Page 18 of Titus (Big Hot Alphas 2)

“Yeah, it was,” chimes in Luca.

“Anyone want more coffee?” asks Sylvia. When everyone shakes their head no, she stands up and gathers a few of the coffee cups to bring them into the kitchen. I stack all our empty dessert plates and balance the remaining coffee cups on top before following Sylvia. When she turns around from the sink and sees that I’ve carried in the rest of the dishes, she shakes her head and laughs.

“I should have known you’d carry them all in at once, Madison,” she says.

“It’s hard to break my waitressing habits,” I say, smiling as I lower them into the sink.

Sylvia pulls on her dishwashing gloves. “Howhavethings been at the café?”

After Mason was born, I took a few months off from waitressing. But it didn’t take long for me to realize that although I love my son to death and would do anything for him, being a full-time stay-at-home mom isn’t for me. And so, when Mason was three months old, I started taking shifts at the café again. It took a little while to find the right balance, but we eventually did. Now, I work just a couple days a week while Titus takes care of Mason; we spend the rest of the week together as a family.

“The café’s been great,” I tell my mother-in-law. “We just hosted a benefit dinner and it was a huge success. My mom even helped out.”

“Yeah? That’s wonderful, Madison,” says Sylvia. “I’ve been meaning to ask about your mom.”

“She’s well,” I say, nodding. It’s taken a while to rebuild a relationship with my mom; while it meant a lot for her to show up on our wedding day, that didn’t magically solve everything. But we’ve worked on it day by day, and we’re in a much better place now.

Sylvia and I finish things up in the kitchen. When we step back into the living room, we find Mason running around the room acting over-the-top silly, keeping his dad and uncle and grandfather entertained. I take a moment to just soak in the scene, so grateful for everything I have.

Mason hops up onto the couch and gets right up in his uncle’s face.

“Uncle Luca?” Mason says.

“Yeah, bud?”

“How come you don’t have a girlfriend?”

“Honey,” I immediately break in, walking across the room to the couch. “That’s not polite to ask. Sorry, Luca.”

“Nah, it’s cool,” Luca says. He smiles at Mason. “Actually…I did meet someone recently. Her name is Quinn.”

I glance at Titus; he raises an eyebrow back at me.

“Is she pretty?” Mason asks his uncle.

“She’sverypretty,” Luca says.

“Are you gonna marry her?” asks Mason. “Are you gonna have a baby?”

“Mason!” I say.

Mason laughs, jumps off the couch, and starts running around again, forgetting about the questions he just asked his uncle.

Honestly, though? I kind of want to ask Luca all the same things. I know I’m gettingwayahead of myself, but the idea of getting a sister-in-law—and Mason potentially getting a cousin or two—warms my heart.

But I’ll let Luca tell us about Quinn on his own terms.

I settle onto the couch beside Titus, who drapes an arm around me. He lays a kiss on my temple and I lean against him, fitting myself against his big frame. As Mason races around the room, entertaining us all some more, Titus leans down and whispers in my ear, “Love you so much.”

For a second, I’m overwhelmed with how much love I feel for this man. And I think about how—later—I’m going to show him exactly how I feel.

But for right now, I just look up at him and smile, and whisper back that I love him, too, and settle in a little closer to him. Then we turn our attention back to our son, who is the epitome of pure joy as he races around the room.