Only With Me (With Me 2)

“Soon. Very soon. You better start eating or the child will starve.”

Gabi’s mouth fell open as she watched Yiayia walk out the door.

“Okay, first off, there is no way that woman can tell if I’ll be having a baby soon and they all spit at me!”

“Well, they didn’t really spit at you.” I said.

“Oh, I’m pretty sure Sophia let a real one fly!”

Kilyn laughed. “Thank you so much, Gabi. I was so ready for everyone to leave a few hours ago.”

Thano had sat Kira on the couch and placed Alec in her arms. The way she looked at him tugged on my heartstrings. Then she started to sing to him and I’m pretty sure the four of us were all crying like babies. I was too busy watching Gabi’s face to pay attention to Thano and Kilyn. The way she was looking at the scene before us was like she was wishing with everything she had that that would be us soon.

Once Kira was finished with her song, she asked Gabi to hold Alec while she went and snuggled with Kilyn.

“I’m more than happy to do that!” Gabi said. She sat in the rocking chair and rocked Alec as she traced her finger gently around his face and head.

I glanced over to Thano, he smiled at me and I returned the gesture.

I walked over to him and stuck my hand out. “Congrats little brother. He’s beautiful.”

Standing, he pulled me into a hug and then asked in a hushed voice, “Are you trying?”

“We are.”

He grinned bigger. “That would be awesome to have all the little dudes grow up together.”

“Yeah. Your kids, Thad’s little one, and God willing, one for me.”

“Just one?” Thano asked.

My hand pushed through my hair. “I’m not greedy.”

Hitting me on the back, he peeked back over to Gabi. “It’s a blessing, bro. And I have no doubt you’ll be experiencing it soon.”

CHRISTMAS EVE

TO SAY THE Drivas household was chaos is putting it mildly. There were people everywhere. A Maria in nearly every single room.

Kids running in and out of the house screaming and yelling. It was insane.

But it was a beautiful insanity.

This was my new family. And no matter how much they were in our business, I knew it was because they loved us. And no matter how many times Katerina cracked a shot at my cooking, I knew it was because she knew I could handle it and would dish it right back.

I loved this crazy Greek family and so did my parents. My father and Dimitris were currently in a debate about a Greek god and the Roman Empire.

My parents, Antonio, and his girlfriend Kate, had flown in to spend the holidays with us about a week ago. I had somehow managed to talk both my mother and Katerina out of throwing us a reception. The idea of my mother and Nic’s mom going head to head was not one I wanted to deal with. Especially since I hadn’t been feeling all that great most of November. I’d kept it to myself, but Nic had noticed. When he didn’t say anything, I knew he was trying not to get his hopes up.

“For the love all things good, Yiayia. Stop saying that!”

I glanced over to Charity who was sitting next to Yiayia as they both knitted. Covering my mouth, I held in my laugh. For someone who hated knitting club, Charity had really fallen in love with it.

“I’m just saying, child, you’re having twins.”

Charity sighed. “Yiayia, I know you’re old as dirt, but there is this thing called a sonogram. They actually look at the baby. Hear the heartbeat. Here, look.”

She shoved her phone in Yiayia’s face. “That is a 3-D image of my child. There is only one! If there were two, we’d know.”

Yiayia simply smiled then shrugged. “You’re having twins.”

Charity sighed. “Go back to knitting me a blanket, old lady.”

Cole and Nic were outside playing football with some of the cousins’ kids. Kate sat so close to me I thought she was going to crawl onto my lap.

“Kate, they won’t bite.”

She nodded. “I know, but Yiayia over there.” Kate looked at me as fear laced her face. “She told me I had a good birthing vessel! What does that mean? I thought Antonio was going to fall to the floor with a heart attack.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Ah. Yiayia keeps you on your toes.”

Kate agreed. “How old is she?”

Tilting my head, I realized I had never asked Nic. “You know, I’m not sure.”

“My guess is a hundred. She started to speak to me in Greek earlier. I think I threw her off when I answered.”

My head turned to look at her. “You speak Greek?”

Kate smiled. “Yep. I speak four other languages. Greek, Italian, Spanish, and Russian.”

“Holy crap’ole! Do you work for the FBI too?”

When she didn’t answer, I cleared my throat and looked away. “So, anyway.”