness of her voice. "One more thing, Mama... I'm getting married."

The appellation with which he called her made Jolyne react instantly. Giorno was talking to his mother, Signora Giovanna, whom she had never met in the three years she had been with her fiancé and whom she expected to see at last now that the wedding was approaching. She knew nothing about her but the strictly necessary because the Don rarely mentioned her, so she understood that the relationship between the two was not very good.

Jolyne wore a half smile. She wasn't one to judge since she spent most of her teenage years hating her father for having abandoned her and her mother.

In the other room, there was a brief moment of silence. Jolyne wished she'd put more threads near the phone to hear what the woman was saying to her son, but it was too soon to get caught by Giorno.

"She's the love of my life, mother," he said suddenly with deadly seriousness. Jolyne almost fell off the couch listening to him. Okay, Giorno was very up front and direct, but she wouldn't call him corny, so that statement caught her off guard. "I know you're on your Mediterranean cruise right now until after the wedding date, but I was thinking maybe…"

Jolyne felt her heart shrink inside her chest. Although he was being earnest and cordial, she was able to distinguish that his voice was no longer the same as it had always been, with traces of pleading peeking through.

Jolyne had never heard Giorno plead for anything. Not once. Not even that one occasion when, inside the dungeon, she had to stop the session because he refused to say the safe word, though it was obvious he could barely stand what they were doing.

Her attention returned to her fiancé when he spoke again.

"Yes, it will be a lavish wedding. No, no celebrities will be coming, just people from the organization, some diplomats, friends and family..." Giorno was silent for a moment because his mother interrupted him. Something changed in him at that moment, as his voice returned to its usual masquerade. "I understand. It's a pity you can't come. I would have liked you to meet Jolyne... Yes, I'm going to send you the money, don't worry. Try not to bet it all next time. Give my regards to my stepfather. Hope you continue to enjoy the cruise. Arrivederci."

Giorno hung up the call, brought his hand to his face, and exhaled a sigh as if he had endured a great burden. He removed his palm from his sight just in time to see Stone Free's strings retreating.

"Jolyne?" he uttered into the air just as his fiancée's stand slid out.

She had heard everything. For a moment, he stopped breathing. He felt exposed, embarrassed in front of one of the few people whose opinion actually mattered to him.

 

xox

 

"Shit, shit, shit." Jolyne cringed, curling into a ball at the realization that Giorno had caught her snooping on his private calls. She felt awful, but what bothered her most was not the fact that he caught her red-handed before she could confess to him what she did—she had intended to do that anyway—but what she ended up hearing about the call.

Giorno didn't seem perturbed when he walked back into the room. He looked sad, tired rather, when their gazes met again.

"You heard," he stated without a hint of hesitation. He didn't look angry, just maybe disappointed. "I'm sorry you had to hear that."

Jolyne reacted.

"No, man, why are you apologizing?" She wanted to know. It didn't make any sense.

Giorno straightened his shoulders, thinking about what he just said. He walked over to her side and sat down next to her.

"I don't know."

He never felt good after talking to his mother. It had been that way for as long as he could remember. Even now, as the Don of Passione, he still felt like that child desperate for his mother's attention and love, not getting so much as a measly crumb of her affection or approval.

Jolyne ran her hand down his cheek and stroked it to cradle his face tenderly. His eyes opened wide in surprise, but he let himself be loved.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jolyne asked tactfully.

He sighed.

"I guess it's my fault for giving you reason to distrust me. Believe me, I've thought about telling you, but most of the time, I'd rather keep you away from these things that I know will only worry you." Giorno looked exhausted. "I promise to involve you more in my business, even if I don't like the idea of it."

Jolyne arched an eyebrow. 'Are you justifying my spying on you?'

He looked back at her blankly.

"Although I don't like that you did that, I can understand the reason behind it. That's why I'll tell you this. I don't want secrets in our marriage. I'll be honest with you, always, even though I don't want to drag you into the dark with me. I'll answer your questions every time you ask them. In return, I expect the same from you."

Jolyne felt a tremor run through her whole body. Did Giorno not notice? Did he forget to take off his mask? Or maybe he was fooling himself without seeing the obvious?

"That's not what I meant. I mean, I know spying on you was wrong and I understand that you're upset and even disappointed," she explained honestly, despite suddenly feeling nervous about broaching a subject that he obviously didn't want to touch. "GioGio, about what happened with your mother, I know I should have discussed my doubts with you before and you can "punish" me if you want to, but I'm worried about you. Do you want to...talk about it?"

Giorno blinked several times as he looked at her. "Why would I want to?"

"Give me a fucking break," she said. "You always make light of your feelings. I don't want you to keep doing it in front of me now that I'm going to be your wife."

Giorno flashed her a resigned smile that hurt more when he replied, "It's okay. I should be used to it by now."

Ouch.

Jolyne hugged him tightly. Giorno didn't expect that gesture, but he was silently grateful for it.

"To hell with it. It does hurt. I know you."

He hugged her back and rested his chin on her shoulder. They stayed together like that for a whole silent minute until, at last, Giorno pulled away.

"Are...are you sure you want to marry me?" he asked. "To have my children?"

"What?"

"You still have time to back out if you have any doubts. Whether you choose to stay pregnant or not, whether you decide to stay by my side or not, I will support you no matter what."

Jolyne grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him hard. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Giorno looked into her eyes. The pain she saw in his turquoise irises overwhelmed her.

"I was an unwanted child, Jolyne. I know what it's like to come into this world and barge into the life of a woman who did not wish to have you. I wouldn't want you to feel obligated toward anything."

"Give me a fucking break. I'm the one who decided to go through with this. We decided together. Yes, I'm going to take a year off from college, but I'll continue after the postnatal. I have you, and we have more than enough financial resources." Jo cradled her fiancé's face and stroked his cheeks with her thumbs, as his usually unperturbed face dropped his mask and allowed her to see outlines of the pain etched so deeply into his soul.

An instant later, Giorno turned his face away. More than ashamed of his behavior, he reproached his own pitiful demeanor and the scene he was making around a trauma that was supposed to no longer affect him.

"Sorry. I needed to hear you say it." Giorno stood up, ready to leave the couch and the comfort stop near his fiancée.

Jolyne took his hand and squeezed it between her fingers. She looked up to examine him and found that he needed to be back in her arms, so she pulled him back to take a seat.

"I can't believe your mother was sorry to have you," she said. "I'm sure she didn't regret giving birth to you as she watched you grow."

Giorno gave a wry half smile.

"Believe me, she took care to remind me well every chance she got. Sometimes, I was even thankful she didn't spend time at home so she wouldn't remind me of how I ruined her life."

Jolyne's stomach and throat tightened. Next to her, the complaints toward her father seemed like a teenage tantrum, for he always loved her and the times he walked away from her and her mother was to protect them.

"I... I don't know what to tell you," she said. "What a piece of shit."

Giorno lifted his hand to caress her face. "It's okay. Knowing that you empathize with me is enough."

Jolyne hugged him again. "I'd like to go back in time and hug little Haruno to make sure he knows he is and will be loved."

Giorno let out a chuckle as he let himself be hugged.

"My mother was not a monster. She had good moments too, rare and few, when she tried to learn to love me but failed." He looked up to meet her eyes. "Sometimes she would come home after a good day and we would eat yakitori, a terrible meal for an infant, though an excellent snack with the beers she also bought. I was very small and used to watch her silently as she put the meat and pierced it with chopsticks on the warmer atop the table. She used to repeat that our luck would improve, that she had finally found someone worthwhile and that we would soon leave that life behind. She said it so many times with each new boyfriend that, when she got married and we moved here, I doubted that all those empty promises she used to use as excuses to leave me alone were true, and I was right. Nothing got better when we came to this continent but quite the opposite," he explained, perhaps more dissociated from his mind than he would have liked, but still being rational enough to give Jolyne an explanation. "It's the reason I dislike eating chicken or fried foods in general, I guess. They taste like oil-soaked sponges to me."

Jolyne giggled at that last statement, and Giorno stifled a similar one by snuggling into her chest as she stroked his back slowly and gently.

"I don't blame her," he continued. "She was just a young mother terribly frightened of my father's threats against aborting one of his children. The monster was always DIO for instilling tremendous fear in the women he impregnated."

"A whole lineage screwed up by a single man."

Giorno rested his cheek on her chest, ashamed about what he would confess next.

"As a child I used to fantasize a lot about my father. I used to imagine that one day there would be a knock on the door and it would be him, coming take me out of that home and to his side. After mom got married and my stepfather started to mistreat me, my childhood fantasies turned into pleas to heaven. I looked so often at the picture of my father that my mother kept secretly that she ended up giving it to me as a gift. After all, it would get her in trouble with her husband if it remained in her possession. For years, I thought that was the most valuable gift Mom could have given me. That was until, after I became Don, the Speedwagon Foundation contacted me and I found out the kind of person he was. At that point in my life, I wasn't surprised and I was thankful he was dead." He sighed. "But as a child, I needed and longed for him so much, and after resigning myself to the reality that no one would come to my rescue, I realized that only I could take the reins of my destiny."

Jolyne pressed him against her and played with the blond strands of his hair.

"There's something I'm grateful to DIO for," she said.

Giorno pulled back a little to look at her, uncomprehending. "What good could have come out of that deplorable being?

Jolyne pressed her index finger against her fiancé's forehead.

"You," she declared with a smile full of confidence. "I'm glad your parents gave you life because I can't conceive of a world in which you don't exist and I haven't met you."

Giorno blinked a couple of times, unsure of what he was hearing. His mind was incapable of associating such words with his existence. Used to hearing his name amidst curses from people damning the day he was born or false compliments from people who wanted something from him, Jolyne's sayings found themselves crashing in front of the wall he had built to keep himself from getting hurt.

Jolyne noticed that and wanted to cry with rage. Tears of helplessness threatened to come out of her eyes. She cursed the bastard DIO and the selfish bitch she would soon call mother-in-law.

Giorno pulled away as soon as he noticed that her eyes were watery. "I… Did I hurt you, farfalla?"

Jolyne brushed the moisture away from the outer corner of her eye with her knuckles before the real tears threatened to spill out.

"Shit, no. You didn't do anything wrong. It's just, right now, I'd like to meet your mother to tell her some truthful accounts."

He stifled a chuckle. "Well, you see, it can't be during our marriage."

"That's good," she said. "Otherwise, I'd be arrested for attempted murder in the middle of a wedding."

"I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to restrain yourself," Giorno said with a genuine smile. "I promised your parents I'd keep you out of jail."

"You really did that?" she asked.

"Why else do you think they let you come and study in Italy?"

They laughed then looked at each other and laughed again. Jolyne took the opportunity to kiss Giorno, taking him by the chin. His eyes opened wide out of surprise, but he soon relaxed and returned her tender kisses with no less passion.

Jolyne stopped pressing her mouth against his for a moment to say, "You're going to be a great dad. I'm sure."

The Don shook his head. "The one who's going to be the favorite is going to be you."

"Give me a fucking break. Me, being a better parent than you?"

He couldn't stifle a laugh.

"Oh, believe me, you will be. Bucciarati is actually afraid that Emporio will want to come live with us because of you. Why do you think he put so many obstacles for the little one to stay a few days here on vacation?"

"You've got to be kidding, give me a fucking break! That's why poor Emporio hasn't been able to come and see us!"

Giorno stifled a chuckle by covering his mouth.

"I'll talk to him, but I insist. You have Bucciarati's approval as far as maternity is concerned. And few know more than he does about raising difficult children and straightening them out."

Jolyne blushed. Very much so. Giorno stroked her face and flashed her a genuine smile.

"Thank you for supporting me," he said.

She touched her hand to his cheek and looked at him tenderly.

"Ti amo, Giorno."

He opened his eyes wide. It wasn't something he was unfamiliar with, but they didn't say it out loud very often.

"Ti amo anch'io, farfalla," he replied before sinking his mouth into her neck to fill it with kisses.

Jolyne stroked his hair and pushed it away a little, only to tell him what she had to say next in a hoarse voice because of the excitement he was causing in her.

"Darling, I'm going to make love to you so sweetly and tenderly tonight until I'm sure you know you're loved and wanted."

Notes:

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Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of The Don Giovanna's Family