That's Amore (Weddings by Bella Book #4): A Novel

by Janice Thompson

  I couldn’t help the little sigh that escaped as I whispered, “The pregnancy.”

  My sister’s eyes widened.

  “But please don’t worry. It’s nothing bad. Just . . . surprising.”

  She grabbed my arm. “And you’re going to tell me every detail.” Her words came out as a strained whisper. “Right?”

  I shook my head, but then blurted out, “It’s twins.”

  She let out a squeal that brought Mama and Rosa running into the living room. “What’s wrong, Sophia?” Mama asked. “Are you hurt?”

  I stared at my sister, bug-eyed, silently begging her not to say a word.

  “No, I, uh . . . I thought I saw a mouse.” She glanced at the floor, then hopped up on the sofa. “See? Right over there!” She pointed at the floor under Pop’s recliner.

  Rosa reached for my father’s rolled-up newspaper and began to whack the floor. “Where is that critter? I’ll take care of him!”

  Mama looked as if she might be sick and tore out of the room. Rosa continued to beat the floor with the newspaper, and I glared at Sophia, who shrugged.

  Aunt Rosa finally gave up. “Don’t see a thing. But if he comes back, let me know. I’ll take care of him.” She buzzed out of the room, muttering something under her breath about how she needed to call pest control.

  I looked at my sister, horrified. “Really?” I put my hands on my ever-widening hips. “A mouse?”

  “Sorry.” She giggled. “It was the only thing I could come up with in a hurry. I’ll come clean after you tell them. You are going to tell them, right?”

  “Well, duh. It’s not like they won’t eventually find out anyway, but yes, I plan to tell everyone just before dinner tonight. I think D.J. wants to put the photos on the television screen for everyone to look at.”

  “Great! I’m so excited for you, Bella!”

  Hearing her say “excited for you” calmed me a bit. If my usually self-absorbed sister was happy about this news, surely everyone else would be too. I hoped.

  The rest of the afternoon seemed to drag by. Maybe it was just my nerves, but it seemed dinnertime would never come. And how many times did I have to answer the “Are you okay, Bella?” question? Obviously I wasn’t very good at bluffing. I’d have to remember that, should I ever take up card playing.

  Earline and Dwayne Neeley arrived around 5:15, roaring up on their motorcycles and wearing their Bikers for Jesus vests. We greeted them on the veranda and they shared about the day’s ministry event. I’d never seen the two more excited—Dwayne Neeley Sr. with his tattoos and Earline with her grandmotherly smile. She couldn’t wait to head inside to hug the children, so we lost her pretty quickly.

  D.J. lingered on the veranda with his father. The two seemed to have something private to discuss, so I headed back inside to see if Rosa needed help in the kitchen. All the while I kept thinking about today’s news.

  Twins.

  How would the Rossis and the Neeleys handle the revelation? Would they celebrate with us or run for the hills?

  With the dinner hour rapidly approaching, we wouldn’t have to wait long to find out.

  6

  Green, Green Grass of Home

  We’re parents first, and once you have kids, everybody knows that you have priority lists. Number one is your family and everything else just kind of finds its place.

  Tim McGraw

  At ten minutes till six Rosa announced that dinner was ready. I could smell the tantalizing aroma of chicken cacciatore emanating from the kitchen. And those famous garlic twists of hers—yum! Just the smell made my mouth water. Well, it watered, and then just as quickly I felt nauseous. Oh dear. I hadn’t experienced a bit of morning sickness with this pregnancy so far. Hopefully it wouldn’t start up now. Not that it was morning, and not that this was a normal pregnancy. Still, a few deep breaths might serve me well right about now.

  As the family members headed toward the dining room, D.J. let out a whistle to get their attention. “Before we have dinner, Bella and I wanted to show off pictures from the ultrasound.”

  “I can never tell anything from those weird pictures,” my father grumbled. “Can’t tell the head from the tail.” This led to a complicated conversation about what babies look like in utero, which, thankfully, gave me plenty of time to work past the nausea.

  “Babies don’t have tails, Cosmo.” Mama slapped him on the arm, pretty much bringing the baby anatomy debate to a halt.

  “Whatever. You know what I mean. Can’t we look at pictures after we eat? I’m hungry.”

  Mama slapped him again. Great. We were off to a terrific start, weren’t we?

  “I think this photo might be worth looking at.” D.J. spoke to the whole group, which now included my brothers and their families. “But we thought it might be more fun to show you guys on the big-screen TV.”

  “We’re looking at the baby on television?” Uncle Laz ran his fingers through his thinning hair. “Seems a little odd. Whatever happened to the good old days when you waited till the kid popped out to find out what he looked like?” This led to some chatter from Rosa about a recent show she’d seen on television where a woman had given birth when she didn’t even know she was pregnant.

  My father scratched his backside and proclaimed, “There’s no decency left in the world,” which got a chuckle out of Laz. The two lit into a conversation about the condition of the world, which somehow led to a dissertation from D.J.’s father about how much the world had changed in his lifetime, which—miraculously—provided the perfect segue for D.J. to continue talking about the baby.

  “Thanks to the wonders of technology, we can now view photos on the TV.” D.J. smiled. “Just leave that part to me. All you have to do is look at the photos and ooh and aah.”

  “Happy to oblige.” Mama led the way into the living room. “But now I’m curious. You two must’ve found out something about the baby. Maybe they could tell the sex earlier than usual?”

  “Ooh, is that it?” Rosa still held tight to the basket of garlic twists, which she’d apparently forgotten to take into the dining room. “You know if it’s a boy or girl?”

  “I’m guessing it’s another boy.” Earline patted Tres on the head. “We Neeleys produce a lot of big, strapping, handsome boys.”

  D.J. looked a little embarrassed by this but said nothing. I couldn’t dispute her words, but she would find out soon enough that we didn’t know if it—er, they—would be boys or girls.

  “We don’t know the sex yet,” I said. “I promise. Just thought you’d like to see pictures.”

  Pop glanced back at the garlic twists in Rosa’s hands and sighed. “I guess the food can wait.”

  I knew he’d be singing a different tune in a few short minutes, so I didn’t respond.

  Minutes later we gathered together in the living room, and D.J. turned on the big-screen television. He messed with his phone for a moment, pulling up the photo. Then, with the flip of a button, the image of the babies filled the huge screen. For a half second no one said anything. You could almost feel the curiosity lingering in the air. Then Mama let out a squeal. “It’s . . . it’s twins?”

  My nod and D.J.’s “Yep!” started a domino effect around the room. Aunt Rosa released a cry of praise in Italian—first listing the names of various saints and then thanking God for our beautiful duo of babies. My father glanced my way, and Uncle Laz slapped D.J. on the back and congratulated him on a job well done, as if D.J. had somehow worked double time to accomplish this. The idea made me laugh, which was good, because the laughter helped get rid of the nerves.

  After that, everyone began to talk at once. I should have been used to this in the Rossi household, but most of the conversations weren’t centered on me. With so many people clustered around us—many of them touching my belly and ushering up prayers over me in various languages—I began to feel a little faint.

  “Give her some air!” Mama instructed. “She’s looking pale.”

  I felt pale. If tha
t was possible.

  “Nothing that a garlic twist won’t cure.” Rosa pressed the basket of garlic twists into my hands and said, “Eat, girl!”

  I did. And strangely, the garlic did the trick. Go figure.

  My aunt took me by the arm and ushered me back into the dining room. The others followed on our heels, still chattering about the twins. Pop had already named them: Thing One and Thing Two. Uncle Laz suggested a couple of Italian names that sounded like mobsters. Earline insisted we should continue on with our trend of giving the babies family names. At that point Rosa chimed in, saying she was convinced we would come up with better names once we were all well fed. Mama just smiled and shook her head.

  And D.J.? Well, he took his seat at the table looking more joyful than I’d ever seen him in all of our years together. Surely, with all of us on the same team, we could raise Thing One and Thing Two, right?

  Looking around at our support system, I knew we could do it.

  The next couple of hours whirled by, everyone in a blissful state. We’d not only excited them with our news, we’d made Rossi headlines. And though the babies wouldn’t be here for months to come, we already had the full support of both families.

  D.J. and I lingered at my parents’ house until well after eight. I knew my kiddos well enough to know that I needed to have them in bed no later than 8:30 or we’d have a terrible day tomorrow. Within three minutes of being in their car seats, they were both out like lights. At least they would stop arguing for a change.

  My thoughts replayed all of the events of the day in fast-forward motion, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as I remembered the look on my mother’s face when she saw the pictures of the babies. The joy I’d seen in her expression put everything in perspective.

  “Well, I think that went well, don’t you?” I said after a few moments of silent reflection.

  “I’d say it was a case of shock and awe.” D.J. glanced my way and smiled. He reached over to pull my hand into his. “No one expected twins.”

  “I still can’t get over it. There’s so much to figure out. Car seats. Baby beds. Clothes.” I shook my head. “What if it’s one boy and one girl? That will be tough. Might be easier if the babies are the same sex. We could do matching clothes.”

  “Don’t start worrying about all of that yet, Bella.” D.J. squeezed my hand. “And just between us, I don’t think we’ll be buying any clothes anyway. I overheard your mom and Rosa talking to my mother about shopping for matching items for the babies, so I doubt we’ll have to buy much. You know how they are.”

  “Yeah. But it’s going to be really weird if it’s one boy and one girl. He’s going to look ridiculous in pink.” I sucked in a deep breath. “Or she’s going to look goofy in baseball caps.”

  “I think a little girl in a baseball cap sounds great. But if you ever dress any of my male offspring in pink, be prepared for a battle.” D.J. laughed and gave my hand another squeeze. “Point is, I don’t want you to fret. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take care of yourself and these babies. Promise?”

  “I-I’ll try. There’s just so much to absorb all at once, and we haven’t even talked about what we’ll do about the new facility. It’s just so . . . overwhelming.”

  D.J. put both hands back on the steering wheel. “Well, ironically, I was already thinking this through even before I knew we were having twins. But today’s news just solidifies things in my mind.”

  “What do you mean? Are you thinking we should give up on the idea of opening the new facility?”

  “No.” He pulled the car to a stop at a red light. “But I think Jasmine and Lily will have to take a more active role in managing it once it’s built. It’s what happens between now and then that has me most concerned. I want this pregnancy to go smoothly for you. Don’t want to see you overworked. I know how you are. You’ll keep going until you give out.”

  “True.” I sighed. “I’m just wired like that.”

  “I know. Which is what worries me. So I came up with an idea that might help. One that will keep you from having to drive back and forth to Splendora all the time while the community center is being renovated.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yep.” He glanced my way. “My parents are on the road with their ministry right now, so they’ve offered to let us stay in their double-wide.” The light turned green and we started moving once again.

  I swallowed hard, trying to picture myself living in the run-down manufactured home. “For a few days, you mean?”

  “Well, I was thinking a few months, though I’m sure you’ll have to come back on occasion in order to keep Club Wed running here. Sophia has offered to help out more at Club Wed for a while. She said she can balance that with her hours at the salon.”

  “Well, that’s good in theory,” I said, “but we’ve got a full calendar. Wedding after wedding. We’re booked through the next several months. Sophia’s never handled things on her own before.”

  “She’s got the whole family behind her. And remember, there was once a time when you didn’t think you could handle things on your own either.” He turned right at the corner.

  “Well, yes, but . . .”

  “I’m just saying that your real focus has been on the new facility in Splendora, and I’m worried about you driving back and forth every day, especially if morning sickness kicks in. You know?”

  I did know. I’d been a little worried about it myself. But nothing about this idea sounded good to me. “You’re really suggesting we pack up our stuff and move into the double-wide until the facility is ready? I don’t know how the kids will adjust. They’ll miss everyone.”

  “They’re kids. They’ll do fine. And think about it—they’ll be able to run and play on my parents’ property. They’ll love it. I did.” In that moment, hearing the joy in my husband’s voice, I realized the truth. He wanted to go back home to Splendora. How could I deny him that? And it would be nice not to have to drive back and forth so much. Still, could Sophia handle things at Club Wed without me?

  He turned the truck onto our street, and seconds later our large Victorian home came into view. Through the stained glass window on the front door, lights twinkled from the foyer. I could hardly wait to get inside, to curl up in my own bed, to rest my mind and my heart. But as D.J. pulled the truck into the driveway and slipped it into park, I had a feeling he wasn’t ready to give up on this conversation.

  “What about your job?” I asked. “You’ve got a big construction project going here on the island, right?”

  “Right.” He turned the truck off and we sat in perfect stillness for a moment. “I won’t give that up, but my guys can do a lot of the work without me. I’ve got a couple of workers who’ve agreed to stay in Splendora to work on the new place. You’ve met Cecil, haven’t you?”

  “Cecil?”

  “He’s the best carpenter on my team. He’s got family in Humble, just a few miles south of Splendora. He said they would love to have him for a few months while he works on the new place.”

  “That’s nice of him.”

  “Yep. He’s a great guy. I’ll hire a local team to work with him, and I’ll spend most of my time there. I would only have to come back to the island once or twice a week to check on my guys here.”

  The weirdest mixture of relief and worry filled me at the same time.

  “Remember, your best friend will also be in Splendora,” D.J. said.

  I’d almost forgotten. Jenna and Bubba were going to be renting a house down the street from the Neeley homestead while they prepared to open their new barbecue restaurant in Splendora. Knowing Jenna would be nearby caused a wave of relief to wash over me. Maybe I could do this after all. And even though her little boys, Bubba Jr. and Weston, were toddlers, they could keep my children company and make them feel at home. Having friends nearby made everything better.

  D.J. went into a lengthy description of the barbecue restaurant his brother planned to open in Splendora, but he lost me early
on. I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that Jenna and I were on parallel journeys. Sort of.

  “I’m happy for Bubba, opening a restaurant and all. He’s a great cook. But what about his singing?” Bubba usually garnered the role of leading man in many of the productions at the opera house in Galveston, after all. Mama would flip if he left for good. She’d been on the board for years and counted on Bubba for a host of activities to further the arts in the Galveston area.

  “He’ll still perform in two shows a year, from what I understand,” D.J. said. “So they’re not completely leaving the island. I think they’re even keeping their condo down here. But they’re ready for something different for a while. I can understand that.” D.J. looked my way, and I could read something . . . odd in his expression. “Aren’t you, Bella?”

  “Ready for something different?” I repeated, more for my own benefit than anything. I tried to picture my spunky friend Jenna living in the country. Of course, she and Bubba were parents now. Maybe that factored into their decision. Bubba Jr. and Weston were rambunctious little things. They certainly kept her on her toes. And she did have a lot of experience working in the restaurant industry, so she would be great at helping her husband manage a barbecue restaurant. I felt sure they would be hugely successful.

  D.J. got out of the truck and came around to my side to open the door. I climbed out and then leaned in the backseat to get Rosie out of her car seat. D.J. got Tres, and we carried our sleeping babies to the front porch. Under the glow of the porch light, I gazed at my daughter’s face. I took in the soft color in her sweet, curled lips. The angelic expression on her face. I ran my finger over the little wisps of hair around her face and wondered what our world would be like, just a few months from now, when her siblings arrived. Thing One and Thing Two would likely nudge this little one out of my arms. Would she recover from the emotional trauma? How would I find time to love on all of them and still run two businesses?

  These thoughts continued as I dressed her in a nightgown and got her settled into bed. She would graduate from crib to toddler bed soon, no doubt. We’d need the crib—times two. How in the world could we manage? Would Rosie do all right in a toddler bed, or would she roam the house at night?