by Gina LaManna
“Well, you’re one of a kind.” Meg clapped Anthony on the shoulder so hard he swayed under her force. “Which is why we had to make you a one of a kind birthday present.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a time machine!” Meg said. “You were born on Unicorn Day. It’s just unfair you only get cake once every four years, so if we can get this time machine to work, we can make your birthday happen every year. Just send you back to February 29th, then bring you forward to March 1st.”
“And it worked?” The skepticism in Anthony’s expression was so heavy I wondered how he could keep a straight face. “You’re saying you traveled in time.”
“No,” Clay jumped in. “But I did soundproof, bulletproof, and fireproof the whole thing. The fire-retardant coating and soundproofing obviously worked, though we haven’t tested the bulletproofing yet.”
“Let’s keep it that way,” Anthony said, exhaling his breath in one, loud swoosh. “I don’t think Lacey can handle any more tests today.”
I’d been standing there, staring, listening to this conversation with my mouth open the whole time. Finally, at the mention of my name, I managed to zip my lips shut and launch myself at Meg all in one motion. We collapsed to the ground as I hugged her with enough force to take down a grizzly bear.
Together, in the dirt and ashes, we laughed, and I cried. Meg laughed some more, and I hugged her harder. After a few minutes of this, Clay came over and did a belly flop next to us on the ground, joining in the party.
“Anthony, want to join in?” Meg hollered. “Bring that cute tush over here.”
“No.” Anthony stood over us. “I’ll keep guard.”
“Have it your way, Burger King,” Meg said. “In the meantime…say it, Lacey.”
I cleared my throat, wiped tears of laughter mixed with tears of soul-crushing sadness from my cheeks, and sat up. “Meg, you are the bomb-dot-com,” I said. “But if you ever lead me to believe you’ve exploded again, I will feed you chili peppers until you can’t breathe.”
“We’ve got ourselves a deal, sister,” Meg said. “Now, I’m hungry. I could use a shower, some food, and a pair of scissors. These bangs are poking me in the eyeballs. Who’s ready to go home?”
CHAPTER 49
After Meg had jumped out of the time machine, we’d held a mini-reunion for at least thirty minutes. Then, Anthony and Clay had pried my arms from around Meg, and both men encouraged their significant others to understand that showers really were in order. Between the smoke, the sweat, and a few other scents that didn’t need to be mentioned, I eventually had to agree.
But that didn’t mean the night was over. In fact, quite the opposite. Clay and Meg went back to apartment number seven to change clothes and shower. My apartment, their apartment – who cared? Today was a good day.
Meanwhile, Anthony called Casa Luzzi on the way back, filling in Carlos and gang on the developments of the evening. Nora had been eavesdropping on the other line, and immediately piped up, offering to make pancakes for everyone. Though I had no desire to punish my teeth with some cardboard coasters, also known as Nora’s pancakes, I’d readily agreed because I was too wired to sleep, and I wanted to be around people. My friends and family, namely. If being in their company for a bit longer required some extra effort on my jaw, I’d suffer through it.
Finally, Anthony brought me home. He held me close as the shower washed soot from my face and the warm water ran rivulets down my cheeks. He held me even closer as I scrubbed away the memories of tonight, and when the bathroom mirror was foggy enough to pen a self-portrait with my fingertips, we finally stepped out of the shower and toweled off. He wiped down every inch of my arms and legs with careful consideration, landing a kiss on my skin as he dried each limb.
By the time I’d adopted one of his shirts and a pair of emergency yoga pants I’d stashed in the closet for a situation like this, I managed a smile.
“That was really nice,” I said, holding his hand as we walked towards the estate. I’d thrown on a jacket to combat the dropping temperatures of the evening, my still-wet hair wrapped tight in a bun and hidden under a hood so the strands wouldn’t freeze into icicles.
“If you think that’s all the pampering I have in mind for you tonight, then you are so, terribly wrong.” Anthony stopped in the middle of the snowy field, light swirls of flakes spiraling around our faces, and he grabbed my cheeks with his hands. His fingers, still warm from the shower, tingled against my skin, and when his mouth met mine, his tongue slipping between my frozen lips, I shuddered. He kissed me for a long time.
Maybe Clay and Meg had worked some magic with their time machine because when we broke away, a day might have passed. Anthony looked into my eyes, a clouded expression flitting across his, before he hungrily pulled me close once more.
I curled against his heat, my body melding against his, and he kissed me like it might be the last time. Or, the beginning of a lot more to come. His hands slipped under my hood, grasping the nape of my neck as his lips left mine and trailed kisses across my cheek, down my chin, across the base of my neck. Finally, he rounded out the circle, leaving me with a whisper of a kiss against my forehead.
He broke away and swallowed, the action seeming more difficult than usual, before he grabbed my hand with a jerky motion and resumed stomping towards the estate.
I had to jog a few paces to keep up and avoid being dragged behind him like a sled. Or, Meg’s Balloonicorn. “Hey, slow down.”
When Anthony didn’t listen, I did the only thing that’d worked before; I took a running leap and jumped onto his back.
Anthony laughed, and I twisted just enough to see him blink, his eyes as clear as the stars above us.
“It’s okay to cry if you feel like it,” I said, a smile painted across my lips. “It’s an emotional night.”
“I’m not crying.”
“It’s okay if you are.”
“I don’t cry.”
“I’m just saying…” I reached under his chin, tickling him until he swung me around and cradled me in his arms, his face dark and full of mischief. “It’s okay if you are.”
“I said…I. Don’t. Cry.” He dipped me low, his mouth hovering over mine, centimeters away, teasing, taunting me, until I squealed with delight and threw my arms around his neck, launching myself into a kiss before he eventually set me down. “Are we clear now?” He swung my hand extra high as we made our way up the sidewalk to the estate. “I don’t cry.”
I winked. “But it’s okay if you do.”
“I don’t—”
“Hi, Harold,” I interrupted. “How are you doing this evening?”
“I’m fine,” he said. “But you look…gleeful, Lacey.”
“Oh, I am!” I did a twirl. “It’s a good day, Harold.”
Harold looked at Anthony. “Is she drunk?”
Anthony raised an eyebrow. “I ask myself that all the time.”
“Nora’s waiting inside,” Harold said, a slight hesitation as he eyed me up and down, as if I might need medical attention. “And the strangest thing has happened here tonight…”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes. Yes, that’s exactly the problem.” Harold scratched his head. “Nora is cooking, and it smells delicious.”
My turn to raise my eyebrows. “You’re kidding.”
He shook his head. “I don’t joke.”
“I know, Harold.” I clapped him on the shoulder. “Which is why I have got to go see this for myself.”
I waved for Anthony to follow, and together we started down the hall towards the Grand Entrance. When we reached the swinging mahogany door, Anthony pushed it open. The sweet scent of maple syrup and melting butter permeated the room, a nice change from the normal aroma, which was a burned ashes sort of thing. The hinge holding my jaw in place dropped open when I caught sight of Nora humming a little ditty in her checkered apron, flipping something that looked like pancakes. Real, light, fluffy pancakes.
My nose pulled my feet closer, and I took a big whiff of the slightly golden pancakes, each hosting a tiny pool of butter floating on top. A bowl of blueberries and strawberries sat off to the side and – the best part of all – a can of whipped cream sat at the end of the counter.
“Grab a plate and help yourself!” Nora chuckled gleefully. “Don’t these look delicious? I think they might be a tiny bit overcooked, but I can perfect the recipe over time.”
I looked at Anthony. I couldn’t think of anything to say. Since he also appeared speechless, I directed my eyes at the picnic table in the center of the room, around which Marissa and Clarissa sat, both of their plates empty. They looked hungrily at the stack on the counter. Almost as if…well, as if they wanted a second helping.
“These look…good?” I said, fixing my gaze on the twins.
Marissa nodded. “They are good.”
“Really good,” Clarissa agreed.
“In that case, load me up.” I took a plate, heaped on four pancakes, then moved to the fixings. A scoop of blueberries, a handful of strawberries, and a bucket of whipped cream later, I sat down.
“Wow,” Marissa said, a judgmental stare fixed on my plate. “Are you hungry?”
“Hey, rescuing you guys is a lot of work,” I grumbled, bending over my plate and digging into the feast. “Leave me alone.”
I don’t know how it happened, but my plate was empty in a minute flat – licked, swiped, and scooped clean – all before Anthony sat down with one measly pancake on his plate drowned by heaps of strawberries.
Nora didn’t wait for me to request seconds. She flipped three pancakes across the room before I could say yes, please. One of them landed in Marissa’s glass of water, and the other splattered right into my Jacuzzi of leftover syrup. The third pancake hit Anthony straight between the eyes. And it stuck there. Anthony, with a pancake between his eyebrows, was not a sight I had ever expected to see.
Both of the girls broke into peals of laughter, Marissa giggling so hard she lost half a carton of milk out of her left nostril. Her sister, on the other hand, threw her head back so hard she fell right off the bench in a heap to the floor. I leapt up to see if she was alright, but judging by her continued gales of laughter as she lay in a fetal position, she was just fine.
I looked at Anthony’s face, trying not to lose my composure. He just sat there with a pancake on his forehead, his face as expressive as a rock. His lips twitched, first down, then up, then down again. Finally, he pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow. “So, how do I look?”
I collapsed. Right next to Clarissa. The three of us worked our abs to the bone, laughing, until Anthony eventually reached up, peeled the pancake away from his forehead, and placed it neatly in the garbage can.
“Sorry,” he said guiltily, when Nora gave him a disapproving stare. “It was too sweaty.”
My grandmother huffed. “It’s just sodium. You wasted a perfectly good pancake.”
Pulling myself to my knees, I put a hand on my hip. “Come on, Nora. You can’t be mad.”
She pursed her lips, looking unamused for a long minute. Then she squinted, studied him a little closer, and eventually broke into a grin. “Yeah, I suppose it was worth it. Anyway, I’ve got plenty of pancakes. We have guests, after all. Speaking of, here they come! I better get flipping.”
“And I better get a helmet,” Anthony whispered to the girls, who renewed their bouts of laughter.
I returned to my seat and settled in, resting my head on his shoulder. “That was good of you to cheer up the girls,” I murmured, just as the kitchen door flung open. I quickly swiped a splotch of batter from Anthony’s nose. Then sealed it with a smooch, before turning to say hello to the next round of guests.
“Lacey,” Nicky boomed, looking more like a human and less like a zombie for the first time this week. “No, don’t stand up.” He approached Anthony and me from behind, squeezing me in a tight hug, then eventually letting go so he could shake Anthony’s hand. “Thank you both. For everything. For bringing the girls back.”
“Of course, we’re family,” I said with a smile. “What else were we supposed to do?”
A whoosh of air signaled the entrance of another body as the heavy mahogany door swung open, and then closed. With a shy step, Adriana moved around Nicky, coming to stand right before the table. She wrung her hands in front of her body, and her eyes blinked faster than usual.
“Thank you,” she said, looking downward. “I’m sorry about everything, and I truly appreciate all you’ve done. Both of you. Lacey, and…” she extended a hand, trailing off with a question as she turned to Anthony.
“This is my boyfriend, Anthony,” I said. “Also Carlos’s head of security. Anthony, this is Adriana, Marissa’s mom.”
Anthony clasped Adriana’s hand, his eyes assessing the woman even as he gave her hand a shake. “Lacey did all the hard work, I was just there for moral support.”
“I feel so guilty that I put all of you in this position, and—” she looked positively pained, and I couldn’t handle it any longer.
I stood up and opened my arms. “Come here.”
She fell into my arms, and the two of us hugged. The sting of a wet tear slid down my neck, and for once, it wasn’t mine. When we pulled away, dark streams of mascara streaked her cheeks.
“Please, don’t apologize. When it counted, you pulled through. And you didn’t do any of it on purpose.” I shook my head. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but you did us a favor.”
“A favor?”
“The man who went after your daughter is a bad, bad person. He’s been after us for some time, and not only us. He killed my father’s partner. He’s wreaked havoc time and time again on the Luzzi family. Without you, we might never have gotten our chance to take him down.”
“He’s gone away?” she asked.
I nodded. Inhaled. “He’ll be taken care of.”
Her eyes darted behind me to Anthony, who turned to look at his single pancake.
“Sit down, dear,” Nora pointed the spatula at Adriana. “In this family, when we’re stressed, we eat. When we’re happy, we eat. When we’re sad, we eat. So no matter how you feel right now, sit down and eat.”
Adriana blushed, but didn’t make a move to sit.
“Really,” I said. “Sit down and relax, Adriana. Everything’s okay. We’re all okay. Look at the silver lining – we met you! That outweighs all of the bad from today.”
She glanced at her daughter, a longing expression in her eyes. “Yes,” she said. “I think it just might.”
CHAPTER 50
After everyone had thoroughly complimented Nora’s cooking a zillion times over, we broke off into smaller groups. Adriana and Nicky were speaking quietly in the corner, both of them casting gazes over at Marissa and Clarissa from time to time. I hoped for the girls’ sake that they’d be able to work something out; if not a relationship between Nicky and Adriana, then a relationship between Marissa and her mother.
“Girls, can I come talk to you?” I stood up and gestured for the girls to follow. “Anthony, do you mind if we girl talk for a minute?”
“I have an errand to run, anyway,” he said. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
The girls and I moved to the Grand Entrance, the three of us plopping down on the red, beautifully carpeted stairs.
Marissa picked at her fingernails, while Clarissa stared at the moon coming through the ceiling.
“How are you guys doing?” I asked. “Besides being tired, I mean. And scared.”
“I’m not scared.” Marissa shook her head. “I’m fine.”
I reached over and patted her on the leg. “All right then, tough cookie. How do you feel after meeting your mom for the first time?”
She shrugged. “Fine.”
“Fine?”
She shrugged again. “I said fine.”
“Have you gotten a chance to talk to her at all?”
“A little,” she said. “But she’s been gone all my li
fe, so it’s not like we have a ton to talk about.”
“On the contrary,” I said. “You probably have a lot to catch up on.”
Marissa scrunched up her nose. “I don’t think so. She didn’t want me when I was a baby. Why would she want me now?”
“You two were always wanted,” I said, including Clarissa in my sweeping gesture. “By your father, by this family, and even by your mothers. It’s hard to understand now, but maybe they thought their decision to let your father raise you was for the best. At the time, at least.”
“For the best? No. It was nice of her to help us today and whatever, but…” Marissa trailed off. Her voice cracked when she spoke again, though her tone remained even. “She’s going back to her home, and I’m going back to mine. Our homes are at two different places.”
“I can’t tell you what to do or what not to do,” I said. “I can only tell you what I know and how I feel. I’ve lost my mom, and she was the most important person in my life. But over Christmas, I found my dad, as you guys know. We’re taking it slow and getting to know each other. One day at a time. We don’t live together, and we don’t talk every day. But I’m really glad we have the chance to connect.”
Marissa chewed on her lip for a bit, while Clarissa picked at a patch of carpet. I was more than relieved when Anthony showed up a few minutes later, a plastic bag in hand.
“Here.” He shoved the package at both of the girls. “It’s for you guys. A present.”
“You got us a present?” Both girls shrieked in the same way, and Anthony cringed under the harsh sound.
He looked at me, his face a mask that said he wished he’d skipped the present.
“Whoa, awesome!” Clarissa held up the package for me to see. “The deluxe, twenty-pack of LipSmackers.”
“So cool.” Marissa leaned over her shoulders. “They have all the new flavors, and the really sparkly packaging. Can I have one?”
Clarissa held it away from her sister.
“They’re to share,” Anthony said. “I got them as a small thank you for helping to get Lacey out of the cuffs.”