Chapter Two

Chapter Two

M J leaned back in the easy chair and smiled at Leo. As always, Leo melted.

"I want a pickle."

Leo sighed and Vince fought a chuckle. MJ had been a handful before the pregnancy but these last few months apparently had been a strain. Leo hadn't said that much, but just observing them made Vince realize just how much work she had become. Considering she was huge, he didn't blame her for being cranky.

Leo did her bidding and she smiled. Oh, how the mighty had fallen, Vince thought. Of course, he knew the curse of the Santinis. Still, since he was the only real bachelor left, he would happily give each and every one of them shit.

"So, do you have a bell you ring for him? I think that would work well," Vince said with a smirk.

MJ gave him an evil smile. "Oh, I like that idea."

"You do that and I'm wearing earplugs," Leo yelled out from the kitchen.

"Be nice to your wife, Leonardo. She's eating for two," his mother said smiling. Vince had a feeling that his mother would allow MJ to shoot Leo if it meant getting her hands on the first Santini grandbaby.

"About that. We had a sonogram the other day," Leo said as he walked back in the room with a big dill pickle.

MJ smiled and grabbed it from him. "Thank you."

"Nothing's wrong is it?" his mother asked, alarm easy to hear in her voice. "You're entering the last trimester. I knew you shouldn't come up here. We should have come down there."

"Joey, calm down. Everything's fine." MJ shook her head. "What's wrong with you Santini? You don't say things like that." She smiled at his mother. "We're having twins."

There was a moment of stunned silence then everyone started talking at once.

"We are going to have to get a drink out tonight. The Santinis out on the town," Gee said smiling. Of course, Vince noticed he received the go ahead nod from Kianna before he said it.

"Sounds like a plan. Leo drives because he's pregnant," Vince said.

Leo shook his head. "Damn. I should have seen that coming."

Jules looked at herself in the mirror and thought about changing her clothes—for the fourth time. Three times was okay. Four times moved her into the crazy category. She glanced at Rufus who was watching her from her bed. The lazy dog was no help.

"What do you think?"

He snuffled and buried under the covers more. Oh, great. Now her dog was doing his version of an eye roll. A girl sunk to a new low when her dog judged her behavior and found it lacking.

"He said casual." The reminder didn't help her decide.

She tilted her head from one side to the next. Jules was embarrassed to admit that making decisions like this was still hard. Other parts of her life she had triumphed. Moving back to a place she liked, opening a business she loved…even going out occasionally with Angela or with Joey, those had all been small victories. She always thought she was completely over the nightmare of her marriage, until she had to pick out something special to wear. Jules assumed that it was because Mike had often belittled her fashion sense.

She shook those thoughts away and ran her hands through her hair. Three years and she was still beholden to the memories. Tonight was about fun. She couldn't wait to meet the wives…to see happy marriages. And the Santinis were always fun.

In her opinion, she looked good. Healthy. She'd gained back fifteen pounds and was finally filled out again. The soft purple shirt, her favorite pair of jeans along with boots might be too casual but when she heard the doorbell ring, she realized she didn't have a choice.

She hurried to the door and opened it. Instead of finding just Vince, Leo was with him.

"Jules Andrews." He said and just like always, he pulled her into a huge hug. He was like a big bear and such a sweetie.

"You're going to suffocate her, Leo," Vince said, not sounding happy at all.

"Oh, yeah, sure." He set her on her feet. "But I can bring you back to life since I'm a medic."

She laughed and swatted him. "Did you bring your wife with you?"

He shook his head. "I left her at mom's earlier. She needed rest."

"Come on in, I need to grab my jacket."

Belatedly, Rufus barked as he shuffled into the living room.

"What is that?" Leo asked looking at him.

Jules smiled at her faithful companion. "That's Rufus."

"What's a Rufus?" he asked.

She wanted to laugh, but she couldn't do that to her baby. He was a bit scrappy looking. No matter how much she spent to have his hair groomed, it grew back unevenly. "He's a rescue from the shelter."

Leo didn't look convinced. "If you say so."

She settled her hands on her hips. "Leonardo Santini. I'll tell your mom."

"Good lord, does every woman we meet threaten to tell our mother on us?" he asked Vince.

"Not sure." Vince looked about as happy as a man about to get a prostrate exam.

She shook her head. "Rufus, you ignore the Santini brothers. You are beautiful." He gave her a lick then shuffled off to his bed in the living room.

"Let's go. I'm ready for some Joey food."

And maybe by then, Vince wouldn't be giving her the death stare.

It was easy to see Jules there with his family. Well, not easy for him, but she had always fit with them. His brothers had always treated her as part of the family, like a sister or a cousin. He wished he could see her that way. Even now, two hours later, his palms were sweating.

They had gathered around the kitchen table as his parents had drifted away. Joey and Papa Santini knew they needed time to hang out, to just be…well it used to be brothers. Now there were spouses and fiancés and lord, kids.

"So, Leo the Lion is going to be a daddy. It's hard to believe," Jules said.

She was sitting next to Alana who had been watching her. Alana was the perfect match for Marco. They both seemed to study things with the same kind of intensity.

"Yeah, but then, I am kind of fantastic, so it was inevitable," Leo said.

"Oh, gawd, could you all leave now? This is a woman thing," MJ announced.

Leo frowned. "No. You are not going to hound Jules for information about us."

"As if," MJ said with a laugh. "You're all standing around here as if you're protecting us from intruders. We're fine. Go away."

Leo glanced in his direction. He knew his brother picked up on his feelings for Jules years ago. "I think we should stay."

MJ sighed. "Joey, Leo says maybe we shouldn't try for a base stateside next."

"Leonardo Santini!"

He groaned. "That was cruel."

She smiled. "That's why you love me."

He leaned down and whispered something in her ear. She blushed prettily and smacked him the arm. Soon they were in the living room with his folks and his mother was irritated. Her frown was enough to make any grown Santini man to run for the hills.

Vince clapped a hand on Leo's shoulder. "You really should have let me date MJ, because that woman is nothing but trouble for you."

Before Leo could answer their mother stepped closer and gave Leo a narrowed look. "So what the hell is this about going overseas?"

"So, there's all this shouting down by the riverbank. None of us know what's going on, but we knew the Santinis were down there."

"You never know with those four. I caught them arguing in my front yard," Alana said laughing.

"Yeah, and Joey's had to use the hose on them before out back," MJ said.

Jules laughed. "That's the way Santinis are. Anyway, Gee's just a little guy and he comes running up like there is some demon of hell on his tail."

"Oh, no, what was it?" Kianna asked.

"First, you have to know Gee has an armful of clothes and he can barely see over them. Behind him, in all their glorious nudity, the three older Santinis are running like a determined pack of well…Santinis."

The table erupted into laughter. Jules joined in enjoying herself for the first time in a really long time.

"So, Vince is calling him names that his Mama would box his ears for when he realizes there are at least forty girls standing at the top of the ridge."

"Oh, my." MJ was laughing so hard there were tears pouring out of her eyes. "What did you all do?"

"We protected Gee of course, because he was so little, and well, all of us were pretty happy to get a peek at those guys in the birthday suits."

Kianna was laughing the hardest. "That man is insane. And I can see him doing it."

It was easy to see why these women had caught the eye of a Santini. None of them were similar in looks, but they all seemed to have personalities that fit their husband's perfectly.

Kianna had skin the color of cocoa, laughing golden brown eyes, and a head full of springy curls.

"He is such a sweetie though," Alana said. "He asked me to marry him when I first met him."

The Hawaiian was soft spoken and had a gentle spirit that complimented Marco. Then there was MJ.

"They're all troublemakers, every last one of them. They're men. I know because I grew up in a household of them."

She was a gorgeous petite brunette who was enormous at the moment. She glowed with her pregnancy.

"So, tell us, you saw all of them naked except Gee…so any details?" MJ asked.

"MJ," Alana said. "Jules will think we're horrible."

MJ rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, you want to know too."

"Know?" Jules asked.

"Well, we want to know about the Alpha, Vicente. Fess up."

She didn't know what to say. The memory of Vince Santini completely and gloriously nude was something she could still conjure up in her mind. And damn, he had been barely a senior at the time. Now…

"Yeah, Jules, why don't you tell them about it?" Vince said from behind her.