Danielle shrugs. “She’s heard it with these two sailors as her babysitters.” My dad chuckles. I can’t tell if he really wants to play with us and Callie or if he’s just avoiding my mom.
Callie’s eyes are huge. “Luca, what should we play with?” she whispers.
I drop down to her level. “Whatever you want to, kiddo.” She looks around again before tugging her hand from mine. Then she starts dragging the baby dolls to the middle of the room.
“Hey, Ari, we kind ofdohave a time machine,” Lil says, gesturing to all the stuff.
“What we have is a mom with a mild case of the hoards and enough space to accommodate her habits.” Ariana carries bins of stuff over to where Callie is sitting on the floor, dressing a baby doll.
“Says the girl with a craft graveyard and over two hundred pairs of shoes,” Lil laughs as she plops down onto the carpet.
“It’s not that many,” Ariana scoffs.
“Two hundred and eleven pairs, Ari.”
“How do you even know that?” I ask.
“Numbers,” Lil says with a shrug.
“Here, Luca, you get a baby girl, and you have to share with Ari. I put her in the prettiest dress for you.” Callie hands me the doll and I sit next to her, tugging Ariana with me.
“Hey, that one was always my favorite doll,” Ari says, running a hand over the wild, dark hair on its head.
“I’m going to laugh my ass off if Luca’s a girl dad one day. Nail polish and dress up and My Little Pony, oh my!” Lil says with a chuckle. It doesn’t sound so bad to me.
Ariana moves to lie down on her stomach, sorting through the bin of doll stuff. She hands me a bottle with fake milk in it that disappears when you turn it over, which I flip back and forth for like a full minute.
Callie hands Lil a doll wearing pajamas.
“I miss the days when we could talk Dad into letting us paint his nails. And the times when he had to run out of the house with it still on before he started keeping remover wipes in the car,” Ariana says.
“Yeah, that was fun. Hey, hand that bin of stuff over.” Lil reaches out to grab it, and Ari pulls it away.
“I’m not finished with it. I’m looking for the bowl with the magic peas in it. If Luca can stare at the magic milk bottle for that long, just wait until he sees the peas.” She piles a few things infront of me. “Ah ha!” She tops our pile with a small bowl and spoon before pushing the bin toward Lil.
Callie hands my dad a doll in a snowsuit. “Mr. Luca’s Dad, your baby was very cold, but he’s all nice and warm now.”
“Thanks, Callie. You’re right. He’s a lot happier now.” The hitch in his voice causes me to look up at him, and I find him staring at me.
Lil pushes the bin toward him, and he looks away to pick through it, clearing his throat. While everyone else gets their baby gear picked out, I fuck around with the magic peas. Those things are cool as shit.
Chapter 68
I didn't RSVP
Luca
We’re not doing bachelor/bachelorette parties, and we’re definitely not doing the thing where we spend the night in separate beds. But Ariana and Lil wanted a few hours to do Ariana and Lil stuff, so I’m drinking beer and hanging out in the game room with my dad and Marco, which isn’t something I ever expected to do.
My phone buzzes in my back pocket. I laugh when I open the text message.
Wifey
Are we still on for tomorrow?
You mean our wedding?
Yeah
