Huh, she referred to me as his girlfriend. I already liked Bella.
“Can I hold her?” she asked me.
I sighed. The honest answer was no, but she was so enthusiastic that I didn’t have the heart. I simply looked at Beckett.
“Of course you can. You’ll have her back later,” he said to me as if reading my thoughts.
This was normal, right? Me wanting to cuddle this sweet baby all the time? I passed her to Bella and was surprised that she knew how to hold Charlotte’s head.
“You’re doing very well,” Beckett said.
“I looked it up on YouTube, and I asked Mom and Dad to show me how to hold my sister.”
Oh, that’s right. She’s Simone’s big sister.Their family tree was starting to come back to me.
My heart somersaulted. She was calling her dad’s new wife Mom? That was endearing.
It’s not the same thing, Piper. You and Beckett just started going out!
But it was too late. My hormones were already in overdrive.
As I looked up from Bella and Charlotte, I realized the entire family was coming toward us. Two elderly men were leading the group.
“Piper, so good to meet you. I’ve heard about you from my wife. I’m David, Isabeau’s husband.”
“Hi, David. It’s lovely to meet you,” I said, shaking his outstretched hand.
“Pleasure is ours, Piper,” the man next to him added. “I’m Felix, Celine’s husband. We’ve heard that our girls already welcomed you to the family. Now it’s time for the rest of us to do the same.”
I chanced a glance at Beckett, who didn’t seem at all surprised that his grandmothers had done that. If anything, he was smiling at his grandfathers.
“These two already introduced themselves, so let me see. You’ve met all my brothers?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yes, I believe so.” Though everything seemed a blur right now.
“And now it’s time for us girls to introduce ourselves,” the woman next to the brother with the baby said. “I’m Scarlett, the chef at LeBlanc-Broussard. Married to Chad and mother to Bella and my daughter, Simone.”
“Scarlett, hi. Nice to meet you and your girls. How old is Simone? I adore that name.”
And so it went. One by one, they introduced themselves. I was happy that they added their occupation to their name,because it was easier for me to remember that the stunning woman next to Julian was running Books & Beads in the French Quarter than to remember her name, Georgie. The same was true for Grace, Zachary’s fiancée—she was the whiz behind Mom’s beloved face cream. I was surprised that Anthony’s fiancée, Daisy, also worked in marketing.
“My goodness, the family is big,” I said once everyone had introduced themselves.
“We’ve grown,” David said. “And we don’t mind if you mix us up.”
“I’ll try my best not to,” I promised. “I have a huge family myself—Mom has three sisters and Dad two. Everyone’s got lots of kids, so I know how overwhelming it can be when someone new comes along.”
“Oh, you’ve got lots of siblings?” David asked. “I don’t think my wife mentioned that.”
“No, not siblings. I’m an only child, but I grew up with a lot of cousins.”
“Oh, Uncle Beckett, I love her so much. Do you think you might have another girl or a little boy soon? I love babies, and Simone is already too big. Not a baby anymore,” Bella said. She was still holding her cousin with the greatest care. I just wanted to run over and squeeze them both.
I swear the whole room started to laugh.
“Not planning on that anytime soon. My hands are full with Charlotte.” He took Charlotte from Bella’s arms just then, as his daughter had started to fuss a bit. I was pretty sure it was gas, as she subsided fairly quickly.
His answer made my heart sad. But what was I expecting? For the man to jump up and say he wanted kids with me right away? I mean, he’d just found out that he had one. Obviously, he had his hands full.
