The New Jersey Connection

Chapter 15

/Newark, New Jersey/

Nicole stood outside the back of the Bing. She needed to think, she really did. However she still couldn't get over the fact one minute he was prince charming and the next it was like he was the devil's son. Which really made her more angry.
Without thinking she spun around and kicked the wall just as Christopher made his way in. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Nicole glared at him. "Chrissy, mind your own fucking business."
"No seriously, what the hell is wrong with you? You look like you just went through hell backwards." He said walking up to her.
She backed away from him. "Chrissy, I'm warning you. I'm not in the best of fucking moods right now."
Christopher looked at her. "You got real anger management shit you really need to work out." he stated.
"Fuck you, I do. You still got two legs and a heartbeat right now."
"Yeah and a real fucking anger problem. Not only that, you seem to mostly take it out on the wrong fucking people."
Nicole glared at him again. "Chrissy, you don't know a fucking thing about what's going on. And there is a fucking reason. If you want to fucking know, than maybe you should fucking talk to T. or Paulie."
"Yeah, like those two will tell me a damn thing. That's like trying to infiltrate Fort fucking Knox."
She looked at him. "Okay than. Why don't you take a wild fucking guess. Maybe than I might fucking tell you. But a lot of fucking good it would do." She replied. Though having him know something that she was ashamed of wasn't her idea of fun.
"You know, I don't need this shit. If you don't wanna tell me, then don't fucking tell me. I really don't care either way." he said lighting up a smoke.
She walked over to him. "Gimme one. And I'll tell you a little."
"Fucking mooch." he said and held out the pack to her. "I guess you need a fucking light, too, huh?"
"No, that I got." She said handing the pack back to him and lighting her own smoke. "Now, where to fucking start?"
"How about the beginning? That's always a good place." he said and took a puff.
She took a puff of her and flicked the ashes. "Okay it all starts with Ralphie."
"Why am I not fucking surprised? He's a prick and always will be."
"He was okay sometimes. Just a little too eager about certain things." She said looking away taking a drag off the smoke.
Christopher exhaled the smoke and leaned against the building. "We're not talking about the jobs he pulled off, are we?"
"Do you really think that is what it is?"
"I don't know what to think when it comes to Ralphie Cifaretto." Christopher said, taking another drag.
Nicole took another drag. "Did you ever wonder why I suddenly broke it off with him?" she asked than exhaled. She wasn't trying to play 20 questions with her third cousin, from marriage. But she wanted him to clue in before she told him.
Christopher threw his butt to the ground and looked at her seriously. "Sure I wondered. But I didn't think you'd tell me if I asked."
She avoided eye contact, and took one of the last drags off her smoke. "That's one of your problems, Chris, you think too much. But the truth is, Ralphie started to get weird and creep me out."
Christopher nodded. "I'm not too surprised. I mean he's a coke head. That shit can make anyone weird."
"Understatement." She replied throwing the butt to the ground. "Big fucking understatement."
Christopher understood what she meant and he didn't want to push her anymore than he already had. "Look, I got the picture. You don't have to talk about it anymore, if you don't want to."
"It's up to you. I made a mistake. It's not that I'm proud of it. But it's fucking life."
"We've all made mistakes we're not proud of. Do you think I'm squeaky clean?" Christopher laughed.
"I know you're not." She said with a smile. "No seriously. What Ralphie wanted me to do was fucking beyond weird."
"Everything Ralphie did was beyond weird. He should have been taken care of long before he ever made Captain."
"True enough. And if I was fucking smart enough when I... started fucking seeing the guy, when he first..." She paused, and was kind of grateful Christopher didn't say anything. "first..." She said and turned around, not wanting to face him.
"First what?" Christopher asked and noticed she was facing away from him. "You okay?"
"No, it's not something I really want to talk about, Chrissy."
He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you know we're all here for you when you need us, okay? Don't be afraid to ask for help."
"It's not that I was afraid. It was that I wanted to take care of it myself... It's just every time I tried to break it off is when..."
"Hey, you shouldn't have to deal with things yourself. That's why we have the family, to take care of each other."
She looked at him. "I'm the only female in the crew, Chrissy. It's not easy, and I have to keep proving myself. That's why I tired to deal with this on my own."
"I think you've proved yourself plenty over the past couple weeks. Face it, you're a full member of the crew and we always help each other out of jams."
"Yeah."
"Good. So get all this independent bullshit out of your head and let us help you once in awhile." Christopher smiled.
She slightly smiled. "Hey, only once in awhile. But I still like some of my independence."
"Who doesn't? You think I want T. hovering over my shoulder 24/7?"
Nicole laughed. "Actually, I think it's kind of cute."
"Funny. Come on, let's go inside. I need a drink and I want to kick your ass at pool." he said opening the door.
"Bring it on." She said walking inside.

/Las Vegas, Nevada - Eight Months Later/

It had been eight months since Peter died and although Jim was somewhat over the shock value of what had happened, he still couldn't bring himself to go back into his own house. So Catherine, Andrea and Nick packed up the items and what they didn't bring back to Catherine's, they placed into storage.
During the last eight months, Jim and Catherine had been becoming more and more excited with the progression of her pregnancy and when she was four months along they got some shocking news. The doctor informed them they were expecting twins.
Catherine had talked to Lindsey about all the changes that were about to happen in their lives, the wedding and the babies, which Lindsey didn't like at first. But over the last eight months she grew to love Jim and the fact that she was about to have new baby brothers or sisters.
Nick and Andrea on the other hand had gotten extremely close and Andrea moved into Nick's apartment with him. She also left her position at Beth Israel in Newark and managed to get herself the job of chief surgeon at Desert Palm Hospital. And of course she still stayed in touch with her two daughters, Kayla and Hayley, who are attending university on the East coast.
Now everyone's lives seemed to be getting back on track. After all the tragedy they had endured nine months prior, Jim and Catherine's upcoming wedding gave everyone something to look forward to. Not to mention, since Catherine was now nine months pregnant, the arrival of the two newest members of the Brass family.

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Catherine walked, well more like waddled, into the hotel to talk to her father, Sam Braun. Once she found him they went into his office. "So, Muggs, what did you need to talk to me about?"
Catherine sat down in a chair. "My wedding."
Sam nodded. "Are you sure you want to marry Jim?"
"Sam, I love Jim and he loves me. Nothing else matters. Not to mention I'm about to have his children."
Sam glanced at her swollen belly. "I didn't even know you were seeing each other until Lily told me."
Catherine was silently and sarcastically thinking that she'd have to thank her mother for that later. "We got really close on a trip we took to New Jersey nine months ago."
"Jersey? What happened in Jersey?"
Catherine shook her head. "We went out there to get some information on a related case here but we ran into some trouble. Turns out the two dead guys were hits."
Sam frowned. "Trouble? What kind of trouble did you and Jim get into, Muggs?"
"Have you ever heard of the Sopranos?" she asked. Sam nodded and Catherine continued. "Well, let's just say they didn't like having us around."
Now Sam was really frowning. "Just how much do you guys know about the Sopranos? And how much did you piss them off?"
"Excuse me? They tried to kill us, Sam. And all you can ask me is how much we know about them and how much we pissed them off!" Catherine yelled standing up.
Sam sighed. "Muggs, I'm just trying to look out for you."
"Yeah, well, I don't need you to look out for me. I don't even know why I bothered to try and have a civilized conversation with you." she said walking to the door.
"Muggs!" Sam said standing up following her.
"Go to hell, Sam!" Catherine said and opened the door and then turned around and faced him again. "You know, I thought that maybe you would show at least an ounce of concern for my well being but I guess I was wrong. You only look out for yourself, Sam."
"Catherine, you just don't realize what these people are capable of. I just want you to be careful." Sam said grabbing her arm.
"I am sick and tired of people saying that. They tried to kill me, not to mention Jim and Nick, all because we wanted to do our jobs and solve a double homicide. I think I know perfectly well what these psychos are capable of." Catherine said pulling out of Sam's grip and walking off down the hall.
Sam sighed. He closed the door. This was just something that he knew he had to take care of. And he knew just who these people were that were after them. He sat down at his desk and went through his black personal phone book. He needed to make a phone call.

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Catherine made her way out of the hotel and got into the car. Jim was behind the wheel, he looked over at her and noticed she was crying. He reached out his hand and took hers. "Are you okay, Cath?" he asked.
"I went up there to talk to Sam about the wedding and we got into what happened back in New Jersey."
"You told Sam about that?"
Catherine nodded. "But all he cared about was what we know about them and how much we pissed them off. He doesn't care that they almost killed us."
"Look, Catherine, I know he's your father but for as long as I've known him, I've never trusted the man."
Catherine shook her head. "I don't know what to say."
"Well, Sam and I don't exactly have the best history. I've arrested him for murder, twice." Jim stated and held out a handkerchief to her.
Catherine took it and wiped her eyes. "Are you sure you still want to marry me, Jim, you know me being Sam's daughter and all."
Jim shifted in his seat so he could get a better look at Catherine. "Catherine, look at me." he said. She turned toward him and gazed into his blue eyes. "You are nothing like Sam. I can't wait until the day I marry you. Nothing will make me prouder than having you as my wife." Jim smiled. "Except maybe having Lindsey and our new babies as my children."
Catherine smiled. As long as she had Jim, and their family, she knew she was going to be okay. "I love you, Jim." she said and leaned in and kissed him.
"I love you, too, Catherine. Now come on, we have to meet Andrea and Nick for lunch." he said and started the engine.

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Back upstairs in Sam's office, he was on the phone talking to Tony Soprano. "Tony, what the hell were you thinking trying to kill my daughter?" he asked angrily.
"Sam, I didn't know she was your daughter. How could I?"
"Well, she is and you're damn lucky she made it home in one piece."

/Newark, New Jersey/

Tony was sitting behind his desk. "Hey, I never would've went near her, had I known. Trust me on that." Tony replied as Nicole and Paulie walked into the back room.
"Tony, just stay the hell away from her. Do you understand me?" Sam barked angrily.
"Yeah, Sam, I hear you. But I gotta go, we'll talk again real soon." Tony said and hung up the phone.
Nicole was sitting on the couch and looked over at Tony. "Who was that, T.?"
"Sam Braun." he replied.
"Sam Braun?" Paulie repeated. "The guy from Vegas?"
"Yeah. He called to tell me to stay away from his daughter."
"Who the fuck's his daughter?" Nicole asked.
"The broad who was out here with Pete's brother."
"You're shitting me!" Nicole said, completely shocked. Tony shook his head. "Tony, you should've let us cap them."
"Yeah, well, I'm starting to rethink that."
Nicole's eyes lit up at the prospect of being able to finally take them out. "Come on, T., let me take them out."
Tony looked across the room at her and sighed. "Alright, you, Paulie and Christopher make the trip to Vegas. But if the heat gets to be too much, you get your asses back here immediately, understood?"
Nicole and Paulie were already walking to the door. "Yeah, we got it Ton'." Paulie said.
"Oh and if you happen to take Sam Braun out in the process. I won't hold it against you." Tony said, lighting a cigar and taking a puff.
Nicole smiled, getting his meaning. "You got it, Tony. We won't disappoint you." she replied and her and Paulie were out the door.

/Las Vegas, Nevada/

Jim and Catherine were at the Prime Steakhouse, the place where their first date had been interrupted and subsequently lead to a lot of trouble for them, having lunch with Nick and Andrea.
Jim looked across the table at his sister. "So, what's this good news you two wanted to share?"
Andrea looked at Nick and then back to Jim and Catherine and smiled. "We got married."
Jim had just put a piece of steak in his mouth and nearly choked on it when he heard the news. "You what?!" he gasped.
"We got married." Andrea repeated.
"We'd been talking about it for a while now and decided to just go for it." Nick added.
"Well, congratulations, you guys." Catherine finally said. "When did you do it? Although it would've been nice if we could've been there."
"Yeah, we're sorry about that. We actually did it last night. It was really on the spur of the moment." Andrea explained.
"Yeah, no kidding." Jim stated.
"Jim..." Nick started to say.
Jim held his hand up to stop him. "Don't, Nick." he said. Everyone at the table thought that Jim didn't approve but he shocked them all when a smile broke out on his face. "Wow, I mean, it's unexpected but I'm really happy for you."
"You mean that, Jimmy?" Andrea asked.
"Absolutely." Jim replied and then looked at Nick. "But if you ever..."
This time Nick stopped him. "Don't even finish that sentence, Jim. You have nothing to worry about."
Jim smirked. "Yeah, I know."
Just then, Catherine grabbed Jim's arm and screamed. "Ahhhh, Jim!"
"What? What it is?" he asked concerned.
"My water just broke!"
"Oh, God!" Jim yelled and jumped up from the table. "Okay, okay, let's not panic. We got to get to the hospital."
"Let's get her out to the car. It'll be quicker then waiting for an ambulance." Andrea said.
Jim, Nick and Andrea helped Catherine out of the restaurant and into the backseat of Jim's Charger. Nick jumped behind the wheel and Jim and Andrea flanked Catherine in the back.

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Nick pulled the car to a screaming stop outside the emergency room doors. Two orderlies came running out when they saw Andrea jumping out of the car. "What's the trouble, Dr. Brass?" an orderlie asked.
"Got a woman in labor here, guys. Go get us wheel chair."
"Yes, ma'am."
A few seconds later the orderlie arrived with the wheel chair. They helped get Catherine into it and wheeled her into the hospital.

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An hour later, Catherine was in the delivery room and ready to give birth to their twins. Her doctor, Dr. Reynolds, was standing at the foot of the bed and telling Catherine to push.
Jim was standing by Catherine's side and holding her hand. Trying to help her as best he could. "Come on, honey, you can do it. Come on."
"Arghhhhh!" Catherine screamed as she pushed as hard as she could.
"Okay, Catherine and rest." Dr. Reynolds said.
"You're doing great, baby." Jim said and kissed her sweaty forehead.
"Okay, Catherine, I can see the head. One more big push and we'll have the first one out."
Catherine began pushing again with everything she had in her. "Arghhhh!" she screamed and then she heard the wail of the first baby.
"It's a boy." Dr. Reynolds announced.
The nurse showed him to Catherine and Jim before she took him to table to clean him up. "Oh, he's perfect." Jim said.
"Okay, Catherine, it's time to push the next one out. On three."
Catherine looked at Jim alarmed. "Three? Did she say three? Who said anything about three?" Catherine babbled.
"Come on, honey. You can do it."
"Okay, I can see the head. Keep pushing."
Catherine pushed with all her might until the pain subsided and she heard the wail of her second baby.
"It's another boy." Dr. Reynolds said.
Jim and Catherine were grinning from ear to ear. "Boys. We have twin boys, Jim."
"I know, baby, and you did great. They're perfect." Jim replied as the nurse placed the babies in Catherine's arms.
"How much do they weigh?" Catherine asked.
"The first baby was 6 pounds 4 ounces." the nurse replied. "And the second baby was 6lbs even."
"Wow, isn't that big for twins?"
"Well, not really. Considering you were almost to term. I'll give you some time with them before we take them to the nursery."
"Thank you." Jim said and looked at the two bundles in Catherine's arms. "You still set on the names we picked?" he asked and took the baby that she was holding in her right arm.
"Yeah. I think they're perfect." Catherine replied.
Just then Nick and Andrea came into the room. "So, what's the verdict?" Andrea asked.
"Two perfectly, healthy baby boys." Jim replied proudly.
"You got names for them yet?" Nick asked.
Catherine looked at Jim and then back at Nick and Andrea. "Yeah. This is Alexander James Brass." she said, referring to the baby that Jim was holding. "And this is Matthew Peter Brass."
"Peter?" Andrea asked, with tears forming in her eyes.
"Yeah, we wanted to honor Pete." Jim replied.
"I think he would be. Can I hold one of them?"
"Yeah, sure." Jim replied and handed Alex to her.
Nick walked around to the other side of the bed. "You want to hold Matty, Nick?" Catherine asked.
"Absolutely." Nick replied and took the baby from her. "Whoa, I can't believe you have two babies."
"You can't believe it. Try pushing them out." Catherine said.
Nick looked at Catherine and then over at Jim. "You know, it's times like this I'm glad I'm a man." Nick stated and smiled.
Everyone laughed and enjoyed the two new additions to the family. What they didn't know, was that right at that moment their worst nightmares were on a plane heading for Las Vegas.

THE END...

A/N: Sequel is in development and coming soon.