40. Alexander

"I never thought that having so many people over was going to be so exhausting," Katerina said after the last people—David and Xander—left the house after Thanksgiving dinner ended. It was currently half past midnight, and both Hayden and Savannah were down for the count.

"Well, didn't your parents have a lot of people over for the holidays?" I asked as we climbed into bed after checking on Savannah and Hayden, who had been quiet the whole night, which was unusual for him. She shook her head, pulling her hair up in a messy bun.

"Not like we did. Yes, they'd invite some of their business partners, but mostly it was us kids and them," she said, and I nodded. "But it was nice having them all here."

"I couldn't agree more with you, Angel. It seems that our parents got along pretty well, and they even made plans to have lunch tomorrow," I chuckled, and she smiled, humming.

"It's good that they're making friends—your parents, I mean. After everything they've been through, it's nice to see them happy and all," she murmured, resting her head on my chest, and I nodded, kissing the top of her head.

Dinner had gone better than either of us expected. I mean, don't get me wrong, but my parents weren't used to being around so many people. When they showed up around 7 tonight and saw the house filled with Montgomery family members, it had been a little overwhelming for them, especially for my mother.

"I didn't know she had such a big family," Mom had said when I went to greet them, and I raised a brow. "I mean, I thought she only had a brother."

"Ahh," I replied, finally realizing what she meant. Katerina had been across the room with her parents and Savannah, talking about who knows what. David and Xander were in the kitchen looking for drinks while Maribel, Jaylen, Kyle, and Hayden were coming out of the dining room carrying various dishes that Kat and her mother had prepared the day before and early in the morning. Ella, John, and Vanessa hadn't arrived yet with Tyler. Marcus, unfortunately, called two days ago to say that he wouldn't be able to make it as he was going to be flying to Colorado to be with his mother, who had fallen ill. I assured him that he had nothing to worry about and that both Kat and I wished his mother a speedy recovery before making plans to reunite once he was back in New York.

"How many of them are there, to be exact?" Dad asked, looking at the scattered Montgomery family.

"You've already met Hayden," I said, pointing to the youngest of the bunch, and they nodded. "He's the youngest of them. The first one is David, who's my business partner, as well as a rival, as both of our companies are on top of the charts. He's the one holding the bottle of beer, and the guy next to him is his boyfriend, Xander. After him come the twins, Maribel, who is over there with her husband and newborn son. And over there with Hayden are both Kyle and Jaylen—Jaylen is Maribel's twin brother. Kyle is the one that's holding a pot while Jaylen is holding the cups."

"So that's a total of six?" Mom asked, a blink of surprise clear on both her and Dad's faces, and I nodded.

"Her parents don't look that old," Dad commented, and I nodded. "They must have been very young when they got together to have so many children that look as if they're their siblings instead of their kids."

I chuckled at that but nodded nonetheless, not wanting to really say how old they were when they first got together, since I've heard stories from them about how people had looked at them as if they had grown a second head when they would say that they were only five years apart. I mean, in their time, I don't think it was that wrong to be tighter since I heard from Angelo that his parents had gotten hitched when my great-grandmother was 14 and my great-grandfather was 23. Heck, I've seen it with my own eyes how there are girls in their teens dating guys that are ten, even 20 years older than them, and I don't comment.

"They do get that a lot," I finally said, and they nodded. Before they could say anything else, Katerina was calling everyone to the dining room. Everyone entered the massive room and took their rightful seats. The Montgomery gang sat on the left side of the table while Ella, Vanessa, John, my parents, and Tyler sat on the right. I sat at the head of the table with Kat to my left and the rest of her family.

I stood up, and they all looked over at me. I cleared my throat, holding a glass of champagne up, and they all grabbed theirs.

"Good evening, everyone. Before we dig in, I'd like to say a few words, if I could," they didn't object, so I continued with my speech. "We are all here today, friends and family, to give thanks as our forefathers did so long ago. This year will be the first of many that we will all be gathered together as a family. As many of you know, recently I've been reacquainted with my biological parents, and because of that, I can thank God enough for bringing them back to me. Not only have I been blessed with having them back in my life, but I have also been blessed to have you, my second family, in my life as well." I looked from my parents to Kat's family, who smiled as I acknowledged them.

"And to you, my beautiful fiancée, thank you for giving me the chance to show you just how much you and our daughter mean to me and how much you've changed my life since I saw you again after so many years of being away from you," Kat smiled as she cradled our sleeping daughter in her arms. "Today, we are all gathered here today to create a new tradition, one that combines both of our families together to form one." Every person held their glass up with warm smiles as they listened to me speak, and it felt surreal to think that just a year and a half ago my life revolved around work and sleeping around. Since Katerina came back into my life, everything revolved around her and our baby, making sure they were okay and that they had everything they could ever need or want.