He crossed his arms and said, “Eve, the house you grew up in could fit inside the living room in that place.”
Her jaw dropped open, and she spluttered, “Are you seriously giving me lip about this?You expect all of us.”She motioned with her hand.“And all of these kids,” she inhaled deeply and continued, “and a large, grouchy, pregnant woman,” she pointed at Giselle.
Giselle frowned and said a quiet, “Hey.”
Eve put her free hand on her hip.“To stay in that house together?When you apparently have a freaking—” she inhaled as her eyes widened, “castle here?”Her voice shrieked on the last two words.“And who knew you had a castle?”She shook her head.“Because you never told me.How is that?Not once in all the time we've known each other did you tell me you lived in a freaking castle!”
Hmm.
I was on Eve's side with this one.
I wasn't sure how big Carlo's guest house was, but there were four adults and a ton of kids here.I bet that guest house would get pretty full pretty fast with all these bodies running around inside it.
Plus, I felt bad for Giselle.She looked so big and so uncomfortable.I had a feeling she probably craved having a little space from everyone else before she was about to add one more human to all this chaos.
“Of course we have room for you here.”I glared at Stefan and said, “Uncle Stefan can show you to your rooms.”
Dani's little arms shot up into the air, and she yelled, “Yay!”
I laughed and kissed her sweet, chubby cheek.“And you and I will go steal some of Uncle Stefan's cookies.I know where his secret stash is.”
Dani whooped and pumped her arms into the air.Gosh, this kid was so cute.No wonder Giselle was always pregnant.
2
Stefan
“No, grab the portable cribs from the back, first.They'll likely want somewhere to put the sleeping babies right away,” Nick ordered as he pointed to the back of the long limo.
“You couldn't have just called a fucking plumber?”I scowled at my brother.“I mean, seriously?I finally get Francesca back—” I glowered at my best friend, too, while we headed to the back of the limo.“Marry her and get her into my bed.And this is how you guys decide to congratulate me?”
Carlo bumped his elbow into Nick's arm.“I'm getting the feeling we're not wanted.”Then he and Nick laughed.
“Assholes,” I muttered under my breath.
“You do have an extraordinary amount of space.I'd forgotten just how big it was.”Nick looked at me pointedly.“I bet you won't even notice we're here.”
I let out a frustrated laugh and picked up one of the portable cribs.“As if that would be fucking possible.”I started walking toward the front doors—and then I stopped.
Carlo bumped into me.“What the hell?”He shoved my shoulder.
I slowly turned around and said, “You fuckers.You came here on purpose.Giselle's about to pop.And you want four extra hands around to help out.”
My brother looked down at the stone walkway and then back at me.“A few extra hands would be good.You know how hard of a time she had with her last delivery.”
Oh, now he was going to play the pity card.Because, yeah, we all knew how hard Giselle had it last time.Not just with the delivery—where she almost died—but with healing up afterward.And that woman ended up with horrible postpartum, too.She'd all but rejected the baby.Carlo had to be father and mother to the kids.Luckily, Eve and Nick had been there to help.
My brother and I hadn't exactly been on the best of terms back then, for—reasons.So, I wasn't much help.But I did do my part by visiting Giselle when I could.
“Fine.But the second your plumbing is fixed,” I jerked my head at the limo, “you guys are gone.”
Carlo chuckled and nodded.“You bet,” he said, sounding completely unconcerned.
3
Francesca
“How many cookies does him got?”Daniella asked with a very serious look on her face.
