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“What’s Pop doing here?”

Teddy and Nikki drove to the docks and saw Mick’s dark red Escalade in front of the office.

“What did we do wrong this time?” Nikki asked as they got out of Teddy’s Bugatti.

Teddy couldn’t say, but he knew his father didn’t show up at the docks for the fun of it. They went inside.

But not only was Mick in the office, but Roz was there, too, and Marco. Marco was seated behind the desk. Did something happen?

“What’s wrong?” Teddy asked.

“Nothing’s wrong,” said Mick. “You two are leaving.”

Nikki frowned. “What did we do?”

“Too much,” said Roz.

“Way too much,” said Marco.

“Who told you to sit behind Nikki’s desk?” asked Teddy. “Get your ass up.”

Marco held out his arms. “I’m just sitting, dang.”

“Could you please tell us what specifically we got wrong this time?” a worried Nikki asked them.

“You’ve been out in the field,” said Mick.

Teddy nodded. “Like always, that’s right.”

“And you’ve been managing the docks.”

“Like always,” Nikki said. “Yes.”

“And the nanny’s raising Kimmie,” said Roz.

But both Teddy and Nikki jumped defensive and declared up and down that nobody was raising their daughter but them.

“When was the last time the three of you had dinner together?” Roz asked them.

Teddy looked at Nikki, and Nikki looked at Teddy. They couldn’t remember the last time. They only knew it was months ago, before all of that craziness went down.

Then they both looked at Roz. “If we did something wrong,” Teddy said, “just tell us. You don’t have to drag us down as parents. We’re doing the best we can do, on top of everything else. Just tell us.”

Roz handed Teddy a folder.

“What’s this?” Teddy asked as he opened it, and he and Nikki looked inside.

“Those are boarding passes,” said Roz. “You two, and Kimmie, have a worldwide cruise you have to get to that is scheduled to leave today and return in about three months.”

Teddy and Nikki stared at Roz in disbelief, and then they looked at Mick. Was this some kind of prank? They couldn’t take it all in. “What do you mean?” Nikki asked. “A cruise?”

“Around the world, yes,” Roz said. “With your daughter.”

“But what about this place?” asked Teddy. “There’s no way we can leave it for three months.”

“Yes it is,” said Mick.

“But who’s gonna run it? You Pop, when you’ve got your hands full with your corporation?”

“Meet your new consigliere and chief capo,” said Mick as he nodded toward Marco.

Marco smiled and waved. “Hello good people,” he said.

Teddy frowned. “ Marco is going to run the entire syndicate?”

“With me as backup, yes,” said Mick. “And when you return, you and Nikki will continue to unload your workload on him. He’s young, he’s smart, and he’s a member of this family. I saw him in action. I know he can do it.”

Teddy nodded. “I agree with you.”

“So did I,” said a hopeful Nikki. The idea of a months’ long vacation was like music to her ears. She was exhausted and Teddy was too. And Kimmie will be with them? It was heavenly to her. If it was true.

“He can do it,” Teddy added, “but will he do it is the question.”

“I’m here,” said Marco. “And I’m ready. And if I fail, I won’t only have Boss’s foot up my ass, but Ma’s foot, Nikki’s foot, and your foot too. So I thought about that. I can give this my all, or suffer foot-in-ass pain for the rest of my life.” He smiled. “I decided to give it my all. Why not?”

“But what about your operation in California?” Teddy asked him.

“I shut all that shit down,” said Mick. “There is no longer any operation in California.”

“With my blessing, he shut it down,” Marco said. “I’ll admit, my blessing came after I was presented with the option to either accept it or, once again, get foot in ass. So I accepted it. Why not?”

Nikki and Teddy smiled and shook their heads. That was so Marco!

Then they looked at those boarding passes again. It seemed too good to be true. And then they looked at each other.

“Do you accept the terms of Marco as your new chief capo?” Roz asked them.

“I do wholeheartedly,” Nikki said, smiling at Marco.

“Thank you, Nikki.”

Teddy stared at his son. Then he smiled and nodded too. “I do too,” he said.

“Ah thanks, Pop,” said Marco.

“Do you accept the offer of a three-month vacation?” Roz asked.

Nikki grinned. “With bells and whistles,” she said.

Teddy smiled, knowing that was the term Nikki used to let Kimmie know that her father was on his way. He looked at his son, and nodded his head. “With bells and whistles,” he said, “we accept the offer.”

And he and Nikki, feeling unburdened by excessive work for the first time in a long time, hugged each other vigorously, and then Roz and even Mick. And Marco too. They could hardly express their gratitude.

And then they hopped into Teddy’s Bugatti and took off so comically fast, just in case Mick changed his mind, that even Mick found himself laughing too.