“Sure,” I say, going to the counter and putting a pan of Hawaiian rolls into the oven.
“Thanks, honey.”
“You’re welcome.” I smile, feeling warm inside. I wonder if my mom would have been like her if she were alive. All of the memories of my mom are happy; she was always laughing and smiling.
“What’s wrong?” Nico’s arms wrap around me. I hug him back, breathing him in before bringing my hands to my face, wiping my eyes. “Talk to me,” he says against my ear before kissing it.
“Nothing. Just thinking about my mom and wondering if she would be like yours,” I tell him.
He tilts my head back with a finger under my chin. “You gonna be okay being here? If not, we can go,” he says quietly, searching my face. Hearing him say that only makes me love him that much more. I know how much his family means to him. I know how much he wants me to get to know them, so his asking if I need to leave says more than words ever could.
“You love me,” I whisper. It isn’t a question; I know he does because I can see it in his eyes. I don’t know how I missed it before.
“I do.” He smiles, his mouth touching mine. “I love you, Sophie,” he says softly for only me to hear.
“I love you too,” I whisper, closing my eyes. I feel him smile against my lips before he kisses me again.
“Well, shit.” He lifts his mouth from mine and I turn my head. “It is true. Fuck me—I thought Mom was kidding,” a guy says, looking between Nico and me.
“Trevor, this is Sophie. Sophie, this is my brother, Trevor.”
“Nice to meet you,” I tell him, pressing closer to Nico.
Trevor is big, and we were in a kitchen, so I can’t help but feel some fear as the thought of my attack in my childhood home’s kitchen drifts into my mind. I try to fight it, remembering what my counselor said about not letting it control me, and I take a deep breath and put my hand out to Trevor, who immediately takes it. I scream when he suddenly pulls me to him, and it takes a second to realize that he’s hugging me. My heart is pounding in my chest, but my breaths, which were coming in rough pants, slow, and I return his hug for a second before being pulled back by Nico’s strong, tattooed arms.
“Aw, now you get it.” Trevor smirks, shaking his head.
“I get it, and you got your own woman, so keep your hands off mine,” Nico says, tucking me back under his arm.
Then a very pretty woman with long blond hair comes into the kitchen holding a little girl—well, trying to; it appears more like the girl is being detained, and the woman looks like if she moves wrong, her very pregnant stomach would explode.
“What did I tell you about picking her up, babe?” Trevor scolds her, taking the little girl from her and whispering something into her ear, making her laugh and yell out, “Daddy!”
“It was either pick her up or have your mom’s house destroyed. She’s just like you. She never wants to listen when I tell her no,” she snaps at Trevor.
“You don’t like telling me no,” Trevor tells her with a smirk before gently pulling her forward by the back of the neck and kissing her. When his mouth leaves hers, she smiles then looks at Nico and me.
“Um,” she mumbles, and I can’t help but giggle. I totally get it; Nico has the same effect on me.
“Sophie, this is my wife, Liz, and my daughter, Hanna.”
“Hi,” I greet softly, lifting my hand in a small wave.
Nico pulls me fully against him until Hanna reaches out from Trevor’s hold, latching on to Nico. I love seeing him with the little girl, who seems so fascinated by him.
“Oh my God, they were telling the truth,” Liz says quietly.
My eyes go to hers, and she starts to laugh, making her whole belly bounce. I’m starting to wonder if she should even be out of bed with how large she is.
“Should you be doing that?” I ask her, watching her belly, afraid the baby is going to somehow become dislodged and come flying out.
“Do what? Laugh?” she asks, my eyes returning to hers as she smiles and shakes her head, laughing even harder. “I still have a ways to go, but this guy here is apparently going to be the biggest baby in the history of babies.” She starts rubbing her belly, and I really want to rub it too to see what it feels like. “He’s kicking. Do you wanna feel?” she asks, reading my face.
I take two small steps towards her, gently placing my hand on her belly. “Does it hurt?”
“No. It feels strange and uncomfortable, but never really painful, except childbirth. Now that is horrible, and anyone who says differently is a liar.” She grabs my hand, pulling it around to her side and holding it there. That’s when I feel a small kick, and then another, this one much harder.
“Wow,” I breathe.
“Yeah. He’s going to be a soccer player.”
“He’s going to be a football player,” Trevor says, narrowing his eyes on his wife.
“Sure, honey.” She smiles then rolls her eyes. “How long have you been seeing Nico?”
“Um…” Shit. What should I say? I look at Nico; he’s so caught up trying to control the little girl in his arms and talking to Trevor that he’s basically no help at all.
“You are seeing him, right? I mean, he’s not just joking, is he?” she asks, confused.
“No, no, it’s not a joke.” I shake my head, my eyebrows coming together in concentration as I try to figure out what to say.
“Hey, I was just curious. You don’t have to tell me anything,” she says gently.
“I…I just feel bad. We’ve been seeing each other for a few months, but I just couldn’t meet you guys yet. I was trying to work through some stuff first,” I tell her quietly.
“I understand that. I had to work through some stuff for a while as well, so I know how you feel. Nico’s a good guy though, so he’ll help you.”
“Yeah, he’s kind of relentless,” I reply, scrunching up my nose.
She smiles genuinely, transforming her whole face from pretty to stunning. “Well then I guess I should say welcome to the family.” She shocks me, pulling me in for a hug.
“What?”
“Girl, now you’re stuck. There’s no way out of this. Even if you tried, he would hunt you down.” She laughs.
“Yikes,” I say with a fake grimace.
“Yep.” She nods, and then I hear the front door bang open.
I jump and look at Nico. Then loud voices fill the front of the house.
“Ma?!” is bellowed. I look at Susan, who smiles and rolls her eyes.
“My oldest has no manners. Don’t mind him,” Susan says, walking around us and out of the kitchen.
“You called?” she asks with a laugh, and then there’s a chorus of ‘Grandma!’ being yelled with happy squeals from what sounds like a troop of little girls.
“Come meet everyone,” Nico says, walking me out into the living room with one hand against my lower back, the other full of a very excited little girl.
Once we make it around the corner, I stop dead in my tracks when I see two more beautiful men, a pretty red-haired woman, a beautiful woman with long brown hair, four little girls, and one little boy all gathering around Susan and yelling for her attention. The other two couples in the room are standing off to the side, watching and laughing while Susan’s mauled by the group of kids.
“Uncle Nico!” a little girl wearing a tutu screams, running towards us at full speed. All the other kids in the room follow her lead and surround us.
“Who are you?”
I look down to see the only boy in the bunch looking up at me curiously. “Sophie. Who are you?”
“Jax,” he says, tilting his head to the side and studying me. “I neber met you before.”
“Nope, you haven’t.”
He looks at where Nico’s hand is wrapped around my waist, and his little eyes narrow slightly. “You said girls are weird and that you didn’t want one,” Jax says, looking at Nico accusingly.
“I did, little dude, but that was before I met Sophie,” Nico explains
, and I want to laugh, but Jax looks very serious about this topic.
“But she’s a girl,” he argues, looking around at all the girls then back at Nico. “We already hab too many girls.”
“He’s right, you know. You are the one who’s always said girls are gross,” a guy in a baseball cap says, walking across the room and holding a woman’s hand, both of them wearing wide smiles on their faces.
“Hi, Sophie, it’s nice to meet you. This is my wife, Lilly. I’m Cash. This little guy here is Jax, and he is ours, along with Ashlyn,” he says, pointing out one of the little girls.
“Nice to meet you too,” I say as all the little girls it the room start running around us, yelling in their high-pitched singsong voices, “Uncle Nico’s in love!” I can help but laugh.
“Welcome to the insanity,” Lilly says, smiling, and that’s when I recognize her from school.
“You used to work at the middle school, right?” Her hair is different, but I’m pretty sure it’s her.
“That’s why I recognize you!” She smiles excitedly. “Are you still working in the library?”
“Yes. I wondered what happened to you,” I say quietly.
“It’s a long story. One day when you have time, we’ll meet for coffee so I can tell you all about it,” she replies just as quietly.
I’m taken aback by her offer; even when she worked at the school, we never socialized. Well, I never socialize with anyone.
“I would like that,” I say sincerely, liking the idea of having some friends here.
“It really is a small world.” She shakes her head, looks at Cash, and smiles as he leans forward, kissing her forehead.
Then the other guy who arrived comes over, scooping up one little girl along the way. “Sophie, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Asher, this is November, and those three girls are ours—July, June, and May,” he says, pointing to each daughter as he says their name. If Nico hadn’t prepared me for their names, I may have laughed, but thankfully, he warned me.
“Nice to meet you guys.” I smile at both of them before taking a second to look around. Nico’s whole family’s beautiful…like, really beautiful.
“You okay, babe?” Nico whispers next to my ear, sending a small shiver down my spine. I nod and lean into him.
“All right, everyone. I need your help getting dinner on the table. Who wants to help Grandma?” Susan asks, and all the kids start yelling about who gets to help set the table, who gets to butter the rolls, and all sorts of other tasks they clearly do often.
“We call it controlled chaos,” November says, watching as all the kids follow after Susan.
“I just call it insanity,” Trevor says, walking into the living room with Liz, who he helps sit down before putting her feet up on a pillow.
“Honey, I told you I’m fine,” she grumbles, but seeing the size of her ankles has me wincing and thankful she’s off her feet.
“Well, be fine sitting your pretty little ass in here with your feet up,” he replies, kissing her hard before going back into the kitchen.
“He’s so bossy,” Liz says, but I can tell she really doesn’t mind that he’s bossy with her.
“So, you sure you’re ready to be a part of this craziness?” Asher asks me, wrapping an arm around November’s waist.
I look at Trevor, who comes in to give Liz a glass of water, and then Cash, who is whispering something into Lilly’s ear making her smile. I glance at November, who is looking at Asher like he holds the secrets of the universe, and as I feel Nico’s hand on my side, his fingers running along the skin between my shirt and jeans, in his touch alone, I feel love.
“It may take some getting used to, but yes, I’m ready,” I tell Asher, and Nico’s fingers give me a squeeze.
“I’m still trying to get used to it, but as long as you have a backbone and don’t let these guys boss you around too much, you’ll be fine,” November says, smiling.
“Hey, I don’t boss you around,” Asher says, glaring at November.
“I know you don’t.” She pats his chest then rolls her eyes, making me giggle.
“Dad’s home,” Nico says as we hear a loud diesel engine pulling up outside, and before I have a second to gather my thoughts, “Grandpa’s here!” is yelled and a swarm of children run into the living room then out the front door.
My heart swells as we walk out onto the front porch. There’s obviously a rule in place and the kids must do this often, because they all stay on the porch until the truck is shut off. The second the engine dies, the kids all run full speed down the steps. An older man—who is still very handsome and looks a lot like his sons—hops out of the truck. Then chaos ensues, and the kids are on him, jumping up and down, and all of them talking to him a million miles a minute at the same time. He takes his time, greeting each one, picking one up, and giving them a second of his time before kissing them on their head and putting them down until every single one of them has had their turn.
I fall in love with Nico’s family right then and there—his mom, brothers, sisters-in-law, and now his dad—and I can tell without a doubt that they all genuinely love each other. They are the definition of family and exactly what I never knew I wanted for myself.
After all the kids have their time with their grandfather, he makes his way up the porch steps with a wide smile on his face holding Jax.
“So I hear Nico’s in love. That right?” he asks, looking at Nico and then at me.
I bite my lip to keep from smiling at Jax, who looks utterly annoyed with his uncle. “Um…” I don’t know how to respond.
“He is, Grandpa. He was wookin’ at her all funny and everything,” Jax says, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff.
“Well then, I’m James, but you can call me Dad. Welcome to the family.” I’m about to put out my hand and introduce myself, but I’m suddenly pulled into a bear hug that forces Jax between us.
“I’m Sophie,” I tell him, hugging him back.
“Nice to meet you, Sophie,” he says, pulling away to set down a wiggling Jax.
“You too.” I smile up at him, seeing that his eyes look exactly like Nico’s.
“All right, you guys. Come inside. Dinner’s ready,” Susan says as she comes outside, wiping her hands on a dishcloth.
James pulls her to him with an arm around her waist and kisses her once before patting her butt and sending her inside in front of him. Now I know where the Mayson boys get it from, I think, looking up at Nico with a smile as we follow his parents into the house.
“So how’s work been, son?” James asks Nico.
We’re all sitting around the table and eating, and the conversation has mostly been about my history. I’ve tried to steer things away from what happened after my mom died and before I went to Job Corps. I feel a little like I’m lying, but there are some things I just can’t bring myself to talk about. I look at Nico curiously when he avoids the question his dad just asked him and completely changes the subject.
“How do you guys feel about the fact that Cash and Lilly ran off and got hitched?” he asks with a smirk, and everyone at the table stops looking at him and turns to stare between Cash and Lilly. I look at Nico funny, knowing he’s avoiding talking about his job. I’m happy to know I’m not the only one he keeps his work-life separated from, but I really hope he talks to someone about it. I can’t imagine doing what he does and not having someone to vent to.
The rest of dinner is spent talking about Cash and Lilly, their time in Alaska, and their quickie Vegas ceremony. I also spend most of dinner with different kids in my lap, each asking me questions of their own. First, it is July asking me about my nail color and if she could borrow my polish. The next is June, who has a hundred questions about me and Nico, and then May wants to know why she’s never met me before and asks me every question under the sun, from my favorite food to if I had any pets. By the time Hanna comes to sit on my lap, I am thankful for the little girl because she only wants to talk about books. Ashlyn is the
last to sit with me. I tell her all about Daisy, who she has only met a couple of times but has fallen in love with her. Jax is quiet during most of dinner. He sits on the other side of Nico, who I guess from their talks is his idol—well, until I came along. Apparently Nico broke his trust when he got a girlfriend.
After we’ve finished our dinner and each had a piece of homemade lemon meringue pie, it is almost nine and time for us to go home.
“Are you sure you can’t hab a sleepober wif me?” May asks, bending her little head backwards so she can look up at my face.
“I’m sorry, honey, but your uncle Nico would be sad if I didn’t have a sleepover with him,” I tell her. Leaning forward, I can’t help but kiss her head. “I promise you we will have a pajama party soon though. We can watch movies, paint our nails, and do all kinds of fun things.”
“Mommy! I get to have a sleepober wif Aunt Sophie!” May yells, jumping down off my lap, and then all the kids run into the dining room and swarm me, asking if they can have a sleepover too.
“Yes, you can all come and have a sleepover.” I laugh as they all run off to their parents, yelling about a sleepover at ‘Uncle Nico and Aunt Sophie’s house.’
“When you have this sleepover, I’m gonna make sure I gotta work,” Nico says, making me narrow my eyes.
“No, I figure this will be good practice for you, Mr. I-wanna-get-you-knocked-up.”
“Touché.” He smiles, kissing my nose. He wraps his arms around my waist, and I lean into him. “You ready to go home?”
“Yeah, if you are,” I tell him before getting up on my tiptoes to kiss him. Today has been awesome. I now know that I have nothing to worry about. His family is sweet. I’m happy to know them and glad Nico has them at his back, and I can’t wait to spend time with them again soon. “I love your family,” I tell him as I kiss the underside of his jaw.
“They love you too baby.”
“I love you,” I tell him with a smile.
He leans forward and kisses my forehead before leaning back his eyes meeting mine. “Love you too, sweet Sophie.” I smile and shake my head. “All right. Let’s get out of here. I need to be inside you,” Nico says, making me tingle.