Sal smiled at her as he came back from putting them in time-out. “Darcy, you’re well meaning but way too nice. Separation is the only answer at this age,” he said and put an arm around her shoulder to guide her into the kitchen where five men were busy making sandwiches, a giant bowl of salad and bowls of chips for the family lunch. “How about if you have a seat over at the table and make sure Victoria doesn’t get up for any reason? She seems to think she’s going to hold off on giving birth to my two nieces for another five weeks.” Sal looked directly at Victoria when he said, “She needs to stay off her feet if that’s a possibility.”
Victoria grabbed another carrot and took a big chomp. “I know,” she said, the frustration over her inability to move easily around the house obvious in her voice. Thomas, her husband came over to put his hands on her extremely large stomach. “Sal, your just jealous because you’re so far behind us.”
“I don’t think we’ll ever catch up,” Sal said and his eyes softened when his wife, Laci walked into the kitchen with Max and Adam wriggling under each arm.
“Did you forget something?” she said, blowing wisps of hair out of her face.
Sal rolled his eyes and rushed over to grab his son and his nephew. “You two were told to sit,” he said and put both of them on the counter and stood in front of them. “You too, Laci,” he said and pointed to Laci’s sister, Victoria, who was munching on a celery stick now.
Laci fell into a chair next to Victoria and propped her head onto her hands. “I don’t know how you do it,” she said.
“I didn’t do it,” she said, glaring at her husband as he sliced cucumbers. “I was an innocent bystander in this situation,” she cried.
Thomas laughed. “I don’t remember things that way,” he said and winked at his wife.
Darcy swallowed the lump in her throat as she caught Michael’s eye. This family obviously loved each other very much. Being an only child, she had never experienced this kind of camaraderie.
Michael noticed the fleeting sad look in Darcy’s eyes and became concerned. He didn’t want her overwhelmed by his family. But there wasn’t any other way to react. Hell, he was overwhelmed by all of them sometimes.
He walked over to her and grabbed her hands. “Come on, I haven’t shown you around the house,” he said.
He led her down the long hallway and into the library at the opposite end. It was quiet in the wood paneled, two story room with wall to wall bookcases. There was a staircase and a balcony to get to the books on the second floor and ladders to get to the books on the higher shelves.
“Are you okay?” Michael asked, looking into her eyes to try and gauge her ability to deal with his family.
“Of course! Why?”
“You didn’t look okay back there. I know they can all be a lot to take in sometimes, but they mean well.”
“They’re wonderful,” she replied, touched that he was concerned about her opinion of his family. “You’ve told me stories about growing up with all of them. I can imagine how terrorized you were.”
“Yep. Sal and Thomas were always taking my bottles, or so my mother and father told me.”
She eyed his large, muscular frame with amusement. “You look deprived,” she laughed.
There was another giggle as well but this one seemed to be coming from a corner of the room.
Michael rolled his eyes. “Emma? Are you hiding somewhere in here?” he called out in a booming voice.
“Yes,” came the small, laughing voice.
“Are you looking at a book?”
“Sort of,” she replied. She appeared a moment later carrying a large atlas. “Daddy told me this was a map, but it looks like a book.”
Michael sighed. “Why don’t we take it to your daddy and have him explained it to you.”
The little girl shook her head. “I can’t.”
Michael bent down to the child’s eye level. “Okay, out with it. What did you do wrong?”
“I didn’t push my brother if that’s what you think,” she said defensively, her eyes sliding to the floor.
Darcy smothered a laugh. Michael wasn’t’ so nice. “Emma, did you push Max?”
The little girl shook her head and pressed her lips together.
“Emma?” Michael said, his tone warning her to tell the truth.
Emma looked down back up at her uncle, willing him to understand her side of the story. In a dramatic stance, her shoulders drooped, as she nodded her head. But she instantly regrouped, “But it was an accident! I promise. And he’s okay. It isn’t like I really hurt him or anything,” she explained, the words running together in her rush to get her side of the story understood.
“And you ran away from your momma?” Michael guessed the rest of the story.
Emma hesitated to answer that damming question. “You don’t understand! She was going to put me in time out.”
Michael shook his head, not showing any mercy to the small girl’s plight. “Emma, I bet your mommy is looking all over the place for you and is very worried. Why don’t you go to the kitchen and tell your daddy what happened. He’ll help you.”
Emma thought about that plan for a moment. After considering it, her face brightened. “Daddy won’t put me in time out. He’s a push over. Momma said so,” she exclaimed, cheered by the idea of escaping her punishment. She dropped the atlas where she stood and ran out of the library.
Michael stood up and turned back to Darcy. “Sorry about that.”
“You’re very good with kids,” she said, wondering for the first time if he ever planned on having a family.
“I love them. They’re really great.”
“It shows.”
Michael smiled his appreciation for her compliment. “Me, Carlo and Gus fight over who gets to babysit the little guys whenever we’re in town. Unfortunately, my siblings don’t leave their kids with us often enough.”
Darcy laughed at the idea of the three tall, strong men fighting over who won the job of putting the tiny people to bed at night. “That’s hard to imagine,” she said softly.
“Why? It’s a lot of fun. Why don’t you come the next time? with just one or two. And you get to know them better as individuals. together, they kind of go into mass craziness.”