Page 15 of A Vine Mess
At last, Ella settled and looked her parents dead in the face as she said, “You two are insane.”
“Ella,” Leon warned.
Distantly, I heard a door slam, but I was too transfixed by Ella and the fire in her eyes to question it.
“What?” she asked, sitting up, spine ramrod straight. “If you’re worried about me, do you really thinkthis”—she gesturedbetween them—“is the best way to go about it?”
“Really, parents,” a voice said from behind us, and I whirled to find the cavalry filing in, Delia leading the charge. She stepped up beside Ella and gripped her shoulder reassuringly. “Got your SOS text.”
“Thanks for coming,” Ella said to her sisters as they fanned out around her. When she caught me gaping, she tossed me a wink, then faced her parents once again.
“Really, Ella?” Lena asked, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing those peculiar golden eyes she shared with Amara and Delia. “You had to bring them into it?”
“You tried to ambush me,” Ella reminded her. “Of course I called in reinforcements.”
“What do you call Liam, then?” Leon glanced at me, his pine-green eyes colder than I’d ever seen them.
“A friend,” Ella told him, this time grinning widely at me. That smile was so fucking contagious, I couldn’t help but return it. “And my road trip buddy.”
The room went terribly silent for a moment before the entire Delatou family erupted. I barely resisted the urge to cover my ears. As it was, I had difficulty picking out who was saying what—though from the expressions on faces as my gaze swept the room, it was obvious some of Ella’s family was less enthused than others.
Namely Lena Delatou, who seemed to be pouting.
And, okay, definitely Leon, who glared daggers at me.
If looks could kill, I was a dead man.
Poor Liam looked likea deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming semi, and I shot him an apologetic smile as he struggled to navigate the turn the evening had taken.
“I can’t believe you guys still do this,” Mom said, obviously pouting.
“Do what?” I asked innocently.
“Gang up on us.”
Next to her, Dad snorted, and I fought back a grin at the death glare Mom leveled him with. “Oh, you think that’s funny, do you?”
“I mean…yeah,” Dad said. “Or are you forgetting that you gave me five children and not a single one of them is a son?”
My mother rolled her eyes in a gesture so like Delia, the chuckle I’d been choking down burst free. All heads in the room snapped to me, but I sobered quickly as I took in my sisters while Mom and Dad had a murmured argument.
“Excuse you,” I said, glancing between Chloe and Amara. “Where are my nieces?”
As if on cue, Calvin and Logan waltzed into the room, each with a baby bundled against their chests. Owen and Ezra followed closely behind, moving to stand next to Delia and Brie respectively. Cal paused in front of me long enough to hand off baby Cora while Logan beelined for Mom, who made grabby hands at Aleah.
“Hello, my beautiful girl,” I cooed at Cora.
At barely a month old, she was the most alert I’d ever seen her, with her eyes wide open. She was so damn precious it nearly took my breath away.
Was I ready for kids myself? No. But with Chloe and Amara bringing these new additions to the family, and because Brie had one on the way, I could admit I was experiencing a bit of baby fever.
“Now that everyone is sufficiently calmed down with a baby in their arms,” Dad said, “will someone tell me what the fuck you’re talking about when you say ‘road trip buddy’?”
I shrugged. “Exactly what it sounds like. I’m going out west with Liam.”
“Over my dead body.”
“That can be arranged,” Delia said sweetly, and Dad made a low, menacing growling sound deep in his throat.
