Nate beamed at his little team, and Leaf sniffed audibly as he cried.
“Thank you, my grandchildren.” The don beamed at them. “That was well spoken. And now, my turn. Ciara O’Malley Novak. May you live a long life, full of joy. May you smile more than you cry. May you find love in many places, and may it last all your life and beyond.”
He kissed her forehead, and after a moment handed her to me. I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of the Novaks’ ceremony. Never had I felt so much less like a black sheep than in that moment.
Da stood and nodded to Liam. “Well. This is probably going to get us kicked out, so let’s make it quick like.”
Liam pulled a bottle of whiskey out of his jacket, and then a whole stack of plastic shot glasses out of his pocket.
“Da, you didn’t!” I wasn’t upset. I was laughing. This was our tradition. Not just for births, but for everything. I was just shocked he was ballsy enough to sneak an entire bottle of liquor into the birth center. I supposed I shouldn’t have been. He wasn’t only my da, he was Seamus O’Malley, and he’d gotten into more hijinks than I could imagine. I turned down my shot. I was pretty sure my nurses would murder me if I drank alcohol so quickly after surgery.
“Let’s pour them right quick, Liam my boy. Yes, give me that bottle. Can’t let the babe go without.”
“He’s not going to try and get our newborn baby drunk, is he?” Misha asked me quietly.
Not so quietly that Da didn’t hear. He gave Misha a wink. “Don’t be worrying about that, my boy. I’ll wait a few years before we begin her training. Okay, lads. Here, Francis, mind holding my glass? Thank you kindly.” Da held his thumb to the bottle of Jameson and tipped it to wet the finger. Then he pressed that thumb to Ciara’s forehead and made a wet cross. “If you’re going to be baptized, you’re going to be baptized right. And there’s nothing righter than good whiskey. Ciara, my dear, I claim you as my own, as do all who share our blood. As an O’Malley, you will never fight alone. Nor will you ever drink alone! This is a clan who will have your back, and you’re marked as ours now.”
Someone tried to knock at the door, but Liam was blocking it.
“Shite! Hurry up and drink now, lads. The law is upon us!”
Everyone downed their drinks.
Don Novak shook his head. “Well, it’s not good vodka, but it will do.”
Da pressed his hand to his heart, absolutely cut to the core at the insult to his beloved whiskey, but Liam let the nurse in then, and she went straight after Da. She kicked everyone but Misha out and banned them from visiting until I’d gone home.
But it had been worth it.
14
Misha
This time everyone was at our house. Our much smaller townhouse that really wasn't meant to hold this many people. So far it was working out though. Mostly because the O'Malleys were slipping in and out in shifts with the party spilling over to their houses where the whiskey was allowed to pour freely. Not that it wasn't normally at ours, but today was all about Ciara.
Rory and I cuddled on the couch while Leaf sat beside Rory with the baby. The little guy had been pissed when everyone got kicked out of the hospital before he had a chance to hold his goddaughter, so he was making up for lost time. I didn't mind and neither did Rory. We got to hold her all the time, so we could make ourselves share for one afternoon.
Leaf looked up with a bright smile. "You see that? Ciara was definitely smiling."
River came over with Natasha on his hip. "You always say that with babies, Leaf. And like I tell you every time, it's gas."
Leaf scrunched his nose. "Who hurt you, River? Did Dad not give you enough attention as a child?" He looked back down at Ciara with goo-goo eyes and kissy lips. "Ignore Uncle River, sweet girl. He doesn't like to smile so he doesn't recognize them in others. But I see you. Your Uncle Leaf knows a smile when he sees it. Yes, he does. Oh, yes, he does."
River snorted when Leaf got distracted and went back to cooing and baby talking at Ciara. He smiled and shifted Natasha so he could bend to kiss the top of Ciara's mostly bald head. After taking a deep inhale, River turned to us and spoke like he was holding a hit of pot in his lungs. "Yep. That's the stuff. That fresh-from-the-factory new baby smell. Enjoy it while you can because nothing lasts forever."
Vasily came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his mate. "That's my River. Mr. Positivity in the flesh."
"I prefer to think of myself as a realist. Don’t forget, I like change. It keeps life interesting." River leaned back against Vas and kissed the side of his jaw. "Besides, someone has to keep things real when you start getting all mushy and stuff."
My eyebrows shot up. "My brother gets mushy? Sorry but I'm gonna need evidence on that one."
Vas rolled his eyes. "I was talking on the drive over here about how we won’t have any more of these now that all of us are mated. No matter how many kids we each have in the future, this is still the last time we get together to celebrate a first baby."
I drummed my fingers against the arm of the couch, then brightened when I saw our adopted little brother go to answer the door. "What about Pavlo? He's definitely one of us now and one of these days he's going to find a mate."
"Sure. That's true enough. Maybe it's one of those guys, Pavlo is smiling awful hard as he's greeting them." Rory jerked his chin to point out where Pavlo was letting Dante and Nacho in the door.
River craned his neck to see who Rory was talking about. "Them? Not hardly. Nacho and Dante are both omegas, didn't you know that?" He frowned for a second then smiled as if realizing something. "Never mind, I just figured it out. They both use heavy-duty scent blockers when they're on the job and that's the only time you've met them."
Patrick plopped his ass on the side of the couch, his cheeks hanging way too close to my face for comfort. "What are we talking about?"
I reached up and pinched his butt, twisting hard so he'd feel it through his jeans. "River was just telling us that Nacho and Dante are omegas. Apparently, they were wearing scent blockers every time I've been around them."
Patrick shifted over, still leaning against the couch but no longer sitting with his ass in my face. "Ouch, dick. Quit grabbin' my arse or I'm telling Rory. Oh, wait. Oops. He’s right here. Hi, Rory. I think yer man has a thing for me."
"Nice try, Patty. Keep your butt out of Misha's face and it won't get pinched. You’re lucky it wasn't me. I would've asked River to hogtie you with that lovely chain he's wearing as a belt."
River shrugged. "I can still do it, if you want. I might even let you time me and place a few bets. You think there'd be any takers?"
Patrick held up a middle finger, cackling when Vasily growled. He turned to stare at Nacho and Dante again. "As lovely as that sounds, let's circle back to that later. Right now I want to hear more about those sexy Latinos. They're twins, right? I wonder if they ever play together? And if so, if they’d like an alpha who can handle them both at the same time."
"Ew. You're disgusting. River, he's all yours. Just give me a minute to get the bets rolling." Rory didn’t even sound like he was joking.