Accept My Baby

Chapter 3

Rafael Imperioli would have loved to walk out of the dining room and leave his mother talking but he knew it was not going to help. She would call him if he walked out and if he did not pick up, she would have left so many messages on his voicemail that he could not get any more messages if someone called him. That would have been a definite disaster especially if someone was calling him with urgent news or maybe some sort of emergency.

It felt like his mother, Susanna had been talking for ages. He took a sip of his drink and sighed loudly.

“Mama, we have this talk every time I am here,” Rafael said.

“That’s because I believe in being persistent,” Susanna said.

“Well, your persistence is beginning to make me rethink these family dinners.” He took another bite of his food and shrugged. “I am not ten anymore. You cannot just tell me…no, dictate. The word I am looking for is dictate.”

“Dictate?” Susanna asked and Rafael nodded.

“Yes dictate. Because that is what I feel you are doing right now.”

“Rafael, I’m not dictating anything,” Susanna said, looking right into her son’s eyes. She turned to look at her husband, Paolo. “Paolo, will you tell him I am not dictating.”

“Yes, son. Your mother and I just want what is best for you,” Paolo said and Rafael forced out a laugh. He found it quite strange that his father would choose to second his wife especially after he had partied like Tony Stark for the better part of his thirties and forties.

“Papa, like I said to mama. I am old enough. I know what I am doing.”

“But all you seem to be doing is blowing your money,” Paolo pointed out.

“And making headlines of every tabloid known to man.” Susanna looked at her iPad that had been resting on the table next to her plate. “And I mean every tabloid. American and European…Us Weekly, OK!”

“They are just tabloids, Mama,” Rafael said dismissively.

Susanna shook her head.

“If it was just the tabloids printing things about my son, I would be alright but now even the serious publications have articles about you. The Washington Post, The Herald…”

“What your mother is trying to say Rafael is that we have been genuinely concerned about you and the direction you have been taking lately,” Paolo started, cutting Susanna short.

“The direction I have been taking?” Rafael asked. He was not sure whether the tone in his voice was contempt or surprise. There was no telling what it really was. All he knew was that he just wanted to get up and walk away. “And what is this ‘direction’ you are referring to Papa?”

“Son, we know you are old enough to make your own decisions but all this partying you are doing…it is not good for anyone and given who you are, there are a number of opportunists out there looking to make a quick buck.”

Rafael put his fork down and sighed.

“What do you mean, exactly?” he asked. “When you say given who I am? What do you mean?”

“You are the Imperioli heir, everyone knows that. And when you are out there losing yourself…it would not be hard for some woman to trap you and…”

Rafael forced out a laugh and shook his head.

“Are you seriously giving me the s*x talk? At thirty years old?” he asked.

“I always see you with these girls, models and what not…protecting my son is something that comes naturally,” Susanna said.

Paolo took a long deep breath.

“Listen, son. Why don’t you just join your brother in the family business and…”

Rafael shook his head before Paolo could finish. They had been down this road before. One too many times actually and he was not about to give in to the pressure. Not this time. He knew exactly what his parents had in mind. Exactly what they had in mind. Joining the family business meant bending to their rules. Not having any free will to do as he would have wanted. It was some kind of enslavement as far as he was concerned.

“I don’t need the Imperioli business,” he said.

“I know you don’t Rafael but it is your legacy. It is what we have built for you and we will be damned if we let you have some floozy get everything we have worked so hard for,” Susanna said.

“So, what? You are going to get me some girl from a respectable family to marry?” he asked in a cynical voice.

His parents were not past doing something as ridiculous as that. They had tried it before, subtly setting him up with what they thought were women of stature. And they were always women Rafael couldn’t stand. Women who were always trying too much to be what they really weren’t. Women who only looked to marry rich so that they could sip on wine and gossip when they were not traveling the world on their husband’s dime.

“Honestly, Rafael…it’s not like you have shown us that you have the best choices when it comes to the women you date.” Susanna interlaced her fingers together and rested her elbows on the table. “I think it would be wise for you to settle down. Get someone respectable and get married.”

“Getting married is a big deal, Mama,” Rafael said as he reached for his glass. “I can’t just go out there and bring someone into my life. It’s not a loaf of bread I am buying or anything like that.”

“That is not what we are saying, Rafael….” Paolo started before Rafael ran his fingers through his hair. By that time, he’d heard enough and he was not about to give them another opportunity to say whatever piece of sh*t they thought they had to. Already, he felt like he was doing them a favor by being there.

“Look, Mama. Papa,” he started. “You made it very clear I was cut off if I did not give up on my dreams. And you even went ahead and cut me off which was fine because I was a financially sound person. And now that I have proven that I can stand on my own two feet without you, you finally feel the need to barge in again.”

“We are not barging in, Rafael,” Susanna said.

“Your mother is right. We are simply concerned,” Paolo said as he looked at Rafael.

There was a long silence before Rafael finally spoke.

“And what is it that brought about this ‘concern’?”

He noticed a brief look between his parents before his mother spoke.

“This party you are holding this weekend,” she started.

“You mean the day after tomorrow?” he asked and she nodded.

“Yes, that very one. I have noticed that the guest list is all about the who’s who in the same tabloids I am talking about.”

Rafael shrugged.

“I don’t understand what you are driving at, Mama.”