#also if there’s an è tho it sounds just a tad different

[ahalliance]

big fan of how all the english ccs read french like spanish, it’s rather endearing

[clownsgobeepbeep]

❛❛ This is a game you cannot hope to win!  ❜❜

Mafia AU where we focus on Coraline’s children, and their true colors

@grotesquegabby Even tho it’s tell the end, Lennie is in this :3

“Mother, why are we here again?” asked a child who sat on a table adorned with a pure white tablecloth and beautiful flowers and plants as a centerpiece. In fact, the entirety of the venue where the child was had a wonderful arrangement all around, sunlight pouring through every window and flowers blooming everywhere, hanging from the ceiling, clinging onto walls, they were everywhere.

“Because Mr. Jennings has offered us all a treat, darling. We are also to discuss some business manners whilst you all eat.”her mother replied, motioning to a man who sat beside her, this man being her date for the day.

“Your kids are going to love this place Coraline. I’ve heard so many good things about it, never been here however.” he glanced over at the woman who gave a polite smile. “I’ve been waiting for a special occasion, and this is obviously one.”

“What’s the food like?” one of the other kids asked.

“It’s Italian, very formal. Every single ingredient is brought over from Italy, so all the food is the absolute best.”

“How can you be so sure if you’ve never even been here?” 

“Dante, hush.” Coraline turned to the boy before he nodded, a waiter coming along and handing everybody their own menu. “It’s all in Italian.”

She looked through every page of the menu book, feeling a tad bit concerned before her date gave a hearty chuckle.

“Not to worry sweet Coraline. I happen to be fluent in Italian, so you and the children can sit back and relax. I’ll handle the ordering and make sure you receive only the best.”

Coraline’s children all glanced at each other, sharing looks that could only describe the irritation neither of the adults noticed.

“If you say so.”Coraline set down her menu, nodding at the children. The boys looked at Lily, waiting for a command, and she set down her menu which prompted them to follow along.

“Ciao bella famiglia.(Hello lovely family.)” a voice came, everybody turning to the spot in between the adults where a waiter holding a notepad stood. “How are we doing all today on this fine day?”

“Very well, thank you.”Coraline felt as the waiter took her hand, placing a kiss on it as Mr. Jennings was not looking too pleased at the sight. However, he smiled once the waiter turned to him.

“Have you your orders ready signore?(sir?)”

“Oh, yes. But let us order drinks first.” he glimpsed at Coraline who nodded in agreement. “We’ll have the Masseto wine, and the children will each have a soda. Which flavors-”

“Actually.” Lily spoke up as Mr. Jennings turned to her. “I’ll have the Holy Basil tea with both ginger and lemon. Hold the sugar.”

“And I would like a Cinnamon Berry Ice Tea with additional berries.”Dante smiled before the twins followed.

“And we would like glasses of water with as much ice as possible.”

“And I, a pink champagne.”Coraline turned to the waiter as Jennings was shocked. “Bring a Masseto as well, for him.”

“Of course signorita.(Ms.) And what of your meal?”

“Would an appetizer be alright with all of you?”Jennings looked over at the children who each shrugged, making him sigh in relief on the inside. He soon grabbed the menu and read through what he could tell was the appetizers section, recognizing one word that came out of Lily’s mouth, so this was bound to please her thus pleasing the others.

“We’ll have the, uh...insalad dee basil caprise.”

“Do you mean the insalata di basilico caprese(caprese basil salad?)?”

“We don’t like salad.”Dante commented before the others murmured in agreement, Jennings in turn clenching a fist under the table.

“Surprise us with anything.”

“And, what of your entrees?”

Jennings clenched his jaw as he attempted to contain his anger, looking over the entree section which he did not understand.

“What’s...what do you recommend?”

“Well, let’s see. We have the Pomodoro Tortellacini, Gamberetto Jumbo avvolto nel prosciutto crudo(Proscuitto Wrapped Jumo-Shrimp),Zuppa di Mais (Corn Chowder), Spaghetti alla caponata di melanzane siciliane(Sicilian Eggplant Caponata Spaghetti), and the Mahi-Mahi alla griglia(Grilled Mahi-Mahi).”

“Well, I, uh-”

“Il Mahi-Mahi alla griglia contiene basilico fresco?” Lily questioned the waiter, and to Jennings’ surprise, all in perfect Italian.

“Sì, certo! Contiene anche gnocchi al pesto e pomodori bruschetta.” eagerly replied the waiter. “E' questo che desideri?”

“Si', per favore. E se possibile, aggiungere del basilico extra e un limone appena tagliato.“ nodded Lily before turning to Mr. Jennings with an innocent smile. “ What are you going to order Mr. Jennings?”

Jennings looked over at Coraline who was proudly staring at her daughter, never tearing her eyes away from her.

“I’m sorry, did I not mention that my children are fluent in all European dialects?”

_____________

“Quell'uomo è assolutamente idiota. Non posso credere che mamma abbia accettato la sua offerta di appuntamento.(That man is absolutely idiotic. I can't believe mom accepted his date offer.).” whispered one of the children, this being Dante who popped a cherry tomato in his mouth with his siblings nodding.

“Nemmeno io. Ovviamente non gli piacciamo nemmeno noi.(Me neither, he obviously doesn’t even like us.).” Rayden rolled his eyes, staring right at the man who told Coraline a joke. Or at least, it was an attempt at a joke, especially considering how Coraline merely gave him a look.

“Beh non ci piace neanche a noi.(Well we don’t like him either.)” Lily posited, stabbing her knife into her meal, clutching the utensil tightly as she glared at Jennings.

“Lily, cosa faremo con questo verme?(Lily, what are we going to do about this creep?)” Robyn leaned in to quietly ask, the girl craning her head as she felt the warm sunlight from the window behind her hit her. She shifted in her chair, turning and noticing that the bottom of the window had small glasses that could be easily moved to let in a calm breeze. Lily’s eyes widened as she then spotted a friend right outside.

“Noi aspettiamo...(We wait...)”Lily climbed off of her chair, moving one of the glass pieces to allow her hand to go through the window.

“Cossa facciamo?(What do we do?)” Rayden leaned in towards Lily who placed a finger on her lips, trying to keep their intentions secret.

“Creare una distrazione, portare via la mamma. (Create a distraction, get mom away.)”

“Mommy!” Rayden called Coraline, prompting her to turn to him.

“Yes sweetheart?”

“I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Would you like me to accompany you?”

“Oh, I can do that.”Jennings already stood up, but Rayden shook his head.

“I want my mommy to go with me!”Rayden frowned before Coraline stood up and the little boy hopped off his chair to run to her.

“It’s alright, I’ll take him. You sit tight and look after the other children.”Coraline then excused herself, walking away with Rayden who caught Jennings gaze on Coraline’s behind.

“Eyes over here Mr. Jennings.” sounded Dante’s voice before the man turned to him and the other kids. “What were you looking at, sir?”

“Nothing, making sure your mom gets to where she has to safely.”

“More like her posterior.” Lily commented as she cut into her mahi-mahi. “Mr. Jennings, what are your intentions with our mother?”

“No ill intentions, that’s for sure. Just-”

“Marriage? The bragging right to say that you have a trophy wife? Or perhaps the right to all her fortune and business? Status?”Lily fluttered her eyelashes, eating a piece of her fish before staring at the man. “No need to keep up with your facade, we have gone through this several times, and it all ends the same way.”

“Oh but Lily-”

“You call me Liliosa because you have no right to call me Lily.”the girl slammed a hand on the table, startling Jennings. “How about you take a napkin, write that you had an emergency, and walk away before we make you regret even inviting us?”

This made Jennings’ smile falter before he gave a frown, leaning in closer to the children who all glared at him.

“Now you brats listen up.”he started, gritting his teeth as he made sure nobody was around. “I don’t care what any of you think or feel because one day, you’ll all have to call me ‘dad’, right before I send each and every one of you to different boarding schools far away from my future wife and me.”

“Oh, how cliche of you Mr. Jennings.” Robyn rolled his eyes before taking a sip from his water. “Have you any other villanous schemes from movies like The Parent Trap?”

“Or Back to the Future II?” Dante gave an unimpressed look before Lily grabbed a knife, stabbing it right onto the table, right next to Jennings’ hand which caught is attention and surprised him greatly.

“This is a game you cannot hope to win.” Lily softly spoke as she was now in Jennings’ face, patting his head. “This is our game, and we have never lost once.”

“Well, be prepared to feel defeat for the first time.” Jennings replied, watching as Lily sat back down in her seat as she and the other boys started to eat, casually as if nothing had ever happened for Coraline had now come back.

“Here, let me help you.” the man immediately stood up, helping Coraline into her chair as Rayden sat next to the others. Jennings soon sat back down, realizing that Coraline gave him an odd look.

“Is something wrong dear?”

“Um, well. It appears you may have something on your head.”

“Has my hair been undone? Here let me-” Jennings reach up to slick his hair down, but was confused at the touch of something slimy...snotty...He continued feeling for a bit, not knowing why his head felt in such a way, until there was a loud croak.

“A frog!” Robyn pointed at Jennings’ head, laughing loudly before the man jumped up completely startled. He attempted to remove the frog, not even realizing that it had hopped onto the table, onto his plate.

The children all laughed and giggled upon noticing this, and Jennings took notice as well, eventually flipping over his plate which caused the frog to hop away and towards Lily. 

She grabbed the amphibian before clibing off her chair and crawling towards the window with a giggle, setting the frog back outside.

“Thank you friend.” she whispered to it, patting its head before it hopped away into a nearby pond. Lily then sat back in her chair, taking a sip from her tea as Jennings finally settled down in his seat.

“Are you alright sir?” a waiter came by.

“No! I mean, of course.” Jennings contained his rage, fixing his suit and hair as Coraline blinked in surprise. “May I...may I get another plate?”

“Certainly sir, right away. Let us move you to another table as well, yes?”

“Splendid.”Jennings muttered out, flustered due to the fury he hid and the humiliation he. The whole group moved to another table as waiters brought over each of their plates, but the twins decided to help in carrying their ice filled cups of water.

“Poor Mr. Jennings.”

“I agree Robyn.” Rayden nodded as the man sat down, approaching him with their glasses in hand.

“We hope you feel alright after what just happened.” Robyn gave a smile to Jennings to gave a discreet glare to him.

“Oh yes.”Rayden smiled, both of the twins giving a comforting pat on the back to Jennings. However, this pat happened to be with the same hands that held onto their icy drinks, which were soon spilled inside the back of Jennings’ coat.

Once again, Jennings stood up and freaked out, Coraline watching as he danced around like a complete fool while attempting to take the ice and water out of his coat.

“Dance monkey, dance!” Dante laughed out loud as the man removed his coat to reveal his soaked shirt.

“Sir! I everything-”

“I’m alright!” Jennings snapped at a waiter who attempted to aid him. “I’m alright, just...I just got a little wet is all.”

Jennings turned to the twins who quietly snickered among themselves before lifting a finger to catch the waiter’s attention.

“May we please have glasses of water with ice to the top?” they asked in unison before the waiter nodded and left to bring what they had asked for.

“Mr. Jennings.”Coraline called the man’s attention who turned to her. “Are you in the condition to continue this...discussion? We have not yet spoken of your business.”

“Oh, oh yes. I am so sorry Coraline.” Jennings nodded with a deep sigh. “Of course, let us talk about that. I have a proposal you won’t be able to deny!”

“Idiota.(Idiot.)”

“Lei li nega tutti.(She denies all of them).”

“Infatti.(Indeed.)”

Dante went back to picking his food as the others continued to eat. But soon enough, Dante looked up as he caught a certain scent.

Fire.

He glanced around the restaurant before he caught sight of a waiter carrying a large platter with some shish kebabs, every single one flaming.Dante pondered at it for a moment, tapping his chin before he felt somebody touch his hand. Once turning he spotted Lily, and she gave a silent nod which made Dante smirk.

They both watched as the waiter walked around and eventually neared their table. One in range, Dante stuck out a leg, causing the waiter to trip over and drop the platter of flaming shish kebabs which made everybody around gasp in fear.

However, it brought a relief to the children when the shish kebabs only landed on Jennings, nowhere else. Phew.

“Oh shit!” Jennings yelled out, jumping up from his chair and grabbing whatever drink he could get ahold of, splashing it onto himself but only caused the flames on his coat to grow.

Everybody watched as the man ran around, eventually coming towards the table where the group had previously been sitting. Since it was placed right next to a window, Jennings smashed through it causing everybody to gasp before Coraline and the kids ran over to the broken window. They watched Jennings run and jump into the pond as a police officer ran over to said area.

“Sir, are you alright!? I heard there was an emergency involving fire.” the officer stood by the pond, helping Jennings up who tore his arms away from him.

“No, I’m not alright!” Jennings yelled at the officer. “Those fucking brats in there! They did this to me!”

“Brats? I...pardon?” the officer turned to where the man pointed an accusing finger, spotting four kids and an all too familiar woman. “Sir, that’s rather improper that you refer to children in such a way.”

“Children? Children!?Those aren’t fucking children! They’re the Devil’s Spawns!” Jennings exploded with a full face of red. “They have ruined this entire afternoon since I first met them today!”

The officer and Jennings soon heard the sound of heels clicking towards them, both turning as Jennings was soon thrown to the ground with a powerful smack to the face,

“Never refer to my children with such insults again.” Coraline hissed at the man before the officer leaned down with a polite smile.

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you leave.”

“But, Coraline-!”

“Sir.” the officer repeated. “Please leave this woman and her children alone. Now.”

Jennings stood up and gave a glare to the children who were still standing in the window, each one giving a sly smile and wave before he walked away pretty soaked.

Once alone, Coraline turned to the officer who looked up at her with a much sweeter smile, though he had already looked sweet before.

“Officer Green.”

“Ms. D’Vitt. It’s so nice to see you here, but I wish it had been under better circumstances. Are you alright?”

“Yes, I am. I am feeling much better.” Coraline smiled down at the officer who gave a nod.

“Mother? Who is this?” came Lily’s voice as she and the boys now hid behind Coraline, peeking out to look at Lennie.

“Oh, Officer Green. I’d like to you to meet my children”

“Oh! So these are the little ones?” Lennie smiled knowingly, giving a wave to them as he noticed some kind of shyness yet tension. “I suppose this is...Liliosa, was it?”

“How do you know my name?”

“We met some other night, darling.”Coraline played with Lily’s hair bow. “I told him about all of you.”

“Yes she did, and you all look like such nice kids.” Lennie grinned as the children all whispered behind Coraline, Lily eventully stepping out from behind her mother to stand before Lennie. She held out a hand to him, expecting a shake, yet was instantly surprised when Lennie placed a kiss on her hand.

“It is a pleasure meeting Coraline’s children.” he politely greeted, then feeling as Lily grabbed his hand and gave it a tight squeeze. Lennie could feel that she was trying to threaten him, yet he smiled.

“Of course. We just want you to know that we love our mother very much, so much. We would be angry if anybody hurt her.”

“Oh, Lily, hush.” Coraline pat her daughter’s head, then turning to look behind where the broken window still was of course. “Officer Green, may I ask for a quick favor?”

“Of course!”

“Can you keep an eye on the children whilst I go to pay our part of the bill?”

“Yes, don’t worry about it Ms. D’Vitt.”Lennie nodded before Coraline walked back. The officer looked back at the children who individually gave him a glare, whispering to each other in the Italian dialect once again.

“E' terribilmente basso per essere un poliziotto.(He’s awfully short for a cop.)"

"Sorride troppo. Pensavo che i poliziotti dovessero essere più cattivi e minacciosi.(He smiles too much. I thought cops were supposed to be meaner and threatening.)”

"E' meglio che non sia un altro di quei pretendenti idioti che cercano di corteggiare la madre.(He better not be another one of those idiotic suitors trying to court mother.)”

"Un altro di quei pretendenti?Cosa vuoi dire?(Another one of those suitors?""Whatever do you mean?)”

The children’s eyes widened as they all turned to Lennie who was still smiling, looking as polite as always, hearing as he replied to them.

"Lo ammetto, tua madre è una donna molto bella. Ma noi non siamo che semplici conoscenti.(I do admit, your mother is a very beautiful woman. We are but mere acquaintances however.)”

Their expressions were filled with complete shock as they looked at Lennie, his smile never faltering. He saw Lily turn to her brothers, whispering in a different dialect this time.

“Er kann Italienisch! Was, wenn er Mom das Zeug erzählt, das wir gesagt haben?(He knows Italian! What if he tells mom the stuff we said?)”

“Oh, ich würde nie über euch Kinder reden.(Oh, I would never tattle on you children.)” Lennie took a step towards the once again horrified kids. “Es tut mir leid, ich spreche auch zufällig Deutsch.(I’m sorry, I also happen to speak German.)”

Before any of the kids could speak again, they were interrupted by the sound of Coraline’s heels on the ground as she returnd.

“I’m back.Thank you so much Officer Green for watching over the kids.”

“Oh please Ms. D’Vitt.” Lennie chuckled while looking at her. “It’s no problem at all, and you can call me Lennie if you’d like.”

“Well then, Lennie.”Coraline quietly chuckled. “If we are to ever see each other again, or even know, you may call me Coraline.”

Lennie gave a nod as he kept on smiling at her, then directing his gaze to the children. Coraline soon gave a quiet sigh as Lily and Dante held each of her hands.

“I’m afraid we must be on our way now. I promised the children I would take them to the beach after this lunch.”

“Oh of course, then I’ll be on my way as well.” Lennie bowed his head slightly. “I hope to see you around some other time, Coraline.”

“As do I.” Coraline nodded, both adults parting ways as the children followed behind her like ducklings. They took one glance behind to look at Lennie who had turned to smile at Coraline. The children quietly scoffed at this before turning to look at their mother, surprised to see that she was smiling with a natural pink hue on her cheeks.