Chapter 34
Maddie
We pull up to the Moraleses’ brownstone on the Upper East Side and wait for Harrison to come out and get the puppy, when suddenly I think of something, and it has me laughing out loud.
All heads turn toward me, even the dogs.
“Maybe Mama was onto something. I finally move to the big bad city, and what happens? I have someone after me, and I’m now involved with the Mafia.” I whisper the last part.
Mase rolls his eyes. “You’re not involved with them.”
I shrug. “Feels like it.”
Harrison waves us in. We all pile out of the car, and I let the dogs pee while the guys are on the struggle bus getting out.
It’s like a clown car.
Three huge men, stuffed in the back. I have no clue how they fit in there to begin with.
“Are you sure it’s okay that I’m here?” Addie asks for the tenth time.
“Adelaide,” Nate says, pulling her to a stop. “You’ve always been a part of this family, and now more than ever, we all need to be a unit.”
“God, don’t make me cry, Davenport.” She throws her arm over his shoulder and kisses his bicep because she can’t reach his cheek. “Love you, too.”
When we get closer to the house, the door widens, and there’s Rosa.
“Here’s my girl.” She holds out her arms and then pulls me into her chest. She doesn’t let me go until Nate pulls us apart. “I made your favorite tonight.”
My eyes go wide in excitement. “Paella Valenciana?
It’s been years, but I can already taste it on my tongue.
“Of course, what else?” She takes both hands and squeezes. She looks at Nate, then back to me. “Both of you have made an old lady happy. Even if you took your damn time.”
“Who are you calling old?” Javier comes up behind her and wraps his arms around his wife, then leans over to kiss me hello.
“All right. This reunion is all great and everything, but can we do it inside? I have a puppy nipping at my hands,” Harrison announces.
Rosa suddenly holds up her hand, then walks over to Nate, Leo, and Mase, frowning and sniffing them.
“Are you drunk?”
Like scared little boys, they shake their heads at warp speed. “No,” they all announce in unison while the rest of us burst out laughing.
Busted.
“To be fair, we’ve had a shit day so far,” Leo bravely says.
She crosses her arms; the matriarch in her was showing. “Unless the status of information changes, we are not discussing this at family dinner. This is a safe space, and I want to enjoy my family, not the craziness that surrounds us.”
Leo turns to Nate and thinks he whispers, “Doesn’t seem so safe right now.”
Rosa pinches his arm and pushes him inside. “You’re not too old to get reprimanded, León.”
We all chuckle, following inside.
Harrison gives us five minutes to say our hellos, then he’s asked us to make sure Juliette is in the living room when he walks in, which is easy.
The living room is the heart of this house.
It always has been.
Ten minutes pass, and when Harrison walks in, Juliette screams so loud I almost lose an eardrum.
“H?”
“Happy early push present.”
She covers her mouth and tries to stand but struggles. Leo’s there to help with an outstretched arm.
Tears are streaming down her face once she makes it to Harrison.
“Seriously?” she asks, looking up to him with a loving expression.
He passes her the puppy, which immediately begins licking her face.
Harrison frowns. “Hey. Stop that.”
Juliette swats Harrison’s hand away and makes kissing noises to the dog.
“I can’t believe this. Thank you so much. This is the best present you could have ever given me.”
We’re all standing around the room, swooning over the new German Shepherd puppy, and it’s making me wonder if Skye needs a playmate.
“You’re welcome, Jules.” He leans down and kisses her behind her ear. It’s intimate, but none of us can look away. “We rescued her from the same place where Nate rescued Skye. She and her two siblings were found alone.”
“Oh, you poor baby.” She kisses the dog’s nose, then glances at Nate and me. “She’s okay with Skye?”
“Skye thinks it’s her baby, actually.”
Coming here was a great distraction.
“That’s because Skye’s the best. I’ve been begging for a Skye for over a year now,” she tells me. “I can’t believe I finally have a dog.”
“Did you have one growing up?”
“No. My dad was allergic; otherwise, we would have. You?”
I shake my head but don’t elaborate.
There’s no good reason we didn’t, other than it would have made me happy, so my dad put a stop to the idea immediately.
She pulls the pup into her chest when Claud comes bounding down the stairs.
“A puppy!”
“Say hello to your new little sister, sugar plum.”
Her head snaps up to Juliette. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. Daddy rescued her for us.”
Harrison steps up behind Juliette and places his arm around her. “The dog was a present for Mom, but if she says we can all share, then that’s okay. But that means we share the responsibilities.”
“I know.” She spins around. “I helped Uncle Leo pick up Skye’s poop.”
“Are you going to help me name her?” Juliette asks Claud, who then squeals with delight.
“Let’s play with her first,” Claud begs.
Harrison takes the pup so he can get down on the floor with her, since Juliette can’t bend.
He gives her puppy rules, teaching her when it’s safe to pet her and setting boundaries, which she says she already knows from Skye.
When they’re all occupied with the puppy, I walk over to the picture wall, and I see there’s already a new one.
Two, in fact.
Rosa’s fast with the printing.
One is of all of us in the Hamptons from a few weeks ago. Leo must have sent her that, and the other one is of Nate, Skye, and me on the Endless Summer.
Nate set up his phone with the self-timer on the boat and then must have sent it off to Rosa, too.
I walk down the row, taking in the new ones from over the years that I missed last time I was here, and then I remember something.
I walk further down the line and stop when I see it.
Ahhh, this makes sense.
Rosa settles in next to me, and I point to the picture of Nate, Leo, Claud, and Skye. “Did you keep me from seeing Skye last time I was here?”
“Of course. I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.” She rubs my back. “It’s good to have you home, Madeline.”
“It’s good to be here. I missed everyone.” I turn back, looking around the room, at the love exuding from every corner of this house. “Terribly.”
Harrison, Nate, and Leo are on the floor playing with Claud, Skye, and the pup.
Javier is sitting in the same ugly brown chair he’s had my whole life, watching football with Seb, and Mase is crouched down next to him, somehow making them look much smaller than they are.
Spanish music drifts in from the kitchen, where Rosa has been no doubt slaving away all day, and Juliette is getting to know Addie, relaxing on the couch.
I haven’t been so at home somewhere in a long time.
“I invited your mom,” Rosa says sympathetically. “She couldn’t make it.”
Of course, she couldn’t.
Rosa has always tried to include her. Even if Mama’s never accepted an invite once, she’s never stopped asking.
“You know, after all this time, I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that this is what our relationship is.
One from afar. I know she loves me, and maybe I will always pine for more.
” I shrug. “On the bright side, our relationship is much better than it was when I was a kid. But the people in this room are the family who show up, time and time again. I can’t force someone to have a relationship with me.
” I watch the guys laugh with Claudina and see the pure joy radiating from them.
“If she eventually wants more of a relationship, I’d love that.
But I’m not going to push it and set myself up for disappointment any longer.
I’ve been doing that most of my life. Now, I’m putting myself first, and I’m going to concentrate on the people who have always been there for me. ”
“I understand, and you’ll always have me.” She squeezes my hand, and then the landline rings, and Rosa’s face lights up. “Be back.”
She runs off to the kitchen to grab the phone, and I’m wondering who’s made her so excited.
“It’s probably one of her sisters,” Nate says as he stands, walking toward me.
I nod toward Seb. “Look at him.”
He’s sitting on the floor with his back to the wall, his legs stretched and crossed, his phone in his hand, and his eyes glued to it. His brows drop, then they rise, then he shakes his head, smiling, before his fingers start moving across the phone.
“Who do you think he’s texting? I’ve never seen Seb look so…”
“Happy?”
“Yeah. He’s always so broody and grumpy-looking. Not with me, but the rest of the world.” Seb bites his bottom lip, then shakes his head again. “Is it that girl you think?”
“Pen pal girl?” He shrugs. “Maybe. Who knows. He’s elusive as fuck, and he’d never tell us if it were.”
Nate’s phone dings with Ethan’s name flashing across the screen.
“Let me get this. You okay?”
“Of course.” I kiss his cheek. “I’m almost more comfortable here than I am at home.”
He walks off, satisfied that I’m good, and I make my way over to Ads and Juliette.
“How are you feeling?”
“Terrible,” Juliette whines. “This getting pregnant shit is not for the weak.”
“I can only imagine.”
She glances at my neck and smiles, “That’s gorgeous. Is it new?”
“It is. Nate just got it for me.” I hold it in my hand and twirl the diamond butterfly around. “I know it’s silly, but it makes me feel closer to her.”
“The first time I met you, I told her I could sense her. I don’t find anything weird anymore.” She pats the couch next to her. “I won’t bite.”
“I know, but I want to keep my distance from you in case I’m contagious. I don’t want to be blamed for getting the pregnant lady sick.”
Harrison is in alpha protective mode with this pregnancy, and who knows how he’ll react.
“Oh, please, once Claudina came home from your place with the bug, she insisted on sleeping with me for a week straight.” Her hand flies to her stomach, and she scrunches up her face. “Oh no.”