“That shade of pink is amazing on you.”
I give him a “What the hell are you talking about?” look and move my hands over my outfit, showing him there’s not a thread of pink on me. “Pink?”
He steps forward and rests his hand against my face, stroking my cheek with his thumb. “You have that well-fucked glow about you.” He smiles.
The pink he’s referring to turns into the brightest shade of red. “Damn it,” I grumble.
He kisses me with tenderness, his hand still on my face, and the embarrassment that flooded me moments ago vanishes. We’re not kids anymore. We weren’t sneaking off to have premarital sex. The one thing I’ve learned about the Gallos, even his parents, is that everyone has a healthy sex life.
“We better go,” I tell him when I feel the dull ache between my legs starting to return.
He nods and adjusts himself in his pants. “Going to be a long day. I may pull you into another room later.”
I press my hand between his solid pecs and smile up at him. “I may just let you.”
***
When we walk down the staircase, trying to act like nothing happened, Joe’s waiting in the foyer with the girls. His arms are crossed in front of him with Lily and Gigi on either side of him, and from the look on his face, I’d say the girls are in trouble…again. They’re staring at the floor as tears trickle down their splotchy red cheeks.
I drop to my knees as soon as I’m in front of Lily. “What happened?” I move my eyes between Joe, Lily, and Gigi. My heart’s racing because I can’t imagine what has them in tears.
They’ve grown up so fast. Too fast for my liking. The biggest problem is they’re thick as thieves and usually getting into some sort of trouble, but rarely are they in tears.
“Our lovely children thought it would be funny to convince Nick to strip down naked and run through the neighbor’s yard.”
I’m shocked. “What?” I gape.
Mike places a hand on my shoulder as if to steady himself. “Why in God’s name would they do that?”
Joe blows out a breath and clenches his fist. “Well, I guess Nick has a crush on the neighbor girl. Our innocent little girls told him that the way to get her attention would be to run through her yard naked, singing ‘Jingle Bells.’”
I have to bite the inside of my cheek not to laugh. Jingle Bells? These two little mischief-makers will be the death of Joe and Mike. They have no idea what’s coming because we haven’t even hit the teen years. It’s going to be hell.
Mike digs his fingers into my shoulder. “What the heck were you two thinking?” His tone is biting.
“Dad,” Lily says with a sniffle.
“Don’t Dad me, li’l girl. Why did you tell Nick to do that?”
Joe glances down at Gigi, quirking an eyebrow, waiting for her to respond. “You have anything to say, Gigi?”
“Well…” she says, kicking at the tile floor with her eyes downcast.
“Lily, why?” Mike pipes in when Gigi pauses.
“Listen,” Gigi says and looks me right in the eyes. “When my mom and dad want to show each other how much they like each other, they always get naked. We wanted to help Nick get Poppy’s attention.” She glances up at her father with a sad smile. “We didn’t know we did anything wrong, Daddy.”
“You too, Mommy,” Lily says to me. “You and Daddy wrestle sometimes, and you said it was just how you show each other you love one another.” And I’m horrified and a little embarrassed.
Joe’s face is pale, and he looks more uncomfortable than I do. “We’ll talk about this later. You and Lily go wash up for dinner. We’ll see if Santa comes tonight. You two just earned a spot on the naughty list,” Joe tells them.
“I told you it was wrong,” Lily tells Gigi with a snarl. “I’m not going to get my tablet for Christmas because of your stupid idea.” Lily rolls her eyes and starts to walk away, dragging her feet with each step.
Gigi peels away from Joe, walking next to Lily, and swings her arm over her cousin’s shoulder. “Don’t worry,” Gigi whispers. “Santa’s already in the air, and our gifts are in his sleigh. You’ll get your presents.”
The girls seem to forget that we can hear them. Even though they try to whisper, they’re doing a shitty job of it. They’ve never been able to be quiet a day in their lives.
“You think?” Lily asks, glancing at Gigi.
Gigi nods. “Next year, we have to be extra good now, though.”
“Darn,” Lily says.
“I know. It’s going to suck.”
Joe, Mike, and I look at each other and bite back our laughter until the girls disappear to the back of the house, and then we lose it.
Joe sobers first and rubs the back of his neck. “We’re in so much fucking trouble with them.”
“Ya think?” I laugh.
Mike shakes his head, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. “So much fucking trouble.”
“Where’s Nick?” I ask.
“Getting his ass chewed out by Thomas.” Joe smiles. “I’d hate to be him.”
Mike pulls me into his side and kisses the top of my head. “Poor kid.”
“What are we going to do, Joe?”
“I think we’re going to have to talk to them about nudity and sexuality.”
“Fuck,” Mike groans. “They’re ten, for shit’s sake.”
“Dude, they just made Nick run around with
his cock waving in the air. I think it’s time for that talk,” Joe laments.
“Jesus,” Mike says. “This is Mia’s department.”
I slap his stomach to give him a reality check. “This is an us department, jerk. I’m not talking to Lily about sex by myself.”
Suzy strolls into the hallway, glancing into the living room behind her. “Why do Gigi and Lily look like they’ve been crying?”
Joe wraps his arm around her waist when she’s close enough and hauls her into his side. “You don’t wanna know, sugar.”
“Can’t we have one day of peace?” she asks, hugging him tightly.
“I don’t think I’ll ever have another day of peace with three girls to raise.”
We all laugh because we know his words are a sad, sobering truth.
“Wait til they date,” Suzy says, looking up at her husband.
The moment Lily starts dating, I know everything is going to spiral out of control in a hot minute, and I dread the day. Mike isn’t going to let a boy near his baby girl without a fight.
“I’m locked and loaded when that day comes.”
“Me too,” Joe tells Mike with a nod.
“You two are crazy,” Suzy says with a small giggle. “Boys aren’t that bad.”
“Walk with me,” Joe tells Suzy, placing his hand on the small of her back and ushering her out of the hallway. “Let me tell you what Nick just did.”
Mike and I are trailing behind them, waiting for when she finds out exactly what our innocent angels encouraged their little cousin to do.
Joe whispers in her ear, and I know the moment he says the words because she stiffens. She stops walking and turns to face him. “What the frick? Seriously?”
“Afraid so.”
“Oh, my God. We’re horrible parents,” she says, covering her face with her hands.
“No, we aren’t,” I tell Suzy, knowing exactly how she feels. “We’re human. But it’s time for the birds and the bees.”
“This is bullshit,” Mike says, being the pain in the ass he is. “Pop never gave us that talk. I don’t even know what to say to a girl.”
My eyebrows draw downward as my head jerks back. “He didn’t give you that talk?”
Mike and Joe both shake their heads.
“Well, what the…”
“Pop just said to use a rubber and gave us each a box of forty-eight when we turned sixteen.”
My mouth falls open. “You can’t say that with girls,” I tell them. “So, you better figure something out because I’m not doing it alone.”
“They’re ten,” Mike reminds me, as if I forgot that little fact, and crosses his arms in front of his chest.
“Naked,” I remind him. “They think that’s how you show someone you like them.”
