Page 55 of Subbing For Santa

“Welcome, Agatha. I’m Ewan, Griffin’s father.”

Holding his hand out to me, I eye it quickly, before deciding that being rude to the head of the most notorious crime family in the country isn’t wise.

“Hello.” I smile at him, taking his hand for a brief shake.

Shit. Can he feel my sweaty palms?

“Let me do the introductions.” He smiles warmly, dropping my hand and I smile and nod, hoping it doesn’t look as forced as it feels. “Let’s start with my oldest children.” He gestures his hand, and my gaze follows. “This is Leo, my oldest and second in charge. And this is Conrad, Bernadette and Kendrick.” The four he gestured to smile and nod back at me in greeting, and I’m pretty sure I’ve already forgotten their names. “Their mother, Audrey, passed some years ago from breast cancer.”

“Oh.” All of a sudden, I don’t want to smile, but no one else seems sad or affected by Ewan’s words, so I focus on where he is gesturing now.

“My second marriage ended in divorce, however Caroline gave me three beautiful children, so in my eyes, it wasn’t a failure.”

Again, I have no idea what to say to Ewan, but he continues his introductions, so I don’t have to stand awkwardly for long.

“Barrett is the oldest of Caroline’s children, but fifth in line.” He chuckles, and I’m pretty sure if there was a joke in his words, it went straight over my head. “He’s currently overseas, so you’ll have to meet him a different time. Cassandra is older than Griffin, leaving him to be Caroline’s baby.”

“Hey! I’m no baby. I’m seventh in line.” Griffin playfully scolds, and everyone laughs.

What was his sister’s name again?

“And of course, my radiant Selena has been very busy over our time together. I’m sure you will forget everyone’s names, but from oldest to youngest, this is Liam and Fallon. They are twins. Oswald, Brennen, Haile, Quinlan, Chance, Dustin, Anders, Everett and Ethan.”

They all nod or wave and I laugh.

“Wow, that’s a lot of children.”

Selena smiles proudly, nodding. “Unfortunately, my body can no longer produce more heirs for Ewan, but I figure eleven children is enough.”

“Yes. Absolutely.” I laugh, a small part of my brain freaking out because, holy shit, that’s a lot of childbirth.

“And let’s not forget Gracie.” Ewan chuckles, looking around before calling her name. “Gracie!”

“Yes, Ewan. I’m here.” I frown at the blonde haired, blue eyed girl that bursts through the men, looking so completely different to everyone else in the room.

Wait. Did she call him Ewan? Not dad?

“Hey Agatha. I’m Grace.” She offers me her hand and I shake it, giving her a warm smile as I study her features, which are so different to everyone else’s. “You’re confused, I see.” She grins, and my eyes dart to Griffin in panic.

He chuckles, wrapping his arm around me and tugging me to his side. “Gracie isn’t a Marx, but she’s been living with us since she was little.”

“Oh.” I say in surprise. “I’m sorry if I was rude. You just look so different from everyone else.”

“Girl, don’t I know it. Not only don’t I have the Italian-Australian blood running through my veins, but I’m way less uptight than the rest of them.”

“Hey!” A few of the men complain, but Grace doesn’t cower, a laugh slipping from her lips.

“Come on. Let me give you all the family gossip.” Grace snatches my arm, tugging me from Griffin and further into the room.

“Not too much gossip please!” Griffin calls, and a laugh escapes me as I finally relax.

These people aren’t so bad.

After some fussing in the kitchen, we all sit down to eat at the longest dinner table I’ve ever seen, and the family settles into fun banter as we devour our Christmas dinner.

I spend most of my time observing. I’ve never seen anything like this before, and it’s hard not to be fascinated by how well they all get along. Well, most of them anyway.

The female twin, Fallon, has kept her gaze on me for most of the day. I can tell by her assessing eye that she doesn’t trust me. Which is totally understandable. I’m a stranger in their home. Everyone here are siblings, aside from Grace, who acts just like a sibling despite not being one.

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