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“I guess…”
“Our fathers are just overprotective. Nothing is ever gonna change that.”
“You’re right.”
She patted me on the shoulder. “At least Bosco is willing to put up with it. He could just find someone else if he didn’t love you so much. Watching a man fight for you like that is actually pretty sexy.”
Watching my father and Bosco rip out each other’s throats was not sexy. I just wanted them to get along. “I want what Griffin and your father have now. I want Bosco and my father to respect each other and like each other. Bosco and I aren’t getting married tomorrow, but I would like to know that possibility is in our future. I like the idea of living down the road from them with our four children.”
She rubbed her stomach. “I still can’t believe you want to have four of these. I’m not even finished with one, and I’m telling you, it’s no picnic. You’re hungry all the time, nauseous all the time, your clothes don’t fit anymore—”
“Your husband wants to have sex with you all the time, wait on you hand and food, and gets even more protective because he loves both of you? No, that sounds like exactly what I want.”
Her hand stilled on her stomach, and she smiled. “Yeah…that part is pretty great.”
I always knew I wanted to be a mom. It was more important to me than my shop and anything else I wanted to do with my life. Having a big house filled with kids sounded perfect to me. I had two cousins and one brother, and having four kids would make that tradition continue.
“Just keep holding on,” Vanessa said. “Something’s gotta give eventually. Your father will cave. You can’t fight love with hate. It’s just not possible.”
“I hope you’re right…because Bosco is the one.”
She gave me that soft smile she only showed once in a great while. It was reserved for the people she was closest to, an intimate look outsiders rarely got to see. “Then giving up isn’t an option, Carmen. You fight for him until you win.”
19
Carter
I made a snack for Luca when he came home from school, and we sat together at the kitchen table doing his math homework. Math was his worst subject, while reading was his greatest, but since engineering was completely based on math, it was my strongest talent. I walked through the steps and did the best I could to teach him—not do it for him.
He was halfway done with the sheet when he lost interest. “Can I watch TV now?”
“Are you done with your homework?”
“No…”
“Then, no.” I liked being a father to Luca because he was a great kid who took after his mother. He had so many of her features, and that made me love him the second I laid eyes on him. His heart was just like hers, strong and full of forgiveness. But times like these, when I had to discipline him and be the bad guy, weren’t the moments I loved the most.
He rolled his eyes.
“Luca.” I gave him my stern tone. “Don’t roll your eyes at me.”
“We’ve been at it for an hour.”
“And we would be done by now if you concentrated. The sooner we’re finished, the sooner we can do something else. Trust me, I don’t want to do this either. Now, try again.” I pressed my finger against the sheet, hitting the problem that he needed to start. “Think about everything we went over. You should be able to do this one.”
Luca didn’t roll his eyes again, but he sighed loudly. “Whatever…” He started working out the problem with his pencil.
I watched his work, pleased that he was doing it right. When I gave him some tough love, he got his act together and concentrated. Fortunately, I’ve never had to discipline him for anything worse because he was a good kid. All Mia had to do was whistle twice, and he got his act together.
She was a good mom.
And that made being a stepfather a lot easier, especially since I hadn’t known anything about kids until Luca came into my life.
The sound of the opening garage reached my ears, and I knew it was Mia. She’d gone to the grocery store to pick up a few things, and I picked up Luca from school.
“Keep working on that while I help your mom unload the car.”
“Alright.” His pencil kept scratching away.
I went outside and watched Mia open the back end of the SUV. “Hey, sweetheart.” My chest filled with happiness any time I saw her. Even though I’d seen her that morning, it seemed like it’d been a lifetime.
Her eyes mirrored mine. “Back at you.”
My arms circled her waist, and I kissed her in the garage, kissing her hard because our son was inside and couldn’t see us. I backed her up against the bumper and dug my hands into her hair.
