Page 178 of Vows of a Mobster
God, this man. I loved him so much. Marissa came over and handed both of us a shot glass, then gave Emma her own cup with juice in it.
“To family,” Marissa toasted and everybody cheered. I pretended to place the cup to my lips and then placed it down. Marissa was already re-filling everyone’s cups when she came to mine. She glanced at it and frowned.
“Again?” she muttered, staring at my untouched champagne. “Okay, I can’t stand it anymore,” Marissa complained. “Why are you refusing to drink with us? You haven’t touched alcohol in weeks.”
Mateo and I shared a look, his lips spread into a wide smile.
“No reason,” I mumbled.
“Oh my God,” Daphne squealed and Emma raised her head in alarm.
“Calm down, Daph,” I told her. Thankfully, Emma went back to playing with her newest toy.
“So you are-” Marissa chimed in. “Are you?”
“Why do you two have to be so nosy?” I muttered with a wide grin.
“Holy shit. That is freaking awesome,” Daphne raved. “I was worried you no longer wanted to be friends.” I rolled my eyes and she immediately pointed at me. “See, see! Same eye roll as your daughter.”
“Can we keep it to ourselves?” Mateo chimed in, wrapping his arms around me. “At least for another few weeks.”
“Congratulations, Mateo,” Declan seemed truly happy for us. “Strange world, ha! Who would have ever thought we’d end up here, sharing news of your wife’s pregnancy?”
“I thought this earlier today too,” I admitted, my eyes roaming over people in this room. “Never in a million years could I have imagined this ending.”
“It’s not an ending, deary,” Aoife claimed. “It is a beginning. The best one.”
I smiled at her. It turned out I liked her very much. She reminded me of my grandmother in some ways. Gentle but tough. For Aoife, family was everything. It was something my own mother never understood.
“Mommy, can I go to Uncle Declan’s house?”
“I didn’t pack any of your stuff, princess.” She has been bugging me for the past three days to go to his house. She loved spending time with Declan’s parents.
“That’s okay,” Declan Sr. jumped in eagerly. “We can stop on the way home and pick up some stuff.”
I almost missed Declan and Mateo’s look they shared. If I wouldn’t have glanced at my husband, I would have completely missed it.
“What was that about?” I asked, alarmed.
“What, amore?” Mateo didn’t lose his cool.
“The look you and Declan just shared?”
He let out a sigh. “I’m okay if Emma wants to go to their house for a sleepover. I don’t know if it’s wise to take her shopping at this time. Tensions are still high.”
“Oh, okay.” I still had a sense he wasn’t telling me something. But then that was the life of a mobster wife. I would never know everything.
“I’ll order it all online,” Marissa chimed in, “and have it delivered today.”
Daphne pouted. “This sucks. I wanted to spend time with Emma too.”
“You had her yesterday,” I reminded her. It made me feel all mushy on the inside that there were so many people that cared about her.
“Aunt Daphne, I still love you,” Emma comforted her with her free hand. “I will be back tomorrow. You have to keep Mommy company if Daddy is working. She doesn’t like it when Dad’s not home.”
“That child is too perceptive,” Antonio chuckled.
“Okay, it is settled then,” Mateo announced. “Emma is having a sleepover.”
