Page 63 of Marcello
Marcello cupped my cheek. “I’ll always check on our babies for you.”
Things seemed to calm down, and overall, I’d say that our family meal was more on the boring side when it came to family dinners for this crew. There were no real arguments. Ididn’t consider Naldo throwing bread at Elio to be an argument. Everyone ate, we laughed, and when Frankie did start to fuss, I didn’t even try to get up to take care of him. I knew it was useless. Marcello got there before anyone else, but it was Rio who ended up with our son.
When Luci did the same not even fifteen minutes later, nobody even tried to race Master Vincent to retrieve her from the crib. I was still processing the fact that the coven had its first baby girl, and it was our daughter.
“Does he know how to feed her a bottle?”I asked as Master Vincent cooed at our daughter before he picked up the bottle that had appeared in front of him.
“He spent some time with younger children before when Nikolai and Julian came for a visit. They didn’t stay but a weekend, but he did spend time with their children then.”
Oh. Well, there you go. I went back to staring at Master Vincent while he fed our daughter a bottle. It wasn’t as if I was going to tell him no, he couldn’t take care of the baby. You did not tell your coven master that he could not help you by feeding your newborn daughter a bottle. It just wasn’t done.
Overall, we spent a little over two hours in the dining room with the others, but I was more than ready for the quiet of our room by the time we returned just after ten. My body was dragging, and I didn’t argue with Marcello when he helped me change and then tucked me into bed.
“But the babies,” I said quietly.
“I’ll take care of them. You get some sleep,” he said as he pulled the blankets up to my chin. Marcello leaned down and gave me a gentle kiss, and I sighed at the comfort of everything.
“Love you,” I said. After that, sleep quickly claimed me, and I didn’t have the energy to fight it.
Chapter 21
Marcello
“Ican’t believe how much they’ve changed in the month since they were born.”
I smiled over at Abel. “Yes. And they are going to change quite a bit more before their first birthday.”
Abel gasped. “Shh. Don’t be talking about their first birthday yet. They’re already growing so fast. I don’t want them to be one yet.”
I chuckled. “Mio angelo, they have eleven months left to go before they are a year old. I don’t think there is any threat of them growing too fast today.” I wrapped my arm around Abel’s shoulder and tried to take a step away from the crib. The twins were a month old now, and we’d come to the agreement that they would sleep in their nursery with the door between our rooms open. We still had a baby monitor in here and a receiver on the nightstand in our room, but I knew Abel was going to be up and out of the room at the first sound of one of them. “Come on,” I said quietly. “We agreed to this, and they are only going to be right here. Not far at all.”
I gently tugged Abel out of the nursery, making sure to keep the door between our rooms wide open. I understood hishesitation. It was the first time since they were born that they were anywhere other than in the same room with us.
But the twins were a month old now, and although I’d fed from Abel twice since he’d given birth, I wanted more. Abel had recovered some time ago, and he’d given me several looks that told me he was up for more as well, but the babies always seemed to have perfect timing when it came to trying for more with my beloved.
With Mazzi’s help, I’d set up a bit of a romantic dinner for two. It was a special dinner because Mazzi had gotten burgers, fries, and shakes from the place that Abel loved in Timber Valley.
“I know we agreed on them being there, but…what’s that smell?” Abel asked as we entered the room. I tried my best to hide my smile, but Abel’s nose was a good one, and he made a beeline for the table over by the doors to the balcony. “Why does that smell like a bacon cheeseburger from Burgers N Shakes?” Abel looked up at me, and I shrugged and tried to play innocent.
“I do not know what you mean. I have never been to this Burgers N Shakes.”
Abel pulled the silver dome off his plate and gasped. “No. It isn’t.” He picked up the cup with the restaurant’s logo all over it. “How? Did you really? How?”
I took the shake from him, and after placing it on the table, I pulled my beloved into my arms and kissed him. “I would do anything for you. I would have thought you would have realized that by now. I love you, and you are my entire world,mio angelo. I, of course, had a bit of magical help, but Mazzi knew where this place was, and he went and placed the order for me. Would you care to sit and eat?”
Abel’s eyes widened. “It’s truly from there? All the way in Timber Valley?”
I nodded. “I wanted to do something special for you. I know how much you have been missing Montana, and although Icannot live in that area with you, nor can I move to America with you and the twins just yet, with Mazzi’s help, I was able to get one of your favorite foods from there.”
Abel’s grin was huge, and he jumped up at me. Quick reflexes had me catching my beloved, and he laughed as he wrapped his arms around my waist.
“This is working out so much better than I had planned,” I told him.
Abel laughed more. “What do you mean?”
I gave him a look and sent a mental image to him through our bond. Immediately, Abel’s laughter stopped, and he started wiggling. “Let me down,” he said.
I slowly lowered Abel to his feet, sad that he obviously wasn’t quite as ready for such activities as I’d thought. Only my beloved didn’t run away from me. Instead, he started tugging on his clothes. He got somewhat stuck inside his shirt, but when he finally pulled it off his head, he looked at me standing there in front of him.
