“All for you,” he whispers, forehead to mine, the puff of his labored breaths coating my lips in warm air. “Everything I am, all that I will be, is all for you.”
NICHOLAS
Honor is a wreck of nerves as I lead her up the steps toward my family home. “Relax, Dove. They’re all going to love you. Gracie and Ma already do. The rest is a formality, just trust me.” I curve an arm around her waist so we’re walking together in matched stride.
She knots her fingers together and then presses a wild lock of loose hair behind her ear. “It’s not that I don’t think they’ll like me.”
I stop at the crest of the staircase and turn toward her. “Then what is it?”
She looks down at her sandals and plucks at her flowy dress. The fabric has bursts of brightly colored flowers in a variety of pale pinks, greens, and blues. Her skin positively glows against the backdrop. Two tiny strips tie at each shoulder, leaving her arms bare. Since her stint in the hospital, my girl hasn’t so much as scratched her skin, and though I liked the henna she used to decorate her arms with, her scars are out in the open and barely visible. I’ve taught her that it’s an opportunity to either open herself up to that person about her past choices and share who she was and how far she has come or to change the subject. The choice is always hers.
I run my fingers over her scarred arms like I have many times in the past weeks. I’ve done it so often, she doesn’t even blink at my touch, but for me, it’s a reminder that she’s alive, she’s here, and she’s mine to protect and keep safe.
The chain from my dog tags catches the light and sparkles against her skin. The beads of the necklace are visible, but the tags are properly hidden between her breasts. Every time I take a gander and see my tags nestled between her billowy goodness, a contented sigh comes out of me. I can’t help it. It’s the alpha dog in me howling with approval.
“I’m worried that they are going to think things are moving too fast, and in normal circumstances…”
I shake my head and place both hands on her shoulders, grounding her to this moment. “None of that. I’ve told you before. My mother and father had one date. A month later, they were married. Three months after that, they were pregnant with me. Babe, this family does fast. You know what they say…never let a day go by. Get it? Dago?”
She titters behind her hand. “Not nice. You kiss your mother with that mouth?”
And there’s her sense of humor. Finally!
I hook my arm over her shoulder and keep her close to my side. “Dove, it’s going to be great. Don’ worry ah-bout it. Capisce?” I say while contorting my hand as if I’m pinching salt between my fingers.
She giggles, and I bring her to the door and open it for her.
“Ma, we’re here!”
“In the kitchen!” she hollers from the back of the house.
I know by all the cars in the driveway that everyone’s already here. I planned it that way to make it easy. The goal tonight is to get Honor to connect with my family and to let all of them know about our future plans.
Taking Honor’s hand, I lead her back to the kitchen. The volume of chatter ceases to a complete dead silence as we enter. So many gazes land on us, it feels like the Spanish Inquisition.
Ma comes over to Honor, wooden spatula in hand, apron on, and her arms open. “Honor, my sweet girl, come, come, give your mama a hug.”
Honor preens under the praise, and it makes my heart happy for her. The debacle with her parents yesterday proved that she won’t be having her family around anytime soon, if at all. Still, all is not lost. My family will pick up the slack and then some.
Gracie hugs Honor next and gushes about how pretty her dress is.
I whistle when the chatter picks back up in the kitchen, making it impossible to hear one another. It’s not a small kitchen by any means, but with this many bodies in it, with Italian boisterous voices, it can be damn near deafening.
“Hey, hey, everybody. I’ve got an announcement, and I don’t want to have to repeat myself ten times. So let’s all play nice and listen.”
“Get on with it, Nicky. We’re starvin’ here!” Lo, my sister’s husband, calls out.
I shoot him a dangerous glare. “Zip it. I want to start by introducing you to my girl, Honor Carmichael. Honor, over in the corner there is my sister Dawn and her husband, Lorenzo, but we all call him Lo. They are expecting their first baby, and we’re all fucking ecstatic!” I smile huge at my baby sis. She places both of her hands on her abdomen and grins. Lo covers her hands with his.
“Good to meet you,” Dawn says.
“Next in line, you’ve got Angela and her boyfriend, Javier, who has been draggin’ ass with making an honest woman out of my sister. He may need a talkin’ to,” I snarl at my sister’s man.
He raises his hands in surrender. “Back off, amigo. I’ve suggested marriage many times, and this one seems to want to wait for some magical time off in the future. I’m just biding my time.”
All eyes go to Angela. Her face flushes red. “I, uh… I’m young! Ma, I didn’t say not ever.”
Our ma is shaking her head and flinging her saucy spatula around her head like a crazy woman. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and God above, please knock some sense into my child, for she knows not what she does.”
“Sorry, man. Angela, you and me, talk.
