by Sam Mariano
“Any word from Rafe about who might be taking care of Skylar now?” I ask, wondering if he knows something I don’t. It would be just like him to go and agree to raise a kid without telling me.
“Not yet,” he says, unconcerned. Then he plays like he’s going to eat Skylar’s fingers and she squeals, delighted.
I think I have lost my fiancé to a much younger woman. Smiling faintly, I take the pink sun hat and crawl over to join them on the floor. “Lookie what Aunt Mia sent you. Is that pretty?”
“I think she’s a second cousin by marriage,” Sin says.
“Second cousin Mia sounds weird, we’ll go with Aunt Mia,” I say, fitting the little hat on Skylar’s head. She tries to look up and the hat falls off, so I put it back on. “I mentioned my pool fantasy to Mia, so she sent me a bathing suit for Skylar. She’s an enabler.”
“Well, she’s happily married to Mateo, so I would have guessed that,” Sin reasons.
I crawl back over to grab my phone. “Hang on, I have to send her a picture.”
Sin turns her around so I can get a picture. I take advantage of the opportunity to take his picture, too. Mia asked a long time ago what he looked like, and I never got to show her.
She immediately texts back somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 heart-eyed emojis.
Looking up at them over there playing, I can’t help feeling a little heart-eyed, myself.
I don’t know if Sin is angry because we are at Rafe’s house to hand off Skylar and he’s not ready, or if he’s angry that this dude and his wife are currently complaining about having to go back to caring for a baby in diapers now that theirs are finally potty-trained.
It might be both. He’s got her snug against his chest like he’s not going to give her up. I’m low key preparing for him to get up and storm out with her, the same way he did with my purse the night I met him.
Apparently, Vince has a much older sister. He has never once mentioned her, only his sister Cherie, but Rafe tells me the woman who agreed to take Skylar in is Vince’s half-sister. She’s 37 and married—and her husband is an asshole, if this first impression is an accurate picture of him. But she’s Skylar’s family, in the strictest technical sense. Sin doesn’t seem to think that’s important. I get it. Better that she is with someone who will happily take care of her than someone who happens to share some common ancestry. I’m not going to tell Rafe how to run his family though, not in this regard.
It doesn’t help Sin’s mood that when Roseanna and her husband were offered Skylar, they said things like, “Of course no one wants to take her, she’s just a girl.” Even Sin with his oppressive caveman bullshit looked like he wanted to punch these people in the face with a brick.
He’s a ticking time bomb, and I’m just sitting here waiting for him to go off.
I don’t have to wait long. When Roseanna comes over to retrieve Skylar, the moment I knew was coming finally arrives.
“Nope,” Sin says firmly.
The woman frowns. “Excuse me?”
Sin shakes his head, pushing up off the couch. “Nope. I’m not giving her to you. You don’t even want her.”
“Well, someone killed her parents,” the husband says pointedly. “So now somebody has to take her in.”
“That’s right, but it doesn’t have to be you.”
“No one else was knocking down the door to take her in,” he replies.
Sin shakes his head, looking over at me. He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t have to. I know exactly what he wants. Nodding my agreement, I place my hand on his thigh to show my support.
Now that I’m on board, he looks to Rafe. “We’ll keep her.”
“Are you serious?” the husband asks. “This isn’t even your problem.”
“She’s not a fucking problem,” Sin snaps. “Jesus Christ, you people. Babies are not problems.”
Putting a hand up to keep the peace, Rafe nods his head. “All right. That’s fine with me if it’s fine with everyone else.
Rafe’s jerky cousin and her dumb husband seem irritated, but not by the loss of Skylar. They leave grumbling under their breath, but Sin doesn’t care. I don’t either. No wonder Vince doesn’t associate with that sister; she sucks.
Sin looks down at Skylar on his chest, and she holds onto his finger while she naps.
My heart fills up, aches, bottoms out, and fills up again. I hope the sight of him in daddy mode breaks my heart a little less once I get used to it, but right now it all feels very dramatic. My heart splits in half because I can’t help thinking of Ellie, but then adheres together again because he seems so much more at peace already. He may be snarling at Rafe’s asshole family members, but overall, he’s calmer with Skylar around.
Tonight when we take her home, he’s the most at peace he has been since I met him. I’ve seen him stoic, passionate, mean, happy, in love—I see love shining in his eyes each night when he holds me in bed, but the peace, that feels like something new. I thought the measure of peace I brought him was as good as it got, but now I get the feeling his missing pieces are finally all filled in. No one can ever take the place of Ellie, naturally, but Skylar gives him back something he lost. Something he never thought he could get back.
I get teary thinking about it, but most of them are happy tears.
The little family we are piecing together may not be entirely conventional, but it’s ours. As long as we all fit together, it really doesn’t matter where we came from.
52
Laurel
Four months later
The hot Vegas sun beats down on every inch of my exposed skin—and it’s a lot of inches, because I’m six months pregnant and wearing a hot pink bikini. I absently rub my baby bump, wondering if I should get out of the lounger and into the pool with Sin and Skylar. I love soaking up the sun with Rafe while Sin plays in the water with our little one, but I’ve been relaxing here for a while and I don’t want to accidentally bake my unborn son.
“I’m thirsty. Get me a drink.”
I lift my eyebrows and turn my head, looking at Rafe like he’s lost his damn mind. “Get it yourself, lazy ass.”
“Remember when you were so dazzled by me that you served me without question?” he asks.
Pointedly sticking my nose in the air, I say, “Not really. I think you’re remembering wrong.”
Sighing, he folds his hands over his washboard abs and laments, “I should have knocked up a nicer girl.”
“Hey! I’m a nice girl.” I scrunch my nose up at him and reach into the lemonade glass beside my lounger, grabbing a few fingers full of ice and flinging them at him. He jerks at the sudden cold hitting his side, but smirks nonetheless. “I’m the one growing a human being inside my body,” I inform him. “If anything, you should be catering to me.”
“Not really my thing. You have a fiancé for that.”
Eagerly anticipating the wrath I’m about to incur, I say, “Not really his thing, either. We should start inviting Rex to Sunday dinner. He’ll make sure all my needs are met.”
A violent wave of chlorinated water suddenly surges out of the pool and hits my legs as Sin splashes me. “That’s not fuckin’ funny.”
I grin at him. “Yes, it is. You know I don’t go for guys my own age anymore, baby.”
Keeping one hand on Skylar’s baby float to keep her stabilized, he uses his other one to point at me. With a warning look that makes me tingle, he states, “Your ass is gonna pay for that bullshit tonight, mark my words.”
“My ass is looking forward to it,” I tell him with a wink.
I chuckle to myself, grabbing my lemonade and sipping through the straw. It’s a source of much amusement for Rafe—and sure, me—that Sin gets possessive when it comes to Rex. After Mateo’s guys helped clean up Rafe’s mess, a few of them stayed behind to help him and Sin rebuild. Rex was one of them, and since he’s a nice guy (for a thug), sure, he makes a point to catch up with me when he’s around. Since he’s also physically attractive and age-appropriat
e, and because Sin is an absolute caveman, it makes him salty.
It’s laughable, but I can’t even button my jeans anymore, so I can’t complain about the ego boost.
Sin shakes his head at me. “It’s all fun and games until the little bastard disappears.”
My amused smile slips, because while he knows I’m joking, I can’t be sure he is. “You know I’m only teasing. You know I have eyes for no man but you. All the rest might as well be eunuchs, for all my romantic interest in them.”
“Too late, you already said it.” Leaning down over Skylar’s float, he pretends to be a shark, ‘eating’ her toes and earning a squeal of delight from her. When he leans down, I see the expansion of his back tattoo. Below Ellie’s sun there’s now a ripple of water and a sandy shore, Skylar’s sun hat resting on the beach, and two little foot prints in the sand. Originally, he wanted a spider, since The Itsy Bitsy Spider is Skylar’s favorite song, but I vetoed that one. I love his tattoo tributes, but I’m not going to wake up in the middle of the night and freak out about the huge spider on his back before I fully wake up and realize it’s just a tattoo. “Mommy should use her big brain before she opens her mouth and lets crazy things slip out, shouldn’t she?”
Skylar grins at him with unabashed adoration. She’s such a daddy’s girl, it’s not even funny. She answers him to the best of her ability, saying, “Mama!” She’s probably agreeing I should use my brain. She’s always going to take his side—even if he’s wrong. Little monster.
“Sin,” I whine. “Promise Rex won’t disappear.”
“Nope.”
“You can’t kill Rex,” Rafe tells him, backing me up. “Mateo wants him back when we’re done with him.”
Holding up his hands with mock innocence, Sin said, “Who said anything about killing the kid? I’m just suggesting he might get lost and never be seen or heard from again.”
“Sin, don’t be crazy. You know I’m only playing with you.”
“Yeah, well, you’re not the only one who’s got jokes,” he says smugly, since he knows he has me squirming.
“As long as you promise you’re only joking. You know I can’t be held responsible for everything I say. The baby is eating my brain. Remember the other day when you found my car keys in the cereal cupboard? I’m running at half-power over here.”
“Half-power, my ass. Hanging out over there with Rafe is making you ornery, that’s the problem. Bring your pretty little ass over here and get in the pool where I can keep you in line.”
“Yes, master,” I tease, nonetheless putting my lemonade down and standing. I adjust the ass of my bikini pointlessly, since I’m about to get in the water anyway, and take the hat off my head, dropping it on my lounger.
Before I make it to the steps, Sin casually commands, “Go get me a drink first.”
I halt and turn around obediently. “Sure, what would you like?”
Sin doesn’t answer me.
“You’re a dick,” Rafe states, his tone dry as hell.
I turn around, confused, until I see Sin is laughing.
Belatedly realizing he just wanted to show up Rafe, I roll my eyes and go back to the steps. “You’re both huge dicks.”
Sin smirks at me as I wade into the water. Once I’m close enough, he reaches out his free arm and grabs me around the waist, tugging me so close I can feel his body heat. “You like when I’m a huge dick.”
Wickedly letting my hand drop down into the water, I cup that much-loved piece of equipment right in the palm of my hand. “I like that you have a huge dick.”
His eyes darken as I caress him through the fabric of his swim trunks. He leans in to kiss me. “You like when I am one, too.”
Leaning my forehead against his, I assure him, “I like you all the time, no matter what you’re being.”
Sin moves Skylar’s pool float and I naturally reach a hand out to steady it, freeing his up so he can wrap both arms around me. He catches me under the ass and lifts me, so I wrap my legs around his waist.
“Dada, dada, dada,” Skylar says, jealous of all the attention Mommy is getting.
Sin breaks away, grinning against my mouth. “She hates when I kiss you.”
“I think Rafe put her up to it,” I insist, looping my free arm around his neck and tickling Skylar’s tiny feet.
She giggles and crosses her hands on her tummy like the cutest little person ever.
Rafe calls from his lounger, “I would have, if I’d have thought of it. You two are making me lose my appetite, and dinner’s in an hour.”
“You should invite Virginia to come over next Sunday,” I tell him. “Now, she would serve you without complaint. She’s already used to it.”
“Give it up, kitten,” he tells me, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the lounger to indicate he’s ignoring me now.
I shake my head at Sin. “Why is he such a pain in the ass?”
“It’s in his blood,” Sin answers.
Rafe still blithely ignores the fact that Virginia clearly cares about him. When he first informed me he was taking a break from dating, I didn’t believe him. I figured it would last a couple weeks, at most. I was glad he was trying, though. A lot had happened to him in a short time on a personal level. Not only did I leave him and get engaged immediately, but Sin killed that Marlena girl he liked and the ex he had all that history with. I understood that he felt like he needed a breather—I just didn’t think he could actually give up women for any length of time. I don’t even think he completely gave up women when we were trying to date, though I’ve never asked. I really don’t want to know. It doesn’t matter at this point.
He followed through, though. To my knowledge, there have been zero scantily clad platinum blondes hanging from his arm. He still flirts when he goes out, of course. I saw that firsthand when Rafe convinced me that we needed to go out and be adults. We asked Virginia to babysit Skylar and went out with Rafe to a club he likes. The whole time we were out, I kept thinking about how much I would prefer to be sitting on the couch at home between Sin’s legs, wearing my robe instead of real clothes, with Skylar napping on her Boppy pillow in my lap.
Eventually we will implement date nights so we can spend some time together baby-free, but for now, we like our family routine. And I think we’re both definitely over going to Rafe’s clubs. I was over those the first time I stepped foot inside one. If no one is feeding me, why am I even dressing up? Hell, why am I even showing up?
I guess maybe it’s more fun if you’re not pregnant and you can actually drink, but for me, it’s a big no thanks.
We incorporated the Chicago Morelli tradition of having family dinners every Sunday, though. I initially suggested it because I was afraid Rafe might be lonely. He would never admit it, but I thought since he’s taking a breather from women for the first time in his adult life, we should do what we can to fill the void. Then it just turned out to be really nice. On Sundays, we sleep in at home, then we get ready and come straight to Rafe’s house. We’ll have a light lunch, play by the pool, catch up on my pregnancy if we’ve been out of touch that week—whatever we want, the important thing is we spend time together.
The main difference for us, though, is that we don’t have dinner at Rafe’s house—we have it at Rafe’s restaurant. Virginia always works Sundays, so it feels like a way of including her in our Sunday family day, even if she is the one serving our food.
Now that Rafe has shown he can abstain from fucking everything in sight without incentive, though, I’m starting to see more potential in him as someone’s mate. I literally didn’t think he could do it before, and I didn’t want him to cheat on Virginia and break her heart, but now I have seen he is capable. His break has to end eventually, and I’m hoping he ends it with her.
I already asked her to be a bridesmaid in our wedding. While we were still trying to figure out when to get married, I stopped at a bridal store. Seeing all the beautiful gowns, veils and tiaras, I realized whether we had a big or small we
dding, the day I marry this wonderful man, I want to feel like a princess. I would marry him in a tacky Vegas chapel or a common courthouse, but it’s a celebration, and as such, I’d like to do it in front of our family and friends. So, we agreed to wait until after baby Nicholas is born, that way our whole family (at the moment) can be present. Sin is still planning to put two more babies in me eventually, but I’m just getting settled in at my new school right now, plus soon I’ll be juggling two babies. It’s a lot, so I think we will wait a little while before we start having bouncing baby Sinclairs.
Plus, I need to actually become a Sinclair first.
Professor Laurel Sinclair. Yep, that’s gonna be perfect.
53
Rafe
I’m struck be a sense of déjà vu as I look over at Laurel, her hair lighter and wavier after playing in the pool this afternoon. Her sunkissed skin glows, probably from the sun she got today and the “pregnancy glow,” if that’s a real thing. She’s wearing a flowy white dress with the pink straps from her swimsuit visible, so I can’t see the bump as clearly as I could when she was in the bikini. Now that her bump is visible, it feels more real. There is physical evidence of my child growing inside her, and it’s fucking crazy.
Then there’s Sin’s arm draped over her shoulders, casually marking his possession. The baby inside might be half mine, but the host belongs entirely to Sin. Laurel is so accustomed to his arm around her by now that her hand absently caresses it as she peruses the dessert menu.
Finally, with a heavy sigh, she says, “No dessert today.”
“What? Why?” Sin asks, since she always gets dessert on Sundays.
“I’m getting fat,” she states.
Sin’s eyebrows rise. “You’re too smart to say dumb shit like that.”
“I can’t button my jeans anymore,” she informs him solemnly.
“So we’ll get you those maternity ones. You’re pregnant, for Christ’s sake. Of course you were going to get to a point where you couldn’t button your jeans.”
