"Why can't they watch them, Angelo?" I was so close to yelling at him, he was being very stubborn right now.

"I don't trust them," he said each word very slowly.

"I do! Why can't you trust me?"

"No offense, love, but you're not necessarily known for making good friends. I don't want to have to go on a man hunt for my children when I could have avoided the whole thing. Luca and Alessandra are already on their way anyway."

"Yeah, but how long is that going to take? I can't wait five hours for them to get here, Angelo. This baby is coming."

"It's only a two hour flight. You can wait a little longer."

I gave him an evil look, "Just shut up!"

My little Alessio came back into the room from the bathroom, holding a comb and some hair gel. I was actually surprised that he was awake right now because Soph wasn't even up and she was always running around before he was.

He held the stuff out to me, "Can you fix my hair?"

"How are you so awake? Did you pick out your own clothes?" I studied his little getup and couldn't help but smile. He was wearing khaki pants and his little blue checkered sweater.

"Are we going somewhere?"

"You're not," Angelo said whilst trying to wake Sophia up in one of the meanest ways possible. Tickling her little exposed foot.

That's what you get when you don't cover up I guess.

"Where are you going?" Sio whispered, hoping that he wouldn't get a smart ass answer from Angelo.

"Hospital," I said quietly. I don't know why.

He looked scared, worried even, "Why? What's wrong?"

"Stop!" Sophia screamed before quickly whipping around to smack Angelo as hard as she could have, "You're so mean!"

"Feisty little thing," Angelo scooped her up into his arms and planted several kisses on her cheeks in which she responded by giggling and trying to slap him away.

"Well," I breathed threw the killer cramp that had just came on whilst trying to pack some things in my bag and still look totally normal while doing so, "Baby sister is coming."

Alessio's jaw hit the floor and his little face went pale instantly before he frowned, "It's a girl? No!"

"No!" Sophia screamed as well just as Angelo had put her on the ground.

"I guess they don't like the idea of having a sister," Angelo said.

"I guess not."

Their reaction honestly wasn't what I was expecting.

"Hey! Stop it!" I whispered at Sophia and Alessio as they fought each other for the spot next to me, so that they could get the best look at their sister that they possibly could.

"She's fat," Alessio said after taking his first look.

"She's not fat." She was a good weight. Just slightly bigger than Alessio and Sophia when they were newborns.

"What's her name?" Soph asked. She was sad and seeing that made me sad. This was supposed to be a happy moment for all of us

"Noëlle."

"Mama," Alessio bounced over to Chloe as soon as she opened her eyes from her small nap.

"Do you want to hold her? Maybe that will make you feel better," I asked Sophia. Anybody with eyes could see that she wasn't liking the new addition and I couldn't think of anyway to make her accept it. She didn't have this problem when Alessio was born, so what's the big deal?

She shook her head, "I don't wanna drop her."

"You won't. Here," I stood up so that she could sit on the chair before gently placing Noëlle in Sophia's lap. I held my hand under her small head for extra support.

"Aw," Chloe admired the adorable little people, "Do you love her SoSo?"

The small smile that Soph did have completely vanished after Chloe asked that and she shook her head, "Can you get her off me?"

"What is the matter with you?" I picked Noëlle up and handed her to an anxious Chloe.

"She's part of our squad now, Soph, you're gonna have to get used to her."

There was that word again: squad.

It was annoying as fuck and everyone seemed to use it.

It's not a squad, it's a family or a group of friends.

"I'm going to take her for a walk or something," I told Chloe in regards to Sophia. I was determined to figure out what her deal was.

She nodded, "Ok."

"Soph, come on," I grabbed her hand and we walked out of the room. There were vending machines at the end of the hallway, she'd probably like some of the candy from it. "What's wrong? You didn't have this problem when you met Alessio for the first time. You loved him."

"That's different," she yanked her hand away from mine.

"How so?"

"Alessio was a boy. Noëlle is a girl."

She sounded jealous, but I had no clue what she would have been jealous of. "So? What does that mean?"

She gave me a look as if she expected me to already know what it meant. I couldn't read minds, especially not the female one. I was getting better at it though, "I'm your princess, not her."

Oh.

I feel like I should have seen that one coming.

"You are my princess and so is your mom and now Noëlle. Alessio can be the...clown."

"No, mom's your queen, Alessio can be the other princess and Noëlle is the clown," she sighed, "I don't want her to replace me."

"Sophia, you're not getting replaced. You're getting a sister. There is nothing wrong with that and you need to realize it fast."

"I'm hungry," she huffed just as my cellphone started ringing.

It was Lilly.

But why was she calling?

"Yes?" I asked her while handing Sophia a dollar so that she could pick a snack out.

"Angelo, it's Bandit. I spent all day with him at the vet but they couldn't do anything for him. He's uh...he's...gone," Lilly said rather quickly.

What? "What do you mean gone?" I glanced down at Sophia to see her eyeing her options. "What happened?"

"The gate wasn't closed and he ran outside, right in front of a car," she said slowly, her voice cracking from the sobs she had been trying to hold back. "I'm so sorry."

I didn't really like the dog, but he was good to the family and the kids absolutely adored him so I didn't really have anything to complain about. It was sad and I didn't know how I was going to break the news to everyone. "Where is he now?"

"Dom got him a little doggy coffin box thing. We didn't know if you wanted us to bury him or if you wanted us to wait until you got back. God, I feel so bad. Soph's gonna lose it."

Oh, I know. I was painfully aware.

That dog was everything to her.

She'd probably want to see him get buried herself or she would never trust that he was put there safely, "Yeah, just wait till we get back. Shouldn't be long."

"Ok."