“I’m wonderful, mother, even better now that you’re here. What do I owe this surprise visit to?”
“You sounded more stressed than usual the last time we spoke, so I told your father we must come and visit you immediately. It was about time for us to come back to California for a while, anyway. Your father grows restless in Italy if he’s there for too long. I think he just misses working, though he’s promised me he’s retired.”
“I’m all grown up now, Mom. You don’t have to worry so much about me. To tell you the truth, I think dad sneaks off to work when you’re in the States. I do notice a lot of secret phone calls, and I don’t think any woman is stupid enough to embark in an affair with the man.”
“No, your father knows I would kill him if he ever tried something so foolish as seeing another woman. Now, as to your comment, obviously, you’re not a parent or you’d never say something so ridiculous. A mother never stops worrying about her child, no matter how grown-up he insists he is. If only you would settle down and start a famiglia, all of your stress would disappear and I’d get to see laugh lines around your beautiful eyes instead of worry lines over your brow.”
“Mother,” he warned, though his tone wasn’t harsh.
“Don’t you dare try and use your bossy tone with me,” she scolded, before shifting into Italian and calling him a few choice names. He immediately backed down to show her respect. He wouldn’t fight his mother.
“If you start harassing our only boy, he’ll change out his locks the next time he gets even a wisp of a hint that we're flying in to visit him – and he'll travel to another country far from here.”
“Dad. It’s great to see you.” Rafe gave his father a hug, grateful for the rescue. They had been outnumbered from the day Rachel was borne, giving his mother her second daughter. He’d been hoping for a little brother, but he’d been Rachel’s slave from the very first time she’d gripped his finger in her infant hand. He adored Lia, as well, but he’d been older when Rachel was born and more protective of her.
“Not that I want to join sides with your mother and sisters, but you do look a bit more ragged than normal, Rafe. Is everything okay?”
“Don’t lump me in with Rachel. I think Rafe looks terrific,” Lia jumped into the conversation. He turned a grateful smile his sister’s way. Lia was a stunning woman, only five years younger than him.
She’d been turning heads from the moment she’d hit puberty and he’d thrown more punches over her than he could count. His friends had been told in no uncertain terms that they were to keep their hands off.
Times had been really tough when Shane had come home with him from college one Thanksgiving, and Lia had decided she liked what she saw. Poor Shane had been between a rock and a hard place because he knew he couldn’t come anywhere near Lia, and the girl had been determined.
Luckily, Shane had kept his hands to himself, and therefore their friendship remained intact. Lia had made Shane sweat a few times when she’d come out to the pool in a skimpy bikini. Rafe still saw red when he thought about that. She was too naïve and trusting of men. She didn’t realize how easily she could be taken advantage of. Rafe should know – he played with women more than most men.
“You know, you’ve always been my favorite, Lia,” he said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
“That was just mean, Rafe,” Rachel pouted, her silver eyes sparkling as she punched him in the arm.
“Let me call the office and cancel my afternoon appointments. I’d much rather spend the day with you,” Rafe said before turning toward the door.
“You don’t need to do that, Rafe. We can entertain ourselves while you finish work,” his dad insisted.
“The nice thing about being the boss is that I can do what I want,” Rafe said with a wink before leaving the room.
He sat down with a fond smile on his face. His family was a bit like a tornado, causing chaos all around them, but it was a happy mess. Being with them was the only thing that kept his humanity intact. If it weren’t for them, he knew he’d be colder than a reptile. There were days he was anyway. The longer he was away from his old world, the easier it was to slip into his self-isolated prison.
He had to remind himself that he liked his life just the way it was. He didn’t want that family his mother begged him to give her. He loved women, just didn’t need them for anything other than to warm his bed. His world wasn’t perfect and it would break his mother’s heart if she knew how he conducted his love life like a business transaction.
He would never break the rose-colored glasses his family wore – never allow them to see who he’d turned into. Marriages like his parent’s shared weren’t common. The majority of relationships ended tragically – like how his had with his ex-wife.
Happily ever after was a myth that very few actually ever found.
“Okay, phone call’s taken care of. Come with me and I’ll show you my new baby,” Rafe said as he walked into the room.
“If you had a baby to show mom, then she’d be far less grumpy and allow me out from under her lock and key a little more often,” Rachel said with a mischievous smile. He felt like smacking the look off her face. He knew the guilt trip would now start from his mother about her growing old with no grandkids to snuggle.
“While Rachel isn’t kept prisoner, she is right. I would love some bambinos,” Rosabella stated as she placed her arm through Rafe’s.
“I refuse to bring children into this world. I could never be as wonderful of a parent as you have been. I’d only torture the poor creatures,” Rafe said as he led his family outside.
“Poor creatures? Okay, maybe you are better off not being a father,” his dad said with a laugh.
“See, just listen to the man. He clearly seems to be the only one who makes any sense.”
“You just only seem capable of listening when someone is agreeing with you,” Lia said as she darted ahead and then walked backward so she could make faces at him.
It seemed no matter how old they grew, his sisters would forever act like teenagers. What surprised him was that he hoped they never stopped. He would forever picture them with pigtails in their hair, running in the house to tell him about their latest adventure at school, even if Lia was now twenty-six and Rachel was twenty-three. Time flew by so quickly.
“So, Rafe, what is this new toy you’ve acquired?”