Vito leaves us and heads to the dining room table, where Benito is furiously tapping into his phone. “Yo, idiot,” he says, smacking the back of his head. “No phones at the table.”
Benito gives his brother the stink eye and smooths his hair back. “You’re the idiot. I’m dealing with shit.”
“Benito.” Mario scowls at Benny over his glasses. “Don’t make your mother bring out the swear jar.” Pops fills the wineglasses and sets the empty bottle on the table, then grabs a second.
We’re a big group now, but Sunday dinner is a requirement. Chloe and Franco sit knee-to-knee talking, Benny finishes sending his text, while Gracie corrals all her kids to their seats. Vito picks up Junie and places her in his lap—her favorite place to sit during family meals.
“Why are you here anyway?” Gracie needles, lifting a brow at Benito. “You not working today or something?”
Benito strokes his brow with his fingers and waves a hand at his sister. “Is it a crime that I actually want to take a day off? I’ve got the kitchen covered. I’m going to spend a whole family dinner with my family for once.”
Gracie and Vito trade looks, but they leave the issue be. The Bianchis know how to tease one another, but they also know when too much is too much.
There was a time when a family meal like this might have been too much for me. The noise, the heat, the food, the conversation.
But today, I take my seat at the table beside Vito and feel completely at home.
“So,” Vito says, clinking a fork against his water glass. “We have a little announcement. It’s little, so Ma, get that look off your face. No babies, no weddings. Nothing like that.”
Lucia puts a pout on her lips and waves her matching pink nails at her son. “Is it too much for a mother to want more grandchildren? Is that so wrong?”
“Not wrong at all,” Mario says, shaking his head. “Go on, son. What’s the news?”
“It’s not so much news as just an FYI.” He leans down to kiss Juniper’s cheek. “You guys know Juniper turned two a couple weeks ago.”
Ryder pats his belly. “We’re still eating leftover cake out of the freezer.”
“That’s for the kids,” Gracie says, shaking her head and giving him a loving squeeze.
“Yeah, well, Juniper got me a little present for her birthday.” He moves aside the unbuttoned flannel shirt to reveal a T-shirt that reads: Best Dad in Star Falls.
“Hey,” Mario says, followed by a, “That’s what I was going to say,” from Ryder.
Lucia alone covers her mouth and cries out with joy. “What does this mean, hun? You’re not pregnant, you’re not getting married…?”
Vito looks at me, and I explain. “Junie’s learning so many new words every day. I figured since she’s calling all of you by your family names—Gramma and Papa, Auntie and Uncle—we should teach her to…” I stop, my voice catching on the words. My eyes fill with tears, and my nose stings with the happiest kind of joy. “We should teach her to call Vito Dad.”
“Oh my God.” Lucia jumps up and kisses me and Vito, then lays a loud, juicy smooch on Juniper’s cheek.
Mario raises his glass but says, “To one of the best dads in Star Falls.”
“The best.” Vito corrects.
“I’ll fight you on that. I got one of the best dads in town right here,” Gracie says.
As the family devolves into a debate over which of the dads in the room is the best, I reach under the table and lace my fingers through Vito’s and squeeze.
He’s the best man I’ve ever known. The only father Juniper has ever had.
He’s my family, my partner, my friend. Neither one of us really wants to go back to school.
Vito’s stopped applying for promotions at work, figuring that any extra time he has, he’d rather spend with our daughter or on our house.
I may not have it all figured out, but I have everything that I really need. Everything I’ve always wanted.
No matter what the future brings, jobs will come and go. Money will come and go. But the love I have for these people and this life—that’s what’s going to stay.
I never dreamed I could have this kind of happiness. And every once in a while, I still get worried that Vito will leave or that Nathan will come back and try to mess up the life I’ve built for Juniper and myself.
