Rock Chick 08 Revolution (40 page)

Vito and Angela were forced to do the same. We all did cheek kisses,
gave awkward hugs, and said see you laters. Ren, clearly wanting to make sure
Vito followed his directives, followed them out the door.

Roxie, Indy and me ran to the window.

On the other side, we were joined by Mom, Amalea, Connie and Jeannie.

We watched Ren prowl down the walk behind Dom, Sissy, Vito and Angela,
and then we watched Dom stand close as Vito gesticulated wildly. Ren stood
there with a hard jaw, a closed mouth and arms crossed on his chest. I didn’t
know what all the girls were thinking.

Personally, I was thinking my man was hot.

“Indy, come away from the window,” Lee ordered, and I looked away just
long enough to see Indy wave at him to shut up, but she said nothing and did
not move.

“Kitty Sue, the man doesn’t need an audience,” Dad called.

I didn’t look at Mom, but she didn’t say anything. She also didn’t
move.

“Jesus,” Hank muttered.

“Fine to say that, but don’t take L. Ron Hubbard’s name in vain,” Lee
muttered back.

All the women giggled.

Then we all dashed away from the window as Vito climbed into his Caddy.
Dom took off toward the Acadia and Ren turned to come up the walk.

I sucked back more margarita and didn’t bother trying not to look like
I was sucking it back this time.

Ren came through the door.

Before I could make a move to get to him, Dad did.

I knew my Dad. I (mostly) knew Ren. However, I had no clue what was
about to happen.

But if you’d asked me to guess, what happened would be so far down on the
list, it wouldn’t even make the list.

And what happened was that Dad lifted his hand, Ren took it, and Dad
announced, “Welcome to the family.”

Indy grabbed my hand. Roxie put hers to my back.

As for me.

I melted.

* * * * *

The women (all of us, including Ren’s mom and sisters) were in the
kitchen doing the dishes.

After the Vito fiasco and Dad welcoming Ren into the family, things
went a whole lot better. It became clear very quickly that Ren didn’t blink at
much of my or the Rock Chicks behavior because his sisters might not be as
nutty as us, but they weren’t far behind. It also became clear Ren got his
class from his mother because she was brimming with it.

Conversation, understandably, started stilted, and also understandably
got less so as time went on and drinks were consumed.

So dinner wasn’t a disaster and now we were cleaning up.

Or, I should say, the women were.

“Can I ask why it’s always the women in the kitchen doing the dishes
after, I’ll add, it was the women in the kitchen doing the cooking?” I queried.

“Have you seen your brother let loose in a kitchen?” Indy asked, drying
a platter.

“Not recently,” I answered.

“It’s not pretty,” she returned. “He doesn’t even rinse his dishes
before he puts them in the dishwasher. I’ve given up and told him just to put
them in the sink.”

“You do know he does that so you would do that. In other words, he does
a crap job so he won’t have to do the job at all. Or, in your case, anything,”
I educated her. “He did that when he was at home, too.”

“This is true,” Mom, at the sink, muttered to Amalea.

“Well, it was a smart move because he doesn’t have to do anything,”
Indy replied. “And it takes longer to complain about it than it does just to
rinse his bowl and put it in the dishwasher.”

“Caving,” I stated.

“You’ll see,” she retorted.

“No I won’t,” I told her. “Ren cooks
and
does the dishes
and
he does both well.” I looked to Amalea. “Thanks for that, by the way.”

Amalea smiled at me and opened her mouth to speak, but Indy got there before
her.

“You’re joking,” Indy said, and I looked back her way.

“Not even a little bit.” I grinned. “
And
he serves tater tots with breakfast.”

I knew that would get her.

It got her.

Indy’s eyes got wide and she whispered an envious, “
You’re joking
.”

“Nope,” I replied, still grinning.

“That’s… that’s like… that’s…” she stammered.

“Righteous?” I gave her a word.

“Totally,” she agreed.

“Hank does the dishes
and
he’s good at it,” Roxie put in. “He also makes great eggs, and he’s a grill
master.”

“Whenever I suggest we grill something to Lee, he says we should go to
a steak joint or invite ourselves over to your place,” Indy said to Roxie.

I took the rinsed serving bowl Mom handed to me and started wiping
while saying, “You’re letting Lee get away with too much. You need to crack
down.”

Indy shoved the platter in the cupboard. “I’m not sure cracking down
works with Lee.”

In mixed company, I couldn’t suggest what would, so I didn’t say
anything

“Just sayin’,” Connie put in. “Ren does all that stuff because Jeannie
and me were like Lee.”

“This is true,” Amalea murmured to Mom.

“He was a brownnose, always suckin’ up to Ma,” Jeannie stated, and
Amalea’s back snapped straight.

Uh-oh.

“He was
not
a brownnose. He
was a good son,” Amalea stated. “After slaving in the kitchen to feed a family
of four, it was nice to have someone do the dishes. And, I’ll add, nice to have
someone who saved me from having to slave in the kitchen every once in a
while.”

So that was how Ren learned how to cook.

“Total brownnose,” Jeannie muttered, wiping the stove.

“This is what I wish,” Amalea started. “I wish for you both to have
sons and daughters, sons that look out for you, daughters who don’t, so you’ll
understand precisely how it feels.”

Oh man.

Seriously set down.

She was
good.

I bit my lip and gave big eyes to Mom.

Mom grinned huge at me.

Jeannie began concentrating closely on cleaning the stove like Mom was
performing surgery on it later, while Connie shoved more leftovers in the
fridge but did it without speaking,

With excellent timing, Dad ended our discussion by walking in and
announcing, “I’m taking drink orders. Any of you gals want a refresh before you
join us?”

“I have to get behind a wheel, Malcolm,” Amalea said. “Nothing for me.”

He got yeas from Roxie, Mom and me, nays from Connie and Jeannie. We
finished up the dishes, Dad brought our drinks and we wandered back to the
family room, me bringing up the rear and Amalea poorly pretending she wasn’t
trying to position to bring up the rear with me.

I slowed my gait as the others forged on. I stopped, turned and looked
down at Ren’s mom.

“Did you want a word in private?” I asked quietly.

“Was it that obvious?’ she asked back.

“Yes,” I answered on a smile.

She returned my smile before hers faded. Then she tipped her head to
the side and studied me for a moment before speaking.

“It’s just that…” she hesitated then said, “I’m really very sorry to
barge in on your family dinner, Ally.”

“That’s okay, Amalea. Mom invited my brothers and their wives without
telling Ren and me, so it evens out.”

She grinned.

Then she looked down, reached out and touched my hand briefly, before
she looked up and caught my eyes.

“He says he’s moving on,” she said softly, her words confusing me.

“I’m sorry?” I asked.

“From Vito,” she explained, and I pressed my lips together. “Some
months ago, he told me he met a girl, he cares a good deal for her, so now it’s
time.”

Some months ago.

Ren made this decision
some
months ago.

How cool was that?

Again she reached out and touched my hand before she whispered, “I
certainly am happy to meet you, Ally.”

I got her.

She lost a husband; she was terrified of losing a son.

And she was giving me credit.

I didn’t let her move her hand, but caught it and told her, “He’s doing
it for you, too.”

“He’s been going to do it for me for years now, honey.”

Interesting.

“Now he’s
doing
it,” she
continued. “Angela has been talking about it. Dom’s mother, Ramona has been
talking about it. Vito’s angry about it. But Lorenzo isn’t backing down.”

I nodded. “He’s got his mind made up and he already has plans for the
future.”

Her eyes grew intense on me and they were far from unhappy. “This, I
can see.”

I got that, too.

Again with the melty.

Jeez. What was up with me and the melty?

“As crazy as this night started,” I told her, “I’m glad you and the
girls were here.”

“Me too, Ally.”

I grinned.

She grinned back.

“Ally, sweetheart, are you and Amalea coming?” Dad called, and I rolled
my eyes at Amalea because Dad was likely calling because he was worried she
caught me and I wouldn’t want to be caught.

See?

A good dad.

I pulled her hand up, tucked it in the crook of my arm and we walked
with our drinks into the family room.

I stopped because everyone was lounging, except Lee and Indy were
standing, Lee’s arm around her shoulders, hers around his waist.

This was not weird, entirely. Lee didn’t often have Indy close when he
wasn’t claiming her in some way.

It was just weird they were standing.

My eyes went to Ren to see his eyes were doing a sweep of his mom and
me. They stopped on his mom’s face, where it was clear he approved of what he
saw, before he looked to me. He was also sitting in an armchair and he tipped
his head to the armrest.

Seems another alpha hot guy wanted to claim his woman (yes, again,
melty
).

I let Amalea go and moved across the room to him. I sat my ass on the
rest, felt his arm slide around my hips, and looked up at Indy to see she was
looking at me.

But it was Dad who spoke.

“We had a lot of surprises tonight, but now I’ll explain one. And that
is that Lee and Indy and Hank and Roxie are here because Lee asked that they
be.”

What?

My gaze shot to Roxie who was giving me a wide-eyed look, then we both
looked to Indy.

Lee was holding her closer, now with both arms, tucking her front to
his side, and Indy had wound both arms around my brother.

“We have something to tell everybody,” Lee took over.

Oh my God.

Oh my God!

Oh my God, God,
GOD!

“We already told Tom,” Lee went on, and I felt my eyes get hot as I
glued them to Indy.

She looked happy. Not her usual run-of-the-mill,
I-married-the-man-of-my-dreams-who-I-loved-since-I-was-five happy (which was
pretty freaking happy).

But
happy.

Oh.

My.

GOD!

“We’re having a baby,” Lee finished.

At his words, I hurdled from the chair, clapping and shouting, “Oh my
God! Oh my God, God,
God!
”

I made it to Indy just as she pulled away from Lee. We collided and
wrapped our arms around each other. I bounced her up and down with me as I kept
shouting, “Oh my God, God,
God!
”

“I know!” Indy shouted back.

I stopped bouncing and pulled away an inch, declaring, “You know it’s a
girl—”

Indy interrupted me. “She’s named Allyson.”

I smiled.

Indy smiled back.

My eyes got hot.

Her eyes got wet.

“Oh my God, God, God,” I whispered.

“I know,” she whispered back.

We stared at each other for a long time before Mom asked from our side,
“Can I hug my daughter-in-law?”

I didn’t want to let her go.

Then again, I never wanted to let Indy go. My BFF. My partner in crime.
My sister of the heart and sister by the law. The soon-to-be mother of my
brother’s baby.

No, I never wanted to let her go.

Not ever.

“Sure,” I said, my voice husky, and it took some effort to tear my eyes
from Indy’s as I let her go and let Mom move in.

Dad called out, “Champagne.”

“I think we have some in the fridge in the garage, Mal,” Mom told him,
hugging Indy.