Page 24 of Honor Me (Men of Inked 6)
“Who wants dessert? I made cannolis.” Mom walked into the living room with an overflowing tray of cannolis and Gigi almost attached to her leg.
“I do,” Pop said and set his paper in his lap. After he grabbed one and she started to walk away, he smacked her butt.
“Nana, does Papa spank you because he loves you?” Gigi asked, tugging on Ma’s apron.
Ma patted her head with one hand and smiled down at her. “He does, sweetie.”
“Daddy’s always spanking Mommy too, and she makes this noise…” Gigi started to imitate Suzy’s moan, and Ma’s smile faded. “It kind of scared me at first, but Daddy said it’s because they love each other.”
Her eyes darted to mine and I hung my head, unable to look her in the eye. “Gigi, baby—” She paused and chewed on her bottom lip, searching for the right words. “Joe, want to help me out here?”
I cleared my throat. “Um, we already had this talk at home.”
Ma narrowed her eyes and sneered before looking to my pop for the rescue. “Sal?”
Suzy sat down next to me and grabbed my hand. “What’s everyone looking at each other so strangely for?” she whispered in my ear.
“Gigi asked Ma about spanking.”
“Shit.” Suzy stood and quickly scurried out of the living room.
“Want to watch Frozen?” Pop asked Gigi.
“Frozen!” she cheered, her brown hair bouncing up and down as she jumped in place.
“Frozen!” Lily yelled, running into the room and almost crashing into Ma.
“Nice,” Ma muttered to Pop and shook her head.
He slapped his knee and laughed. “Works every time.”
“Coward,” Ma whispered before setting two napkins on the floor and placing Lily’s and Gigi’s cannolis on top. “Sit and watch the movie while the adults have a little chat.”
I swallowed, pulling at the collar of my shirt. “I want to watch it too.”
“Oh, no, you don’t. Get your ass to the adult table for a little talk.” She smiled sweetly and glanced around the room at everyone. “Everyone I gave birth to in the dining room.” When no one moved, she yelled, “Now!”
Just like we were kids again, everyone scurried into the dining room and took their seats.
“You too, Sal,” she told him, and we glanced around the table at each other with our mouths hanging open.
“Someone’s mad,” Anthony whispered and covered his mouth.
“Jesus,” Izzy mumbled and started to laugh when we heard Pop grumbling in the living room.
Ma sat down at the head of the table, brushing her hair back from her shoulders. She sat with her hands clasped in front of her, resting on the table, and looked around the table until Pop sat at the opposite end. “We need to talk about the things your kids are overhearing.”
“Ma, I don’t think—” Mike started to speak, but Ma waved her hand and cut him off.
“I’m really worried that they’re hearing some things that aren’t meant for little ears.”
Thomas pointed toward me, throwing me under the bus. “That’s Joe’s fault.”
“No.” Ma pointed her finger at Thomas and his head jerked back. “I’ve watched all the babies in this family, and it seems as soon as they can talk, they say the most inappropriate things.”
“That’s just Gigi, Ma,” Izzy joined sides with Thomas.
“Not so, my dear, sweet, dirty daughter.” Ma smiled at Izzy instead of waving her finger in her face.
I leaned back in my chair, placing my arm on the back of Anthony’s chair and sighed. “What are they saying, Ma?”
“I can’t go into specifics. I’ve never been one to use such language.”
Izzy rolled her eyes. “You’re so full of shit. Where do you think we learned it?”
“Your father and I—” She touched her neck, stroking it with her index finger. “We kept certain things for inside the bedroom. But you kids, you don’t hide anything from your children.” She had a straight face when she told that bold-faced lie.
We burst into laughter.
“What’s so funny?” she asked, peering around the table with her eyebrows drawn together.
“We heard everything, Ma,” Thomas told her, the only one with enough balls to make the confession first.
Ma’s head jerked backward like she’d been struck. “What did you hear?”
Anthony raised his hand. “My bedroom was closest to yours. I heard everything.”
“Everything?” she asked with wide eyes.
“Why do you think I slept with the television on?” He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. “I had to do something to block out all the racket you two were making.”
“Well, I—”
Pop laughed, smacking his hand on the table. “Mar, you were never a quiet one.”
“I never thought they could hear.” She dragged her hand down one side of her face and cringed.
“Oh! Sal! Harder!” Izzy mimicked my mother’s voice, and I almost fell off the chair in laughter at my ma’s mortified expression.
“Ah! Good times,” Pop added and smiled, nodding as if he was replaying their wild sex life in his head.
“Oh, God,” she groaned and put her face in her hands. “How didn’t I know?”
“We just never brought it up, but we—” Anthony waved his hands around the table “—we talked about it more than once.”
“I just can’t—” She pushed herself up from the table and started to walk away. “Go back to watching television,” she mumbled without looking back.
Pop just smiled and shrugged. “I tried to gag her, but your mother didn’t like it.”
I cringed at the thought. “Pop, come on!”
He laughed, finding the topic comical.
“Well, I did.”
Izzy shook her head and couldn’t look him in the eye. “Thanks for too much information, Pop.” She grabbed a cannoli from the tray and stalked off toward the living room, mumbling curse words to herself.
If Gigi wasn’t scarred for life, I sure as fuck was.
It Takes a Village
Suzy
For years, Mrs. Gallo has been teaching me to cook. No matter how hard she tried and how much I practiced, nothing ever turned out the same way as hers. The night before the party, the girls decided to come over and help cook. Probably because they wanted to make sure everything would be edible for the guests.
The men promised to stay out of our hair and keep themselves busy. Not only did my brothers-in-law show up, but so did Morgan, Sam, and Frisco. They were going to discuss “man things,” whatever that meant. We were just happy they were going to stay out of our way while we cooked.
“How’s it going with Frisco around here all the time?” Mia asked while stirring together the dressing ingredients for the biggest bowl of macaroni salad I’d ever seen.
“Fine. He helps with the babies sometimes, but he mostly stays outside.”
“Yeah, Morgan too. Even at the clinic, he’s outside or in the waiting room. He has to be bored to death.”
“Right?” I asked as I uncorked another bottle of wine. “Hopefully, this ends soon so ev
eryone can get back to their lives.”
“I kind of like it,” Izzy announced, grabbing the bottle from my hands.
I nudged her with my hip and took the bottle back. “That’s because they aren’t with you all day.” I filled my glass and handed it back to her. “James just comes home early from work. It’s different for you.”
“You’ve met James, right? Nothing about that man is easy.”
“It’s not a hardship when you have to spend more time with your husband.” Max rolled her eyes, pausing for a minute from chopping the cabbage for the homemade coleslaw.
“Um,” Izzy mumbled and raised her wineglass toward Max. “It’s James. It’s always a hardship.”
Max’s gaze flickered toward Izzy. “You married him, girl.”
