**So here's an update for ya. I have an incredibly busy next few weeks because I have 3 finals coming up in 2 weeks, and a final paper and microbiology final exam in 3 weeks. That being said, please be easy on me with the requests to update the second after I upload a new chapter. I appreciate your guys' enthusiasm to read this story so, so much. It really warms my heart, but as of right now I only have enough chapters prewritten to last me until the semester is official over. I hope you all understand! Thanks for all the love and support. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Also, special thanks to @SaraChiatto for helping me out with the translations!!**
Aurora's POV
Walking into Greg's kitchen a week later, I smiled when I saw the childlike gleam in his eyes as he laid out numerous ingredients all across the counter. He glanced up at me as I leaned against the doorframe, an amused smile on my face.
"Well, don't just stand there! Grab an apron and cominciamo cottura!" He laughed lightly before clapping his hands together enthusiastically. I wasn't sure what it was exactly that he said, but I assumed he wanted me to start helping him cook. Doing as I thought he said, I picked the lonesome frilly, pink apron that was situated at the very bottom of the stack. Securing the tie around my waist and throwing my long blonde hair up into a pony, I was finally reading to do some real damage.
Greg dropped an ancient looking cookbook onto the counter which resulted in him coughing for a few seconds while swatting away at the dust that flew up into the air. Releasing a deep sigh, he rubbed his hands over their leather bound covers with affection - as if they were old friends.
"So, what're we making today?" I asked while coming to stand next to him. Bracing my arms against the counter I leaned over and examined the book's worn out pages.
"It's something my family's put together over the years. Every generation has added something to it before passing it down for their children to use. I figured we'd make my great grandmother's authentic Sicilian cannoli's. She brought the recipe with her when her and my great grandfather immigrated here. There's just something about them that sets them apart from everyone else's. It's hard to explain, you'll just have to taste it for yourself, sì?" He asked while beginning to prepare what I was assuming were the cannoli shells. He handed me the brown, fragile piece of paper that had jumbled Italian sprawled all over it. Scrunching my brows I gave him a confused looked before turning the paper so that he could see the writing on it.
"Oh, merda! My bad, dolcezza. I sometimes forget these are all mostly written in Italian. Ripieno crema di ricotta. It means ricotta cream filling. I've got the ricotta in the fridge because it has to drain overnight. Go ahead and grab it out." He said, nodding towards the beat up samsung across from us. Doing as he said, I listened carefully as he read the recipe aloud to me in both Italian and english.
Once the delicious mixture was finished, I covered the bowl with cling wrap and set it back in the fridge so it wouldn't get warm while we waited for the shells to be ready.
"Alright. We let the dough sit for about an hour before we can start rolling them out." He said, a hint of tiredness in his voice. I nodded before taking up residence on one of the mismatched chairs at the dinner table in the corner.
"So, Greg, tell me about yourself. How'd you come to loving the art of baking?" I asked cheekily as he plopped himself down on the chair next to me. A fond smile graced his lips as he took a swig of the water in his shaky hand.
"My mother was a full-blooded Italian. Didn't serve anything that didn't originate from the mainland itself. She insisted I learn how to cook to keep the only form of our culture we had left in this country alive. Of course, I loved American food, much to her dismay." He said with a light laugh. "I hated being in the kitchen until one day I'd come in, in search of something to munch on before dinner, and she was getting ready to bake some cassata - a type of sponge cake. From that day forward, I was in love. Whenever I heard my mom talking to her friends about an upcoming birthday, or any type of get together really, I made sure I was in the kitchen to help. When I finally got old enough, she'd let me help her. When I was younger I would just make a terrible mess." He finished while I laughed at his story.
"Where is she now, if you don't mind me asking?" I said softly, not knowing if I was overstepping my boundaries.
"Not at all. She passed away a few years back. Breast cancer. She was a stubborn, stubborn woman. Never wanted to visit the doctor. Unfortunately, that was her demise. My father was sick with grief until he eventually drank himself into a grave of his own. I miss them both dearly, but I know they're in a better place." He finished sadly. I wasn't sure why, but I felt an intense need to comfort the man in front of me. Reaching forward, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders in a gentle, but firm hug. He released a shuddering breath before gripping me back.
"You're a good kid, you know that? Troy è fortunato." He rasped out before giving both of my cheeks light, affectionate pecks. Fortunately, I knew what he was saying.
"I'm just as lucky to have him. I've been through a lot in my life, and i've never met anyone quite like him. He makes me feel like I could do anything as long as he has my back." I replied, astonished with the honesty in which I answered his question. His eyes began to water the slightest bit before he blinked back his building tears and sniffled softly.
"I always wanted to have a little girl. You make me wish Chad was the one you were dating, not that Carmichael boy." He said jovially.
I laughed along with him before responding. "Yes, well even if I wanted to leave I really don't think I would be given the option." I joked while resting my face against the palm of my hand.
"Well, shit, you got that right dolcezza. Those Carmichael men are like fuckin' snakes. They wrap around their prey and then never let the hell go." I snorted in agreement before abruptly jumping in my seat as the timer blared.
"It's been an hour already?" I asked incredulously while glancing at the clock.
"Time flies when you're having fun, cara." He stated cheekily before heaving himself out of his chair and beginning to give me directions on how to properly roll the cannoli dough.
**
"How come you never told me chad was Italian?" I inquired that night after dinner while crawling into bed with Troy. He turned on the decent sized T.V. mounted on the wall right above the dresser before addressing my question.
"Chad doesn't talk that much about it himself. I know he speaks it pretty fluently, because it's the only language his grandma and grandpa used to talk in, but ever since his mom left his dad he stopped speaking it and I guess that led him to dropping it all together." He said offhandedly before pulling me into his big body. "What brought that up?" He questioned before giving my neck an open-mouthed kiss.
"I just got to talking with Greg today about his heritage. It was actually really interesting." I replied before a giggle escaped my mouth due to his wandering fingers brushing up against my sensitive sides.
"Are you ticklish there, baby?" He questioned with a mischievous glint in his eyes. I tried my best to slap his hands away from my stomach, but it was no use. I shrieked with laughter as I tried to twist and turn away from him.
"S-stop! Troy, oh god!" I yelled between fits of giggles.
"I'm not sure what's going on in there, but I can't tell if you two are getting it on or not!" I heard a familiar voice yell from right outside the bedroom door. Gasping in embarrassment, I finally succeeded in slapping his hands away before sitting straight up in bed.
"Unfortunately, we're not, but please do interrupt us, Ellie." Troy muttered out sarcastically. I wacked his stomach as she sauntered into the room before slumping down on the edge of the bed.
"We've had sex six times in this bed." Troy stated matter of factly, getting exactly the reaction I assume he wanted as Ellie shot up before glaring at the bed in disgust.
"You're something fucking else, you know that?" She questioned rhetorically, clearly annoyed with his antics. He just laughed in reply before shrugging his shoulders carelessly. Rolling my eyes at the bickering pair of siblings, I focused my attention back to Ellie.
"What did you need?" I asked politely, knowing she came here for a specific reason just by the look on her face. She threw a hasty glance Troy's way before switching her eyes back to me.
"I've been seeing this guy that dad and mom can under no circumstances know about." She rushed out meekly before cringing away from her brother's menacing glare. He took a deep breath in, no doubt about to scream his lungs out, but I whipped my head to the side so fast I caught him off guard. Giving him a look that said keep your fucking mouth shut he closed his mouth and began grinding his teeth while clenching and unclenching his jaw in anger.
She looked at me incredulously before I laughed lightly and told her to go on.
"Oh, right. Well, I really want to go see him tonight, but since they've been watching over me like a hawk as of recently I can't even leave the room without them getting suspicious. There's only so many times I can use the excuse of going to see a movie with a friend in one week." She said, a painful expression on her face.
"Why the fuck is it so important that you need Aurora and I to cover for you?" Troy barked out with what appeared to be a now permanent scowl on his face. A look of utter despair overtook Ellie's entire face that worried me to no end. Seeing the way she sneakily glanced at her brother before giving me a pleading look, I knew this was a matter for my ears only.
"Troy, go make some popcorn or something." I said, before turning to give him an expectant look. He swiveled his head back and forth between the two of us before narrowing his eyes.
"Fuck no. You're going to tell me what the fuck is going on right no-ow!" Troy yelled while flying forward as I grasped his balls in my hand. Ellie snorted with laughter before trying to school her face back to being serious - not that it was working.
"Fuck, fuck. Okay! Okay! Aurora- fuck! Let my balls go, I'll leave!" He yelled, desperation lingering in his voice. Releasing his family jewels I smiled smugly at his annoyed glare.
"Shut the door on your way out." I demanded to which he just growled under his breath in reply while cupping the front of his pants with a pained grimace on his face.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you." She stated before shooting forward to hug me until I could barely breathe.
"Yes, yes I love you too. Now, what the hell is going on?" I asked while looking for any hints as to what was so dire about this meeting with her mystery man.
"I...I'm pregnant." She finally cried as the floodgates broke and she began sobbing. I was shocked, to say the least. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting her to say, but that was most certainly not it.
"How did this happen?" I asked in shock. Her gut wrenching sobs died down as her face morphed into one of pure anger.
"Really? How did this happen? I don't know, maybe I was stupid enough to let him fuck me without a Goddamn condom!" She shrieked hysterically before bursting into another fit of tears. I blinked rapidly trying to understand the full extent of the situation before me. Swallowing deeply, I ignored Ellie's subtle jab and pulled her into a hug. Rubbing her back up and down, I continued to murmur calming words into her ear. When her tears had finally vanished for good, she backed out of my hug and wiped at her eyes.
"I'm s-sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you I'm j-just freaking out. If my parents find out they'll kill me." She rasped before cradling her head in her hands.
"Why? I mean, your parents conceived you and your sister out of wedlock, if that's what you're worried about. And it's not like you were going to stay away from guys for all of eternity. Your mom would eventually have started asking about grandkids." I said knowingly.
She laughed lightly at my statement before shaking her head back and forth. "She already has, but that's not the thing. It's the dad they'd skin me alive because of. He's the VP of my dad's company. One of the kids he mentored from the military school he went to. My father paid to send him to college because it turned out that he was pretty much a certified genius. After he graduated, like, six years ago my dad hired him full-time. I fell in love with him the first time I saw him and, well, here we are." She huffed out before plopping down on the bed face first, clearly having forgotten Troy's earlier words.
"Oh." I stated stupidly, though I had no idea what else to say. She nodded in agreement before pulling a pillow into her body and cradling it tightly.
"Well, does he not want to tell your dad about the relationship or...?" I trailed off, wondering if there even is a relationship in question.
"God no." She scoffed, pissed off. "He's been begging me to tell him for months. But I know that it will cause nothing but issues at work. My dad is fiercely overprotective of my sister and I. He'd probably cut his dick off and then use it as a paperweight if he ever found out what's been going on between the two of us." She said before dropping her head back onto the bed with an exhausted sigh.
"We can figure out where to go from here later, but Troy and I can distract your parents until you get back. Just text me and let me know how it goes, okay?" I asked softly. She nodded her head before hugging me tightly once again. Muttering a sincere thank you, she slipped out of the room just seconds before Troy reentered.
"Tell me. Now." He demanded while crossing his arms over his chest. I mimicked zipping my lips and throwing away the key before getting up and preparing to leave the room. Of course, I was stopped by a thick arm encircling my waist and jerking me back.
"Aurora." He warned, giving me his signature annoyed/pissed off look.
"You're treading on a very thin line right now, so shut the hell up and help me distract your parents." I threatened. He cleared his throat, knowing I had the upper hand.
"Fine, but just know I'm fucking pissed that you and my sister are keeping something clearly important from me." He said. I could see the hurt he was trying to hide and instantly felt guilty. Halting his movement, I grasped his face between my hands and forced him to look at me.
"I know you're upset, but you need to understand that with your rap sheet with her where boys are concerned isn't anywhere near good. Just give her time, okay? She hasn't even figured out what's going on herself." I finished, lightly stroking the stubble that'd accumulated on his cheeks. He released a deep sigh before lightly nodding and leaning forward to give my lips a quick peck.
We made our way to the main house, neither of us saying anything but rather just enjoying each others company. Entering the kitchen, I smiled at the scene we walked in on.
Knox and Poppy were cuddled up on the couch across the room. Knox's arm was draped across the back while he whispered something to Poppy that made her giggle.
"WE ARE ENTERING THE LIVING QUARTERS!" Troy shouted ostentatiously causing me to release a loud laugh. We both plopped down onto the couch across from them as Knox chucked a pillow at his son.
"You know, before we had you four shit heads I was allowed to do whatever I pleased in this house." He grumbled while trying to suppress a smile.
"Maybe you should take a basic public education health class. They're vary informative on the many methods of birth control." Troy responded cheekily.
"Fuckin' smartass." Knox laughed before taking a swig of the beer in his hand. Leaning my head on Troy's shoulder I closed my eyes for a few moments, just letting all of the events of the day finally take their toll on me. The constant rumble of laughter was the soundtrack to my light dozing and made me smile. I couldn't wait to have all of this one day. A real family.
"Six at least." I heard Troy state with conviction from beside me. Slightly removing myself from his chest.
"Six at least what?" I question as I rubbed at my eyes trying to remove the blurriness.
"How many kids we're gonna have." Now that woke me up pretty fuckin' quick.
"W-what?!" I gasped looking at him as if he'd grown another head. I could heard Knox and Poppy laughing their heads off across from us. "You think I'm gonna have six damn kids?" I asked, astonished. He just nodded, not giving me any sort of explanation.
"I'll give you three and that's if you're lucky." I stated with finality.
"Four. I don't want the middle child to get left out or forgotten." He reasoned. I just sighed in exasperation.
"Fine. Four, but don't even think you're getting anything more from me. And you get to change every dirty diaper in the middle of the night, no questions asked."
"Deal." He stated smugly.
"He's got no idea what he just got himself into, does he?" Poppy asked before laughing through a sip of red wine.
"Absolutely not." I agreed, laughing as Troy's smile slowly disappeared.