Beyond Layers: Layer Series Book Four (Layers Series 4) (34 page)
Read Beyond Layers: Layer Series Book Four (Layers Series 4) Online
Authors: TL Alexander
Tags: #romance
“Yeah, we all just stood there, looking down at them as if they were from another planet,” Marco says.
“Then they started to cry, and we looked at each other, and said ‘no friggin’ way are we
ever
going there,’” Jules adds.
We laugh.
“Then Gram walked in and looked at us and said, ‘Are you all a bunch of idiots?’” I say.
“‘Those are my great-grandbabies you’re looking at,’” Jules says.
“‘Find your balls and pick them the hell up,’” Marco adds.
We laugh.
“Find whose balls?” Henry asks, sitting next to Marco, their spoiled-rotten princess seated on his lap.
“We were talking about when Lex brought the boys home and Lizbet told us to find our balls,” Marco tells him.
Henry chuckles. “God, that was funny.”
“Me want balls, Daddy,” Chloe says.
“Never!” Marco and Henry say in unison.
We laugh.
“That reminds me,” Allie says. “It said no gifts on Lizbet and Stewart’s wedding invitation. Should I bring one anyway?”
“God, no,” we all say.
“So then for your anniversary party next weekend, it’s a no too?”
“You got it,” I tell her.
Lex, Krissy and the triplets walk in. Lex and Krissy are carrying trays loaded with food.
Marco gets up. “Let me help you with that.” He takes the tray from Krissy and sets it on the table in front of us.
Lex sets hers on the boys’ table. “Who wants veggie dogs and apple slices?”
They groan.
“Is she serious?” Allie asks.
“Very,” we all say in unison.
“Lex, where are my girls?”
“With Lee.”
Lee?
“But he has Luke.”
“Jax is with him. They’re fine, sis. Chill out.”
“Krissy,” Jules says, sitting at the table, picking up a fry. “Your mother has taught you well.”
She smiles and they knuckle bump, pinkies out. Jules and Krissy are tight.
“Mommy, I want fries,” Noel says.
“Me too,” Chloe says, climbing off Henry’s lap and up onto a booster seat.
“I’ll help them, Ms. Jules.”
“Thanks, Krissy,” Jules tells her.
Allie rolls her eyes. “I can’t get her to help with Marcus, even when I say I’ll pay her.”
We all sit at the table and load our plates with
real
dogs and fries.
“Seriously?” Lex says. “No one wants a veggie dog?”
“I’ll take some apple slices,” Chase tells her.
She smiles and hands him a cup of apple slices.
Jax and Lee walk in, trays loaded with burgers, fries, sodas, and beer. The boys cheer.
“Jax, did we not just talk about animal by-products?”
“Babe, a man can’t watch a hockey game while eating a veggie dog.”
“It’s un-American,” Lee adds.
“Who asked you?” she tells him, sitting next to me.
He chuckles, sitting down at the boys’ table.
“Lee, where are my girls and Luke?”
“Steph has them?”
“What? You left two four-year-olds and a one-year-old with Steph?”
The lights dim and the fans cheer and whistle.
I look at my watch. The game doesn’t start for twenty more minutes.
“What’s going on?” I ask no one in particular, as I look out on the ice.
A spotlight lights up the ice and the Rangers skate out.
The fans go wild as they line up. A referee skates on out and hands Matt a microphone.
I look at Allie. “What’s going on?”
She smiles. “You’ll see.”
“Hello, New York!” Matt says loudly through the microphone. The fans go wild.
He holds up his hand, asking for quiet. “Tonight, the opening night of the season is a special night.”
The crowd cheers.
He waits for them to settle, then continues. “Tonight, my best friend, and butt ugliest friend—sorry, Al, I had to say that.” The team laughs and claps him on the back. “Tonight, last season’s Stanley Cup MVP, Logan Romeo Romano, is announcing that this will be his last year on ice.”
The crowd cheer-boos.
I stand. “What? Did you know about this?” I ask Lex.
Lex smiles. “We all know. He wanted to surprise you.”
“Damn man.”
Then I see them, my four reasons for living, for breathing. My husband, holding hands with his four-year-old
skating
twin daughters, his one-year-old son strapped to his chest, skates onto the ice.
The crowd goes wild as I think of the many ways I’m going to make his life a living hell.
“I’m going to kill him.”
Lex puts her arm around my shoulders. “Don’t be mad. This is how he wanted to tell his fans goodbye.”
“He knows how I feel about him on the ice. And he dares to skate out there with my little girls in skates and my son strapped in a BabyBjorn. I’m not mad. I’m furious.”
Logan holds up his hand and the crowd settles down. Matt hands him the microphone and he bends slightly, handing it to Avery.
Avery giggles as she takes it. She puts her little hand above her eyes as if saluting, shielding them from the spotlight. “Mommy,” she says. “It’s me, Mommy, Avery.” She looks down. “I have on skates.”
Everyone laughs.
She begins to hand the microphone to her sister, pausing when her dad says something to her.
She nods. “Sorry, Mommy. I forgot. I’m only this much,” she says, showing everyone four fingers. “We love you, Mommy. To the stars and back.”
Fans laugh and cheer.
I wipe tears from my eyes.
Avery hands the microphone to her sister. She looks up at the crowd, smiling like an idiot. They’re both little Romanos, looking every bit like their dad. But my little Alisa, she’s a challenge, just like her dad.
“My name is Alisa Romeo Grant-Romano,” she says.
The fans cheer.
“My daddy wants you all to know, he loves you, like,”—she holds out her arms, nearly falling—“this much.”
The crowd cheers as she looks up at her dad. He says something to her and she nods.
“Rangers’ fans rule!” she shouts, and hands the microphone to her dad.
The fans begin to chant. “Romeo! Romeo!”
Matt picks up Avery and another player, Kris, picks up Alisa.
I let out my breath.
Logan takes his son out of the Bjorn. “This is my son, Luke,” he says, and holds him up.
The fans cheer and whistle.
I sit down, feeling faint.
He kisses Luke on the forehead and looks up toward our suite. “Samantha Avery Romeo Grant-Romano, please don’t be too mad. I wanted to surprise you. I love you, angel. You will always be my best score.”
The crowd cheers.
I chill out, and smile.
TL Alexander lives in the Pacific Northwest, USA. When she’s not sitting behind her Mac, she’s driving her family friggin’ crazy with her many projects and misadventures.
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Copyright © 2015
TL Alexander
Published by
Crazy Writer Books/TL Alexander
Cover design by
Robin Ludwig Design Inc.
Editing by
Hot Tree Editing
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, are coincidental and not intended by the author.
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The Layers series is written for adults, by an adult (this is questionable). It contains adult language (lots of f-age) and adults doing adult stuff (like hot sex and drinking scotch). It’s also written for those who have a sense of humor and like to laugh (this is optional, but highly recommended). If you are reading this book and you did not purchase it, shame on you. Support this indie writer by purchasing wherever e-books are sold.
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