Secret Crown

III. Three

Adrián

Later on in the evening, I left my spare place to visit my sister and my brother-in-law, Callum. I kept things simple and organized in my two-story brownstone, which was big enough for me to be comfortable and still run my business. It was a building that was bought off of Callum last year. It was tradition to all stay under one roof. We owned a huge mansion neatly hidden behind black metal gates, but with Angel, our youngest brother, in his first year of college out in California and my parents frequently flying out for his games, it was just Leo, Ian, and I who were there most of the time now. Natalia still had her room in our house for days when Callum would need to fly out of the country. With her being heavily pregnant and due soon, she couldn't fly, so she'd bring the kids around and stay until he got back. But other than that, things just didn't feel the same. Everyone had just split, fully immersed in whatever we had going.

Callum and Natalia's house sat on a vast property, uncommon to have in this part of Chicago. Such a huge plot of land with an open field-but the Irish sure as fuck knew how to make clean money, and that's how they bought most of the properties surrounding their original land and expanded it to fit their growing family without having the feds be able to seize it all if they got caught. The land was walled off from the rest of the world by huge, cemented walls with only one way in and out. My brother-in-law had cameras everywhere and built the place like a fortress for the kids safety. That's what was expected of him, though, to protect our family lineage. As I approached the huge iron gate, an armed guard came out to greet me. Mr. Leon, "I'll go ahead and buzz you in."

The double doors swung open, revealing nothing but fresh-kept grass that surrounded the long driveway, and somewhere in the distance you could make out a playground for the kids. As my Mercedes reached the front roundabout, Callum's fleet of cars was neatly parked outside. I stepped out of the car and saw their black iron framed glass door open, with my sister slowly waddling out with my niece and nephew behind her. She was due in about a month and a half. I had to admit that I was extremely pleased with how things turned out for her. My sister had a more peaceful life and was now a fully devoted mother and wife. In contrast to when we were growing up, she had me worried that this life would take her from us. Luckily, her life was calm, but that didn't mean her lethality didn't slip through the cracks sometimes, especially when it came to her family. "Uncle Gio!" Zoey, her oldest, ran into my arms to hug me. She took after her father a lot with her light complexion, brown hair, and blue eyes, and she was turning six years old in a week or so. Rian, her second oldest, took after his father as well. For a one-year-old, he was smart and extremely mischievous.

Hey, sis," I smiled down at her as I lifted Rian into my arms. "Hey Gio, glad you came!" She smiled warmly as she lifted her dark brown hair into a ponytail. Her brown skin glowed warmly, as her pregnancy was in full bloom. "We were just going over some plans for Zo's sixth birthday party!"

"Yeah, uncle Gio, mama said it's in a couple weeks. Zoey jumped up and down excitedly.

"Woah, August is already approaching again? I asked, looking down at her. "Yeah! This year it's Candyland themed," she beamed with delight.

"Okay, we'll think of some ideas," I smiled, "but first I need to talk to your mom and dad, okay?"

Okay." Zoey smiled and began running back inside the house, with Rian following after her as I placed him down. "What's wrong?" Nat quickly asked as the kids left us alone. "Let's go inside first," I replied, trying to slowly ease her into the news, but it was too late for that, judging by how quickly her face hardened. We walked inside the large house, where there were toys scattered everywhere as the kids were playing. "Callum is on a conference call but should be done soon," Natalia said as she led me to the living room. "Did you guys expand the house more?" I asked, looking around, as I noticed that their living room was now twice the size of the first time they remodeled. "Yeah, Callum insisted on doing so to make room for the baby."