Luca: (gushing) Aren’t you guys the cutest! Now can someone go help my wife bring home all of my Denver Wolves memorabilia that Mason stole from me?
Luca: Please?
Luca: Anyone?
Arianna: I will.
Arianna: But you’re babysitting my kids this weekend.
Alex: I fucking love this family.
Nonna: There will be more Santo babies.
Alex: Not from me.
Dominic: Or me.
Luca: We’re cool with two.
Isabella: I will not have another baby. Pregnancy wasn’tfor me.
Leo: Shit.
Me: Oops?
Gianna: ARE WE PREGNANT AT THE SAME TIME, ELLA?
Me: The more the merrier, right?
ELLA
ONE YEAR LATER
“Mama.”
“Yes, Rose.”
“Cake?”
I sigh, looking down at my daughter’s cherubic face, her large brown eyes staring up at me with so much hope. Hope for sugar. “No, baby. Not yet.”
Lips turning into a frown, she harrumphs. “No. Cake now.”
I fight to hide my smile as she crosses her arms in obvious frustration. “We have to wait for Oliver to get home from school before we can have cake. It is his birthday cake, after all.”
“Cake?” Violet asks hopefully, skipping into the kitchen. At three and a half, Violet is the spitting image of her mother. It gives me peace to know that, while Ember is no longer here, I get to watch the very best parts of her grow up every day. Even now, as Violet gives me an innocent smile, I see my sister shining back.
“Not yet. Daddy will be home with Oliver soon, and then we can have cake.”
It’s Oliver’s seventh birthday. My sweet nephew only asked for two things for his birthday. He wants to have his best friend Carson over for a sleepover, and he wants cake right after school. Iknow there will be years where birthday requests are much more involved than this, or when extracurriculars take so much time that we’ll barely see Oliver. He’s already showing amazing prowess in the peewee hockey program Leo and Luca got him into, and he loves the elementary STEM and Pokémon clubs that meet each week after school. Honestly, Oliver has a better social life than I do.
“Ladybug?” Leo calls from the door. Brody, the surprise mic-drop baby that we didn’t anticipate, squeals in happiness, his arms and legs flailing against me. I can already tell this boy is Leo’s mini-me. Brody isn’t happy unless he can survey his surroundings. He’s an observant one, content to watch the world around him.
“Cake!” Rose says gleefully, clapping her tiny hands together, then looks up to Violet. “Oli cake!”
As Leo and Oliver walk into the kitchen, the girls surround Oliver excitedly. Violet shouts, “Happy birthday, brother!”
“Bird-day cake!” Rose adds, her voice growly and intense. “Cake now, Oli.”
