Out of nowhere, Alex swooped down and lifted him easily over his head and onto his back. “Boy, didn’t you promise you were gonna behave?” he asked the now-laughing-hysterically Taz. “Drop the worm,” he ordered, trying to sound firm, but Regina could see he was holding back a smile.

With the worm dropped, Alex began putting him down, tapping him on the behind. “No more worms, you hear me? Go take care of your sisters.”

Just behind him Angel now approached, also putting down his own son, who quickly took off after The Taz. They were both headed at top speed toward Mandy’s outdoor playset.

Alex kissed Valerie then turned to Regina with a smile but addressed Brandon first. “Billings?” he said. His smile wasn’t quite as bright as when he smiled at Regina. “Long time.”

Brandon nodded, glancing around. “Yep. Long enough. I see the second generation of Morenos is growing fast.”

“That it is,” Angel said, wrapping his arms around Sarah’s waist from behind. “What about you? Any kids yet?”

Brandon shook his head, and Sarah smiled then winked at Regina. “You never know though. He and Gina have been dating for a few months now.”

Bell and Romero approached them. As usual, Romero wore a huge grin. “Isn’t this crazy?” Romero asked. “Gina and Billings. I never thought I was gonna see this guy again. Now we just may be related someday.”

“What is that you guys always say,” Pat suddenly chimed in. “Easy! They’ve only been dating for a few months, and Brandon hasn’t been made to jump through all our hoops yet.”

Feeling Brandon tense, Regina turned to Pat, trying not to sound as annoyed as her comment made her. She hoped Brandon didn’t think she meant all of them as in the Morenos as well. Regina knew Pat meant her family, but with all of them standing there, it could easily be construed as all of them as well. The last thing she needed today was for her sister to add to the already mounting tension. “Pat—”

“You see here,” Romero’s uncle Max stuck his phone in Pat’s face. “That was me back in high school.”

With a frown, Romero suddenly scoffed. “Will you stop trying to convince her you were good-looking once upon a time.”

“Once upon a time?” Max lifted his collar on both sides. “I’m a fucking chick magnet. What are you talking about?”

They all laughed, and for a few minutes while Romero, Max, and Pat went back and forth, the attention was off Regina and Brandon. The phone got passed around to the guys, who all laughed and poked fun at Max for the clothes he was wearing in the photo.

“Check out the Fonz.” Romero laughed.

Sal and Grace arrived. They came over and chatted and said hello to Regina and Brandon. Much like the other two brothers, Sal was civil but not overly friendly to Brandon. They were the only couple who arrived without kids.

“You don’t have any kids, Sal?” Brandon asked, and he seemed to have loosened up just the tiniest bit like Regina, but neither was completely relaxed.

Sal and Grace smiled at each other. Then Sal patted her belly. “Third one is on the way, and the other two are with her sister and my cousin Vince. They’re married but holding off on the baby making for now, so they often take our two rug rats for the day or even the whole weekend. But, yeah, we have two: boy and a girl. They should be here in a few.”

“Where did Sofie and Eric go?” Bell asked, looking around. “I saw her earlier, didn’t I?”

With the exception of Romero, Max, and Pat, who were still caught up looking through the photos on Max’s phone, there was an obvious shift in the mood of the group. Alex’s jaw actually tightened as he, too, looked around.

Sarah cleared her throat. “Last night she told me the baby had been real colicky this whole week. She and Eric might be inside with him.”

The subject was changed, and then Bell announced the food was ready. Time seemed to move in slow motion as they all served themselves and sat down to eat. Fortunately, they all had their hands full, trying to serve and feed restless kids and dealing with babies. The novelty of Brandon, their old neighborhood acquaintance, being Regina’s boyfriend wore off for the moment. Regina and Brandon sat with her mom and a couple of aunts instead of at the table with the Moreno clan.

“Why didn’t daddy come?” Regina asked her mom.

“He’s been real tired this week,” her mother explained. “The doctor switched his medication, and it makes him sluggish. We got up early and attended the Mass, but when we got back home, he said he wasn’t feeling up to coming. I told Bell I’d stay and eat, but then Pat’s taking me home.”

“But he’s okay, right?” Regina asked, feeling a bit worried.

“Yeah, yeah.” Her mother patted her hand. “It’s just gonna take some time for him to adjust to the new medication. He wasn’t feeling ill or anything, honey.” She smiled. “He was tired and not in the mood for crowds. I left him on his recliner, watching TV. He even reminded me twice to be sure to bring him back cake.”

Regina smiled, feeling a bit relieved, but she didn’t like to hear that her once-active dad didn’t even have the energy to attend a family function. It wasn’t like him.

Trying not to over think things, Regina ignored the fact that when Sofia and Eric had finally made it out into the yard again they sat at the furthest table from her and Brandon. It was understandable that they might feel a little uncomfortable. Then the one time she thought her and Sofia’s eyes had met Sofia quickly looked away without addressing her. After finishing up eating, Regina excused herself to use the bathroom inside. Once out of the bathroom, she made an unexpected detour towards the baby’s room when she heard him whimpering.

“Oh, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?” she whispered as she turned the corner into his room.

He was already standing, holding the rail, and his little whimpering face brightened the moment he saw her. Like she’d seen him do so often before, he screeched, jumping up and down. He stood there with the biggest but near toothless smile as he held out his little arms to her.

“Just like your daddy,” she said, picking him up out of the crib and kissing his bald head. “Always smiling and laughing.”

Knowing Romeo’s diaper likely needed to be changed, Regina walked over to the changing table and laid him down. He kicked wildly, making the loudest noises as she began undoing the onesie he wore.

“Shhh!” She giggled. “Seriously, must all you Romeros be so loud?”

Still smiling, she leaned in and kissed him again on the forehead. She loved that she’d been able to convince her sister to go with her first choice and name him Romeo. Bell had been worried he’d be teased mercilessly in school. Both Regina and Pat had laughed and had reminded her who this kid’s father was.

“If he’s anything like his dad,” Pat had sneered, “no one is gonna be teasing this boy.”

She turned when she heard someone at the door. “Hey.” Sofia smiled a bit awkwardly. “I heard him screech and thought mine had woken.”

Regina’s sudden cheery mood deflated at the sight of her. Sofia looked as perfect as ever. It was disgusting.

Stop it.

“No,” she said, trying to sound as normal as possible and turned back to face Romeo. “This little guy is ready to go join the party. I’m just changing him first.”

“So how’ve you been?” Sofia asked, coming to stand next to her by the changing table.

“Good, good.” Regina nodded as she finished wiping Romeo clean. “I moved back to California, so I’m happy about that.”

“I heard,” Sofia said while tickling the bottom of one of Romeo’s feet. “That’s good you get to be near your family. I can’t even imagine being so far away from mine.” She cleared her throat and went on. “And you’re with Brandon now.” It was a statement, not a question, and it took Regina by surprise. She froze for a moment then turned to face her. Sofia smiled a little less awkwardly now and more genuinely. “He’s a good guy.”