Chapter 1 #6
"Absolutely," Gio says seriously. "I promise. Come on. Look, Dada likes the snow too." He puts a bit of snow in my palm. Then he packs some into a little ball and holds it out to Antonio. "Here. Throw it at me."
Antonio giggles just at the thought. He takes the snowball with both hands and throws it... with absolutely zero strength. It doesn't even reach Gio. It falls halfway between them. We both lose it laughing. "See?" Gio grins. "It's fun! Do it again. Throw me another one."
I make another snowball and tuck it into Antonio's tiny hands. He throws it, and this time Gio dramatically acts like it hits him so hard he stumbles back like he got shot.
Antonio SCREAMS laughing. "Do you maybe want to put on warmer clothes later and come out for a snowball fight?" Gio asks him. "Hm? What do you think?"
"Yes, Daddy," Antonio says immediately. "With Maco and Lolezo."
I laugh. "That's it? Just Maco and Lolezo? No one else?"
He pauses, suddenly looking a bit guilty.
"We're all gonna play together, okay?" I say quickly. "All of us. Everyone." His face lights up again. "But first," I add, "we're going to decorate the tree. Remember how we decorated ours? Did you like it?"
"Yes! Will it have... a star?" he asks, so serious. "Of course it'll have a star. All trees have stars. And you're gonna be the one to put it on top, okay?" He nods happily.
We head back to the cars to help the others bring everything inside. "Damn. This is all yours?!" I ask Lorenzo, staring up at the house.
"Lucky for you, yes," he says. "Inside this house, I've played endless hide and seek with your husband."
I turn to Gio. "You? Played hide and seek?"
"Only because he forced me," Gio mutters. "I was usually just being mysterious." Lorenzo snorts as he drags a bag out of the trunk. "He was not mysterious at ALL. When my mom yelled at me, she yelled at him too."
I can't stop the laugh that slips out. I can see it so clearly, little Gio and little Lorenzo running around this same house, getting yelled at, hiding behind furniture...
And now he's back. With a husband and a kid. Daisy reaches for one of the bags and Lorenzo immediately slaps her hand away gently. "Absolutely not. Leave it, ma'am. You are allowed to carry your water bottle. That's it."
Valentina moves to grab her own bag and Lorenzo whirls on her too. "Oh my GOD. I'm surrounded by pregnant women who are desperate to carry things." Marco and Noah step in and scoop up all the girls' bags, while Gio and Lorenzo are already walking ahead with like five more each.
Noah's already out of breath. "Girl, what the fuck did you pack? I swear there are ROCKS in here."
"If you need something and I have it, I'm not giving it to you. I hope you suffer."
"I love you too, girl," Noah replies. We finally make it to the front door. Lorenzo starts fighting with the lock. We all stand there in a line, just watching. Gio is still holding three bags and Lulu's carrier.
We wait. We keep waiting.
"Give me the damn key, Lorenzo," Gio says eventually. He snatches it from his hand, turns it once, and the door opens instantly.
We all walk inside. The house is actually insanely big.
And it has that winter vibe, dark walls, random stuff on every surface.
It's crowded but cozy. I already love it.
I don't even need to see the rest. Gio comes up behind me, wraps his arms around my waist and presses a very, very happy kiss to my cheek.
"I can't believe you're standing inside this house," he says quietly. "I never thought you'd see it. Who would've thought?"
I laugh. "Don't talk to me. I'm sure you've talked shit about me in here when you were younger."
"Don't even start," he says. "I literally wrote about you in my diary while I was here." I smile like an idiot. Lorenzo wipes his forehead dramatically and walks over. "Alright. Let's go find everyone's rooms, people. Come on, move, move, look alive."
He marches down the hallway and we all follow like a tour group. I actually laugh to myself because that's exactly what we look like, tired tourists with luggage.
"So," he says, stopping in front of a door. "This room right here is for the poor young couple with the child."
"Amen," Gio mutters.
"Yes," Lorenzo nods, then keeps going. "Right next door, is Jin’s room, because he's alone and this is the smallest room.
" Jin gapes. "Oh, great. So you're putting me next to the horny, out-of-control couple, in the SMALLEST room, AND you're calling me 'alone'?
Thanks so much, Lorenzo. Really feel the love, man. "
I turn around, offended on instinct. "What kind of attack was that? What did we do to you?!"
Jin laughs. "Rava, you're lucky you have a child. I could've said MUCH worse."
I face forward again. "If he starts crying, I'm bringing him straight into your room."
"I'll stay in your room on purpose," Jin shrugs. "I'll ruin the mood and you will not be able to do anything. You will be miserable, like me."
"I'm still gonna do what I'm gonna do whether you're in the room or not, you can watch if you want," I reply.
Noah absolutely loses it behind us. Lorenzo raises his voice over the chaos. "Anyway, moving on from the argument between these siblings about who's allowed to be present during the... reproduction of human life—"
"brO WHAT REPRODUCTION OF LIFE, WHAT ARE YOU EVEN SAYING," Gio shouts, and at this point we're all gone. I gently cover Antonio's ears. I'm not even sure if Marco is breathing. His face is bright red from laughing and he's hiding it in his hands.
"ANYWAY," Lorenzo yells. "Shut up. Across the hall, that's where me and my wife will be. Here." He taps the door. "If you need ANY help, at ANY time, no matter what happened... you knock on Rava's door. Not mine."
Oh.
Marco collapses again and so do I. "Thank you, Lorenzo," I say. "Thank you for the trust."
"You're welcome," Lorenzo says, waving us off. "Marco and Noah will take the last room, all the way at the end."
"HEY, why are we alone?!" Marco complains.
"Because you two never shut up, you're always talking and laughing and you'll ruin our sleep," Lorenzo answers, completely serious.
Noah dramatically throws himself onto Marco and they hug. "They don't deserve us, baby."
"And finally," Lorenzo continues, "Valentina gets the big room next to ours. With its OWN bathroom." Valentina throws her hands up. "Thank you, guys. My bladder has defeated me as a human being." She and Daisy high-five.
"Alright," Lorenzo claps. "Everyone go to your rooms, get settled, because in a bit we're going out for groceries. Who's cooking?"
"ME," I yell before I even realize my hand's in the air.
"Dada!" Antonio squeals, lifting his little hand too. Daisy swoops in and takes him. "Oh I'm gonna EAT you, tiny boy, I love you so much, you love your auntie, right? You love her?? Yes, you DO—come with me, I brought toys."
She disappears with him. "Goodbye, everyone," Gio says instantly, grabs my wrist, drags me into our room, and shuts the door behind us. I don't even have time to smile. He pins me straight against the door and kisses me everywhere.
Everywhere.
My mouth, my cheeks, my neck. His hands are everywhere too, and mine are doing the exact same thing back.
He smiles against my lips and I bite his lip piercing just to tease him.
Then he pulls me by the hand and we both fall back onto the bed, lying on our backs on this HUGE ridiculously soft mattress.
He tugs me on top of him and slides his hands up and down my waist. I laugh. "Why are you hard already?"
"Oh, it's not just today. It's been a week, remember? I feel like my balls are gonna explode."
I bury my face in his neck, laughing.
Maybe I do this too often with him.
Maybe that's why Antonio does it now. Mini copycat. I start kissing Gio's neck softly and his hands slide down, grab my ass, squeeze. "Maybe we actually have time tonight," I whisper. "I'll ask Daisy to keep Antonio. You're not the only one who feels like he's gonna explode."
"Great," Gio says, pulling me in tighter.
"She better take him, because I need you so bad I might cry.
" I laugh and kiss his jaw. "I'm glad you still feel like that," I say.
"Because if you told me 'oh now that we're parents there's no time, I'm not in love anymore blah blah,' I would slap you into the wall. Not even kidding."
He bursts out laughing.
Seeing him laugh makes me laugh too. His smile is stupidly beautiful. "What do you mean still?" he says. "Sometimes I look at you and wonder how the hell I got this lucky."
I turn my head away. "Yeah, okay, sure. Like you actually say that."
"I SWEAR," he says, sitting up. "I say it all the time. I can't get tired of you. It scares me."
"Well, I can't get tired of you either," I admit. "So I guess that's a good sign."
He grins at me. "So... we have a date tonight? Right here?"
I laugh at the way he says it. "Yes. We have a date. Right here. On this bed."
He smirks. "What's the dress code?"
"The less, the better." "Got it," he says immediately. And I swear, why do I have butterflies arranging a date with my actual husband??
14) Christmas Trip Pt. 3
Gio
I have a date tonight. A date. With my husband. I swear to God, I want to jump on this giant chalet bed and scream.
I love Antonio. Don't get me wrong. I adore him. He is literally everything, all the stars glued together with baby drool. I would die for him.
No—scratch that. I'd live for him, even if I wanted to die. I would literally kill for him. I would do anything for him.
BUT.
Every single time, and I mean EVERY time I try to have even one moment with Rava, it’s like Antonio senses the horny molecules in the air.
My hand slips inside Rava's pants, and suddenly, "Daddy I'm thirsty!"
"Dada, I pee!"
"Daddy, I need to play IMMEDIATELY!"