Extra Epilogue
Extra Epilogue
ANNA
“ I can’t believe you talked me into letting that little punk take my precious baby girl out on a date, bellissima .” Nic’s arms tightened around me as we stared out the front window. My back was pressed against his chest while we waited for the only boy Sophia ever had a crush on to pick her up to take her to see a movie.
Nic had been dead set against the idea when Sophia had first asked. Not even her tears had swayed him, but they’d done a number on me. I hated to see any of our children cry, and I’d crumbled when Sophia had turned pleading eyes my way. It had taken me two weeks to get Nic to agree to this date, and it had come with plenty of rules. She was only allowed to go if the boy’s parents drove them, one of us picked them up, and they met friends at the theater. “You set it up so she won’t be alone with him except to walk in and out of the theater,” I reminded my gorgeous husband, wrapping my hand around his bicep and squeezing it.
“If his parents know what’s good for them, they’ll walk my daughter inside to make sure she’s safe with their boy,” he grumbled against the top of my head.
I tilted my head back to stare up at him. “You’ve known Stephen since he was seven years old. He’s been sweet on Sophia since they met in first grade. He hasn’t looked at another girl in all that time. Not even when he started playing on the varsity football team as a freshman and girls started throwing themselves at him. He waited until she turned sixteen to ask her out because he knew that’s when you’d told her she was allowed to go on dates.”
“It was a dumb ass thing for me to say,” he grumbled, shaking his head. “I should’ve gone with thirty instead.”
“I’d tell you to stop worrying, but I know I’d be wasting my breath.” I twisted around and rose on my toes to brush my lips against him before whispering, “But your protectiveness is one of the things I love most about you.”
His hands gripped my hips as he ground his hard length against me. “You sure about that, mia dolce ?”
“I said one of the things, not the only thing.” I was about to drop my head against his chest when I spotted something through the window out of the corner of my eye. Turning back around and leaning forward, I found our nine-year-old son walking down the steps as Stephan’s dad’s car pulled up to the curb. “What is Niccolo doing out there?”
Nic shrugged, nudging me to the side a little so he could see out the window too. When our son stopped Stephen on the sidewalk, he laughed. “Looks to me like my son is feeling as protective of Sophia as I am.”
I cracked the window open as quietly as I could, so we could listen in on the lecture Niccolo was giving to his big sister’s date. “I get that you’re bigger than me, but I’m meaner. It’s in the DeLuca genes. Remember that if you’re tempted to hurt Sophia because I’ll figure out a way to make you pay for it.”
“No worries, little dude.” Stephen patted Niccolo’s shoulder. “I’d cut my arm off before I’d hurt your sister.”
“Aww,” I sniffled, tearing up a little. “Such a perfect answer.”
“I guess it wasn’t too bad,” Nic begrudgingly admitted.
“Hopefully, Natalia will pick as well as Sophia did.” I quietly shut the window and moved closer to the door so the boys wouldn’t know we’d been eavesdropping. “I can only imagine how bad Niccolo will be when she goes on her first date since she’s younger than him.”
Nic came to my side and growled, “She’s only seven. We have a long way to go before my youngest baby girl will be interested in boys.”
“That’s what you think,” I snorted, shaking my head.
His head reared back, and he scowled at me. “What does that mean?”
“It means our youngest already notices boys.” I patted his chest gently as I added, “She just knows better than to tell her daddy about her crushes.”
“Crushes?” he echoed softly. Then he roared, “Natalia! Get down here.”
“What Daddy?” she hollered back.
Our gazes swung up to the top of the stairs, where we found Sophia standing at the top. She was dressed up for her date in a swingy, black skirt that hit just below her knees, pale pink top, and strappy black sandals. Her dark hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and the only makeup she was wearing was a swipe of pink gloss over her lips. She was naturally beautiful and didn’t need anything else—which was a good thing since her father forbade it anyway.
Natalia stomped over to where Sophia was standing, but her sister had distracted Nic from his anger at learning she’d had a crush he hadn’t known about. Our youngest child was smart as a whip, so she didn’t ask him what he wanted again. Instead, she followed her sister down the stairs with an angelic smile on her adorable face.
“You’re beautiful,” Stephen said from behind us, where he and Niccolo stood near the doorway.
“ Preziosa. ” Nic met Sophia at the bottom of the stairs and bent down to kiss her cheek. “Look how gorgeous you are.”
“Thanks, Daddy.” She grinned up at Nic before her gaze shifted to Stephen, and her smile widened. Her voice was soft as she said, “Hi.”
“Hi,” Stephen echoed her greeting, staring at her in awe. Niccol0 elbowed him in the side, and he held out the pink roses that were clenched in his fist. “These are for you.”
“Thank you.” Sophia moved past her dad to take the bouquet from her date.
I took pity on her about a minute later when she just stood there looking as though she didn’t know what to do next. “Here, I’ll take those and put them in water for you.” I pulled the flowers from her clenched hand and nudged her forward. “You two better get going, or you won’t have time to grab drinks and snacks before the previews start.”
“Do you have your cell phone?” Nic asked.
Sophia nodded. “Yup.”
“Is the battery fully charged?”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course, it is.”
“Do you need extra cash?”
Stephen stepped closer to Sophia and slid his palm against hers. His voice cracked a little as he said, “She doesn’t need any money, Mr. DeLuca. I’ve already bought our tickets, and I’ll be paying for whatever snacks she wants during the movie.”
“If she isn’t with Anna or me, my girl knows better than to leave the house without cash on her,” Nic disagreed.
“Exactly, Daddy.” Sophia wiggled her purse. “Like you said, I know better. Now, are you going to stop asking me questions you already know the answer to and let us leave, or not?”
“Fine,” he bit out, a muscle in his jaw jumping at the effort it took for him to agree. “I’ll be there before the movie lets out to pick you up, and I’ll have my phone on me in case you need me to come earlier.”
“I’ll take good care of her, sir,” Stephen promised.
“You better,” Nic growled.
“Yeah,” Niccolo agreed.
I glared at the males in my life before ushering Sophia and Stephen out the door. My husband, son, and youngest daughter gathered around me as we watched him help her into the car and drive away. I had a feeling the next two hours were going to feel like forever as Nic watched the clock until it was time to pick up Sophia, but they’d still be the best because I’d spend them with my family.