Wildflower Chapter 2 (New)

Chapter 2

              

               “You really want to leave?” Nicolas asked he knew she didn’t but she nodded.

With a heavy sigh and a heavy heart he picked up his keys and started to the door. Of course he knew he would see her again he just wanted more time. The girls went home earlier so he had a brief moment of Wildflower to himself. He liked having his nieces around and in fact later would be seeing Sugar. She wanted to spend the night with him at the hotel with him as she sometimes did. Yesterday was a good day, after breakfast they went shopping because Sugar really wanted to and he always indulged her. After stopping for lunch they came home and did a little horseback riding. There were stables on the edge of the property and there was a riding trail. It was all that was left of the ranch that was there once upon a time.

Things were good yesterday and it ended with the four of them watching a movie in his bedroom. In his bed was where the four of them slept, it was a big bed. It was nice to not be alone for once. But it wasn’t a setback he knew she was going to go home and now maybe he could figure things out. Wildflower didn’t believe that was still going to want her after they parted. She was anxious before they left and when they got in his car and on the whole drive over. He didn’t understand what the problem was until they reached her house.

If he had bothered to look into it first he would never have taken her to the mansion. In his life he’s seen a lot of real estate and this was a poor excuse for a house. No wonder she was anxious and wasn’t talking to him anymore. Thinking back he recalled that she said she lived her with her 9 brothers, mother, and one of brother’s girlfriend and baby. Including Wildflower that was 13 people in one small house. It appeared that this was obstacle to overcome and he would. Treading lightly from here on out was needed so that she wouldn’t get too freaked out. Why did it matter where she lived? He didn’t care where she lived or came from or how much money she made. None of that mattered; he was still going to want her no matter what.

“You think I’m going to judge you because of where you live?” Nicolas asked her, no point in beating around the bush.

“Well you live in an expensive hotel and you have a mansion, wouldn’t you think the same? I’m not saying that you are shallow I’m saying that we are very different. We had a good weekend and we had fun but our adventure has come to an end,” she said.

“Give me a good reason why and I’ll leave you alone. Was I not clear when I told you I want you? So what you don’t have a big house, most normal people don’t, at least your family is close. Stop worrying about everything,” he said.

“It’s easier to let you go now than to go into this uncharted territory, I don’t date. My first real date ever was with you. Not to say that I screw around a lot because I don’t and I definitely don’t do anything with guys I don’t know pretty well. This is just very weird for me and I’m not usually so neurotic about everything. And now I’m babbling,” she sighed.

“I want you, there’s almost nothing you could do to make me not want you. As long as you are just with me, everything else is just details,” he said.

“Ok, but if you want to keep liking me don’t come in my house,” she said seriously.

“If you don’t want me to meet your family then its fine,” he shrugged.

“This is for your own good trust me, I spent the weekend with you and I just met you. My brothers already hate you and they can be mean.”

“Fine, I can meet your family anytime.”

Nicolas was happy that at least she was giving him a chance, not that her not agreeing would have stopped him. Caprianis got what they wanted pretty much all the time because they didn’t give up. He never gave up on anything and he wouldn’t give up on her. Because he at least wanted to give her a proper goodbye he had her come over on to his lap. So far he still managed to keep himself in control with her. Kissing her it all came back to him and he didn’t want to let her go back. Since they were parked outside of her house he was going to have to let her go. A tap on his window ruined the whole moment. She was the one to reach over and press the button to open the window.

“Hi Mom,” she said and her mother shook her head.

“Nice to see you remembered where you live,” her mother replied.

“I have to work tomorrow so of course I’m home,” Wildflower said.

“Where you never taught any manners? You haven’t even introduced me to the strange man you spent the last few days with. A man you picked up in a bar, do you know how worry your brother has been? Or me?” Her mother asked and this was suddenly very awkward.

 “That is why I called Ricky and told him where I was, I’m an adult it’s not a big deal. Anyway, Mother, this is Nicolas and Nicolas this is Marguerite, my mother,” Wildflower said.

“Nice to meet you Mrs. Laiez,” Nicolas said. At the moment her daughter was still on his lap so there wasn’t much he could do about anything.

“Nice to meet you too, both of you come in the house it’s almost time for dinner,” she said. Without waiting for a reply she walked away and went back into the house.

“Was I just invited to dinner?” He asked when they were alone again.

“Damn her, you should run now, she’s probably going to tell on me,” Wildflower sighed and shook her head.

“If she is the mother who would she tell on you to?” He asked confused and yet he was also intrigued.

“Ricky, he’s the boss and she answers to him like everybody else does,” she explained.

“I think I’ll stay,” he decided. “It would be rude not to after your mother invited me. And I wouldn’t want your mother to think I’m rude.”

“Fine, come in if you want but I warned you to stay out,” she said.

Curiosity was getting the best of him; he didn’t often go home to meet someone’s family. So this was something new and he needed to gather accurate intel. She got off his lap and he got out of the car and went to get her bag. Trying to get her to let him buy things for her was a bit of a task. Without his accomplices it wouldn’t have happened at all. He followed her when she got out up to the house. Inside it had a homey lived in feeling that his house no longer had. There were a lot shoes near the door. Some on a shoe stand, some in baskets and some just stacked on the floor. Nine guys apparently went through a lot of shoes. A toddler with curly brown hair came running at Wildflower who picked her up.

“Monster, I’ve missed you,” she said to the baby then turned to Nicolas. “This is my niece Ariela,” she told him.

“Flower,” Ariela said hugging her aunt. Then she turned her attention to him. “Who you?” She asked him, she was quite adorable.

“I'm Nick, it’s nice to meet you Ariela,” he replied.

“Nick,” she nodded like she understood something.

“Aren't you two cute with a kid,” someone said. A brunette woman was coming down the stairs and Ariela reached for her. The resemblance led him to believe that she was her mother.

“Hush Chris,” Wildflower said and the women exchanged a look. “Nicolas this is Christina, my brother's girlfriend and Ariela's mother. Chris this is Nicolas who I spent the weekend with.”

“Nice to meet you,” he said. His grandmother always valued good manners.

“It’s quite nice to meet you too but you should have left when you had the chance,” Christina said.

“Is Ricky here?” Wildflower asked and shook her head. “Oh God.”

“I would run if I were you,” Christina said. “The guys might misbehave if Ricky isn’t here. They already don't like you; this is like going into a den of lions.”

“It can't be that bad can it?” He asked, they both laughed.

Soon enough he found out for himself why they were worried. Coming into a house with 9 brothers that were close and protective of the females of the family was difficult. First he met Aunt Maria who was in the kitchen with Jay disagreeing over dinner. Marguerite was also in the kitchen and so was Iris the older sister. It was explained that they had family dinners pretty much every night. Jay looked at him with distrust and had a territorial look. After that the rest of the guys appeared out of nowhere giving him the same look. Remembering who was who was a task but he had a good memory. The youngest was Evan and after him it went: Corey, Tony, Dominic, Van, Ivan, Jay, Isaiah and Ricky. Plus there were Iris' 2 kids Jeremiah and Isabel.

Dinner was of course tense and he was asked a lot of questions. Ricky the oldest wasn’t there as Christina mentioned, it was obvious that he was the head of the family. Isaiah who was Ariela's father was the least nice next to Ivan who was the twin. Somehow he made it through dinner with the Laiez family without being murdered. He couldn’t be mad that they were protective of their sister. It wasn’t the same with his family; his sisters could be pretty cutthroat. If he wanted Wildflower he was going to have to deal with her brothers. Women were easy, he would figure something out though, he always did. Now that he established that he wasn’t going to be scared away by house and family, maybe she would really accept that he was sticking around.

After dinner with death stares and hostile behavior he found himself alone with Wildflower in her room. The room was smaller than his closet. There were two twin beds and 5 dressers in the room. She wore an expression of embarrassment, which lead him to believe he was only in her room to prove her point. When she sat down on one of the beds he didn’t immediately join her. Instead he looked at the many framed pictures she had on the dressers. It was like getting a look into her life. An old family picture caught his eye and beside it was a picture of her and what he assumed was her father. She resembled him more than her mother; he had grey eyes like she did.

“Your father was black?” He asked turning to look at her, these days most people were biracial so you never really knew just by looking.

“Not exactly, let's just go with Brazilian, he came here when he was 9. He was one of six kids and him and my Aunt Carmella are the only ones that lived long enough to make the journey with their parents. Now my aunt is the only one left, they had a lot tragedy happen when they were young. My father loved children and he wanted a big family and we were all very special to him. 12 kids and he never got to meet Evan he died before he was born. Then Ricky took care us and we always stuck together and did whatever was necessary to stay together as a family. That is why I still live home, why we all do, because we work together. Family is everything to me and always has been. So I don’t usually let people into my life because people come and go but family is forever.

“You may have survived dinner but my brother’s aren’t going to make it easy on you. Since you are so determined to stick around, you just have to know that family always comes first for me. I've been taking care of my little brothers since I was 7, they are teenagers now. Money isn’t something we have ever really had but we have love. Honestly I never believed I could need love from anybody outside of my family, that’s why I don’t date. Seriously it’s kind of sad I have 3 friends and 1 is the mother of my brother’s child. I've been friends with Brooke since middle school and my friend Cody since preschool. This is the real me, I’m giving you a chance to run now,” she told him.

“Why would I run? I like a challenge and even so I already made my mind up and I want you. If something is worth it then it shouldn’t be easy because then it’s easier to take for granted. My family isn’t like yours but we were raised to believe that family is most important. I know the girls told you I lived in the house with my grandmother until she died. Without a family in it it’s just a big empty house. So you live in a small house with a big family, it’s better than being alone,” he replied.

And here it was he got all the answers to the questions he'd been wondering about. Maybe not all but Sugar would fill in any other information he needed. The hold her family had over her was a lifetime if struggle. Knowing things didn’t actually make it any easier. In fact it was clear now that this would be harder than he expected, 9 times harder to be exact. And then there was the infamous Ricky who was practically her father. He would probably be a problem and the twin definitely would be. Her mother would be the easiest to win over, though he wondered why she too answered to Ricky. But since there had to be a story behind it he wasn’t going to ask incase it was unpleasant.

“My question is how do all of you fit in this house?” Nicolas found himself asking and it lightened the mood a bit.

“Magic? The question is how we all 12 fit in a 3 bedroom apartment before we moved here. I got lucky being a girl, in the apartment it was me Daisy and Iris but Iris moved out before we moved here. Me and Daisy shared this room,” she paused a second obviously thinking of her sister. “Um we all decided Ricky deserved his own room so he has it and Isaiah took the basement. The two of them needed space so they don’t kill each other. And the basement worked out once Chris moved in. Anyway Jay, Ivan and Van share a room and Dom, Tony, Corey and Evan share the last room. Because of bunk beds and stuff I get the pleasure of having everybody's dressers in my room as you see. I don't get any privacy, there is no such thing in this house.”

“Wow, well if you want privacy you can come see me,” he offered.

“I thought you were always working?” She asked though clearly she was tempted. So he went to sit beside her and stopped looking through the album he'd been flipping through.

“That's true but I can make time for you and you can go to my hotel whenever you want.”

“I might just do that, especially when Brooke and Jay borrow my room to have sex.”

“They do that?" He asked and she nodded.

“Brooke lives with her aunt and brother and there’s none of that allowed with Aunt Kim.”

“Well you can just come live with me and you would have space and privacy,” he suggested.

“Wait till you've known me for more than 5 minutes,” she replied.

“Fine, I’ll ask you again next week,” he said and she laughed.

“You are quite pushy aren't you? If you weren't so good looking you wouldn’t get away with it,” she said.

“I told you I was and I am very good at getting my way. If there wasn’t a lynch mob waiting for me I might have my way with you,” he replied.

“So far you haven't,” she said watching him close.

“Trust me it’s not because I don't want to,” he said walking his fingers up her thigh. She was wearing a skirt; he could easily show her he was serious.

“Why haven't you then? You could have when I left with you from the bar or in your bed after our date. I don't know what to make of you sometimes,” she admitted.

“This is me trying to get to know you better,” he said and pulled her over close. “You can have sex with anyone but it takes work to get to know someone. Don't ever think I don't want you because I promise I do.”

“Are you the type of guy that could charm the panties of a girl?” She asked and at this point she was on his lap straddling him. The heat between them burned in the air and yet they were still only talking.

“Is that how I got you naked that first night? I don't recall being particularly charming though. My brothers are more of the charmers when it comes to women. The next time you are anywhere that sells those tabloid gossip magazines flip through it and you will see my brother. Jose Capriani, he'll either have a new girlfriend every other page or have them throwing bricks at him. He's a little too charming and gets bored easily, he slept with his last girlfriend's mother,” Nicolas told her. She laughed and he kissed her.

“So do you know me well enough yet?” She asked, she watched his eyes like he watched hers. It was only weird because most people didn’t look him directly into the eyes. For one reason or another his blue eyes unnerved most people but not her. Why did he find that sexy too?

“I don't know,” he said. His thoughts were a bit fuzzy with her on top of him, she was quite the temptress and she wasn’t even trying. What would it be like when she actually was trying to seduce him? Before anything could go further fate intervened and her door opened.

 

Wildflower looked over to see Brooke coming in her room. Of course Jay or Christina told her about dinner. Though that went better than she expected. With Rocky not present it could have been much worse. Bringing him up to her room was probably stupid but she had been trying to prove a point to herself. Well that seriously backfired on her. Instead they sort of had a little moment while she told him about her family. Now they were having a different kind of moment and of course they were interrupted. Was she ever going to have sex with this man? Not that she would have done it here with everybody at home. Or would she have? In the past the answer was no but right now she wasn’t so sure. Only once did she ever have sex in this room and that was a long time ago.

“Every time you are on top of me we get interrupted,” Nicolas said in her ear. They both sort of ignored Brooke. “Next time we'll try having you beneath me, even though I’m sure I will never get tired of you on top.”

“You are a dangerous man Mr. Capriani,” she replied. And he was quite dangerous to her sanity and her life.

Every time he said he wanted her she went a bit weak. Dangerous that was a good way to describe him. When she first saw him she thought he was a guy you didn’t say no to. Now she knew for certain that he was. Getting rid of him proved impossible and that was after dinner with her family. If eight of nine brothers couldn’t scare him off then nothing could. Not the fact that she was poor and didn’t live in the best neighborhood and was one of thirteen people living in one house. And he was in her room; she was starting to miss his hotel room.

“Hello lovebirds,” Brooke said obviously hating being ignored.

“Nice to see you again Brooke,” Nicolas said but he didn’t look away from Wildflower.

“As cute as I find you two, Jay is on his way up, I’m your warning,” Brooke said.

No sooner than she spoke you could hear his heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. To avoid an incident Wildflower slid off Nicolas' lap reluctantly. For the moment the guys were tolerating this situation but wouldn’t once he was gone. Then they would let their opinions be well known. Especially Ivan who was the least happy with her falling off the planet for the weekend. But he would understand that maybe she needed to do something different and not think about Daisy being gone. Well he would understand the weekend but not that she planned to continue seeing Nicolas. Jay walked into the room with a death glare for Nicolas and then turned to look at her.

“See I told you she wasn’t kidnapped or murdered,” Brooke said.

“Mom wants you,” Jay said. He ignored Brooke and left the room with an evil expression. Those were her brothers overprotective of her even though she was a grown woman.

“Sorry,” Brooke said following Jay out.

“Guess that’s my cue, I have to do something anyway,” Nicolas said. She didn’t mean to pout her face just did it against her will. “I'm going to retrieve Sugar from her mother so no blood is shed. She asked to stay with me for the week, in case you hadn’t noticed I rarely say no to her. Bad habit, but if she’s with me I at least I know where she is.”

“You are disturbingly perfect,” she replied. Taking care of his wild child niece, the man was unbelievable.

“Not perfect, but family is important to me too, especially her. If I wasn’t always working I would have her live with me. You know she made me promise if I can get you to marry me then she can live with us,” he said.

“Both girls made me promise the same,” she admitted.

“Maybe that is a sign,” he replied.

“Maybe,” she said.

They both got up then and he pulled her to him to kiss her. Normally she hated touchiness but with him she hated it when he wasn’t touching her. What was wrong with her? It had been a few days and she didn’t live in a romance novel. A Lifetime movie maybe but not some romantic crap. When he kissed her though nothing else mattered. It didn’t matter that he could have any woman or that he was super rich with a mansion or that he was a galaxy beyond out of her league. Nope, because though it was true he was here in her crappy house full of crazy brothers kissing her. Well that was all until she was at his car kissing him goodbye, then it hit her again.

“I have a few meeting this week but I will have Gloria adjust my schedule so I can see you. Call me whenever you want and I’ll come get you or you could come see me,” he said.

“Ok,” she nodded absently. There was some strange feeling that came over her right now and she was confused by it. Something she never felt before especially about a guy she barely knew. It was like parting from him made her sad or something, it was weird.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said obviously reading her. “I am available whenever you want me. I will bother you so much that the only way to get rid of me would be a restraining order. Even then I wouldn’t go anywhere.”

“Alright, go on now and pick up that child before she disappears somewhere.”

“Call me before you go to bed, ok?”

“Ok,” she nodded and kissed him again.

Watching him drive away made that weird feeling come back. It really must have been that she didn’t want to be away from him. Staying with him a few days seemed to have made her crazy. When had she become sentimental? Apparently the moment she let him sweep her away into a fairytale romance. Before she went back in the house to be grilled on her weekend adventure and the new man in her life she had to clear her head. Was she really seriously go to date him? What did that even mean? What did people do when they were dating? This was a new experience for her, completely uncharted territory.

Ricky’s truck pulled up before she went back inside. Of course he already knew about dinner and her hiding away in her room with a man. She was 23 there was no reason she couldn’t have a man in her bedroom. Sex obviously wasn’t happening, though she wished it would. But maybe this was a good thing; waiting would make it better when it happened. And Nicolas would definitely be a good lover, she could tell. Her brother was not alone in his truck, of course he wasn’t. Sammie was with him, she was just as nosey as everyone else.

It was kind of funny in a tragic way that Sugar and Sammie were both minus fathers in their lives but both had stand-ins. Like Nicolas would do or give Sugar what she wanted, Ricky was the same with Sammie. Well not just Sammie because Wildflower was his favorite and it was never a secret. Now that she was thinking about all this she thought about Sugar’s mother. That woman was well to use Sugar’s words a b***h. She had come by looking for her missing daughter more than once but not often enough. Sugar did whatever she wanted and answered to no one because no one was paying her any attention.

Wildflower tried her best but she wasn’t the mother and that girl had miles and miles of issues. So it was good that at least she had an uncle that cared if she lived or died because it seemed as though her mother didn’t. Even Angel at least knew where her kids were and that they were safe. Katrina Capriani was too busy doing anything but being a mother. Now it occurred to her how Sammie and Sugar got to be so close. They had very similar lives except that Sammie always had a place in the Laiez family. Sugar unfortunately had no one for too long and the damage was too great. The last place she probably belonged was hanging out in a house full of boys but so far there were no problem. Sammie came over to hug her like always, she really loved these girls.

“Sam, give us a minute,” Ricky said before she could say anything. Everybody obeyed him it was like compulsion. So Sammie went into the house and left them alone.

“Are you going to yell at me and tell me I’m irresponsible?” Wildflower asked, it would be a first he never yelled at her, that was saved for the others.

“You told me where you were and that you were alive when you called me. Why would I yell at you now?” He asked watching her closely. She’d been told more than once that her eyes were very expressive so people close to her knew how to read them. Apparently Nicolas knew how to read her too, a little too well.

“Because I brought home a guy you don’t know and let him have dinner with the family,” she replied.

“Why worry about that? If he could survive then you don’t need me here to keep everybody in line,” she shrugged.

“What then? You want to hear about my weekend?”

“Sammie already filled me in,” he said. “Take a walk with me.”

“Ok,” she said both worried and confused.

Wildflower followed her brother away from the house with their nosey family. Whatever he had to say he didn’t want the others to know. Sometimes though they were all close her brothers could be secretive. Ricky spent half of his life taking care of everybody and that was quite the task. To this day him and Iris didn’t really speak to each other. Mostly out of spite where Iris was concerned. With Isaiah they had a love hate relationship and in past fought a lot. But unlike Iris, Isaiah stuck around and he always put family first. The Laiez family was complicated and had been through a lot of tough time but somehow they made it.

“I’m moving out,” Ricky said and she stopped to stare at him.

“Really? Why? Or no I get why but when?” She asked, she shouldn’t have been surprised. It was a long time coming and their mother had been around this time almost a whole year.

“Soon, I wanted to tell you first though and you know Ivan and Jay are planning to move out too. The boys are old enough to take care of themselves and I know you wanted to get a place with your friends. Do it, she has to start being a mother without constant supervision at some point,” he told her.

“Maybe, there would be room then at least and of course Isaiah is itching to get out. You move out and I’ll stay on till school is out. That way we know everything is still the way it should be. I knew one day we would all have to move out on our own but it seems soon,” she said. He put his arm around her and they walked in silence for a moment.

“We always do have a plan, huh? I wasn’t too worried about them I just don’t want you to get stuck there because you feel you have to. No matter where we are we are still a family and nothing will change that,” he said. “Anyway, enough about that now we can talk about your new friend that happens to be Sammie’s uncle.”

“Yeah, that was random and then for Sam and Sugar to come to his house while I was there. I like him though and somehow he still wants to see me even after coming here. Do you think it’s stupid? This is the rich side of Sam’s family we are talking about and we’ve met his sister,” she said. Unfortunately they all met Katrina and it really was unfortunate.

“Have fun date the guy doesn’t mean you are marrying, we talk about this all the time. Quit being like me, you are too young and too pretty to be as cynical as you are,” he replied.

Truthfully she didn’t have much of a choice because Nicolas wasn’t going away that she knew. Telling him no or to go away would probably make him want her more. The opinion that mattered most to her was Ricky’s. He looked most like their father with his dark skin and he was tall like him and of course good looking. All the guys were good looking; it was a bit of a curse. Ricky raised them all with a modern take on their father traditional values. Their mother hadn’t been the same since she lost her husband all those years ago. Now 16 years later it seemed that she was back on track. Complicated the family was, very complicated but it was time for something new. Dating a rich guy and moving out were apparently on her list of things to do, go figure.

Back in the house she was forced to go entertain the female population of the house and Ricky went to sleep. He worked a lot and didn’t often get much sleep. Plus she had a feeling the last thing he wanted to do was be near some girl talk. The rest of the guys disappeared but would no doubt bother her later, especially Ivan. Waiting for her was her mother, aunt, and sister, Christina, Brooke and Sammie. With a deep breath she went in and sat down and Sammie came and sat on her lap. This wasn’t something she ever did; she never really talked about guys because for a long time she was just one of the guys. Daisy had the boyfriends and fell in love, Wildflower didn’t. For Iris to stick around to be nosey meant a lot because they were not close but clearly Iris’ curiosity was very strong.

“He’s Samantha’s uncle?” Her mother asked and she nodded.

“Yeah, I found that out by surprise,” she replied. “Look there isn’t anything to tell we just hung out basically. Yesterday we spent the day with Sam and Sugar.”

“Well he seems nice,” her Aunt said.

“Nice and rich,” Iris added.

“Iris your haterness is showing,” Brooke said.

“When are you going to see him again?” Christina asked, it was a good question.

“Um I don’t know,” she admitted.

“He works a lot, like 24hours,” Sammie explained.

“What kind of name is Capriani anyway?” Aunt Maria asked changing the subject.

“Oh I got this one,” Sammie said. “Caprianis value history and there are literally like record books and a family historian and all that. So like Italian/Spanish and Mexican. Mostly probably Mexican but my grandmother is from Spain. So everybody is tan with dark hair, but none of them speak Spanish or anything.”

“Why is Sugar blonde?” Brooke asked, she happened to be the only blonde in the room.

“Um she gets it from her dad I guess, I’ve never seen him but he’s blonde and so was her brother. Her dad is like Italian from Italy but she doesn’t know him,” Sammie explained.

“Why is your uncle single?” Christina asked her; obviously everybody knew that Sammie knew more about him.

“Why do you want to know that? Are you bored with Isaiah?” Iris asked Christina, she didn’t get along with Isaiah or Ricky and for a long time Wildflower. With Daisy gone she started being nicer to her only remaining sister but that wasn’t saying much.

“One day you will regret being so mean to your brothers,” Aunt Maria warned Iris.

“Doubtful and I’m not mean to them they are mean to me,” Iris replied.

“Always the victim,” Brooke murmured. “So Sam, why is your hot uncle single? Or more like why was he since he isn’t anymore.”

“Because he works a lot and he doesn’t like pretentious snobby rich chicks. Katrina tries to get him to date them and sometimes he humors her because of his mother. They try very hard to get him married. He is the only one of his siblings never to be married, they have all been divorced at least once,” Sammie said.

“I’m going upstairs since none of you need me,” Wildflower said. It would have been really nice to escape.

"Oh you aren't going anywhere, you have to tell us everything," Brooke said.

“You know everything and you were at the hotel with me,” Wildflower pointed out.

“Why were you at a hotel? He's rich doesn’t he have a house?” Iris asked.

“Sam, go on explain,” Wildflower said with a sigh.

“Not a house a mansion with like 20 bedrooms,” Sammie said and they were all in shock. “But he lives in a hotel in a luxury penthouse that has like 3 bedrooms, its closer to work. And really he doesn’t want to live in a big house alone.”

“How is it you have family that owns mansions, Samantha?” Marguerite asked, that was a good question. Half of Sammie's family was rich, just not the half she lived with.

“Because my dad has 11 kids that all live with their mothers and I’m not even sure has a house. He travels a lot and well has a lot of female friends. The most we generally see of him is a few appearances when we are forced to gather at the mansion in the summer. My siblings life all over the world, like literally. The only time I see them is when we have to be together, it’s like a custody thing or something. I only see Jordan of course and Jason he's the oldest,” Sammie explained.

“Jason is hot, if only he was little older,” Brooke said and Iris rolled her eyes.

“Don’t you have a boyfriend? Why are you always checking out every male that comes across your line of sight?”

“I can look, it’s not like I’m going to cheat on Jay, and I’m always here anyway. Besides Jason is like 21 so it’s legal I just don’t like guys that are younger than me.”

“Anyway, Samantha does your uncle have children? Because these days nobody gets married they just have children,” Aunt Maria said changing the subject. Then she must have realized what she said because she turned to Christina. “I don’t mean you, dear; when he is ready Isaiah will do the right thing.”

“That’s doubtful,” Iris said adding her two cent like always. “I don’t know what you see in him he’s mean and nasty and you are pretty and smart. You could do much better.”

“Like you did?” Brooke asked because she couldn’t help herself.

“Stop fighting,” Marguerite said shaking her head.

“No my uncle doesn’t have any children, he wants to get married first,” Sammie said.

More questions and bickering happened but Wildflower zoned out a little. Nicolas really was like the perfect guy. What did she have to offer? She wasn’t doubting her appeal but she wondered why what made him so crazy about her. This feeling of being liked and liking someone was nice, but the cynic in her was fighting to get out. When was she going to see him again? Since she didn’t date she didn’t know the rules on how it worked. And she had no good source on dating, nobody in this family dated. Pretty much she had to figure it out herself and she wasn’t completely sold on how attached she was feeling to him.

As if a sign her phone buzzed and it was a text message from Nicolas. It said he was thinking about her and she replied that her family was talking about him. Sammie knew a lot about her uncle, not that it seemed like there was much to tell. He had never been married, had no kids of his own, had a good job and more than one car, he exceeded her list of qualifications. She hated drama so she didn’t want guys with kids otherwise she would have a boyfriend already. Well, this was an interesting way to start off her 23^rd year of being alive. And the story was to be continued.

 

 

Wildflower had a job translating because it was what she was best at. She was fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and French. Having a Brazilian father and Mexican mother of course she picked things up. Her grandmother taught her to speak fluent Portuguese by the time she was 10. Then her other grandmother only spoke Spanish. Growing up in a trilingual home meant sometimes people did not understand a word you said. After becoming pretty fluent in Spanish she took on French as a hobby. Language was the only thing she was good at in school. Her grades weren’t bad because of course Ricky didn’t tolerate that, but she was best in one subject. She was so devoted to language that she took extra classes and had the advanced classes in school. Now it came in handy because it was her job.

The place she worked did business internationally so her skills came in handy. Mostly she translated things over the phone and translated documents. It wasn’t an exciting job, but it was a job. She never pictured herself sitting in a cubicle with a headset all day every day, yet here she was. Brooke and Cody also worked there, not exactly doing what she did. Brooke was pretty good with French, mostly because of Wildflower. Cody didn’t translate she did other things. Between the three of them none of them had cars so they carpooled with her brothers.

Mondays were the same for everyone, after the weekend she had she really hated that it was Monday. But when you had four different languages in your head everything else got drowned out. Focusing was important and she did her best to always keep them straight. So she didn’t have time to daydream about Nicolas. Coming to work and not having to think about anything was nice. It was the only time her head was clear enough to get a break. Everybody in her family worked and contributed to keep the family going. Food and bills weren’t free and 13 people went through a lot of food plus there were always other people over. And feeding so many guys was expensive.

There was always something that needed money and the boys went through shoes like crazy. With six working adults you would think things would get easier at some point. It didn’t, not really. Right now things were good and steady but she wasn’t sure how long it would last. With everybody planning to move out she was worried how that would affect things. But Ricky was right that their mother needed to stand on her own two feet and mother her children. What harm could she do to the boys anyway? Dominic was graduating this year, Tony next year and Corey and Evan the year after. And somehow she fit thinking about her family into her multi-lingual brain.

“Lunch time doll face,” Brooke said wheeling her chair over. Time had gotten away from her, everything had really.

“I needed a break,” she said getting up from her desk and taking her headset off. Before she could get away from her desk she felt someone’s arms wrap around her waist, she turned to see Nicolas standing there smiling at her. “What are you doing here?” She asked struggling to keep her thoughts straight and in English.

“Thought I’d surprise you ladies with lunch,” he said and kissed her cheek.

“Perfect, you can meet Cody, she’s been dying to meet you,” Brooke said looking suspicious.

Wildflower had the sinking suspicion that Brooke had arranged this. It was true that her other more critical best friend Cody wanted to meet him. That morning over breakfast she’d lectured Wildflower more than her brothers and mother had. After all the gossip died down and everybody went home, her mother told her how stupid it was that she’d gone off with some guy. And then the guys got to add their opinions. Her mother seemed to like Nicolas or at the thought of somebody that could potential marry her only remaining daughter.  Cody had run through the whole rapist, axe murder, serial type of lecture. It was true that it wasn’t the best decision to make, but she was glad she’d made it.

Working at the same place as her best friends was straining sometimes, but they were both just like sisters to her. They met Cody downstairs and she didn’t hide her disapproval at all. But she did accept that Nicolas was treating them all to lunch. And afterwards he escorted them back with the promise that they would be seeing him again really soon. If she was honest with herself she was surprised she’d seen him this soon. Seeing him put her mind at ease a little and it didn’t hurt that he was very affectionate. The more he kissed her the more she was under his spell.

 

“You just met him,” Cody said when they were in the elevator. “Yet you act like you’re married to him or something.”

“Hush, he’s perfect and if we’re all lucky they will get married,” Brooke said.

“How would it benefit you if I married him?” Wildflower asked but she was sure she’d regret it.

“I’d come live with you and be nanny to your kids, I mean really you already share kids so I already have a job,” she said brightly and Cody stared at her. “I mean Sammie and Sugar, both are practically orphans. Angel is crazy and is driving her kids crazy and Sugar is a troubled girl with a terrible mother. How can it not be fate that those are his two favorite nieces?”

“There’s something I don’t like about that guy, he seems like he has ulterior motives,” Cody said being the buzz kill as always.

“His only motive is to love our dear Wildflower and take her away to his palace,” Brooke said dreamily. “I looked up his house online it’s amazing and he’s a freaking billionaire! I’m ready to marry him,” she went on as they headed back to their separate cubicles. 

“Do you ever do any work Brooke?” Wildflower asked trying to change the subject. She wasn’t sure if her focus would be as good now. Not that it had been the best to start with.

“I’m planning your future,” she replied. “Cody really if he wanted to do her harm why would he show up here? Or have dinner with her family? He could have killed her days ago, but Mr. Billionaire wants our girl,” she said then walked away back to her desk.

“Cody, don’t worry, in her own crazy way Brooke is kinda right. I mean he actually survived dinner with my family. The crazy thing is he still wanted to see me after that insanity and he even put up with you being rude,” she said. What she hoped was that Cody would stop this. It was bad enough everything else in her life she had to deal with. Anymore added stress would probably kill her.

“Fine, just be careful,” Cody said then with a wave she headed off to her work.

Wildflower sank back into her chair and put her headset on and went to work at translation messages. This time the daydreaming couldn’t be kept at bay. And why not daydream? All of his was the new her, the old one would have slapped herself for wasting time daydreaming about a guy.  Who knew thing could change so quickly?

 

After work Wildflower, Brooke and Cody stood on the sidewalk in front of the building, watching people breezy by on the busy street. Then finally Isaiah pulled up in his beat up old car, with Ivan in the passenger seat. In a house of 13 they had 3 cars carpooling was a way of life for them. At moment Ivan’s car was out of commission so he had to ride with them. And the irony of that was that Ivan worked on cars. The 3 of them climbed into the backseat, next they picked Christina from her waitress job. Then they headed home in the hot cramped car, one day she was going to get her own car if only that could be sooner rather than later.

The ride home had her thinking more about moving out. Her brothers had never had their own rooms before; hell they never just had two of them sharing a room. If she was out of the house and so was Ivan and Jay and Ricky then that left 5 of them until Isaiah and Christina moved out. She wasn’t that good with change, in fact her whole family wasn’t. But four teenage boys sharing a room was cruel. Ricky needed to get out more than anyone else and he deserved space. Things were just changing too quickly but that was growing up. And another sign of the changing times was Nicolas’ car outside her house.

Her brothers were naturally disinterested in the whole thing but the same couldn’t be said for the ladies in the car. Even Cody was letting her curiosity trump her instant dislike for Nicolas. Inside the house Ivan went upstairs and Isaiah downstairs, showing their disinterest. In the kitchen there was Nicolas with an audience. Her mother of course and Aunt Maria because she was always over and now also Aunt Carmella, meaning the older woman were gossiping. Also in attendance was Evan and Tony and Sammie and Sugar. Ariela was sitting on his lap like he was her new best friend. It was like walking into the twilight zone. Her family wasn’t usually this curious but apparently her sudden love life was entertaining.

Nicolas got up when he saw her and gave Ariela to Christina before kissing her. He didn’t know that PDA was sickening to her, especially in front of her family. She didn’t mean to feel like the Grinch but it was just weird that he was over again. Everybody was acting like this was normal and like he was something very special. Maybe he was, she didn’t really know because she didn’t really know him. Most of what she knew about him came from a 15 year old girl that adored him. And surprise surprise he was staying for dinner again and of course everybody was sticking around.

Later after he was gone and all the excitement was over she was alone in her room. Wildflower knew she was odd, Daisy had told her so a million times. This was like an instant relationship when she never had any relationships. It needed to move slower for her to be able to process. A few days and he worked his way into her family. The guys were always suspicious of people that hung around in general but around her too. If she was honest she was just a little overwhelmed and maybe part of her was afraid to like him too much or get too attached.

So if she found something wrong with him now then she could get rid of him without getting her heart broken. Though there were many walls around her heart that needed to fall before she could let him in there. But she had the feeling that he would make them fall whether she wanted them to or not. Hadn’t she been thinking it was a good idea to fall in love? In theory it was great but the problem here was that she knew she would fall in love with him. It would take time but it was going to happen. He knew she was close to her family so he was making an effort and showing her that he wanted to be a part of her life. Even knowing that didn’t help her panicked feeling that wanted him to go away.

“I have to wonder if any of you liked me when I first started seeing Isaiah,” Christina said when she came in.

“Do you want the truth or a lie?” Wildflower asked, but of course she would tell the truth. In this family what was valued most was family, honesty and loyalty.

“I though Laiezs were incapable of lying? I was counting on that to keep my daughter honest,” Christina replied.

“Nobody tells the truth all of the time, but we didn’t dislike you or anything. Was I not nice to you? It was just a miracle that Isaiah had a girlfriend and you were so cute and sweet and didn’t have tattoos or facial piercings,” she explained.

“Yeah I’ve seen some of his old friends and I don’t get it either. Yet here we are with a baby, and everybody asked why I’m with him,” Christina sighed and sat down on the bed. “Anyway enough about me let’s talk about how you are completely freaked out by Nicolas.”

“How could you tell?” Wildflower asked but she wasn’t surprised that someone noticed.

“Um I live here? I’ve observed this family in their natural habitat and I think I’m expert on this family by now it’s been like almost 4 years. Cody and Brooke might think they know everybody but as much time as they spend here they don’t live here. That being said Isaiah having me as a girlfriend is weird but nobody in this family is into relationships. Jay and Brooke won’t even tell each other that they love each other. In all the time I’ve known you I’ve watched you do anything to stay out of relationships. Now you find yourself in one very unexpectedly so you don’t know what to do. Count your blessing darling, not many guys would come here one let alone twice,” Christina said.

“You think I’m being ridiculous right? I like him but it’s overwhelming,” she admitted.

“Give it time,” Christina replied.

Time, well that made sense she did need time to get use to this. And really wasn’t it better to have him want to make an effort with her family than not to? Christina’s family didn’t like Isaiah, they didn’t really know him but they just didn’t like him. That was why she was here, she got pregnant and they weren’t happy. Luckily for her she found herself in this family with its values and love. And Christina moving in meant that Wildflower was no longer the only girl and it had been a few years now. Time, right that was what she had to do, give it time, then things would settle and maybe she would be less afraid to fall in love. 

Reviews

[J. F. Charleston]

This chapter really made me feel like I know the characters. Really good job can't wait for the next chapter.