Don't Touch

-60-

One Year Later

"Simone!" Tina squealed, tears running down her face. "You can't be crying too! You're going to fuck up your make up!"

"Then you stop crying, ma!" Simone replied, trying and failing to fan her eyes dry. They were standing outside the doors to the chapel as Simone prepared herself to walk down the aisle.

"Oh, just straighten up, you gotta at least have a clear face when they lift the veil." Tina pulled from her purse a tissue to lightly pat Simone's face. "And besides, you technically did this already when we had that ceremony at your father's grave."

"I know..." Simone sniffed. "And I was crying then too."

"Which means you should be cried out, good Lord!" Tina groaned. "Y'all have been engaged for a year now. You knew this day was coming."

"Yeah, but it still feels surreal, ma..."

"Which part?" Tina asked with a raised brow. "You marrying two men or that those two men are the Rossi brothers? Because until I saw how they were with you, I didn't even know love was something either of them were capable of beyond their brotherly bond. But..." she raised a suggestive brow. "You know magical nani must run in the family because-"

"Ma!" Simone gasped before she burst out laughing. "Please, do not finish that sentence! I regret even hearing the first part of it."

"Yeah, yeah... Got you to stop crying, didn't it?"

"I feel like you probably had better options on things to say to make me laugh."

"It made you forget about why you were crying, didn't it?"

Simone nodded with a huff, still feeling the heat at her cheeks that came with the embarrassment.

Tina's face lit up when she looked behind Simone. "Well, my job here is done and just in time!" she chimed with a clap.

Simone turned around to see Sean walking up to them with his daughter in his arms. The little girl wasn't even a year old yet, but she was a ball of energy, squirming in her father's hold. She gave Simone a big smile, showing off her two bottom teeth that were starting to grow in.

"Hi Ruby," she beamed when she saw her niece, but when she reached out to take her from Sean, Tina intercepted and scooped the infant into her arms.

"Nah uh, babygirl, we can't risk her getting sick on your dress just when you're about to walk down the aisle." Tina turned her attention down to her granddaughter and tickled her cheeks. "Isn't that right?" she cooed. 

Simone rolled her eyes with a pout.

"Why don't you go ahead inside, ma?" Sean suggested. "I need to get Simone down the aisle before Luca and Em have heart attacks. I've never seen either of them sweat until today."

Carrying her granddaughter, Tina happily turned and went into the chapel to take her seat at the front.

Sean gave Simone a warm smile. "You ready for this, sis? Because if you want to turn back, we still have ti-" he was cut off when his sister threw her arms around him and pulled him in for a tight a hug. "Hey, hey! Don't get your makeup on my suit, now," he quipped.

"Shut up!" Simone whined as she pulled away and looked at his suit jacked. "See," she gestured to it. "Nothing, and now you ruined our momen-" This time, Simone was cut off when Sean pulled her in for a tight hug.

"I'm happy for you sis, I really am. And you know I've got your back," he assured. "Whatever it is, always."

"Always," Simone repeated.