Shaking his head at the memory, Michael sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled his boots on before he moved to stand in front of the full-length mirror. He pulled on the jacket and looked at himself. Not bad. Not bad at all.
His six-foot muscular frame filled out the suit perfectly, and all he needed was the boutonniere to finish the look.
Michael turned at the sound of someone knocking on his door, he shouted, “Come in.”
His mom came through the door as though she was frightened of what she might find, but when her gaze fell on Michael, she burst into tears.
Stunned, he walked over to her and tried to wrap his arms around his mom, but she pushed him away.
“I’ll mess your jacket up,” she said sniffling into the tissue Michael passed her.
“Mom, come and sit down.” Michael tried to lead her over to the chair in the window, but she slipped her arm free from his.
“Oh, I’m fine. It’s just seeing you dressed up like that, knowing you’re about to make Lily a part of this family officially as your wife,” she continued to sniffle. “I can’t believe one of my sons is about to get married.”
Realizing his mom needed to get things off her chest, Michael sat on the edge of the bed and waited, wondering what she was about to say next.
“My only hope is that your brothers start acting grown up and find someone nice to settle down with instead of acting like man whores,” she informed Michael seriously. Well he hadn’t expected that.
Michael looked stunned for a split second before he burst out laughing at her name for his brothers. It was spot-on, but hilarious coming out of her mouth.
Sitting on the bed, he leaned over and grabbed a couple of tissues to wipe his tears away. “Mom, no one is as bad as Sebastian, and besides, Ramon has a woman,” he told his mom, taking a drink of water and wishing it was a whiskey to calm his nerves.
His mom slid into the chair that she’d ignored earlier and gazed out the window. “Ramon’s woman is named Carla. I’ve only met her once or twice, but she seems lovely. I’m just not sure Ramon’s that keen. We’ll see. And going back to Sebastian, it’s a wonder his tinkle hasn’t fallen off with over use.”
Michael choked on the sip of water he’d just taken. Tinkle! What the fuck? “Have you been drinking?” he spluttered.
His mom rolled her eyes. “Really Michael. I can rephrase it if you like?”
Jumping to his feet, Michael waved his hands in front of her. “No, the first time was enough,” he said with a laugh, wondering why the hell his mom would suddenly come out with something more personal than ever before.
“Sit back down. I promise to behave,” she admonished just as someone else knocked on the door.
“It’s open,” Michael shouted, taking his seat on the bed again as he watched Sebastian come through the door half dressed.
“What did I miss?”
Winking at his mom, Michael grinned at her panicked expression, and replied, “Mom was saying she couldn’t understand why your ‘tinkle’ hadn’t fallen off with overuse.”
Sebastian stopped in his tracks, his face going a dark red as he sputtered, clearly at a loss for words. Well that was a first. Michael mused.
Sitting on his bed, Michael watched him struggling for a reply, his face getting redder with each second. Michael tried to hide the smile – it was too damn amusing that he couldn’t.
Coughing, Sebastian glared at Michael before ignoring him and turned to his mom.
“Dads looking for you. He’s having trouble with his neck thing.”
“Heck, there goes my five minutes with your brother,” she said, standing up, she smoothed an imaginary wrinkle from her dress. Reaching the door, she turned back to the room and gave each of them a pointed stare, “I can’t wait for the day all my sons are married with babies. A house full of grand-babies,” she finished with delight.
Michael’s grin nearly split his face in two especially when he caught the pale complexion of his brother.
Just about to close the door, their mom turned back and narrowed her eyes at Sebastian.
“I also expect my grand-babies mamma to have a wedding ring on her finger… preferably, from one of my sons.”
With those words spoken she made a quick exit.
“What the fuck’s gotten into mom?” Sebastian finally choked out. “I know before you hooked up with Lily she was always talking about us getting married and giving her grand kids, but, well… Tinkle?”
Michael burst into laughter just as his three remaining brothers walked into the room looking full of mischief.
Chapter 4
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