Raw- Rebirth

by Belle Aurora

  Ana nodded, then adoringly grinned up at her husband.

  Molly held out the salad to Dave, and he took it with a wink.

  Quite suddenly, I was choking on emotion. This—this right here—was what made my life good. I was surrounded by good people who provided great company, and for the ones who couldn’t bring themselves to participate in conversation, they spared a smile to those who did.

  At moments like this, I considered myself lucky. Luckier than most.

  When it got late, A.J. went around the table, hugging and kissing everybody goodnight before I walked him to his room and put him to bed. I watched him settle for the evening, and my heart jolted with the amount of love the sight of him induced.

  With a light sigh, I made it back to the table as Molly dealt out the cherries-and-cream buttercake I’d made the night before. She handed me a piece, and I thanked her with a squeeze to her arm before I sat and laid it on them. “I have a problem I’d like to talk to you about.”

  Everyone stilled, looking up at me, giving me their full attention.

  “What is it, babe?” Nikki asked cautiously, the first to speak.

  I picked at the cake on my plate. “I don’t know. It’s probably nothing.” I rolled my eyes and let out an exaggerated exhale. “A.J. has been talking about Twitch a lot. And he’s been saying some very out there things.”

  “What things?” Julius queried, his face bunched.

  “Well, for one, he says Twitch comes to visit him at night,” I told them with a light laugh.

  That was when Happy choked on his cake. He coughed and coughed until tears formed in his eyes, and he wheezed out, “What?” Nikki handed him her glass of water and he took it, chugging it down.

  “Okay, look,” I said sadly. “It’s not that completely unknown for a child to conjure up imaginary scenarios in their minds when they’re fighting to cope with something like this. I’m pretty sure that’s all this is. What I’m asking is, should I let it go, or take him to see somebody, to talk to somebody?”

  Julius said, “I think he should talk to somebody,” at the very same time, Happy uttered, “It’ll pass. It’s a kid thing.”

  They looked at each other carefully, and when it started to become awkward, my eyes darted between them. I drawled out, “I might just give it some time and see how it goes.” Then I shrugged and talked the whole thing down. “It’s probably just a phase.”

  “Sure,” said Nikki.

  “Yeah,” agreed Dave with a slight nod.

  I was surprised when Ana opened her mouth and started to talk, albeit quietly. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something, Lexi.” She held her hands under the table so nobody could see how badly they shook.

  She was talking to me. How great was that? I couldn’t help but smile. “What is it, Ana?”

  Ana looked to Julius, and he glanced at me a moment before turning back to her and nodding. She looked at me a long while and we were patient. It took her a while to get it out, but she finally did. “My friend Manda is coming down from the States to spend a couple of weeks with us, and she really wants to meet you.”

  Wow, okay. “Yeah, sure. I’d love to meet her.”

  Unfortunately, it looked as though Ana was spent for the night because she looked to her husband and made a face of pure misery. Julius pressed a light kiss to her lips before he took over. “She wants to meet all of you.”

  Why did this sound like something bad was coming? “No problem. Bring her to dinner one night and she can meet us all then.”

  But Julius shook his head. “She wants to meet you first.”

  Because that didn’t sound sinister at all.

  What was going on here?

  “Okay,” I drawled then laughed cautiously. “What’s the issue?”

  Julius looked me deep in the eye. “Been keeping something from you, Lex.”

  Well, shit.

  Secrets.

  Nuh uh. Did not like that.

  My lips thinned and my brow narrowed. “What have you been keeping exactly?”

  Julius looked at me a long while. “Manda is family. More specifically—” He licked his bottom lip. “—she’s A.J.’s aunt.”

  Okay. Officially confused here. “What do you mean?”

  Everyone at the table looked to them in complete silence, before Julius revealed, “Manda is Twitch’s biological sister.”

  My breath left me in a whoosh.

  “She’s the daughter of Antonio Falco Senior, making her A.J.’s aunt.” Julius mistook my silence for refusal. I know this because he put up a hand and said, “Now, hold up a second and think about it.” He went on. “She’s a really nice woman. A doctor, Lex. Real respectable. In fact, she kind of reminds me of you. But she didn’t want us to tell you about her, not until now. And she would really love to meet her nephew.”

  My lungs began to work again, and slowly, I took in a deep, burning breath then replied through an exhale, “I want to meet her.”

  Julius blinked at me. “Yeah?” Then he smiled. “Shit, Lex. She’s gonna be over the moon. She’s dying for an introduction.”

  When I looked to Ana, she looked so happy, but I couldn’t function.

  Oh my God.

  Twitch had a sister.

  ***

  Twitch

  “You stupid son of a bitch.” Happy glared at me when I opened the front door.

  “Come again?” I said in deathly calm.

  This asshole’s got another think coming if he thinks he can walk into my house and talk to me like that. I mean, we’ve been friends a long time. You’d think he’d know better by now. I would pop him in the mouth quicker than he’d see it coming.

  Happy strode in and I shut the door behind him. He paced, and as he did, I noticed he was holding a container in his hands.

  “That for me?”

  Happy’s lip curled and he tossed the container at me. I took it, opened it, and my stomach rumbled at the sight of the spaghetti and meatballs. My baby could fuckin’ cook, and I loved Italian food. Without another word, I went to the sink, picked up a washed fork, and went to town. I shoved a forkful into my mouth and made a sound low in my throat, chewing, and then garbled, “I love her meatballs.”

  When he stopped pacing, he turned to me, and uttered, “Are you out of your fucking mind, or is it your mission to get caught?” When I threw him a dark look, he pointed at me. “I would not push me tonight, fucker. I just came home from a fourteen-hour flight and haven’t had my dick sucked in a damn week. You think I wanna be here with your surly ass? Nah, man. I wanna be at home, not lecturing you.”

  The fuck was up his ass?

  I chewed slowly then swallowed. “Fuckin’ leave then, bitch. I don’t care.”

  But then Happy put his hands on his hips, and muttered, “You been visiting A.J.?”

  Oh.

  I stopped chewing.

  That.

  What the fuck was it his business anyways? I wasn’t hurting anyone.

  I held his eyes, and he ran a hand over his bald head then scoffed. “Lexi wants to take him to a shrink, Twitch. Thinks he’s suffering from grief because, for the life of her, she can’t understand why he’s suddenly imagining you everywhere.”

  Okay. That might have been an issue.

  Happy asked, “How long?” but I didn’t answer.

  There was nothing wrong with my boy. He didn’t need a shrink. He needed his father, and I was working on that.

  I inwardly sighed, picked at my food, and then muttered glumly, “I’ll cool it.”

  Happy blinked at me a second before he waved me off and marched away. Before he slammed the door, he said, “I don’t fucking believe you, man.”

  I ate the rest of my food in silence, trying not to be resentful that my friends got to hang with my woman tonight while I sat in the darkness, watching stealthily from across the street.

  Chapter Five

  Lexi

  I was nervous.

  I probably shouldn’t have been, b
ut I was. I mean, from what I knew, Manda had never even met Twitch. But she carried his genes, and that made me nervous.

  Would she look like him?

  Was she as authoritarian as he was?

  I knew nothing about her, and Julius thought it would be better that way, that my impressions should come from the woman, not stories about her, and I had to respect that. But as I sat in front of the dresser, applying some light makeup, I couldn’t help but wonder about her.

  I quickly dressed in a cute skinny jean and tee combo, then threw my hair up in a high ponytail. When I looked at myself in the dresser mirror, I sighed contentedly. This was as good as it got. I didn’t bother dressing up much anymore, and nerves had me not wanting to go overboard for fear of looking like an idiot. So, this was it.

  As I attempted to walk out of my bedroom, my eyes caught a flash of pink on my nightstand. Frowning, my feet took me to it, and with a soft, confused smile, I picked up the little Zinnia that had been clearly plucked from our front yard and put it to my smiling lips, breathing in its delicate, earthy scent.

  My son was so pure of heart it slayed me sometimes. I was doing my best to teach him the declining art of the gentleman. He hated the dance lessons I forced on him, but I swore he’d learn the basic waltz, and for the most part, we had fun while doing it. I tried my best on the manners front, but, well, he was Twitch’s child, so I did what I could with that.

  I don’t know how long I stood in the kitchen, looking out through the large bay window in the family room, but when I saw a silver sedan pull up, my heart stuttered. I put a hand to my belly in a weak attempt to stop it from fluttering around as it was.

  My heart began to race.

  What if she didn’t like me?

  Oh, no.

  What if I didn’t like her?

  Ah, crap.

  Too late. The tiny ginger-haired woman dressed in black jeans and a white blouse was already halfway across my front lawn. Her massively oversized sunglasses made it hard to make out her features. And then the doorbell rang.

  I counted to seven before I opened the door and stood there silently. When the little American woman removed her sunglasses, revealing striking blue eyes and a smatter of freckles across her nose, I was surprised. She looked nothing like Twitch. I couldn’t help the sudden irrational disappointment I felt.

  But then she smiled, and there he was. “Lexi?”

  I didn’t mean to. I really didn’t. I tried hard to stop it, but I couldn’t.

  Putting a hand to my quivering lips, my vision blurred as I cried in complete silence, nodding.

  The little woman’s face crumbled and she came forward, wrapping her arms around me, hugging me a long while. When she pulled back, her own lashes were wet, and I let out a soggy laugh. “Hi.”

  She swiped at her cheeks before she choked on her own laugh. “Hello.”

  Managing to get a hold of myself, I blew out a long breath. “Well, that didn’t go how I planned it.” An embarrassed chuckle bubbled up my throat. “Please, come in.”

  Somehow, the unexpected outburst of emotion on both parts forced a connection between us, and I immediately felt at ease with this woman. I walked into the kitchen, twisted back, and asked, “Coffee?”

  Manda dropped her satchel onto the floor and sounded almost relieved, pulling out a chair and sitting on it, and the at home gesture made me like her even more. “You’re an angel.”

  “Funny.” I grinned as I put the coffeemaker on. “That’s what your brother used to call me.”

  Strangely, she said, “I know.” But when my puzzled expression landed on her, she immediately amended, “I mean, so I’ve heard.”

  Okay, then.

  As the coffee machine was filling, I felt a little awkward. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go and cry on you out there. I guess I was a little overwhelmed.” I bit the inside of my cheek. “You don’t look like Twitch, but when you smiled...” I shrugged. “For a second, I saw him in your smile.”

  Manda’s face softened. “You must have loved him very much.”

  I poured the coffee and spoke quietly. “I never stopped.” When I handed her a mug, bringing over the sugar and creamer, I told her, “I didn’t know he had a sister. He never mentioned you.”

  She kind of looked embarrassed. “He didn’t know. I’m sure that under the circumstances, he wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with us anyways.”

  Whoa. “What do you mean?” And more importantly, “Who is us?”

  Manda smiled tightly, before explaining, “I have a brother named Giuseppe. We call him Zep.” She bit her lip. “He and Tony were born only days apart.”

  And it all made sense.

  My brows rose. “Oh.”

  Manda laughed under her breath. “Yeah, exactly. So Zep and I have the same mother, but Tony’s mom, I never met. I heard she was a jerk anyways, so when I found out she died a few years back, it was like ‘good riddance.’” She paused. “Zep never felt the need to go looking for our brother, but I did, for a very long time.” She looked dejected. “I just found him too late.”

  That was sad. I was sad for her.

  My voice was kind. “I’m sorry.”

  She shook her head, sipping her black coffee. “Thank you, but it’s okay.” She smiled. “I found you and—” she looked at me hopefully. “—my nephew.”

  As if I were going to keep A.J. from this sweet woman. “He’ll be home in an hour.”

  Manda looked momentarily jubilant. “I bought him a little present.” Then she seemed nervous. “I hope he likes it.”

  “I’m sure he’ll love it,” I replied, but I decided to be honest and did this cautiously. “I didn’t tell him about you. He’s going to be surprised.”

  Manda and I talked a while. She told me about her husband, Evander MacDiarmid, and when I asked why she didn’t keep the same name, she told me her father had insisted she keep her own. I wasn’t sure why, but it seemed important, so I dropped it. When I asked about Antonio Falco Sr, Manda’s face lit up as she spoke about the older man.

  “He’s the sweetest man you’ll ever meet. I swear to God. He really wants to meet you, but—” She shrugged lightly. “—he didn’t know if he’d be welcome, so I thought I’d come alone and gauge how you felt about that.”

  Meeting Twitch’s dad? Oh, wow. This was intense.

  Why was I so anxious about that? “I think I’d like that.”

  Manda beamed, but she kept a soft tone. “I’ll let him know.”

  Before I knew it, an hour had passed and we were minutes away from Molly bringing A.J. home. I felt the need to warn Manda. “A.J.’s going to be home any minute now, which is why I need to explain to you that A.J. sometimes talks about Twitch in the present.”

  When her face took on an expression of pure confusion, she asked, “How so?”

  I ran my finger along the edge of the wooden table. “It seems A.J. has been imagining his father has been visiting him at night.”

  Manda’s face paled. “Really?”

  I know. It was weird, but I couldn’t help but defend my son. “He’s grieving, Manda.”

  At my short statement, her expression softened. “Of course. Thanks for the heads up.”

  I smiled tightly. “No problem.”

  The awkward encounter passed the moment the front door opened. Manda stood, looking out into the hall, and we heard Molly say the same thing she said every school day afternoon. “Okay, bud. Shoes off. Bag away. I’ll get you a snack.”

  Without even peering into the kitchen, A.J. ran past so quickly he looked like a blur. “Hi, Mum!”

  Manda’s brows rose as she turned to me, smiling, and I shook my head in return, grinning. “Hey, honey. Can you come in here when you’re done?”

  Molly stepped into the kitchen, looking from Manda to me, and when I made a face, reminding her not to be so rude, Molly sighed, walking forward and watching the other woman cautiously. “I’m Molly.”

  Manda smiled. “Manda. Nice to meet y
ou.”

  Molly looked Manda up and down. “I’m A.J.’s nanny,” is what she said. What it sounded like was, “I’m A.J.’s detail, and I don’t want you messing with him.”

  So Molly was a little protective. It was one of the things I loved about her.

  When the little monster slid into the kitchen in his socks, he smiled at me a moment before he looked up at Manda, his eyes roaming her openly, guardedly.

  Her smile widened and her voice turned wistful. “Hello, A.J.” When he didn’t respond, she turned to me and spoke whisper soft. “Oh my God. He looks just like him.”

  I know. It was overwhelming sometimes.

  “Come here a sec,” I said, and when he approached slowly, I bent at the waist, put my hands to his shoulders, and said, “I want you to meet Manda.”

  Polite as he could, A.J. uttered a quietly shy, “Hello.”

  Manda knelt down in front of him. “I’ve waited a long time to meet you.”

  A.J. squinted up at her, confused. “You have?”

  She nodded gently. “Yes. You see, I’m....” She licked her lips, looking mildly unsure of herself.

  When it looked like Manda had lost herself, I took over. “You remember when I told you that you didn’t have any real aunts or uncles?”

  A.J. nodded.

  I put my lips to his ear and mock whispered, “I lied.”

  A.J. spun on me. His brows rose so high they almost touched his hairline, and he looked positively dumbstruck. He whispered back, “You lied?”

  A soft laugh left me. “Not on purpose, baby. I didn’t know about your aunt Manda.”

  A.J. faced her and muttered a disbelieving, “You’re my aunt?”

  Manda swallowed hard. “Yes.” Then she gently explained, “I’m your father’s sister,” and A.J.’s head all but imploded.

  He stood staring at her, unblinking. He did this a long while, and when he made no move to say or do anything, I snuffled out a soft laugh. “Are you okay, bud?”

  He shook his head, and when I laughed, Manda smiled kindly. “I brought you a gift.”

  Well, that snapped him out of his stupor.