________________

WEST COAST

♧

LANA DEL REY __________________

MY EYES SNAPPED open at the sound of something meeting my bedroom floor. I remained as still as possible, only moving my hand to reach for my gun.

Pit. Pat.

Whatever was here was in my room and getting closer. I pulled my gun out slowly, clocking off the safety as I sat up, ready to shoot. My hands faltered at my target. No fucking way.

It giggled at me as it got closer.

It was a fucking baby.

"What the fuck?" My voice came out hoarse as I dropped my gun onto the mattress. Pushing my covers off, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and approached it cautiously. "How do I..." I blinked, staring at it like it might explode. How did people even pick these things up?

The baby waddled closer, its chubby hands reaching for me with the unrelenting determination of someone who didn't realize they were dealing with a woman who could disassemble a gun in ten seconds but didn't know what the hell to do with a toddler.

"Uh... hi?" I bent down awkwardly, lifting it up under the arms like it was some kind of ticking time bomb. Its weight settled in my hands, and I immediately panicked. Could you break babies?

The baby giggled again, patting my face with sticky little hands. "Oh God, what is that?" I muttered, trying not to cringe at whatever mystery substance was now on my cheek.

The bedroom door creaked open, and Antonio leaned against the frame, his arms crossed and a smirk tugging at his lips. "I see you met Matteo's kid."

"Matteo has a kid?!" I turned to glare at him, still holding the baby like it was a grenade.

"Technically two," he replied smoothly, stepping into the room. "But this one's been known to escape containment."

I looked back at the baby, who grinned at me like it was all part of some master plan. "You let a baby wander around here? That feels irresponsible, even for you."

Antonio chuckled, moving to take the baby from me. "You looked like you were about to negotiate a hostage situation."

"I don't do babies," I muttered, letting him relieve me of the giggling menace. "They're sticky and unpredictable."

"Much like you," he said dryly, settling the baby on his hip with an ease that irritated me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Where's its handler?"

"Matteo's asleep, and the nanny's late," Antonio explained, his tone casual. "So congratulations, you're officially on babysitting duty."

"The hell I am," I shot back, reaching for my coffee mug only to realize I hadn't even had coffee yet. "If this kid's staying, I'm going to need caffeine."

The baby clapped its hands, babbling something incoherent, and Antonio smirked. "Looks like you've got a fan."

"Great. Add it to the list of problems I didn't ask for."I picked my robe off the floor, not even bothering to tie it around myself as I trudged down to the kitchen. Same as yesterday, Antonio's family was still in my kitchen. I was about to ask when they were finally leaving, but I figured doing that right after almost killing my new niece would probably get me kicked out of my own house.

"Morning, Celine," Sophia greeted me from her perch at the counter, lazily eating a bowl of cereal.

"Ah, sleeping beauty's awake," Nico smirked, his tone thick with mockery.

I ignored him, reaching for the coffee jug on the counter. Peering into my empty mug, I weighed my options for half a second before muttering, Fuck it. I grabbed a bottle of wine from the counter and poured a generous amount in instead.

"And starting the day off early, I see," Dante commented, his eyebrow raised in mild amusement.

"Mind your business," I shot back, taking a long sip of my questionable concoction. It wasn't great, but it would do.

"Summer!" I called, and a moment later, she appeared, Venom's cage in her hands.

"There's my ray of sunshine," I grinned, already in a better mood as I pulled Venom out of her cage. My scorpion crawled onto my wrist, her legs delicately gripping my skin.

"Her breakfast," Lottie announced from the doorway, holding a small container at arm's length like it might explode. She looked down at the live insects inside, her face twisting in pure disgust.

"Lottie, they're not going to bite you," I teased, smirking as I took the container from her trembling hands.

"Yeah, well, you can never be too sure with those things," she muttered, stepping back as if Venom might leap at her from my wrist.

"Don't listen to her, Venom," I cooed, opening the container and placing one of the insects in front of my scorpion. She moved with swift precision, snatching her meal and beginning to eat.

"God, you're like a Disney villain," Nico said, shaking his head. "You've got a robe, wine, and a pet scorpion. All you're missing is the evil laugh."

"You don't think I have one?" I shot him a sharp smile and added in my most exaggerated tone, "Mwahahahaha."

Sophia burst into laughter, nearly choking on her cereal. "You're insane."

"Thank you," I said brightly, taking another sip of my wine-infused coffee.

Antonio walked in just then, his expression as unreadable as ever, though his eyes immediately fell on Venom. "You know," he began, his voice cool, "most people opt for dogs. Maybe a cat."

"I'm sorry, who got me this scorpion again?" I raised an eyebrow, watching as his expression barely flickered.

"You got her the death insect?" Dante asked, staring at Antonio like he'd lost his mind.

"And most people are boring," I said, letting Venom crawl up my arm.

Antonio sighed, his tone dry. "I didn't think you'd actually keep it."

"Well, surprise," I said with a smirk, tilting my wrist so Venom could crawl higher. "She's a part of the family now."

"Only you," he muttered, grabbing an espresso from the counter.

I turned to him with a grin. "Where's the fun in being normal?"

"Being sane," Antonio muttered, his tone dry as he set down his coffee cup.

"Ooh! Are we still on for shopping?" Sophia asked, her excitement palpable.

"Yes," I said without hesitation.

"No," Matteo interjected as he descended the stairs, holding the baby from earlier. Lorelei trailed behind him, the other baby balanced easily on her hip.

"Hi, I'm Lorelei," she said with a polite smile, adjusting the child in her arms.

"Celine," I replied with a brief nod before taking another sip of coffee.

"Did someone say shopping?" Lorelei asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Yes," Sophia chirped happily.

"No," Matteo repeated firmly, his gaze landing on her.

"And why not?" Sophia asked, crossing her arms.

"You can't leave me with the twins by myself," Matteo said, a hint of exasperation creeping into his voice as the baby in his arms grabbed for his tie.

"My mother's hosting guests today," Lorelei added, her tone calm but decisive. "I don't want the twins being looked after by nannies."

"I was raised by nannies, and I turned out great," Nico said from the couch, a grin on his face.

"You're not helping," Matteo shot back.

"I'll watch the twins," Antonio said, his voice cutting through the conversation with ease.

Matteo looked at Lorelei, who raised an eyebrow in silent agreement before Matteo handed over the baby without a second thought.

"Thanks," he said simply, adjusting his now-freed tie.

Lorelei handed over the second baby, her movements steady. "They'll need their lunch in about an hour, and make sure they nap afterward," she said.

Antonio took both babies with a practiced ease, holding one in each arm as if he did it every day.

"You're a lifesaver," Lorelei added before turning to Sophia. "Let's go before they change their minds."

"They're not going to change their minds," I muttered, watching Antonio calmly shift the babies.

Sophia beamed and grabbed her bag. "Let's go, Celine!"

Lorelei and Sophia headed for the door, Matteo following close behind with a simple, "Text me if you need anything."

I lingered, leaning against the counter with my "coffee". "So, babysitting. That's a new one for you."

"You're still here. Why?" Antonio asked, his tone dry as he shifted one of the babies to his other arm.

I sipped my coffee, smirking at him over the rim of the mug. "I'm not going shopping in my morning robe now, am I?"

He raised an eyebrow, giving me a once-over before focusing back on the baby grabbing at his tie. "That's debatable."

I rolled my eyes and pushed off the counter. "Enjoy your little adventure, babysitter." I turned and made my way toward the stairs, letting my robe flow behind me like a cape.

"Don't take too long," he called after me.

"Relax," I tossed over my shoulder. "You'll survive... maybe."

I ran back upstairs and took a quick shower before getting dressed.

♧

By the time we returned, it was almost dinner, and I giggled alongside Lorelei and Sophia as we stepped back inside, arms full of shopping bags.

"I loved those donuts. Where did you find them?" Sophia asked, still licking the last bit of sugar off her fingers.

"My best friend Malakai introduced me to that bakery," I said with a grin. "He's obsessed."

"Ugh, I've never been that close to someone outside my family," Lorelei admitted, shaking her head. "But if it means donuts like that, I might consider it."

I adjusted the ridiculous weight of the 17 bags I was carrying—most of which were mine, though some were Antonio's peace offering to avoid a tantrum later.

"You had fun?" Matteo asked his wife, raising an eyebrow as he leaned against the counter, one of the twins perched on his hip.

"The most fun," Lorelei gushed, dropping her bags unceremoniously before walking over to give him a kiss.

Sophia set her bags down with a satisfied sigh. "I swear, I'm never going to get tired of shopping with Celine. It's like... a sport."

"And you're surprisingly good at it," I teased, placing my bags by the door. "But next time, you're carrying at least half of this."

"Good luck with that." Sophia smirked, plopping onto the couch like her bags had worn her out.

Antonio strolled in from the other room, his sleeves rolled up and a bit of baby spit-up on his shirt. "Do I even want to know how much damage you did?"

I smirked, gesturing to the tower of bags behind me. "Let's just say I kept it reasonable so you wouldn't cry."

"I don't cry," Antonio shot back, his tone flat as he handed off one of the twins to Lorelei.

"Sure you don't," I quipped, making my way toward the kitchen. "What's for dinner? Shopping burns calories."

Matteo laughed. "How many calories? Enough to justify all that?"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Don't hate just because your wife has taste."

"Dinner will be served in four minutes," Albert announced from the doorway with his usual monotone precision.

"I'm gonna go change," I said, already turning toward the stairs.

"Uh, Celine? Your bags?" Antonio asked, nodding toward the mountain of shopping bags piled near the door.

"Oh yes, thank you for asking. You can carry them up," I said sweetly, flashing him a quick smile.

"Celine—"

"It was a statement, not a question." I didn't wait for his reply, darting up the stairs before he could protest.

The moment I got to my room, I kicked off my heels with a relieved groan, one of them hitting the far wall with a satisfying thud. Shopping wasn't just a pastime—it was a skill I had mastered by the age of twelve. Monaco had been my favorite hunting ground for designer clothes, but no matter the locale, nothing changed the fact that wearing heels for hours was its own form of torture.

A knock sounded at the door, and Antonio pushed it open without waiting for permission, several bags slung over each arm. He dropped them unceremoniously on the floor with a grunt.

"Happy now?"

"Ecstatic." I plopped onto the bed and started fumbling with the straps of my shoes. The crisscrossed leather refused to budge no matter how hard I tugged.

Antonio sighed, shaking his head as he stepped closer. "You're hopeless. Let me." He crouched down, deftly undoing the tangled straps with an ease that made me wonder how often he'd done this for someone else.

As he worked, I tilted my head, curious. "How did Lorelei and Matteo meet? She seems... softer than him. I wouldn't have guessed they'd work so well together."

Antonio sighed, leaning against the edge of the bed as I rummaged through the bag for something comfortable to wear. "Matteo and Lorelei... their story is pretty typical, in a way. They met through one of those big, messy family dinners. You know the ones—people spilling wine, yelling across the table, kids running underfoot. Lorelei was there because her father and ours have been business partners for decades."

"Business partners?" I raised an eyebrow, pausing to glance at him.

"It's a polite way of saying they tolerate each other for mutual gain," Antonio said dryly. "But anyway, Lorelei was there, and Matteo took one look at her and decided she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen."

I snorted. "Matteo? Romantic? I don't buy it."

"It wasn't romantic at first. He didn't know how to act around her. He kept showing off—talking louder than necessary, bragging about things no one cared about. Classic Matteo, really. Lorelei thought he was obnoxious."

"So what changed?"

"She stood up to him. Told him to sit down and stop trying so hard. He didn't know what to do with himself after that. But then, he realized he liked her even more because she didn't take any of his nonsense. From there, they started talking... slowly. At first, it was just polite conversations at family events. Then he invited her to coffee, and she said no. It took him two months to convince her to go out with him."

"Two months?" I grinned. "Sounds like Matteo met his match."

"He did. Lorelei made him work for it, and honestly, it's the best thing that could've happened to him. She kept him grounded." Antonio's expression softened slightly, a rare flicker of warmth. "When they started dating seriously, she brought him to meet her family. That's when Matteo realized just how different their worlds were. Lorelei's family is... sweet. Normal. They go on picnics and play board games. It threw him completely off balance."

I laughed at the image. "Matteo, in the middle of a board game night? I would've paid to see that."

"Trust me, it was something. But her family welcomed him anyway, even when he had no idea what to do with their wholesomeness. They got engaged a year later, and a few months after that, she found out she was pregnant with the twins."

"How'd they handle that?"

Antonio tilted his head, thinking. "Matteo panicked, of course. He's always been protective, but the idea of being responsible for two babies at once? It terrified him. Lorelei was calmer about it. She told him they'd figure it out together, and they did. They're a good team."

I nodded, letting that sink in. "And you? How'd you end up babysitting half your cousins and your brothers?"

Antonio leaned against the bedpost, his gaze distant, as if he was pulling memories from a place he didn't often visit. "Our father... he was a force of nature. Always busy, always building something bigger, making moves that no one could predict. He worked like he was racing against time, like every second wasted was a loss he couldn't afford."

I leaned back against the headboard, watching him closely. His tone wasn't bitter, but there was an edge of something else—resignation, maybe.

"He loved us, I think," Antonio continued, his jaw tightening slightly. "But he showed it in his own way. Providing for us was his version of love. He'd come home late, drop some expensive gift on the table, and expect that to be enough. For him, it was like—'Why wouldn't they know I care? Look at all I've done.'"

I frowned, trying to picture a young Antonio in the middle of all that. "And your mom?"

"She was the glue that held everything together," he said softly. "But she was... tired. She carried so much—our father's expectations, the demands of being the perfect wife, raising all of us. By the time Alessandro came along, she wasn't the same woman she used to be. She tried, though. She really did. But there were days when she just... disappeared into herself. She'd sit in the garden for hours, staring at nothing. And on those days, it was up to me to pick up the slack."

"You were just a kid," I said quietly.

Antonio shrugged, the motion almost imperceptible. "When you're the eldest, you don't get to just be a kid. It wasn't even a choice. Emiliano and Alessandro were toddlers, always needing something—food, attention, someone to break up their fights. And then there were the cousins, constantly running around, getting into trouble. Someone had to step in."

He paused, his voice growing softer. "It was overwhelming sometimes. I remember nights when everyone was asleep, and I'd just sit there, staring at the mess in the living room, thinking, 'This isn't normal. This isn't what a 12-year-old should be doing.' But what else was I supposed to do? They depended on me."

"And how did it feel?" I asked gently.

Antonio glanced at me, his dark eyes unreadable. "Heavy. It felt heavy. But it also... grounded me. Taking care of them gave me a purpose, a reason to keep going when things felt like they were spiraling. They were my responsibility. I didn't have time to think about what I wanted or how I felt—it wasn't about me."

I frowned. "That's a lot to carry."

"It was," he admitted. "But it shaped me. I learned patience, discipline, how to put others before myself. It wasn't always fair, but I can't say I regret it. Emiliano and Alessandro—they're good men now. And my cousins... well, most of them turned out decent."

He gave a faint smirk, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"And your dad?" I pressed. "Did he ever... see what you were doing?"

Antonio's expression darkened slightly. "I don't think he ever really noticed. Or maybe he did, but he assumed it was just part of my role as the eldest. He was proud in his own way, I guess. He'd say things like, 'You're strong, Antonio. A real leader.' But he never said, 'Thank you.' He never acknowledged what it cost me."

The room was quiet for a moment, the weight of his words settling between us.

I reached out and touched his hand lightly. "For what it's worth, I think they're lucky to have had you."

Antonio's lips twitched into a small, almost shy smile. "Don't get soft on me now, Celine."

"Never," I said with a grin. But inside, I couldn't help but feel a deep respect for the man sitting in front of me, shaped by the burdens he had carried and the sacrifices he had made.

Antonio and I made our way downstairs, the sound of chatter and laughter filtering up from the dining room. Dinner with his family was always lively—equal parts chaos and comedy. As we stepped into the room, I immediately noticed the twins crawling around, their curious eyes scanning the room like little explorers.

"They're on the move again," Matteo groaned, already halfway to his seat, clearly relieved to let someone else wrangle them for a bit.

"Celine!" one of the babies squealed as both of them made a beeline toward me.

"Oh no, no, no, no," I muttered, trying to sidestep them. Antonio, ever the gentleman, stepped aside with a smirk, letting them reach me.

"Looks like you're the chosen one tonight," Nico teased, taking a sip of his wine.

"Great," I muttered sarcastically as one of the twins clung to my leg while the other tried to climb into my lap.

"They like you," Lorelei said sweetly, clearly amused by the scene unfolding in front of her.

"That's because I'm not yelling 'no' every five seconds," I shot back, hoisting the first baby up onto my hip while the other tugged at my dress, giggling.

Antonio watched from across the table, arms crossed, his expression hovering somewhere between amusement and quiet admiration. "You've got a natural gift with them, tesoro."

"Don't let her fool you," Sophia cut in, laughing. "She was ready to grab a gun when one of them showed up in her room earlier."

"Hey, no one told me I'd wake up to a baby crawling around my bed!" I defended, pointing a finger at her.

"Babies do seem to have a thing for Celine," Dante chimed in with a grin.

Antonio raised an eyebrow, his tone casual but tinged with amusement. "Must be because she's secretly soft underneath all that sharpness."

I glared at him. "Don't test me. You'll end up babysitting both of them all night."

"Wouldn't be the first time," he replied smoothly, sliding into his chair.

As I attempted to settle the twins in chairs near their parents, one of them started crying. Without thinking, I rocked the baby gently, humming a tune under my breath. The table went quiet for a moment, everyone watching as the crying stopped, replaced by soft coos.

"Well, I'll be damned," Nico muttered. "Didn't think she had it in her."

"Shut up," I replied, though I couldn't help the small smile that tugged at my lips.

Antonio leaned back in his chair, a rare, genuine smile on his face as he watched the scene. "Maybe we should just keep her around. She seems to have a calming effect."

"Or," I shot back, "maybe your family just likes to use me as free childcare."

"Don't act like you don't enjoy it," Lorelei teased with a wink.

The twins were now both happily settled, chewing on soft breadsticks as I finally took my seat. Antonio passed me a glass of water, his hand briefly brushing mine. "You handled that well."

"Don't get used to it," I muttered, though my tone lacked any real bite.

Dinner carried on, the warmth and noise of his family filling the space in a way that almost made me forget the chaos of earlier. Almost.

___________________________________

AYY before y'all start not too much on my girl Celine for almost shooting a baby she was ALARMED. since I did a little of Celine's backstory and now I did a little of Antonio's. Still more to come though yall

how was this chapter yall?? It's lowkey so long. Sorry y'all

thank y'all for reading tho please drink water !!

- zio 🍸