“Mi melodia.”Alex wraps an arm around Mattie’s shoulders. “Don’t be embarrassed.” His eyes narrow on me. “We waited four years. No one could expect more than that.”
Clearly mortified, Mattie moans behind her hand.
“I warned you this would happen,” I hiss.
“Well, you would know,” Alex snaps.
I sit up straighter, shoulders going back. Millie holds up a staying hand. “Hey-Hey,” she says, eyeing me and Alex in turn. “We’re all family, remember?”
Mattie risks a peek between her fingers. It’s such a Millie thing to do, my tension and frustration eases. Just a little.
“Have you told Mami and Papi yet?” Millie asks. This is what she calls them. What all the Delacroixes call them. Since we got married.
Mattie shakes her head, dropping her hand. “Not yet. We thought we’d do it tomorrow—after Thanksgiving dinner,” she adds, wincing. “What do you think?”
My wife snorts. “I think you need to be ready for Abuela to announce it to everyone as soon as you walk through the front door.”
This is true. Millie and I found out about this baby before Halloween. When we brought Emmett, Marco, and Mateo over to my folks’ for Dia de los Muertos and Abuela said nothing, we thought we were in the clear. We’d wait. Make sure everything looked good and then tell everyone.
And then Abuela had cataract surgery.
The day after the operation, she took one look at Millie and spilled.
My young sister-in-law looks at me with wide eyes. “How upset are they going to be?”
She looks so worried. I hate to see her worried. It’s been my job for four years to make sure she was safe and secure. I shoot my brother another glare, but I gentle my voice for Mattie.
“I don’t know. You two are a lot younger than we were.” Then I focus on Alex. “What’s your plan? I’m assuming you have one since you had plenty of warning.”
His fist clenches on the table. I get the feeling he’d like to pound me with it. Well, the feeling is mutual.
“We have a plan. We’re getting married.” He squeezes Mattie’s hand, looking at her with that all-in love he’s had for her from the beginning. A shy—but utterly happy—smile shapes her lips. But then Alex faces me, and I watch him swallow. Did he just pale a little? “I’m going to quit school.”
“You’rewhat?!”I fire the question like a pistol. Alex and Mattie are three months into their freshman year at LSU. A long, long way from graduating.
“At the end of this year,” he adds, as if that makes it any better.
Mattie sits up straighter. “And I’ll transfer to UL. They have a piano pedagogy program too. I’ll earn my degree here.”
“And I’ll come work with you,” Alex says. And, yeah, his color is washed out. He’s nervous about this. “Full-time. At least until Mattie finishes.”
I frown. “You need to stay in school. If you quit now, you might never go back.”
Alex shakes his head. “No. I need to take care of my family.”
His family. I can’t argue with that. And the hard look in his eye tells me it wouldn’t do much good anyway.
“Besides,” Alex says, likely sensing his advantage. “Do we both need a degree to—”
“Yes,” I snap. This is non-negotiable. Mami and Papi worked and saved and sacrificed to give us more than they had. Neither one of them went to college. “We both need a degree.”
Maybe I’m the one wearing a hard look now because he changes tacks. “Fine. Then I’ll go back after Mattie graduates,” he says, then adds in a lower voice. “Part-time.”
“Part-time?” I growl the question.
Alex leans forward, still clasping Mattie’s hand. “Think about it, Luca. Mattie’s going to be a teacher. Earning a teacher’s salary. We’re going to have a kid—” He flicks his gaze to Millie, the direction of it taking in her still-flat middle, a half-smile on his lips. “Probably more than one by that time. I’ll get a degree if you insist, but,hermano,we’re going to need my income.”
For the second time in as many minutes, my little brother has shut me up. Eighteen, and he already has his life planned out.
