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How can a woman love a man like that?
Isla
Still reeling from the realization that I just became a mom less than twenty-four hours after my wedding, it takes me a few seconds to register the annoyed voice, and panic hits me. “Your sister is here!” I exclaim, quickly pushing him away and adjusting my dress while catching my reflection in the mirror and groaning because my hair is a mess. “Why is she here?”
“I called Ryder to cancel dinner, all things considered. We need to find a good name for him, by the way. We can’t keep calling our son a kid or boy.” He rubs his chin. “A name with good meaning.”
Our son.
Why does this make me feel all kinds of way when, instead, I should be terrified of how deep we’ve gotten ourselves into this relationship? I think a good shrink would have told us we’re insane and should not start a family at all, let alone bring a traumatized child into it.
But…
We can give him everything, and we might be screwed up, but we’ll never hurt him like his “family” did.
The knocking continues, and Estella shouts, “Octavius, open the damn thing, or I’ll make Ryder do something!”
“Oh my God,” I mutter, grabbing Octavius’s hand when he goes toward the hallway and halts his movements. “I can’t meet your sister like this.” I motion up and down my form while he frowns. “I’m not ready!”
“Why are you panicking, kitten?”
Is he serious right now? “Because that’s, like, the definition of meeting the in-laws! It’s important, and I want to make a good impression.” The girl has been doted on by her brother her whole life, only to choose a handsome and wealthy guy as her husband and then thrive in her career. She grew up among wealth, and the last thing I need is for her to think I’m unworthy of her brother or that he could have done better. “What if she doesn’t like me?”
It sounds pathetic and all, but still. She’s very important to Octavius, and I don’t want to blow off our first meeting.
“If it helps, I hated Ryder for a long time before I finally liked him enough to accept him as my brother-in-law.”
This man!
“It doesn’t help at all!” I hiss as we get into the hallway, and I already see a maid opening the main door. “If she hates me, that’s on you.”
“I think my sister is incapable of hating anyone.” I groan inwardly because that’s such a lovely thing to say, but once again, it proves how much he adores her. Which means her opinion means a lot. The pressure is almost too much since I never handled expectations well and usually failed them.
The door opens, and I expect his sister to walk in, so my eyes widen in shock when three kids, two identical girls and one boy, rush inside and squeal, “Uncle Octavius!” He’s already kneeling and catches them all in his arms while they squeeze the life out of him. “We’ve missed you,” they say in unison, and that’s when I remember that Ryder and Estella have triplets.
Octavius leans back. “I missed you too, kids.” They all grin at him. “How are you?”
“We’re good!”
“We went to New York to attend Uncle Jaxon’s wedding.” The boy sighs. “It was fun. The bride almost ran away.”
The girls nod, their hair swaying in different directions. “Uncle Jaxon barely caught her and dragged her to the altar while she kept on yelling bad words at him,” one of them says and giggles. “She’s very funny.”
Jaxon, as in Jaxon MacAlister, the head of the Irish mafia in New York? He and his siblings are unbearable with their power, and even though the police know about them, no one can do shit.
They’re wild, free, and have no mercy for those who go against their will.
I believe that’s one of their mottos.
Now I understand why Octavius wasn’t initially pleased with Estella’s choice.
“That’s what he gets for choosing a bride based on alliances.” They wiggle in his hold so he frees them, and they all come to me. “Kids, this is my wife, Isla.”
“So does this mean she’s our aunt?” one of the girls asks, and he nods. “Hi! I’m Eve.”
“I’m Esme,” the other one speaks up, and finally, the boy steps forward. “I’m Raven.”
“Hi. It’s nice to meet you.” They hug me as well, and warmth slides through me at their instant acceptance. They must grow up in a really loving home. “I don’t have any nephews or nieces, so I’m happy to be your aunt.”
