The plump checkout chick scanned the items, placing them in bags.
After a while, she scanned the small black hoodie, holding it up and smiling. “Oh, Lord. That is adorable.” She threw me a smile before peering at the rest of my items, and saying, “Someone’s getting spoiled today. How old?”
“I don’t have him yet, but—” I removed my sunglasses and smiled coyly. “—he’s five.” I looked over at the conveyor full of boy clothing and toys. “And, yes. He will be spoiled.”
“That’s lovely that you’re adopting. It’s a wonderful thing you’re doing.” The checkout chick made a gooey face. “You’re going to be a great mother,” she said knowingly before nodding. “I can tell.”
Yes.
I would be a great mother.
A great mother indeed.
***
Lexi
The second I opened the front door, my eyes widened happily and a loud gasp left me. I shouted excitedly, jumping up and down, clapping enthusiastically before throwing myself into the small redhead’s arms.
“Manda!”
The woman I affectionately called my sister chuckled as I forced myself on her, making her stumble and put a hand to the wall by the door to steady herself. My exhilarated laugh rang into the fresh morning air.
I pulled back, reared my arm back, and grinned like a fool when I lightly slapped her arm. “What are you doing here?”
She shrugged, smiling hard at my excitement. “I told you I’d be back, didn’t I? But—” She twisted back to look at the car parked on the street, sounding a little anxious. “—I might have done something really dumb here, Lexi.”
My eyes narrowed on her before they rolled over to the parked car. When the three men exited all at once, my face went slack, and I released a quiet, “Oh.”
Automatically, my face spun, looking back into the house uneasily, then came back to rest on Manda’s apologetic face. I spoke quietly, “You should have called.”
Her suddenly weary expression told me she knew this, and my concern increased as I heard Twitch approach. From behind me, I felt him still at my back as he peered over the top of my head to our guests. Feeling his body stiffen, I quickly spun, and when my eyes landed on him, his eyes were unblinking, jaw rigid, on one of the men.
The oldest of the men.
His ice-cold stare came to rest on Manda. She immediately let out a hushed, “Don’t be mad at me.” When he didn’t respond, she closed her eyes. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
The silence dragged on, and as the three men kept their distance, Manda revealed solemnly, “He’s sick, Tony.” Twitch looked down at his little sister, and she added, “I know I sprung this on you, but he doesn’t have a lot of time left, and I just thought if you got to meet him,” she sighed tiredly, “you’d have some closure.”
The silence coiled tight around my chest like a vice.
When Twitch spoke, he spoke to me, low and rumbling. “You wanna meet my dad?”
I did, desperately.
My face came up, and I uttered, “This isn’t about what I want.”
He looked down at me, his eyes cold, his words warm. “My entire being is about what you want.” When I didn’t answer, he got his answer and sighed softly. “She wants to meet him.” And when he lifted his hand and waved the men over, my heart started to thump in time with their steps.
But as they reached us, I felt coldness at my back and I realized Twitch was gone.
My chest ached painfully, but I pasted on a smile as the tallest of the men stepped forward, and when he opened his mouth, his silky smooth Scottish brogue caressed my skin. “Is this my sister-in-law?”
“Wow,” was what I stupidly said, and Manda chuckled.
My stunned gaze landed on her, and Manda’s ridiculously handsome husband took the hand dangling at my side, brought it to his mouth, and planted a kiss to my knuckles. He continued to hold my hand as he looked me in the eye, almost hypnotizing. “Hello, gorgeous. The name’s Evander, but almost e’ryone calls me Vander.”
“Oh, wow,” escaped me, and as my cheeks heated, I turned to Manda, and uttered, “I totally get it.”
And although her husband’s eyes narrowed on me, he kept smiling, but from the way Manda’s body shook in silent laughter, she got me. I cleared my throat and smiled widely. “It’s lovely to meet you.” Suddenly embarrassed, I glanced down at my feet before glaring at Manda. “If I had known you were coming—” My eyes met Vander’s. “—I would have dressed more appropriately.”
“Don’t be silly, love.” His eyes landed on my feet and he grinned. “Pikachu’s my favorite.”
Well, duh.
He was everyone’s favorite.
“Please, come in.” I held the door open, and as Manda and Vander stepped inside, I was suddenly standing face-to-face with a man who looked so much like my non-husband that I had to stop myself from reaching up and touching his beautiful face.
Although his face shape was slightly different—angular and much more severe-looking—his neatly styled dark hair, his strong chin, his full bottom lip, the way his eyes hooded unintentionally, they were all Twitch. But he wasn’t Twitch. And from the way he was looking at me with those forest green eyes, unsure and mildly irritated, I could tell he didn’t want to be here.
Suddenly shy, I swallowed hard and slowly put my hand out to him. “Hello. I’m Lexi.”
The man peered down at my hand uninterestedly before the older man slapped him across the back of the head, and muttered coarsely, “When a woman puts her hand out, you take it, Giuseppe.” The mature man’s eyes smiled at me mischievously before he shook his head, and murmured, “Kids, huh?”
Kids?
Giuseppe was in his forties.
I couldn’t help the tinkling laughter that escaped me.
Giuseppe rolled his eyes, gently taking my outstretched hand, pumping it once, then huffing out a clearly annoyed, “I’m Zep.”
Cool.
This guy looked like he was the life of the party.
If the party was held at four a.m. in a dank cemetery, that is.
The older man all but pushed Zep out of the way to stand in front of me, and something strange happened. As we held each other’s eyes, an untold understanding passed between us. He wanted to be here, wanted in on whatever it was we had going here, and I felt that in my bones.
This man was a good man. No doubt about it.
Without a single word spoken, I stepped forward and he opened his arm to me, folding them around me in a fatherly gesture that made my heart twinge.
Antonio Falco Sr. held me a long time before he pulled back to gaze down at me with shining eyes. Lifting a hand, he cupped my cheek and smiled warmly. “Beautiful girl.”
My throat catching, I whispered thickly, “Papa Tony.”
Unable to speak, he patted my cheek, and I leaned into his rough touch before stepping back and letting them both through. Once inside, I was surprised to see Manda looking into the backyard through the window, and when I went to stand next to her, I could see why she was smiling.
Vander and Twitch were out back talking close, smiling, and when Vander gripped the back of Twitch’s neck, pulling him in to kiss his cheek in a brotherly gesture, Twitch let him. As Vander pulled back, Twitch tapped the back of his knuckles to the bulge at Vander’s fly, causing him to jump and Twitch to laugh as they burst into rapid-fire chatter.
It was so strange. They knew each other well enough to play around as they were, yet I didn’t know any of these people. He hadn’t mentioned them to me at all.
I wondered why.
Manda and I laughed quietly at the men’s antics before she turned to me and looked hopeful. “You got any of that top-shelf Australian wine in the fridge?”
Pffft. Did I ever.
As I reached into the fridge to pull out a bottle, I paused before peering at the two men watching me closely. Instinct had me reaching for a second bottle then asking, “What time is it?”
Manda checked her phone. “It’s just past midday.”
“Nice,” I drawled as I gathered a third bottle into my arms. Jerking my chin toward the cabinet, I said, “Grab some glasses, will ya?”