Page 14 of Playful Summer

I always forget that Giovanna’s married to Declan O’Reilly. He’s the assistant captain of the Chicago Redhawks hockey team. And her brother is their starting goalie. I can’t wait to meet them both.

“I need to apologize in advance if I fangirl over your husband and brother. They’re two of my favorite players and I can’t believe they’ll be here tomorrow.” I chuckle.

“Oh it’s okay, I totally get it. They’ll both love that you love the team, and the game. We finally got our son ice skates and Declan is in heaven taking him on the ice.”

“Your babies are so stinking cute. Is Rowan liking the ice?”

“He giggles and crawls on the ice more than he stands on it.” She laughs.

“How old is he? And you have two babies, right?”

“I do. Rowan is two and Lorcán is six months old.”

“I can’t wait to meet them. I love kids.”

“They’ll be here tomorrow with my mam. I told her I’d come back and help her on the plane. But she insisted she’d be okay.” She laughs. “And now Declan will be helping her, so I don’t feel as bad.”

“See, I was already excited to be Emiko’s maid of honor. But now I’m even more excited because of everyone that’s coming.”

“Our family is a riot, wait till you see everyone together.”

“I love that you all embrace each other as family. I’ve always wanted a big family. I’m an only child, but my parents are really great.”

“I love that. Having great parents makes life so much better. Some of the family didn’t have the best childhoods. But I think we help them make up for it now.”

“That’s awesome. Before I moved here, I was pretty content. But being here now, with Emiko and all of you…I’m so much happier. And I really missed Emi, I regret not being around when she was with Seth. And knowing what she went through makes me so sad.”

“I’m sure she understands, you didn’t have a choice when you left.”

“No. But I could’ve come back after we turned eighteen. Except I was so wrapped up in my own bullshit.”

All the other women come over and join us. I’ve never had so many women that lifted each other up. And not one of them act like they don’t want to be here.

“Has Gia shown you her babies? It’s really not fair how cute they are.” Isabella smiles.

“She did, and I have to agree. I can’t wait to meet them. Your sister has babies too?” I ask.

“Yeah, Luciana has Grayson. He’s almost two and she’s having her second baby in four months.”

“So many babies in the family. Do you have kids too?” I ask Artemis.

“Kostas and I had our first last year. Orion is nine months old.”

I love listening to them talk about their families and the new families they’re starting. I look over at Paxton and he’s smiling at me. Can you fall in love with someone this fast?

Paxton

I can’t help but watch Piper, the smile on her face is making me smile. She seems to be enjoying spending time with the women in our family. Wait till all the mamas come tomorrow, things are going to get really busy.

“I’m having the club make sure that security is up for the wedding. I’m a little worried because of the amount of people we’ll have here. But luckily we’re used to this, so it should be okay.”

“I’m worried that Marc will slip in and we won’t notice,” I say.

“Well, since they’re getting married in a church, we can monitor who goes in and out. But the reception is a little trickier. We’ll be posting guys at the doors. But be on alert,” Giacomo says to us.

I hate that my brother’s big day is going to have some issues. That asshole Marc better be gone.

Unknown: You should keep a closer watch on Piper if you don’t want anything bad to happen to her

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