Chapter 50 #2
“And you know, since I’m your mommy’s Mama, you can call me Nana, if you’d like. Your little sister probably will, after all.”
“I never had a nana,” Leo proclaims with big round eyes staring back at her. “You be mine?”
“Well, yes of course,” Mom tells him, absolutely charmed. “Both you and Bastian are my daughter’s sons and that makes me your family. You can call me Nana or Grandma or whatever you like.”
I look down at the scene, not surprised by her offer, but her willingness to be called grandma over nana if that’s what Leo prefers. She told me not even two weeks ago that Grandma made her feel like an old lady and that Nana was more appealing.
“Daddy, look,” Leo says, tugging on his father’s pant leg. “I have a nana now!”
My heart fucking melts as my husband smiles down at our son. “You sure do, bud.”
Turning back to my mother, Leo reaches for her hand and takes it like it’s the most natural thing in the world. “Nana, I’m hungry. You give me cupcake?”
“I sure will,” she agrees easily, not bothering to ask for permission. Though I can’t be upset with her about that, this is a lovely first grandma moment for her, and besides, Leo hasn’t had any treats yet today. “Let’s go get you one and one for your mommy, hmm? The baby is making her hungry too.”
“The baby always hungry.” Leo sighs, explaining the situation as he begins to tug her out of the room.
Well, he’s not wrong.
“You guys are making me want another baby,” Jade coos, looking around the room dreamily. “You have such an adorable little family. We really need to visit more.”
“Maybe wait until Viktor is done spitting up on himself before procreating again,” Nico drawls from the corner of the room, taking a deep drink of liquor.
Ares chuckles by his side, lifting his drink toward Jade. “I say the more the merrier. Married life looks good on you, love.”
Dmitri glares at my stepbrother and Jade rolls her eyes.
“The fake flirting thing is getting old. Everyone knows that your father put forth a marriage offer between us while we were at Empire out of respect rather than ambition. You’d rather have three wives than one, and I’d rather eat dirt than be any of them. ”
Armani sputters on his drink, laughing at his sister’s sass. Ares smirks, finding her entertaining rather than offensive. His strange desire to get under people’s skin is never-ending.
“I didn’t know you sent in an offer for Jade,” I say, turning to Linus in surprise.
“Who didn’t put in an offer?” Apollo drawls, rolling his eyes.
My stepfather shrugs, lifting his shoulders causally. “When the most powerful family in the country presents a long lost daughter of marriageable age, you don’t simply ignore it. Although, I’m glad your lovely sister-in-law was spared the burden of courting Ares.”
Jade beams at him, surprised by such a candid insult to his heir in favor of complimenting her.
“I don’t understand where Ares gets his personality from,” Ana muses, narrowing her eyes at the man himself. “The rest of you seem so pleasant.”
“Papa says he dropped him on his head when he was little,” Gaia informs her happily. “Things got shook around up there.”
“Traitor,” Ares accuses while the room fills with chuckles.
“You didn’t match with me, you deserve it,” she declares, turning her chin up at him and crossing her arms.
“You’re wearing pink,” he protests.
“So what? It’s a color. Be a man, you wimp.”
Rayna cackles, covering her mouth to muffle the sound after half of it has already slipped out.
“Cupcake time!” Leo shouts from the kitchen. “Come get dem.”
“I guess it’s cupcake time.” I laugh, shaking my head. “Help yourself to food and drinks. The back patio has stuff out on it for the kids in case they want to go outside, but the fire pit is in the garden if anyone is going to smoke. Cigars are in the cabinet by the door.”
“Well, you know where we’ll be,” Ares says, getting up at the same time as Nico. “Congrats, sis.”
“Cheers on getting knocked up and all that,” my brother-in-law adds, nodding to Leon and I.
“Nico!” Jade chastises, glaring at him.
“What?” he shrugs. “I said cheers.”
“Go be antisocial outside,” she huffs. “I’ll deal with you later.”
“Oooo, you’re in trouble,” Ares teases.
“So are you,” Gaia snaps impudently.
Ares sighs. “What a pair we are.”
When they leave, they aren’t the only ones getting up.
Most of the room migrates to the kitchen in search of food.
Babies are passed around while toddlers and little children explore the crowd, drawn from one family member to the next.
Cupcakes are consumed, drinks are poured, and plenty of conversation is had.
It doesn’t take long before I need to sneak off and empty my bladder that’s recently become the size of a grape. After washing my hands and leaving the small hallway bathroom, I run into an unexpected face.
“Hello.”
Melani really does look like the perfect old money wife, wearing designer high quality clothes that are somehow luxurious and understated.
Her hair is beige blonde with dimensional lowlights and it’s been impeccably styled both times I’ve come into contact with her.
She doesn’t have an outwardly warm presence but not a standoffish one either.
She’s a bit neutral and hard to put in a box without getting to know her, I imagine.
“Hi,” I reply, lifting my lips into a greeting smile.
“I wanted to have a word with you, if that’s all right?”
“Of course,” I agree easily, not getting the sense that she has anything other than good intentions.
“I know we don’t know each other very well, and I haven’t made it a point to reach out to you since your wedding,” she begins, sounding almost regretful.
“Cleo was one of my only friends and her loss hit me very hard. We didn’t get along at first, when we married our husbands.
But when we became moms, we slowly started connecting and I thought…
at least on my end, I really cared for our relationship.
Coming into this family can be intimidating, especially when you don’t live with the big group.
It’s easy to become close when you share a home every day. ”
Not wanting to interrupt or ignore her, I nod along, hoping for her to continue.
“Our kids grew close, and so did we. I’ve never been good at making friends, and Cleo and I grew up similarly so it wasn’t easy but we managed it.
I-I was so mad when she died without ever telling me that she was sick that I took it out on Leon at first and I kept my distance from there.
I know he was only following her wishes by keeping it a secret for her, but…
” Melani trails off, shaking her head. “I’m getting off topic. ”
“No, you’re fine,” I say sincerely. “I’m not in a hurry.”
“You’re kind,” she replies, a sad look passing over her face.
“I’m sure you’ve heard less than favorable things about me, all of which were likely warranted, but I want you to know that I care about Bastian and Leo.
I’ll always be a phone call away if you need someone to help you with them or just a friend. ”
“Bastian and Leo care about you too,” I promise earnestly.
Sure, they’re currently obsessed with Rayna and Apollo most of all, but that doesn’t mean they don’t mention the rest of the family often.
“They call you Aunt Lani, you know? And I don’t blame you for not reaching out, I haven’t done my best at connecting with the whole family either. Life is hectic when you have kids.”
“It is,” she agrees warmly.
“And I know there’s some things going on with you and the family, but frankly, I don’t think it’s my place to get involved. It sounds very personal, and I don’t know you or your sister or your parents well enough to even consider what might have happened.”
Melani makes a small noise, eyes flickering with grief.
“So, if you want to work on building a friendship, I think that would be lovely. I don’t have the best track record with friends, I must admit.
My childhood best friend wanted to marry Leon and lost her mind on me when he asked me instead.
But if you don’t have any objections after hearing that, and knowing that I’m friends with Rayna as well, I always have room for more friends in my life.
Especially ones who care about my boys.”
Rayna being Sienna’s closest friend has made her defensive and angry where Melani is concerned, but Melani is still a Moretti, and still a mother and a woman who deserves to be given a chance.
She hasn’t told anyone her side of the story where her family situation is concerned, and I don’t feel entitled to knowing everything about her before offering her the kindness of friendship.
Hesitating for only a second, she says, “As long as you don’t mind that I was friends with Cleo, I don’t have any objections either.”
“I don’t mind that at all.” I reach out, taking her hand to squeeze it, hoping to portray my genuine reassurance.
“Cleo and Leon had a strained marriage, but I have so much to be grateful for because of her. If she hadn’t demanded he find a mother to love her sons, I may never have even met them, let alone become their mother.
She made this happen, and she’ll always have my appreciation for that. ”
“Thank you,” she rasps, eyes welling up. “No one talks about her fondly like that and it breaks my heart.”
I can’t imagine having your only friend pass away when she isolated everyone else who could have loved her.
The Morettis weren’t allowed to love Cleo because she pushed them away for her own sanity, but I was never personally hurt by her rejection.
And as much as I love Leon and I hate that he was without love and affection for so many years because she rejected him, I can never blame her for dealing with her situation the way that she did.