The Wild Wolf Pup (Zoe's Rescue Zoo #9)(28)

Mikey comes barreling into the living room with Luca on his shoulders. My nephew’s arms spread wide and his little lips were trying to make airplane noises.

“It’s a bird. No, it’s a plane. Wait a minute…it’s Luca Bianci!” Mikey says as the pair zoom around the couch.

“What time did they say they were coming to get their kids? Never mind, call your sister and tell her if they’re not here within the hour we’re charging them.”

“Uncle Mikey,” Luca sings. “Fly!”

“Call. Her. Now.”

“My hands are kind of full,” I say, staring down at Victoria who is sprawled across my chest. She looks so angelic when she sleeps but she has her mother’s horns when she’s awake. I can’t wait until she grows up—oh the fun.

The doorbell rings and Mikey looks to the ceiling.

“You do exist.” He averts his eyes back to mine. “He does exist!”

“Careful, baby it might be Aunt Gina,” I tease, throwing him a wink before he flips me the finger and answers the front door.

“There’s my boy!” Adrianna cheers.

“Yes, here he is,” Mikey says as he crouches down to remove Luca from his shoulders.

“But I don’t want to leave! Mommy I want to live with Aunt Nikki and Uncle Mikey,” Luca exclaims.

“What? No! We have monsters under the beds,” Mikey blurts, lifting Luca into his arms. “But you can visit whenever you want,” he continues, ruffling the top of his hair before handing him to Anthony. “As long as Daddy picks you up after an hour. Seriously, what happened to watch the kids for an hour I have to go to the gym,” he chastises, turning his attention to my sister.

“We had a little one on one sparing match,” Adrianna hints, wrapping her arms around Anthony’s waist.

“Oh, that’s just dirty,” Mikey groans.

“You two look like you had things under control,” Anthony says, lifting Luca onto his shoulders.

“Come and get your daughter,” I whisper to my sister. “She just fell asleep.”

We all walk into the living room together, my sister and Anthony pause in their tracks and stare at me like I had grown a second head or something. Mikey plops down on the sofa across from me and wipes the sweat from his brow.

“Look at you guys playing house,” Anthony teases, raising an eyebrow at Mikey.

“Maybe it’s time Luca and Tori had a cousin,” Adrianna chimes in, taking a seat next to Mike and draping her arm around his back. “I can see you two running after a little Valente.”

“If you two have the baby itch then by all means keep breeding but leave us the hell out of it,” Mikey responds.

“Daddy, I’m tired,” Luca yawns.

“Yeah, it’s getting late. C’mon, Reese’s grab the baby,” he says before turning his gaze to Mikey. “Ain’t nothing like having a kid, man.”

My sister walks up to me, bends down to carefully transfer the sleeping beauty from one pair of arms to another.

“He’s right you know,” she whispers, cradling her daughter as she stares back at me. “You’ll be a great mom.”

I fake a smile, big and bright, and pretend like everything is right with the world. It’s not that I don’t want kids, actually, I’m not sure what I want. I never gave kids much thought. When Luca was born I decided to be the fun aunt and then Victoria came along and still I was content with being Aunt Nikki. I’ll be the one these kids come to when they’re too afraid to go to their mom and dad. I’ll be their ride when they get themselves into a jam and I’ll be the one who smooths things over when Anthony decides to kill Tori’s first boyfriend.

Aunt Nikki, the fun aunt.

I glance across the room at Mikey and watch him stand and press a kiss to Tori’s sleeping head before giving Luca a high five.

He jokes around a lot, complains even more, but, Mikey loves Luca and Tori. He’d be an awesome dad and if I close my eyes and let myself picture it, I can see us with a kid or two. But that’s an image my mind has to work for, one that doesn’t come naturally.

Since we were kids, my sister always talked about getting married and having babies. I swear she came out of the womb with a copy of Modern Bride tucked under her arm. I was the opposite. I never liked to play house and would rather hang out with the boys in the school yard than play with dolls.

Does it mean I’d be a crappy mom? I’m not entirely sure.

I stand as Mikey escorts Anthony and Adrianna to the door. I watch as he leans against the closed door and peers back at me.

“Thank God,” he cries. “I’m fucking beat.”

He locks the door behind him and pushes off it, reaching for me. “You coming to bed?”

“I’ll be right up,” I say, pressing my lips to his. “I need a fucking cigarette after all that.”

“Okay,” he murmurs against my mouth. “Don’t be too long.”

“I won’t.” I smile, lifting my hands to his cheeks. Mikey was my dream come true. Not too many people can say that they nabbed the guy they’ve always wanted—but me? I totally can. I often ask myself why me, why did I get the happily ever after? And sometimes I’m afraid to question it at all. Sometimes I just sit back and wait for the other shoe to drop because nothing is ever easy in life.