Page 44 of A Valentine's Day Gift
“Anniversary of their engagement,” Angel added. “We wanted to surprise them with an early gift and a toast. To the two people whose love brought all of us together.” He gestured over to his brothers and their wives. “Six boys in one house, you can imagine the chaos.”
Her sons grinned. The crowd tittered.
Vinny cupped his hands around his mouth, hollering, “Allie kept you boys in line!”
Allie smacked his arm playfully. “Vinny!”
Angel smiled. “She did. Always with an open heart. We all love you very much, Ma.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. Angel, being the youngest, had needed her most. She rushed on stage and hugged him. Vinny followed a moment later, standing by her side.
Angel cleared his throat and continued. “If there’s one thing we learned bringing two families together, it’s—” He gestured over to his brothers to join in. They all droned in unison: “Love doesn’t divide, it multiplies!”
She and Vinny laughed. That had been their mantra in the early years.
Vinny leaned toward the microphone. “Finally, they learned!” He shook his finger at their sons.
She beamed, knowing her part in achieving family harmony. Her popular picture book series, The Huddle-Cuddles, featuring her sons as hedgehogs and her stepsons as porcupines, had taught them lessons on working out their differences through a series of adventures.
Angel went on. “So corny and so true. It was what our parents said when we’d argue over who had the real mom or the real dad. Now we all know how much they both love us. The best mom and dad any of us could ask for.” He handed her the keepsake book and spoke away from the microphone. “This is from all of us. It starts at your wedding since that’s when we had the most pictures.”
The cover had a rectangular opening for a picture, and he’d put in the wedding picture with all of them in it. The young boys all lined up, a contrast in looks, dark-haired dark-eyed Italian kids next to her fair-haired, light-skinned kids. They were all smiling, but only Angel and Jared were beaming, eight years old and thrilled to have each other. The picture perfectly encapsulated where their family was at back then, just beginning to bond. And they’d made it work.
“We love all of you!” Allie exclaimed, taking them all in. “I can’t wait to pore over this at home tonight. Now get out there and dance! Ladies, make them show you their ballroom dance moves! You better believe I made every one of them take lessons.”You’re welcome, ladies.
Her daughters-in-law laughed and did as told, guiding their husbands on the dance floor. Angel stepped away from the microphone and went to Julia. The band started playing again with no singer this time because the lead singer was Gabe’s wife, and she flew off stage and into his arms.
Everyone started dancing again.
Vinny took her hand and led her back to the dance floor. As they passed each son with his wife, they thanked them. Gabe’s loving smile meant a lot to her because the one letter he’d read had been from Vinny, saying “It’s been three years. The kids can handle it.” The letter wasn’t dated. Without knowing the journey she and Vinny had travelled, it might have sounded like a scandalous affair. She and Vinny had chosen not to explain themselves, both because it was private and because they hoped Gabe and all of their children knew them well enough to know they respected the marriage vows too much to ever sully them. Their shining example of a loving marriage seemed to have the right effect. All of their sons were happily married.
They reached Angel and Julia, who’d gone to so much trouble to make tonight special, and thanked them profusely.
Vinny winked at Angel. “Maybe one day your kids will want to hear your story.”
“Not much to tell,” Angel returned with a wink. “We met, we dated, we got married, end of story.” Those had been Vinny’s words. Angel and Julia’s journey to marriage had been twisty with loads of complications. It had all worked out in the end.
Allie smiled and squeezed Angel’s arm before Vinny whisked her off.
Some things were too romantic to share with the world. Especially your kids!
~ ~ ~
Dear readers, I hope you enjoyed seeing how it all began with Vinny and Allie. Now it’s time for crazy Gran O’Hare’s love story with her beloved Patrick back when they were both so young (yet legal age LOL). Don’t missMaggie Meets Her Match!
Good girl Maggie Murphy is trapped in a conventional life not of her choosing, so when she meets bad boy Patrick O’Hare, she thinks she might’ve just found the man to spring her free. By ruining her.
Patrick O’Hare is stuck. He flubbed the tryouts that would’ve made him a pro football player, and now he’s spending the summer working for his uncle’s traveling carnival company and trying to figure out who he is without football.
Sizzling summer nights soon lead to a future neither of them could have imagined. But can two very different people follow their dreams together?
Maggie grabbed Patrick’s hand. “Come on,” she whispered fiercely.
Luckily, he didn't pull away. “Where're we going?”
“To dance.” She pulled him to the end of the long hallway by the storage closet, where they could hear the music through the vent. A little tinny, but it would do. She put her hand on his shoulder and put her other hand in his. He rested a hand lightly on her back. It wasn't awkward at all like the previous boys she'd danced with. He led them slowly in a slight sway, the space between them gradually closing until his arm was completely around her waist, and they were pressed so close the holy spirit couldn't fit. Gah! Sister Eileen had gotten in her head.Leave room for the holy spirit when you dance!
Patrick's voice rumbled in her ear. “You're a good dancer.”
