Bound By Blood Anthology

Before I could say anything, Matteo spoke up.

“He looks like a fat little Buddha with black hair.” He lifted one of Amo’s stubby arms.

Aria sent Matteo an incredulous look and I would have hit him over the head if I hadn’t been carrying Amo.

Matteo flashed the girls a grin. “Come on, it’s the truth. It’s not like he’s an ugly baby but he’s a little Michelin man with all those fat rolls.”

“If he gets as tall as Luca, he’ll grow quickly, then he needs the additional weight,” Romero said diplomatically.

“Let’s hope so. On the other hand, maybe we can torture our enemies by letting your little sumo wrestler sit on them.”

“How about you shut up?” I muttered.

Gianna stalked over to us and pinched Matteo, who flinched, then rubbed the spot. “Look at him and tell me he doesn’t look like a baby Buddha.”

Gianna rolled her eyes then gave me an exasperated look. “Congrats. I hope you don’t drop your kid on the head like someone must have done with Matteo when he was a baby.”

“I’ll do my best,” I said then peered down at Amo who was deep asleep, oblivious to Matteo’s comments.

Liliana came over with Marcella in her arms. “Look, that’s your little brother.”

I gave Marcella a smile, lifting Amo so she could get a better look. She watched her brother with her head tilted to the side as if he was a new toy she was trying to figure out. “Why isn’t he doing anything?”

“Because he’s a baby. They sleep, poop, and eat,” Gianna said.

Aria sighed, but I could tell she was fighting a grin.

“That’s boring,” Marcella said, looking disappointed. Then she glanced over at Aria and stretched out her arms. “Mommy, arm.”

Aria’s expression fell.

“Mommy isn’t allowed to carry anything at the moment,” I said. Marcella’s lower lip began to tremble. Fuck. I couldn’t stand it when she cried.

Gianna sighed and came over to me. “Come on, give me your little poo machine. I’ll carry your future sumo wrestler while you snuggle with Marci.”

I handed Amo to her and her widened eyes flitted over to my wife. “How did he ever fit inside of you?”

Aria laughed. “I don’t know.”

“Good thing you didn’t have to squeeze him out of your vajayjay.”

“Hey,” I said in warning as I took Marcella from Liliana who went over to Gianna to hold Amo’s tiny hand.

“What’s a vajayjay?” Marcella asked immediately. I sent Gianna a death glare.

“Nothing you have to worry about.”

Gianna and Aria burst out laughing, and Marcella peered up at me with a small frown.

Matteo winked. “Missing your bachelor days, huh?”

“Never,” I said as I kissed Marcella’s frown, causing her to giggle then looked at Amo who’d woken and was staring up at Gianna with huge eyes. Aria was smiling as if this was perfection… and for me, it was.LucaAria’s healing process took longer than last time but with her sisters’ help things soon fell into place. Still I could tell that Aria was trying to not be a burden and do things on her own.

This was the first day I wasn’t home before six because the Tartarus MC had thrown a Molotov cocktail into one of our whorehouses. They weren’t as organized as they used to be. My hit to their local chapter had almost banished them completely from this area—almost.

Amo was eight weeks old and a fussy baby, so I tried to help Aria during the nights as often as I could.

The second I entered the apartment after midnight I could hear his wails. I took the steps two at a time and rushed into the nursery where I found Aria in the armchair, covered in sweat, eyes red from crying and a red-faced Amo screaming and squirming while Aria tried to feed him.

“Aria?”

“I can’t get him to calm down. No matter what I do. He’s been crying for hours.”

I stroked her head. “Shhh. Let me take care of him. Take a bath, Love.”

“I’m failing him.”

“You’re not failing anyone, Aria.” I kissed her hair. “Where’s Marcella?”

“In our bed. I allowed her to watch her series because she couldn’t sleep.”

I pried Amo from Aria’s arms. “Go, get some sleep. Or take a bath. Now.”

She nodded then moved into our bedroom. I put Amo in his carrier before I followed her. Marcella sat on the bed, watching her series on the tablet, but looked up from the screen when I entered. “How about you, Amo, and I drive around the city for a bit?”

Marcella jumped off the bed. “Yes!”

Before I left with our kids, Aria gave me a grateful smile as she sank down on the bed.

As I’d hoped, both Amo and Marcella fell asleep in the car after thirty minutes of driving in circles around the area. After bringing Marcella into her bed, I stretched out on the sofa in the nursery in case Amo woke up again.