67. Remember, I brought two bags of stuff with me
Chapter 67
Remember, I brought two bags of stuff with me
Luca
F riday morning, I wake up naked in my own bed, holding my naked girl. It’s the first time Lil didn’t come get us in the middle of the night. I nuzzle Ariana until she stirs awake. “Baby, I’m going to go hit the gym. Do you want me to move you to Lil’s room?”
“No, I’ll be okay. And if not, I’ll move myself.”
I kiss her head. “Go back to sleep for a little bit. I love you.”
“Love you,” she mumbles, already on her way back to sleep.
I grab a pair of boxers, and a tiny fake frog falls out onto the floor.
“What the fuck?”
Giggling drifts into the closet from the bed. This is what I’m marrying. Groaning, I call out, “Just how many of these fuckers can I expect to find?”
“I bought three hundred.”
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, pulling my boxers on. “Such a fucking brat. ”
She giggles again, the sound light and happy. The way she makes my heart feel.
God, I love that fucking agent of chaos. She’s a pain in my ass, but I love her more than anything. I toss the damn frog on top of the island and head downstairs.
I stop by the kitchen for my protein drink a couple of hours later, another frog in my pocket I found under a hand weight, and hear Ariana’s voice coming from the pantry. “Just give us a list, Becks. We’ll go to the store for the stuff.”
“What stuff?” I ask.
Ariana bounds out of the pantry and into my arms even though I’m sweaty again. I think she likes me a little funky. “Dinner stuff and breakfast stuff. Literally, all of us forgot about dinner tonight, and Becca promised to make us caramel banana pancakes in the morning but we don’t have any bananas. Wedding day breakfast is very important.”
She looks at me with those pouty lips and big puppy dog eyes. Sighing, I put her on her feet. “Alright. Give me twenty minutes so I can shower and get the security teams in place while you drink your coffee.”
She smiles brightly and kisses me. “Thanks, Beefcake.”
“Sucker,” Lil snickers from a stool. I flip her off without looking at her as I nibble Ariana’s bottom lip.
Upstairs, there’s pink lipstick on our bathroom mirror:
I fucking love you.
3 Ariana
Yes, this is what I’m marrying. My person. I snap a picture of it with my phone before starting the water.
Twenty-three minutes later, I’m back in the kitchen watching Ari drain the last of what’s probably not the same cup of coffee she had when I left.
“What took you so long?” she asks innocently, batting her eyelashes at me as if she didn’t clog the cap of my shampoo bottle with a fucking frog. “We’ve been ready to go for ages.”
“Who’s going where now?” Dad asks, strolling in from the backyard through the open door with hands in his pockets. He’s more relaxed than I’ve seen him in a decade.
“Apparently, the girls and I are going to the grocery store.” Along with a dozen DeVille men. Ariana grins at my half-hearted glare.
“Oh, that sounds like fun, I’m in.”
I stare at him. Who is this man, and what did he do with my dad? “Fun? Going to the grocery store with these two is like watching an animal documentary.”
“No, no, Luca, it’s a religious experience,” Lil says, jumping off the stool I’m pretty sure I fucked Ariana on the other day.
As we pull into the parking lot, Ariana says, “Don’t let me forget to pick up champagne and orange juice so we can make mimosas.”
“You are aware I’m the only person in this car old enough to buy champagne, right?” Dad asks.
Ariana scoffs. “I’ve been buying booze for four years. My fake ID has never let me down.”
“I don’t know why you bother stealing shit from Marco’s liquor cabinet,” I say as she parks the car toward the end of a row. More DeVille cars pull up next to it.
Her eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. “It’s more fun. I’ve been known to replace his liquor, too. One time, I took everything and left tiny bottles of J?germeister.”
Dad’s face pinches. “He hates J?germeister .
“He really fucking does.” My girl’s grin is huge as she looks over her shoulder.
“You have the biggest balls of anyone I’ve ever known,” he says with a laugh. “Even I didn’t pull that kind of shit on him when we were younger, before he was… uh…”
“The boss of a mafia he created?” Ariana supplies.
“Is he finally admitting that’s what it is?” Dad asks.
I scoff and reach for the door handle. “Fuck, no.”
Men move into position, some at the doors and others trailing us. Ford and Sully are part of the away team, both refusing to let Ari out of their sights, just like me. After an hour in the store, my dad is shaking his head with a grin on his face. Lil is pushing a cart that, once again, is filled to the top. Eighty percent of it is pure junk.
We load the bags in the car, and I pull my girl into my arms for a quick kiss. But it’s hard to force myself to pull away once her mouth is on mine.
“Stop being gross,” Lil yells at us from the other side of the car. We break apart, and Ari’s hand dips into her purse. She tosses something at Lil, hitting her in the forehead.
“Ouch, what the fuck, Ari?” Lil rubs her head and looks down. “Oh, it’s candy!” She picks the candy up, unwraps it, and pops it in her mouth before getting into the car.
“Did you put candy in your purse for the sole purpose of throwing it at Lil?”
Ari’s head tilts to the side. “No. Sometimes, I need sugar. It works for both things, so I win.” She slides into the front seat. My gaze meets my dad’s over the roof of the car. He looks so happy when he laughs.
Once we get home, Ariana gets to work on the cake with Lil by her side.
Dad, Marco, and I help set up chairs in the backyard and pretty much do anything else Mia asks us to do. My parents aren’t staying in the same room, and Mom hardly comes out of hers all day.
After dinner, we meet in the backyard for the rehearsal. I’m not surprised when Mom doesn’t show up for it, either. And it doesn’t bother me. The people who matter show up.
Ariana’s eyes sparkle as she and Marco walk toward me. We only run through the whole thing once, with Lil saying ‘blah blah blah, yada yada yada’ instead of the real words. But Callie practices her part four times before Ari convinces her to go inside by promising we’ll play something with her.
“We?” I ask, tugging my girl to my side.
“Yes, we, Luca. You, me, Lil, and anyone else we can wrangle into it.” She looks up at me, a soft smile on her face. I sigh, and when Callie runs up to us, I let her drag me along.
Ariana and Lil lead us to a room near Marco and Mia’s I’ve never been in. One corner is devoted to dolls and anything a baby doll might need. A net of stuffed animals hangs in another corner, with a table and art supplies under it. There’s a Barbie house that’s almost as tall as Ariana and a wardrobe full of costumes. Books, animated movies, and games fill shelves around a TV. It’s a freaking kid’s dream in here
“Holy fuck,” I mutter, forgetting Callie’s hand is tucked in mine for a second. I look over her head at her mom. “Sorry.”
Danielle shrugs. “She’s heard it with these two sailors as her babysitters.” My dad chuckles. I can’t tell if he really wants to play with us and Callie or if he’s just avoiding my mom.
Callie’s eyes are huge. “Luca, what should we play with?” she whispers.
I drop down to her level. “Whatever you want to, kiddo.” She looks around again before tugging her hand from mine. Then she starts dragging the baby dolls to the middle of the room.
“Hey, Ari, we kind of do have a time machine,” Lil says, gesturing to all the stuff .
“What we have is a mom with a mild case of the hoards and enough space to accommodate her habits.” Ariana carries bins of stuff over to where Callie is sitting on the floor, dressing a baby doll.
“Says the girl with a craft graveyard and over two hundred pairs of shoes,” Lil laughs as she plops down onto the carpet.
“It’s not that many,” Ariana scoffs.
“Two hundred and eleven pairs, Ari.”
“How do you even know that?” I ask.
“Numbers,” Lil says with a shrug.
“Here, Luca, you get a baby girl, and you have to share with Ari. I put her in the prettiest dress for you.” Callie hands me the doll and I sit next to her, tugging Ariana with me.
“Hey, that one was always my favorite doll,” Ari says, running a hand over the wild, dark hair on its head.
“I’m going to laugh my ass off if Luca’s a girl dad one day. Nail polish and dress up and My Little Pony, oh my!” Lil says with a chuckle. It doesn’t sound so bad to me.
Ariana moves to lie down on her stomach, sorting through the bin of doll stuff. She hands me a bottle with fake milk in it that disappears when you turn it over, which I flip back and forth for like a full minute.
Callie hands Lil a doll wearing pajamas.
“I miss the days when we could talk Dad into letting us paint his nails. And the times when he had to run out of the house with it still on before he started keeping remover wipes in the car,” Ariana says.
“Yeah, that was fun. Hey, hand that bin of stuff over.” Lil reaches out to grab it, and Ari pulls it away.
“I’m not finished with it. I’m looking for the bowl with the magic peas in it. If Luca can stare at the magic milk bottle for that long, just wait until he sees the peas.” She piles a few things in front of me. “Ah ha!” She tops our pile with a small bowl and spoon before pushing the bin toward Lil.
Callie hands my dad a doll in a snowsuit. “Mr. Luca’s Dad, your baby was very cold, but he’s all nice and warm now.”
“Thanks, Callie. You’re right. He’s a lot happier now.” The hitch in his voice causes me to look up at him, and I find him staring at me.
Lil pushes the bin toward him, and he looks away to pick through it, clearing his throat. While everyone else gets their baby gear picked out, I fuck around with the magic peas. Those things are cool as shit.