Falling Down(148)

"Serafina, have you been eating enough? You still look so thin."
"Trust me, mama, I'm doing a whole lot of eating. Living with guys who can cook freaking gourmet meals ensures that I eat."
"Good, good. Those are good boys."
Sera snorts and I resist doing the same.
"You don't agree?"
"Oh, they are great guys. You just called them boys. They're all over six feet tall, heavily muscled, and inked."
"They are boys to me. They have no problem with me calling them boys. How is Luciana? She's tired from the media circus, I'm sure."
"She is. We're just glad the last couple months have been quiet so she can enjoy the process of recording, making a video for us instead of someone else, putting out the single, and now the album has hit the shelves so we can relax a little bit and just focus on practice and writing more music."
"Good, good. You all got the same tattoo, I noticed."
"It's the band tattoo, mama."
"I see this. Luciana has always wanted a tattoo like the one on her side."
"She never got it because of acting," Sera tells her.
"I know," she sighs. "It was a shock."
"I imagine," Jace says. "But it's kick ass ink."
"Ah, there's your father and Jesse. I wonder what those two have been up to."
"And there she goes, rushing off to find out," Meggie tells me.
"I think she's getting soft," I tell them. "Why can't she just be nice to me instead of nice about me to everyone else?"
"That's mama," Sera tells me.
"Mhmm."
"Time to eat," mama calls out.
Jace lets out a whoop like he used to when we were in high school.
Two hours and we have to leave. Mama's good about that, thank goodness. She knows work's important and she's the one who decided today is the day to have this gathering. I still don't get the point of it, other than to gather everyone in the same place at the same time and we do that every day--though without the parentals.
Jesse's already seated at the table, plate piled full of food. I can't stop the grin. The man eats like a horse--all of them do, and there isn't an ounce of fat on them. Sure they work out, but not every day. Bastards and their high metabolisms.
I load up my plate and am about to take a seat when Jesse reaches out and pulls me onto his lap.
"Well hello there," I say teasingly.
He nuzzles his nose behind my ear. "I missed you."
I set my plate down then turn and give him a lingering kiss. "You're the one who disappeared."
"I was hanging out with your dad. He's a great guy."
"Mhmm, he is," I say around a mouthful of food.
"Did your mom ease up on you?"
"Yeah, she did." I sigh. "Trace, can you pass me one of those whipped cream Pinnacle vodka drinks?"
"You got it."
"Uh-oh," Sera teases.
"What?" Jesse asks as I take the bottle from Trace and thank him.
"Let's just say Lucy likes those drinks a lot."
"They're so good. See, I mix this with a little root beer and it tastes just like a root beer float."
"I can see where that'd be dangerous," Jesse tells me.
"Mhmm. But we're at my parents and we have to leave for Vegas soon. I won't be getting drunk. I'll save that for tomorrow night after the show."
Jace chimes in with his usual, "Hell yeah!"
"Vegas baby!" Xander announces. He and Jace fist bump.
"Those two together…" I trail off, shaking my head.
"Never a dull moment, I'm sure," my dad says as he takes a seat across from us.