Lany
"One
little, two little, three little munchkins," I sang out as I counted heads.
Seven kids in all.
We
were good.
"Okay, is everyone ready to go?" I knew I was, simply if it was to get people
moving. We'd been getting ready to go for over an hour now. Granted, there
were a lot people to get ready—Me, Sal, and our brood of kids. Angelo and his
son Cole.
And,
strangely enough, Officer Sam Brodsky. I hadn't expected him to want to go
with us to find a Christmas tree.
We'd
invited my parents along, but my mother had looked at me with such horror, I'd
quickly said we'd go shopping at Bloomingdales later in the week instead.
My
father had just chuckled and shook his head at me as if asking my mother to
drive a couple hours out of the city to go hunt down the perfect Christmas
tree was something I should have known my mother would freak over.
The
traitor.
"Okay, everyone out to the cars."
"Can
I ride with you?"
I
glanced down at Cole, who stood next to Mikey. Ercole Delvecchio had grown so
much since I first met him when he was a toddler. He was five now, the same
age as Mikey, which made sense as they were best buds.
"Ask
your dad and make sure it's okay with him."
Cole
beamed up at me. "I already did and he said I had to ask you."
"Okay." I smiled. "If you ride with us, Mikey can ride with your dad."
Yes,
I was evil.
"Oh." Cole's face fell.
"Or,
you could both hurry out to the car before anyone else and make sure you get
seats right next to each other."
Cole
and Mikey were off like a shot.
Evil, but damn smart too.
That
was two down.
Now,
I just needed to figure out how to get the rest of them moving along.
I
never realized just how much time I took to get ready to go anywhere until we
adopted the twins. With babies in the house, there wasn't a lot of time to
primp. I'd had to cut back on my daily beauty preparations.
Now,
with six kids to get ready to go, I barely had time to pull a brush through my
hair. I can't even remember the last time I'd spent more than a few minutes in
front of the mirror, let alone went to a salon or spa.
It
was a good thing Sal loved me.
"Lincoln, are you sure you don't want to go?"
I
still couldn't believe we had Lincoln Thomas staying in our house. Having no
idea who the man was, I'd googled him when we arrived home from our recent
vacation to the Bahamas. I had been shocked at what I found.
Lincoln Thomas, lead singer for the band Trixx, was known worldwide. He'd won
more awards than anyone I knew and was considered one of the top singers in
his industry.
Unfortunately, as we had all recently learned, with that fame came a boatload
of crap I wouldn't have wished on anyone. Lincoln had been betrayed by his
manager then kidnapped and tortured by an insane fan who wanted to keep him
all to herself. I had been shot in the ensuing chaos and several of my friends
had been injured and kidnapped.
It
hadn't been a fun vacation.
The
man gave me a small wobbly smile. "No, I'm good. I'm just going to go back to
the guesthouse and read a book or something."
"Okay."
What
else could I say?
I
winced as I watched the man's shoulders hunch as he walked away. Lincoln was
damaged on a level I was well acquainted with. I'd been kidnapped, whipped,
and tortured just like he had, only, I had Sal to love on me afterwards and
chase my demons away. Lincoln had no one, which was why he was staying with us
for the time being.
The
man needed a place to heal.
"I've packed you enough food to keep the kids happy on the road."
I
brightened as I took the small cooler from our new housekeeper and cook.
"Thank you, Mrs. Martinez."
We
had also brought her and her son back from the Bahamas. I'd taken my father's
suggestion and hired the woman to work for us. We now had homemade food
anytime we wanted it, day or not.
Her
son, Dalton, was learning what it took to care for an estate in the city
instead of a villa in the Bahamas, and going to the university the rest of the
time.
Mrs.
Martinez's eyes twinkled. "There's a cupcake in there for you too, dear."
I
beamed. "Thank you, Mrs. Martinez."
For
some reason I couldn't fathom, the older woman had taken a liking to me. I
wasn't arguing. She made the best cupcakes.
"Have fun our your day out. I will have dinner on the table at seven."
"Yes, ma'am."
I
knew not to be late. Mrs. Martinez might cook like a dream and always have
something around for us to munch on, but meals were set at very certain times.
After watching Mrs. Martinez walk away, I clapped my hands together and
shouted, "The car is leaving in five minutes, with or without you."
I
knew that wouldn't phase Emily as she didn't really want to go. She wanted to
stay home and chat with her friends.
Not
happening.
This
was a family outing and we were all going.
"If
you stay here, you'll be doing chores until we get back."
I
smiled as five kids trudged past me and out the front door.
Worked every time.
"Sal!"
"Coming."
My
eyebrows lifted when I realized he was coming out of his office and not down
the stairs from the bedroom, which was where he'd been the last time I'd seen
him. "Trouble?"
"No,
baby. I wanted to make sure Clarke knew I'd be unavailable for the rest of the
weekend."
The
corners of my mouth lifted. "Really?"
Sal
stopped right in front of me. His hand curled around the side of my face. "I
promised you an entire weekend to prepare for Christmas, didn't I?"
"Yeah." But I never thought it would actually happen.
"So,
now Clarke knows not to call me." Sal's grin made my heart beat a little
faster. "Even if the city burns down."
"Can
you do that?"
I
could hope.
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