Chapter 15
STAMP RUSSO
“How are you handling all this excitement, Marla?” I asked as I sat down across from my son’s mother and her husband.
The room we were in was filled with family, both from New York and Texas, who were ready to enjoy yet another meal served to us by the Conners, who seemed happy to be hosting so many of the wedding festivities on their property.
“I’m glad that my boys are settling down. It brings a certain peace, knowing that they’ve found such wonderful women to spend their lives with.”
I laughed at the look on Carlo’s face and knew without a doubt that wasn’t how my ex was really feeling.
Marla was a mother hen, and knowing that our boys had permanently flown the nest couldn’t be easy for her, but considering their profession and place in the family hierarchy, they were very lucky to have found women who could handle it.
In a way, Marla was correct. There was a certain peace in knowing that the women they’d chosen to marry were suited for their situation in life.
Just to poke the bear, which I couldn’t resist even after all these years, I asked Carlo, “How is she really doing?”
Carlo cracked up when Marla slowly turned her head to give him a warning look, but he didn’t pay it any attention and answered, “If she had her way, we’d add on to the house so they could all move back in and let her feed them every day.”
Marla sniffed before she said, “Even I know that wouldn’t work. There would be way too many people in one house, especially with the kids.”
“I love going to see them, but by the time we leave their apartment, I’m admittedly ready for some peace and quiet,” Bernadette said with a wince.
“Ember wouldn’t know how to live without Coco, and with Coco comes the twins,” Carlo pointed out. “We have them all over on occasion so their parents can have a date night. After they pick them up, I need at least a day to decompress.”
“I guess after so many years with older kids you forget what it’s like not to have peace and quiet.”
Carlo laughed before he asked rhetorically, “You’ve met our kids, right?”
Marla rolled her eyes before she said, “Our kids have their moments, but we all know they’re angels.”
She couldn’t keep a straight face for long and was soon laughing just as hard as her husband. I finally asked, “Where are the kids anyway?”
“CJ and Mario are off somewhere with Rico’s sons, and Stephania is out with some of Bella’s friends and relatives,” Marla explained.
“She’s already made some friends here?” Bernadette asked.
Carlo frowned before he said, “Yes, they met when they came to visit Bella last month.”
I smiled because I could tell from the look on his face that some of those friends were of the male persuasion, which would irritate any father with a gorgeous seventeen-year-old daughter.
“At least none of the kids will be bored while they’re here,” Bernadette said with a grin. “I can only imagine their amazement at how different things are in Texas. From the weather to the accents, it’s a lot to take in.”
I watched Bella’s mother approach our table and was happy to see her open smile as she greeted Marla and Bernadette with hugs and then smiled at me and Carlo before she pulled out a chair and sat down at our table.
“How has your visit been so far?” Lena asked. “Do you need anything?”
While Bernadette, Lena, and Marla chatted about things they’d forgotten to pack and where they could get them, I leaned over and asked Carlo, “Wanna go outside and get some air?”
“Yes, please!” Carlo said with relief. We walked out of the large building where Bella’s family had big gatherings and saw that most of the Conner men were already outside. Carlo and I walked toward them, and I smiled when he muttered, “It’s like I’m seeing double.”
I laughed and pointed out, “Says the man who raised identical boys.”
“One set, not half a dozen!” Carlo argued.
“Did you come to take over the grill?” Bella’s dad asked good-naturedly.
“A man’s grill is a sacred space,” I assured him. “Even Bernadette doesn’t mess with mine.”
Finn laughed before he said, “Lena leaves the grilling to me. She makes everything else, so it’s really not fair. She says it keeps me out of her way while she’s working in the kitchen, so she doesn’t mind.”
“Reba says the same thing,” Bella’s Uncle Mace agreed.
I had no problem telling the difference between most of the men in the family, but even when I called one by the wrong name, they took it in stride, probably because it had been happening their whole lives.
“Are you ready for this to be over so you can get back to some peace and quiet?” I asked Finn as I stood beside him in front of the grill while Carlo talked to some of Finn’s brothers.
“Honestly, it’s been a whirlwind, and I’ll probably welcome a little peace, but I have enjoyed getting to know everyone better,” Finn assured me. “I’ve hung out with Matteo’s friends a few times already, but having them here on our turf is giving me new insight.”
“How so?”
“They’re a lot more laid-back when they’re here, which I didn’t think would be the case since they’re so far away from their . . .” Finn cleared his throat before he said, “Business.”
I barked out a laugh and slapped my new friend on the shoulder before I said, “Someday you’ll be able to say that with a straight face.”
“Any idea how soon that may be?”
“We’ve been together a few years, and Bernadette still stumbles over it now and then, so I’m not really sure.”
“I feel better knowing how seriously they take Bella’s safety, although I hate that it’s necessary.”
“It is,” I agreed knowingly.
“But you got out, right?”
“Matteo isn’t going to leave New York or the family business, my friend,” I said as I slowly shook my head. “I got out, but not in the way any of us would want Matteo to go through, but I’m not sure there’s any other path.”
“Not even if he really wanted to?”
“If he really did, my guess is that they’d find a way to make it happen, but he doesn’t, and I’m almost positive he never will.”
“That’s not very reassuring.”
“It’s honest, though.”
Finn smiled sadly before he said, “That’s all a man can ask for.”
◆◆◆
brETT CAMPANA
“I’m sorry! We’re running late as usual,” I announced as I walked into the living room carrying Paulie’s missing shoe.
“Back in the day, when they were just potatoes in a car seat, I couldn’t wait for them to start walking and talking.
Now I wonder what the hell I was thinking!
I should have known better because I did the same thing with Coco. ”
“It’s not a big deal. There will still be plenty of food when we get there,” Bella assured me as she wrestled with Paulie.
He was doing his best to get away from her, giggling uncontrollably as she held the lower half of his body off the couch by an ankle and tried to put on his sock with her free hand.
Tabby was trying to pull Dean out from under the couch, and I noticed that he was barefoot, which meant the socks and shoes I’d found for him earlier were now gone too.
I sighed when Tabby managed to pull him out and I saw that he had a sock in each fist. That was great, but where in the hell were his shoes?
“Aren’t we pretty?” Coco asked as she pranced into the living room with Ember close behind her. I gasped when I saw her face and heard Tabby and Bella do the same. “I did my makeup!”
“Oh, shit!” Tabby whispered. “Where did you find the markers?”
“They were in the closet,” Coco said with a shrug. “Doesn’t Ember look beautiful?”
“We’ve got tattoos!” Ember announced cheerfully as she thrust her arms out in front of her. She pointed at her left hand and said, “See my spiderweb?”
“Oh, no!” Bella gasped. “You found those in the closet?”
“Yes, and there was glitter and beads and feathers and . . .”
“Are they permanent?” I asked Bella, horrified at the thought of my daughter walking down the aisle as a flower girl in her gorgeous dress . . . covered in scribbled tattoos and crooked cat-eye liner in a vivid shade of blue. “Please tell me they aren’t permanent!”
“I can’t remember,” Bella yelled as she ran toward the bedroom to find the markers.
“You didn’t tell me I’m beautiful!” Coco yelled after her.
“Coco, what have I told you about using markers on anything other than paper?”
“I don’t remember.” When I narrowed my eyes at her, she bit her lip and whispered, “Sorry.”
Bella came rushing into the living room with a handful of markers, and I felt my heart stutter when I recognized the brand. “Oh, no!”
Tabby was handling it better than me and started barking out instructions for ink removal.
“We need hand sanitizer and coconut oil. Do you have that?”
“I can find some,” Bella said as she pulled her phone out. She started typing furiously, and when I heard her phone dinging over and over, I knew she was getting responses. “We’ve gotta raid the houses around here, but there should be plenty of both.”
“Acetone polish remover!” Tabby yelled.
Bella typed and then said, “Teague has a bottle of that and a big thing of coconut oil. Mom said there’s a gallon jug of hand sanitizer in the office, and Aunt Reba suggested WD-40 as long as it’s not near the eyes.”
“Are we really about to scrub our children with a mixture of chemicals that can probably create a bomb if used in the right quantities?” I asked. Suddenly a thought occurred to me, and I asked Coco, “Where is your dad?”
“He’s sleeping,” Coco answered cheerfully. I felt my stomach drop when she said, “We made him pretty too!”
“He’s in the guest room,” Bella said as she turned around to go back. I rushed across the living room to follow her down the hall and walked into the bedroom in time to see Bella walk around to the other side of the bed so she could see Zach’s face. “Oh, no!”
“Shit!” I whispered as I let my head fall forward. “How bad is it?”
When he turned over to readjust and I saw his face, I felt my eyes go wide with shock before I asked, “How much hand sanitizer did your mom say she had?”
Bella swallowed hard before she replied, “Probably not nearly enough.”
◆◆◆
LUCA RUSSO
“That’s a bold fashion choice, my friend.” Zach glared at Matteo, but it didn’t stop him from laughing, and even though I tried very hard not to, I joined in. Zach was still glaring when my brother said, “That color really brings out your eyes.”
Apparently, we hit a nerve because Zach clenched his teeth and bit out, “I’m not gonna wear fucking makeup in your wedding!”
“I think what you’ve got on your face is enough,” I choked out. “Holy shit! How did you sleep through that?”
“You should have seen it before we scrubbed half his face off,” Bella said as she sat down next to me and looked sheepishly at Zach. “I’m really sorry I hit you.”
“You hit him?” Matteo asked.
“It wasn’t a hit, really . . . more of a smack because he wouldn’t sit still,” Bella explained.
Zach rubbed the side of his head as he moved his glare to Bella. “I’m glad you assholes think this is funny.”
“You might not have to wear makeup, Zach,” Brett said as she slid a plate of food in front of him and then set her own plate down and took the chair next to his. “We’ve got four days to get all of it off.”
“Why did it come off the kids’ faces so much easier than it did on mine?”
“Because we put lotion on their faces after their baths, and you probably haven’t moisturized since . . .” Tabby winced before she said, “My guess is the last time your mom put it on after your bath.”
“If it’s any consolation, I don’t put lotion on my face either,” I told him.
“Neither do I,” Matteo agreed.
“See? It’s not just me!” Lucky chimed in from farther down the table. He looked at Rain, who just rolled her eyes, before he turned back to us and said, “She’s always on my ass because I never use lotion, so I’m glad to know it’s not just me.”
“Well, maybe now is a good time to start,” Brett said with an obviously fake smile. She leaned closer and said, “Don’t be mad, sweetheart. You’re so handsome that the girls had to do something to make all the other men around you feel better about themselves.”
“You are so full of shit.”
Brett giggled before she asked, “Did it help at all?”
Zach gave her a kiss before he said, “As long as you still love me even with this Picasso-looking shit on my face.”
Coco and Ember walked up with plates loaded with desserts. I grinned when Brett and Tabby had to resist scolding them because they were accompanied by Bella’s mom and one of her aunts.
“Aunt Thea, Mom, do your husbands use lotion on their faces?” Bella asked.
“No! It makes me nuts,” Thea said with a frown.
“I’m not the only one!” Rain chimed in.
“We brought this for you,” Coco said as she set the plate of goodies in front of Zach.
Ember slid her plate in front of him, too, and smiled sweetly before she said, “We’re still really sorry, Uncle Zach.”
“Are you ever going to do it again?”
“No!” they said at the same time.
“Promise?”
“Yes!” they said as they nodded eagerly.
“Okay, then let’s make a pact that I won’t be angry since you gave me your promise, and we’ll seal the deal by eating all of this together,” Zach said as he pushed his chair back so the girls could sit on his legs.
I couldn’t help but remember how irritated he’d been at the thought of having kids around. That was night and day compared to what a good father he’d become, which was hit or miss for a while and had worried all of us.
“Dad, do you want to share with us?” Ember asked as she held out a cookie.
“I’d love to,” I told her as I took it out of her hand.
“Love you!” Ember said cheerfully before she took a bite of her own cookie.
Life was very different for me and Zach now, and I hoped that Matteo’s life would change in the same way whenever he and Bella were ready. Marriage had changed both of us, and it would change Matteo, too, but not nearly as much as parenthood would.