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It was obvious who ruled the Bellandi House, and it was no longer Matteo.
Ivory rolled her eyes, but her fingers strayed toward her stomach as she watched them interact. "How far along are you?" I asked, rubbing a hand over my own massive belly.
At eight months pregnant, it felt like I'd pop any day.
"I haven't even told Matteo yet," Ivory admitted, snapping her hand away from her belly. "It's very new."
"Obviously, if he hasn't wormed that information out of you yet," I laughed, and she turned her head to me to share in the giggle as tears filled her eyes.
"I worry with the timing," Ivory sniffled. "Everything is so uncertain right now."
"It is," I agreed, clasping her hand in mine as we stood side by side. But as I looked around the garden, filled with all our new family, I couldn't regret any of it. Dad and Don stood in the corner, drinking beer and getting trashed in a way I hadn't seen in years. Samara's mom, Hattie, lingered nearby, fretting over the two of them in that sweet, playful way only she could manage.
I hoped she'd break through, because she was the first woman I'd ever seen my father light up around. It gave me hope that maybe one day soon he wouldn't be alone, that they could find happiness in one another.
We were all proof that sometimes love came out of nowhere, that it could stomp all over us or put us back together all in one breath.
Lino strolled up to our sides, bouncing his son, Levi, on his hip as he spoke to him. Ryker and Axel came through the backyard from the gate at the side, and I heaved a breath of annoyance.
"Is that a fucking pony?" Lino roared with a laugh, and the sound of Ines screaming as she scrambled out of the bounce house and ran up to Ryker could probably be heard for miles.
"Daddy!" she screamed, and he caught her up in his arms to pick her up and swing her around. Even eight months after we'd shown the kids the adoption papers, it still made my heart melt to hear them call him Daddy. "You got me a pony!" she yelled, and even I winced from the high-pitched sound.
“I rented you a pony,” Ryker clarified, giving Ines that stern look that dared her to pout. She refrained for him. Only for him. “Mommy would murder me if we brought it home with us.”
He was absolutely right. That thing was not coming home with us. I didn't know the first thing about horses, but even I knew they were a ton of work.
The person handling the pony chuckled as Ryker set Ines in the saddle on the pony's back, and Ryker stayed right by her side as they walked around the yard. Axel approached my side, snuggling right into my arms as we watched Ryker make every one of the birthday girl dreams come true.
But then again, he did that every day.
For all of us.
"Love you, Cookie Monster," I told him, squatting down as best I could to boop his nose. He was already seven, and far too old for his age. He always had been, but after the day when he'd seen a man try to take me away, that only got worse. My little genius excelled in school at a whole new level, skipping a grade even in his school for the gifted. Ryker and I did everything we could to encourage him to just be a kid, but he seemed determined to rush through it. I knew he wanted to be a man who could protect his family, that seeing me hurt had shifted something inside him too young, too soon.
I dealt with the consequences of my choice every day.
“Love you too,” he whispered, smiling up at me as Ryker and Ines finally made their way to us. Ryker's face was thunderous as Axel helped me stand back up from my squat. "You should be sitting down," he ordered, taking my arm to guide me to one of the chairs on the patio. I looked over my shoulder, rolling my eyes at Ivory who giggled and went over to help Samara carry out the cake.
"I'm pregnant, not incapable of standing," I told him, but as I lowered into the chair, I realized just how much my feet hurt.
I'd be damned if I told him that though.
It didn't matter that I didn't say the words: he saw them in the way I sighed in contentment. I glared at him, daring him to say something, but he just chuckled. Even the wildest men learned to pick their battles, and with my ass sitting in a chair, he'd won the one that mattered to him.
He was smothering me slowly, and I was terrified to see what that meant for Royce once he came.
“You know, the pony made her ridiculously happy-” he started.
“Don’t you even think about it,” I warned. “We are not getting a pony.”
“You only like riding my meatballs,” he teased, earning a glare as I prepared a scathing response. I couldn’t voice it, couldn’t warn him that his meatballs wouldn’t see any action if he didn’t tread carefully.
Not when Luna ran awkwardly through the yard, stopping right in front of me and reaching up to touch her hand to my belly. She'd long since been obsessed with feeling Royce kick.
So was I.
She giggled, turning those blue eyes up to me. "He's saying hi, Lunabug," I whispered.
