Chapter 62 Stan
SIXTY-TWO
STAN
Apparently, I was a glutton for punishment.
Not only did I prolong the agony by reminding Kitty about her gift, which saw her hauling me to the locker room where she met with the victorious if pungent team, but the journey out of the stadium involved Kitty fucking my mouth.
Ordinarily, that would be a happy occasion, but just as her hands were inches away from burrowing into my pants, we pulled up outside our end destination.
She panted against my lips: “We’re home?”
“Not exactly,” I answered gruffly, resenting my plan now that my dick was weeping with need for her.
Gésu, the power this woman had over me… My personal supply of Kryptonite.
“Where are we?”
“The only restaurant Matri will patronize.”
“Wha…” Her glance tripped over the vehicles surrounding us outside the limo. “What’s happening?”
“The meeting.”
Her dazed eyes cleared. “No.”
“Yes, duci.”
“No!”
“Yes.”
“NO! You cannot mean to make this a big family event when I need your cock in me right this second?!”
“It seemed like a great idea at the time.” I groaned.
“I’m never letting you plan anything again.” She pushed her forehead against mine then almost head-butted me when the back door opened.
“STOP MAULING STAN!” Neev shrieked around a wave of laughter as she tugged and pulled on Kitty’s arm until she had no choice but to stand on the sidewalk or lose her hand.
Unsurprisingly, only a few members of the family hovered outside—for security reasons—but I quickly guided the chattering sisters into the restaurant.
“Mr. Valentini,” Giuseppe, the host, greeted. “May I offer you my congratulations, sir!”
“You may,” I said with a grin/grimace—Cristu, I should have arranged this meet for another time. A time where Kitty’s pussy didn’t call to me like she was my personal siren. “My family arrived okay?”
“Yes, sir. They’re waiting for you in your mother’s favorite room.”
“Good.” Seeing that their ma watched her girls with teary eyes, I stepped over to her side. “You okay, Patricia?”
“Never better.” She patted my arm. “I think it’s time you called me ‘Ma.’ Don’t you?”
I shot her a sheepish smile. “You were just waiting for things to become official?”
“Of course. There’s power in a name, Stan.” She patted me again. “Thank you, son. For making my girl so happy.”
“Feel free to throw cabbages at me if there’s ever a day I don’t.”
“Marriage is a long road, Stan. It’s not all smiles and sunshine.” She tugged me into a soft hug. “But so long as there’s love, it gets you through those unexpected bumps along the way.”
“That means I get a free pass from the cabbages for the first couple of bumps?”
“Exactly.”
For the first time, I relaxed.
Then her eyes turned distant and fell to half-mast.
On an exhale, she whispered, “Twins.”
I jerked back. “Huh?”
My abrupt movement seemed to awaken her from whatever that had been. Patricia blinked a couple times. “Stan?”
“Twins?” I croaked out.
A sly but amused smile creased her lips. “To start with, aye. Now, where’s your mother?”
“You know they’re here?”
She hummed.
“I-I thought it was time for a get-together.”
Patricia passed me her purse. “Hold this.”
Because my mind was still addled by the ‘to start with,’ I accepted the bulky purse and watched as she took off her jersey to reveal a very pleasant summer dress underneath it.
As she tucked the jersey away, she chastised, “In the future, warn me. I shouldn’t need to rely on the Sight for fashion advice, boy.”
“You’re among family now, Ma. It doesn’t matter.”
She pinched my cheek. “That smart tongue of yours will get you in trouble one day.”
“It already did,” Kitty declared, eavesdropping on our conversation.
Patricia dragged her into a hug. “So happy for you, darling.”
“Thanks, Ma. You’ll like Lauren. She raised too many kids as well. You’ll have that in common—the patience of two saints.”
Patricia cackled. “That’s me. Holy.”
“Holier than Clodagh down the street.”
“You got that right! Now, let’s meet these Valentinis.”
I guided them toward the glass-domed room my mother loved which housed any family dinners that didn’t take place at our home in Brooklyn.
As expected, Matri sat at the head of the table where plumerias and porcelain dishes of bijin hime strawberries acted as settings.
From a distance, she watched the chaos as the Frasiers and their respective dates, Cade’s wife and Lucas’s girlfriend, entered the fray, milling around the room as my siblings and in-laws spread out and made their own introductions.
The other head was empty—for Patri, yes, but now Patricia could claim that spot too.
Two matriarchs who’d hauled their families through the worst of times to reach today… it seemed fitting.
I could see the nerves in Matri’s expression and knew she wanted a drink. Her hand trembled as she lifted a glass of water to her mouth. That was something she and I shared even if we never discussed it—the bittersweet call for outside ‘assistance’ during tense situations.
Determined to diminish some of her anxiety, I guided Patricia over to Matri’s side with a gentle clasp on her elbow.
Seeing my trajectory, my mother took a deep breath but quickly stood and straightened out the skirt of her dress.
I pressed a kiss to her cheek and, in her ear, whispered, “Do I want to know how you got Currau here?”
She snorted. “Best not to ask questions that you won’t like the answer to, Stan.”
Lips curving, I turned to my future mother-in-law. “Patricia, this is my matri, my mother, Lauren Valentini.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lauren,” Patricia greeted with an unexpectedly shy smile.
“And you, Patricia.” Matri, though hesitant, leaned in and kissed the other woman’s cheek. “It’ll be nice to talk to someone from our part of the world.”
“Aye, we have more in common than these bairns of ours.” Patricia beamed at her. “Did you hear the news? Kitty said yes!”
“You could have texted us.” Matri slapped my arm then hollered, “She said yes, everyone!”
Cheers ricocheted around the room and, amid the frenzy of people calling for a damn speech, I heard Luc drawl, “Don’t know why everyone’s so shocked. I figured she’d be my sister-in-law the second I saw the ‘V’ she cut into that bastard’s cheek…”