Olivia (Babysitter’s Club 3)

“No need.” She winked at me and walked away leaving me with the Godfather wannabe.

“No hard feelings boy but…you know.” He went on to tell me how he too was interested in a bike but his wife would scalp him if he ever got on one. He still wanted one though, even if it just sat in his garage.

It was at the dinner table that mom set up in the backyard by putting about three tables together that I got to see the dynamics of my new family.

These men may look tough and talk even tougher, but the women ruled this shit. They had the wedding damn near planned by the third course and from what I can tell, all I had to do was show up.

The only conflict came when it came time to decide where it should be held. When I heard four hundred people or more I had a mini stroke.

Then I had to argue with her dad about who was going to pay. I wanted to, he insisted it was his place and no matter what I said that shit was not gonna change.

“Just leave it Rich, you won’t win. Besides, most of the guests are from my side and trust me, you do not want to be responsible for feeding these people or putting on a wedding and reception. One wrong move and they’ll talk about it for years.”

I could only look at her, wondering what the fuck. How do I keep ending up with these rich girls? And how can she be so different?

I did relax though as the evening wore on. It was obvious that they were happy for her. No one seemed to care that I came with two kids, in fact they seemed to embrace my children without question.

When I saw my little girl dancing on uncle Sal’s toes I released the last pent up breath I had. Mom was beaming, dad was laughing louder than anyone else and my son was showing off what he knew about bikes.

“They’re a lot to take in but you’ll get used to it.” Her mom came and sat beside me where I sat watching the others dancing and laughing in mom’s backyard.

“I hope you don’t mind that we took over the wedding plans. Dom has always had a soft spot for his little girl. As the youngest she’s been more spoilt than the other three and since her sister had a big wedding it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t do the same for her.”

“But who knows four hundred people?”

“Well, there might be more than that, but that’s the number I came up with off the top of my head. Your mom promised to get me a list of your guests…”

“I know like ten people.” She patted my knee and laughed.

“That’s fine then. Dom already said he’d send the plane back to bring you guys over when the time comes. We’re thinking the fall but we’ll decide on the date later when everyone isn’t so crazy.”

She indicated the others who were laughing and joking around with each other, my own family included. I got a little choked up when I saw Olivia’s sister Lydia with her arm through mom’s as they looked around the border garden talking plants and flowers.

By the end of the night I felt like I’d fallen down the rabbit hole. They’d taken over an inn in town and that’s where they all headed at the end of the night. I learned then that they’d be here for three days before going back to Jersey.

My kids were out before we pulled out of the driveway and I think I was still in shock. I’d had to leave about half their gifts at mom’s to be picked up later because they couldn’t all fit in the truck.

We put them to bed after cleaning them up a little and then it was just she and I. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I wasn’t exactly mad, just surprised as fuck. She never once let on.

“Why would I? It’s no big deal.” We were getting ready for bed and I think it may have been the first time we were this close to the bed and I didn’t have my hands on her.

Now I’m not one of those assholes who’s threatened by his woman having more money than him, but I’m pretty sure she’s even wealthier than Melissa. Shit!

“Stop worrying, my family doesn’t use their money to bully people. Though I can promise you, if you ever make me cry they’d all descend on you like the wrath of hell.” She thought that shit was funny.

“Babe, we gotta talk about this.”

“No, we don’t. It’s not a big deal. I have money, you have money. We’ll blend the two. It just means that we won’t have to worry about going hungry. Oh and there’s a beach house in the Hamptons.”