“Well, shit.” He lifts his mouth from mine and I turn my head. “It is true. Fuck me—I thought Mom was kidding,” a guy says, looking between Nico and me.
“Trevor, this is Sophie. Sophie, this is my brother, Trevor.”
“Nice to meet you,” I tell him, pressing closer to Nico.
Trevor is big, and we were in a kitchen, so I can’t help but feel some fear as the thought of my attack in my childhood home’s kitchen drifts into my mind. I try to fight it, remembering what my counselor said about not letting it control me, and I take a deep breath and put my hand out to Trevor, who immediately takes it. I scream when he suddenly pulls me to him, and it takes a second to realize that he’s hugging me. My heart is pounding in my chest, but my breaths, which were coming in rough pants, slow, and I return his hug for a second before being pulled back by Nico’s strong, tattooed arms.
“Aw, now you get it.” Trevor smirks, shaking his head.
“I get it, and you got your own woman, so keep your hands off mine,” Nico says, tucking me back under his arm.
Then a very pretty woman with long blond hair comes into the kitchen holding a little girl—well, trying to; it appears more like the girl is being detained, and the woman looks like if she moves wrong, her very pregnant stomach would explode.
“What did I tell you about picking her up, babe?” Trevor scolds her, taking the little girl from her and whispering something into her ear, making her laugh and yell out, “Daddy!”
“It was either pick her up or have your mom’s house destroyed. She’s just like you. She never wants to listen when I tell her no,” she snaps at Trevor.
“You don’t like telling me no,” Trevor tells her with a smirk before gently pulling her forward by the back of the neck and kissing her. When his mouth leaves hers, she smiles then looks at Nico and me.
“Um,” she mumbles, and I can’t help but giggle. I totally get it; Nico has the same effect on me.
“Sophie, this is my wife, Liz, and my daughter, Hanna.”
“Hi,” I greet softly, lifting my hand in a small wave.
Nico pulls me fully against him until Hanna reaches out from Trevor’s hold, latching on to Nico. I love seeing him with the little girl, who seems so fascinated by him.
“Oh my God, they were telling the truth,” Liz says quietly.
My eyes go to hers, and she starts to laugh, making her whole belly bounce. I’m starting to wonder if she should even be out of bed with how large she is.
“Should you be doing that?” I ask her, watching her belly, afraid the baby is going to somehow become dislodged and come flying out.
“Do what? Laugh?” she asks, my eyes returning to hers as she smiles and shakes her head, laughing even harder. “I still have a ways to go, but this guy here is apparently going to be the biggest baby in the history of babies.” She starts rubbing her belly, and I really want to rub it too to see what it feels like. “He’s kicking. Do you wanna feel?” she asks, reading my face.
I take two small steps towards her, gently placing my hand on her belly. “Does it hurt?”
“No. It feels strange and uncomfortable, but never really painful, except childbirth. Now that is horrible, and anyone who says differently is a liar.” She grabs my hand, pulling it around to her side and holding it there. That’s when I feel a small kick, and then another, this one much harder.
“Wow,” I breathe.
“Yeah. He’s going to be a soccer player.”
“He’s going to be a football player,” Trevor says, narrowing his eyes on his wife.
“Sure, honey.” She smiles then rolls her eyes. “How long have you been seeing Nico?”
“Um…” Shit. What should I say? I look at Nico; he’s so caught up trying to control the little girl in his arms and talking to Trevor that he’s basically no help at all.
“You are seeing him, right? I mean, he’s not just joking, is he?” she asks, confused.
“No, no, it’s not a joke.” I shake my head, my eyebrows coming together in concentration as I try to figure out what to say.
“Hey, I was just curious. You don’t have to tell me anything,” she says gently.
“I…I just feel bad. We’ve been seeing each other for a few months, but I just couldn’t meet you guys yet. I was trying to work through some stuff first,” I tell her quietly.
“I understand that. I had to work through some stuff for a while as well, so I know how you feel. Nico’s a good guy though, so he’ll help you.”
“Yeah, he’s kind of relentless,” I reply, scrunching up my nose.
She smiles genuinely, transforming her whole face from pretty to stunning. “Well then I guess I should say welcome to the family.” She shocks me, pulling me in for a hug.
“What?”
“Girl, now you’re stuck. There’s no way out of this. Even if you tried, he would hunt you down.” She laughs.
“Yikes,” I say with a fake grimace.
“Yep.” She nods, and then I hear the front door bang open.
I jump and look at Nico. Then loud voices fill the front of the house.
“Ma?!” is bellowed. I look at Susan, who smiles and rolls her eyes.
“My oldest has no manners. Don’t mind him,” Susan says, walking around us and out of the kitchen.
“You called?” she asks with a laugh, and then there’s a chorus of ‘Grandma!’ being yelled with happy squeals from what sounds like a troop of little girls.
“Come meet everyone,” Nico says, walking me out into the living room with one hand against my lower back, the other full of a very excited little girl.
Once we make it around the corner, I stop dead in my tracks when I see two more beautiful men, a pretty red-haired woman, a beautiful woman with long brown hair, four little girls, and one little boy all gathering around Susan and yelling for her attention. The other two couples in the room are standing off to the side, watching and laughing while Susan’s mauled by the group of kids.
“Uncle Nico!” a little girl wearing a tutu screams, running towards us at full speed. All the other kids in the room follow her lead and surround us.
“Who are you?”
I look down to see the only boy in the bunch looking up at me curiously. “Sophie. Who are you?”
“Jax,” he says, tilting his head to the side and studying me. “I neber met you before.”