“I knew you would wake them,” William, the man who looks most like Ares and Dante, mutters as he returns his gaze to his unrepentant wife.
Rosa shrugs a delicate shoulder, her face impassive. She wipes the counter with a washcloth, pushing any stay crumbs into the sink and hanging it over the side after giving it a rinse. She’s fairly tall, taller than me maybe at around five foot nine. Her dark hair falls over her shoulders in soft waves, and she’s curvy—nowhere close to fat, but definitely thicker than what I would call thin. She turns, giving us her full attention. She has Dante’s full expressive lips, but her eye color is all Ares’s tawny brown.
“My boys,” Rosa sighs, her arms stretched out wide as she waits for them. Dante heads over to her first. He wraps his arms around her back after she leans up to kiss his cheek, throwing her arms over his shoulders. The guys all leave me, forming a line so she can greet them, cooing in half Italian, half English. I stand awkwardly near the doorway.
Malcolm pushes back his stool and heads over in my direction. Ares's eyes track his movements, but he stays over with his mom. Malcolm reaches out his hand when he’s standing in front of me. “Hello, Laura.”
Accepting his hand, I return his gaze and shake. “Hello, sir.”
His lip lifts at the corner, but he covers it quickly. “You can call me Mal,” he offers. He doesn’t look like someone you’d call Mal. Ares may get his dark hair from his mother, but he must get his fashion sense from his father. Malcolm, or Mal, is dressed much like his son, only he’s wearing a tie, and he skipped the vest for an unbuttoned suit coat. It’s barely nine o’clock in the morning. Now I really feel underdressed. “It’s a lot to take in, huh?”
I swallow, because it is, more than he probably knows. I didn’t even know what I was a few weeks ago. “Yes, you could say that.”
“I remember meeting Rosa’s parents, and William’s.” He leans in a little closer fighting a small smile. “I assure you, you’re doing just fine.”
I take a peek over at the others, wondering when they’re coming back. “It’s definitely a new experience.”
He chuckles. “I bet it’s a little more unsettling than meeting your boyfriends’ parents.”
I scrunch my face in confusion. “Aren’t you my boyfriends’ parent?”
Mal tilts his head. “I just meant a regular boyfriend, not your pairs.”
“Oh, I see.” A flush spreads across my face, and I can’t believe I even said that out loud. “Well, I’ve never had one of those so…” I try to recover, but I think I made things more awkward.
“William,” Mal calls, saving me from myself as he greets his pair—partner? I’m not sure what they call each other. I make a mental note to ask the guys.
“Thought I’d come say hi before Rosa gets hold of you.” My eyes bulge out at his announcement. “Not like that, I mean, once she has you, she’s probably not going to let you go.” William winces. I think he has a case of verbal diarrhea as well. “Hell…” William brushes his hand down his pant leg and extends it to me. I accept the shake, but he pulls me in and wraps his arm around my back. After a quick couple of pats, he releases me.
I blink up at him owlishly. Did that just happen? Is it possible that he is just as awkward as I am? William's brow is furrowed as he looks down.
“You’re just standing there letting this happen?” Ares's voice floats over in our direction. I look over and see Malcolm with his hand covering his mouth, trying to hide his smile.
“Just be thankful you learned how to treat a lady from me and not him.” Malcolm chuckles while pointing at William.
“Dad, did you really just give her a bro hug?” Ares sounds positively scandalized. That’s the exact moment I can’t hold in any more of the tension. A laugh bursts free from my mouth as my shoulders shake. Leaning forward, I laugh way too hard, but it’s not just the bro hug, or his awkward words; it’s everything.
“Great, now you broke her,” Ollie chides, stepping over to my side. I swat him with the back of my hand, trying to calm my laugh, but every time I slow down, I imagine William’s face after he hugged me.
“Quit giving your papa a hard time,” Rosa admonishes, stroking her hand over William’s shoulder. He looks down at her, and any residual awkwardness disappears when he gives her a saucy wink.
Clearing my throat as the last of the giggles melt away, I meet Rosa’s gaze, and she scans my face before looking into my eyes. “You look very much like your mamma, Amanda.”
“I never really thought so, she… she’s had a tough few years.”
Rosa takes my hand in hers and her grip is gentle as she asks, “Can you tell me about her?”
I was the one expecting to ask questions, so it catches me off guard. Opening my mouth, I catch Dante’s gaze, and he nods.
Rosa insists on making eggs for the guys and me. Ares and Milo went and got a couple more chairs so we can all be in the kitchen while she prepares the food. I get my first taste of what Rosa calls a marocchino: it’s coffee with chocolate and milk. Finding out how to recreate the drink has become a new priority ‘cause, damn, it’s delicious.
Rosa pushes a plate in front of me, and the eggs are soft and fluffy with a few pieces of thinly sliced meat off to the side. As the others begin eating, she turns so her rear is leaning against the counter. “Tell me about you, about your mamma. Where have you been all these years?”
That’s a loaded question. I can’t even remember all the places we’ve lived. “We traveled a lot,” I tell her.
“Laura and her mother lived in a motor home,” Ares interjects. Rosa tilts her head as she tries to envision what Ares is talking about.
Pulling the sleeves of my shirt over my fingers, I drop my hands to my lap. I haven’t really talked about my mom much, not even with the guys. I don’t really know where to begin. “My mom, she struggled with a lot of things, and it only got worse the older I got.” I think back to the times when I was younger, when my mom would actually go out of the camper, get dressed in something other than sweatpants and a holey t-shirt.
“I can’t believe she has been running this entire time,” Rosa says almost to herself.
“Do you know why she was running, or from who?” I latch onto her words, needing to know the answers, especially if it will help me find her.
Rosa takes a deep breath. “How about I tell you about the Amanda I knew, and you can tell me about the one you know.” Rosa smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.
“Yeah, okay,” I agree easily. Seems like we both only know half of the story anyway.
I’m sitting in a chair and Dante is on the arm of the chair next to me. The rest of the guys have taken seats around the room. We haven’t been in here before, it’s much more formal than the rooms we’ve hung out in so far. The furniture is heavy with thick patterned fabric and wood accents. There’s a huge stone fireplace taking up almost one entire wall—you’d have to have a small mountain of wood to fill it—and the stone extends up to the ceiling, making it seem even larger. Several seating areas are dotted throughout the room. Ares and Milo are to my left on another sofa, while Ollie has opted to sit on the floor near my legs. He’s not touching me, but he’s close. I appreciate the support.