18. Keith #3
Seeing Olivia interact so flippantly with her family instead of being stressed to the gills was refreshing, and already my mind was shooting off in a dozen different futures, all of them packed with such family moments that I never knew I wanted.
When Serafina was gone, Olivia’s eyes locked with mine, and we had a quiet moment that felt completely detached from the rest of the loudness around us.
“You’re holding a baby,” she said a little wistfully.
“So are you.”
That was all that was said, and yet there was so much subtext beneath the words. Because it was easy to pretend that they were our babies.
I was in no rush to procreate. In fact, up until I’d started dating Olivia, I’d thought it was something locked out of my possibilities.
But Olivia and I had discussed it, and the conclusion we came to was that we were both open to having biological children or adopting in the future, but neither of us felt ready or certain that was what we wanted.
However, with a baby cooing in my arms and the woman I loved standing across from me, it was easy to imagine that future together.
One of sleepless nights and endless giggles, of all sorts of milestones that would fill me with pride and also make me want to cry.
I still didn’t know if that was something I fully wanted, but if we chose that particular route, I was sure it would be amazing.
As long as we didn’t have twins. That seemed like a bit much.
“Do multiples run in your family?”
And then my phone rang. My heart practically leapt in my throat, and for a fleeting moment I thought that the baby in my arms was going to open his eyes and unleash his righteous fury at the ardent buzzing from my pocket.
Luckily, he only let out a curious sound and both Olivia and I let out a sigh of relief.
“Here, hand him to me. That’s probably your mom.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “Two babies at once seems kind of like—”
“I realize you haven’t had the honor and horror of meeting them yet, but we’ve got triplets in this family. Trust me, I have plenty of experience holding two babies at the same time.”
She shifted Pollux so he was nestled in the crook of her arm before reaching out with her free arm. Trusting her, as she’d never led me wrong before, I handed Castor over and answered my phone on the last buzz.
Sure enough, it was my mother, sounding excited but also a little anxious across the line. “Hello, dear! I think we just pulled onto the block? I... Goodness, did we suddenly end up in a ritzy part of the suburbs? Because there are only three mansions here.”
“Yup, you’re on the right street. I’ll come out and greet you.”
“You don’t have to do that. I’m perfectly capable of seeing myself in.”
I immediately thought of my mother being greeted by a sea of Rizolis. “I’ll meet you out front, Mom. Trust me.”
“Well, if you want to give me a handsome escort into what I’m sure is a real rager, I will not say no.”
“Great. See you in a second.”
I kissed Olivia’s cheek, who was indeed handling the babies like a pro, then rushed outside. And just in time to open the car door for her. Yes, I knew my mother was more than capable of letting herself out of a car, but she’d raised me to be a gentleman.
“You look nice,” she said, reaching up to pat the side of my face in a way that would have been condescending if anyone else but her or Olivia did it. Or maybe Nonna Rizoli. “When did you get this?”
“Olivia got it for me,” I said, always a bit prideful when it came to what an amazing fiancée I had. I’d met my share of wife guys in my life, and they always made me roll my eyes. Ironic, because I was most definitely a fiancée guy. “She says I need to wear turtlenecks more often.”
“I agree with her.” Of course she did. According to my mother, Olivia could do no wrong, which was exactly how I wanted it to be.
While it did allow them to occasionally gang up on me, I would rather my mother and future wife be best friends than have to deal with the toxic family dynamics I heard of on various podcasts.
I always hoped those stories were made-up for internet points because, frankly, they were so damn depressing.
“It’s about time you got more invested in dressing yourself up. ”
“Hey, I like my overalls and flannel shirts!”
“Believe me, I know you do.”
I wasn’t going to win here, so I decided to change the topic. “Enough about me. You look lovely today.”
When Olivia had told me the engagement party wasn’t black tie but also wasn’t casual, I had no idea what to wear.
Thankfully, she’d gotten me the royal blue turtleneck as well as a new pair of shoes that were dressy enough that I would never wear them in the workshop without them being annoyingly uncomfortable.
Where she got them, I had no idea, since it was hard to find anything outside the most basic shoe when I was a size sixteen, but I liked them way more than I thought I would.
My mother, however, had understood the dress code instantly. She was wearing a peasant blouse with a loose, flowy vest over it and then a nice…
Come on, you know this, I thought to myself, trying to remember the phrase that Amanda had used a couple of times. An ultimate skirt? Wait! No! A maximum skirt!
That was definitely it. Later, whenever Olivia and I finally got some time to ourselves, I was going to have to tell her that all of Amanda’s fashion talk was starting to rub off on me.
“I do, don’t I?” she asked, giving me a bit of a twirl. It was slow, and she needed her cane to do it, but it still made me so happy to see her out and about and on her feet. “I got it when Olivia and I went shopping with that pretty friend of hers. Amanda, right?”
“Yep. You remembered right.”
“Lovely girl, really. Sharp as a tack too! You know, if you had a brother, I would be gunning for having two of the best daughters-in-law in the world.”
I chuckled, trying to picture that. But it was hard to, because even with all that I had observed and learned from watching Olivia’s family, the practical part of my mind said we wouldn’t have been able to afford to survive, so I wouldn’t be here now.
“He’d have to be a younger brother,” I said instead of trying to re-budget my past to include someone who didn’t exist. “Or I suppose a little sister.”
“Oh? Is Amanda one of those people who can go both ways?”
“Bisexual is the word, and I don’t know.” Come to think of it, I’d never heard the woman utter a single comment about being attracted to anyone. She was highly complimentary and had no problem telling people their best features to emphasize, but I didn’t even know if she had a partner.
Huh. If she was going to continue to be my future wife’s best friend, I’d have to get to know her a little better, so I could be a good future husband.
“Well, either way, moot point. Even if we had a time machine, I’m not really keen on pushing out another child. I’m quite content with the life we built together.”
My heart filled with warmth, and I squeezed her arm lightly. “Me too. Of all the moms in the world, I’m really glad I got to be with you.”
“Oh, Keith!” She let out a strangled sound that shouldn’t have made me smile, but it did. “Don’t you dare make me cry before going into this party. Not when this old lady actually put on eyeliner and mascara today.”
“Even without them, you’d look just as beautiful.”
“Keith! I’m serious!”
“I’m aware. But it’s not my fault you’re one of the most breathtaking women I know.
” There was that strangled noise again, accompanied by her playfully slapping at my arm.
“Besides, if you got the makeup while out shopping with Amanda, I know she made sure you got both the waterproof and cruelty-free version.”
“Cruelty-free?”
It really was amazing the things one could learn from making a new friend, because a year ago, all makeup was makeup and the most I knew about it was that it was expensive and basically its own art form. “Not tested on animals.”
My mother stopped dead in her tracks and looked up at me like I was the one in a “full beat” as Amanda had called it. “We still test makeup on animals? I thought that was like... a Captain Planet thing from when you were a kid. Don’t we have the technology not to need that anymore?”
“I’m not really an expert on it, but from what I know, China requires animal testing on all cosmetic products sold there, so any of the major brands who want to sell to their massive market have to do it. I don’t really get why, but if you’re curious, Amanda would love to info dump for you.”
“Please! Like she wants to hang out with an old lady.”
“Mom, I’m sure you noticed when you went shopping with her, but Amanda genuinely enjoys hanging out with anyone as long as they’re good at conversation and not a dick.”
“Huh. I guess I should be thankful my name isn’t Richard.”
“Yeah, I don’t really think that suits you.”
We reached the front door, and my mother finally noticed the buzzing mansion we were about to enter.
“My God...” she murmured, and I understood exactly why.
“Olivia was being a bit demure when she said her family did okay for themselves,” I said softly despite the thumping of the music beyond the door.
“You aren’t kidding!” We took a single step forward, but then she stopped again, gripping my arm with an impressive amount of strength.
Nothing on Nonna Rizoli, but still enough to tell me that all the fun new activities my mother was doing were definitely improving her grip strength.
“Does this mean you’re the trophy wife?” she asked, and I couldn’t stop the laugh that punched its way out of my throat. Like mother, like son.
“Mom, it’s the twenty-first century. I’m the trophy husband.”
With that, she patted my cheek while she shook her head. “Yes, you are, sweetie. And don’t you forget it.”
How could I with Olivia by my side?
Speaking of which, it was time to find my fiancée.