I followed-no, hid-behind Luca as we walked along the breezeway and through the side door.

"I look like four-day-old shit," I mumbled as we walked inside.

My ratty hair was still down in tangles. I hadn't washed my face that morning and I was adorned by the all the charm and glamor of an old t-shirt and gym shorts.

"Very cute four-day-old shit," Luca whispered back to me.

I followed him closely into the kitchen.

As I peeked around Luca's shoulder, I made eye contact with a woman who looked to be in her late-forties. With bronzed skin, dark hair and green eyes just like her son, I knew immediately who she was.

She smiled widely and ran over.

"Hi! I'm Ana, Luca's mom. It's so nice to finally meet you," she said, grabbing me. I picked up on the slight accent entwined with her voice.

She pulled me into a tight hug, all of the awkward tension melting away as she did so. I returned the hug and smiled as she pulled away.

"I'm Carrie, it's nice to meet you too."

"I'm sorry to come over unannounced like this," she said, looking at Luca. "I figured you were never going to let us meet her, at this point."

Luca just shrugged, walking further into the kitchen where two girls sat at the countertop and one stood at the oven.

"Carrie, these are my girls," Ana introduced. "This is Aubrey and Torrey, the twins."

The two identical girls at the countertop, who were hovered over a laptop, waved and smiled.

"And this is Norah, the oldest behind Luca."

The girl who stood next to the oven smiled and came over to hug me.

I returned the smile and hug.

"It's nice to meet you all."

"Hanna's around here, somewhere," Ana said, looking over into the living room.

"She's probably pouting," one of the twins remarked, still looking at the laptop screen.

Ana rolled her eyes and walked out onto the deck through the open doors.

"Philip!" She called down. "How much longer on the burgers?"

"Five minutes!" I heard the reply below.

"We decided to make lunch while we were here," Ana told us, walking back inside.

"She's been planning this for two days," Norah said, now staring into the oven to monitor whatever was cooking inside.

"You don't have to out me like that," Ana scolded her.

Ana looked over the twins' shoulders at the laptop.

"Can you put that away? You can look at dresses later."

One of them closed the laptop.

"What are you looking at dresses for?" Luca asked with a confused expression.

"Our birthday party," one of the twins replied, in a tone that indicated it should have been obvious.

"We're turning eighteen at the end of the month," the other twin clarified for me. "We're having a massive party."

"The eighteenth birthday is a big one," I said, sitting down at the other end of the counter. "You'll be legal. I had a big party when I turned eighteen, too."

Luca shot me a glare as both girls laughed.

"How old are you?" I asked Norah.

"Twenty-one," she replied, now pulling a sheet cake out of the oven.

I deduced by their ages that they were Luca's half-sisters.

"You're mid-twenties?" One of the twins guessed.

"Twenty-three," I nodded.

Ana looked at Luca.

"You're an old man," she told him.

He scowled.

"It's a five-year age gap," he said defensively. "Want to share how much older Philip is than you?"

She smiled as she playfully shot him a side-eyed glare.

"Nope."

"Eleven years," a twin answered for her.

"Momma wanted a sugar daddy," the other twin laughed.

"And a sugar daddy she got," I heard a voice say.

I looked over to see a man with graying brown hair walking up the staircase from the basement with a plate of hamburgers piled high.

"Splenda daddy," Ana corrected him, taking the plate.

He faked offense.

Turning to me, he smiled an extended a hand.

"I'm Philip, it's nice to meet you."

I shook his outstretched hand and smiled.

"Nice to meet you, too. I'm Carrie."

Philip put his hands in his pockets and let out a sigh.

"So you're stuck with Luca for the rest of your life, huh?" He asked.

I couldn't help but let out a breathy laugh at the exasperated tone he used.

"Sounds like it," I replied.

"I'll lift a prayer on your behalf."

"She'll need more than one," Norah said, poking Luca in the stomach.

Luca swatted her hand away.

"Where is Hanna?" Philip asked, looking around.

"I think she's in the living room," Ana said, putting cheese on a few of the hamburger patties.

Philip strolled over to the living room and stopped at the edge of the couch.

He reached down and began to tickle a pale foot that hung over the edge.

I saw her legs flail as she kicked at his hands, making him laugh.

"You're being rude," I heard him whisper. "You need to come and say hi."

There was no response given as he turned and began to walk back into the kitchen.

I quickly turned back around in the chair, pretending like I hadn't been eavesdropping.

"Cheese?" Ana asked me.

I nodded, encouraging her to slap a slice of Colby Jack cheese down onto a hamburger pattie.

"Okay, people!" She said, beginning to pull plates out of the cabinet. "Time to eat."

Everyone scrambled over to the countertop and began to fill their plates; putting hamburgers between buns, squeezing out ketchup, spreading mayonnaise, and loading up on potato chips.

Luca handed me a plate.

"You've got to get it while you can with this family," he told me.

I could tell he was trying to hold back a smile, but I couldn't constrain mine as I took the plate from him.

"Torrey, Dr. Pepper me," Norah said, holding out a hand.

I didn't know what this meant until one of the twins slid a can of Dr. Pepper across the countertop into Norah's hand.

"Dr. Pepper?" Torrey asked me.

I nodded as she politely handed a can to me. I made a note to remember that she was the twin with her hair in a ponytail, while the other, Aubrey, had hers in braids.

Everyone began to take their seat at the dining table, a chaotic moment of someone forgetting napkins and the other wanting the salt while they were up. When everyone was finally settled, I saw Ana looking over into the living room.

"Hanna, get your butt in here," she said.

"I'm not hungry," was the reply that echoed over from the couch.

"I don't care," Ana said. "You can come in here and sit with everyone."

I heard brief, muffled words before Ana interrupted.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," came the reply.

"That's what I thought," Ana said, pouring her can of ginger ale into a glass filled with ice.

Norah, who sat beside her mother, took a slow bite from her cheeseburger with raised eyebrows.

I looked over to see Hanna rise up from where she laid on the couch, walking around it to meet us at the dining room table.

We made eye contact and I smiled, but she looked away almost immediately.

She had brown eyes, wavy, honey brown hair and pale, freckled skin just like her dad did. Apart from her feminine features, she looked nearly nothing like her sisters who were all spitting images of their mother with dark hair and light eyes.

She sat down next to her dad and put her head on the table to sulk.

"Hanna's fourteen, in case you couldn't tell," Aubrey said sarcastically.

Hanna lifted her head to shoot her sister a glare.

"How are the burgers, everyone?" Philip asked, changing the subject.

I nodded and hummed as I took a bite, joining the resounding sound of approval from the rest of the table.

"So, where are you from?" Ana asked me.

"Oregon," I answered.

"Is that where you family is?" She asked.

I nodded, feeling Luca's body go rigid beside me. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw him shake his head discretely as I pointed my focus at the potato chips on my plate.

Ana must have gotten the hint because she stopped talking to take a bite of her cheeseburger.

"How did you two meet?" Philip asked. "I didn't know Luca was doing business in Oregon."

I glanced over at Luca, who began to fidget in his seat.

"Las Vegas," Luca answered for me.

"Oh," Ana said, "at your meeting?"

Luca ignored her question, instead taking a long gulp of his drink.

Ana turned her questioning to me.

"You were in Vegas for the meeting?" She asked.

"Kinda," I answered. "My best friend's dad is the Alpha of our pack and my dad is his Beta. We just tagged along for the ride."

"So you were staying at the same hotel then?" Philip pressed.

I tried to fight a smile as I turned to back to Luca.

"I think you should tell them how we met," I said.

"Can you pass me a napkin?" He asked Torrey, avoiding the question.

Ana's eyes narrowed.

"How did you meet?" She asked Luca pointedly.

"Unconventionally," he answered, taking the napkin from Torrey.

"Were you at a strip club?" Norah asked, laughing.

"No," He scowled.

"He broke into my house in the middle of the night," I said finally.

Luca turned his head and gave me a hard stare that lasted through the awkward few moments that followed as everyone silently processed what I had said.

Norah was the first to laugh, putting her face in her hands as she did so.

"Luca Dante Giuseppe Ronan," Ana whispered in disbelief, staring at him.

I let out a snicker.

"I said it was unconventional," Luca said slowly, turning his attention from me to his mom.

"Unconventional and illegal don't mean the same thing," Philip said, although I could tell he was trying not to laugh.

"You broke into her house?" Aubrey asked incredulously.

"You said you lived Oregon. I thought you met in Las Vegas?" Torrey asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"He caught my scent in Vegas. He stalked me and followed me home that night," I clarified.

Norah began to laugh harder, Ana's jaw dropping further.

"You just woke up and he was there?" Philip asked me.

"No, I was awake."

"So you just walked in and said 'Hey, we're mates'?"Aubrey asked Luca.

Luca nodded.

"I believe you tackled me first," I reminded him, amusement lacing every word.

Ana put her hands up to her face and mumbled something in Italian.

"You are not the son I raised," she said finally, looking at Luca in disappointed.

"They left Vegas as soon as I had traced her scent, I couldn't just let her go," Luca said defensively.

"Oh, and you couldn't trace his scent because of that stupid cedarwood and pine concoction he wears, could you?" Torrey asked me.

I shook my head.

Norah was laughing so hard at this point that she pushed her plate to the side so she could rest her head on the table.

"At least we know it works," Luca mumbled, picking up his burger to take a bite.

"Let me get this straight," Philip said, holding a hand up. "He stalks you all the way to your home from Vegas, breaks into your house, tackles you, tells you that you're mates, and you just said 'Okay, sounds great' and came back to Montana with him?"

My smile faltered for a moment.

"Yep," I lied.

We'll leave out the part where Luca threatened to kill my father, I thought.

Philip's eyebrows furrowed for a moment before he hummed and took a sip of his drink.

"You're a lot more trusting than I would have been," Norah told me, wiping tears from her eyes.

"What would you have done if Benjamin did that to you?" Aubrey asked her.

"Kicked him in the face and told him to get the eff away from me," Norah replied.

She turned to me.

"Ben is my mate," she clarified. "We met about a year ago. He couldn't come to lunch today, but you'll meet him soon."

"Your introduction wasn't as eventful?" I asked her.

Norah shook her head, still laughing.

"As ashamed as I am of the way you got here," Ana said to me, whilst shooting a glare at Luca, "I am thrilled you are here."

I forced a smile.

"Me too."

I couldn't hide the way my voice cracked when I spoke.

I could only hope everyone was still so shocked by Luca's behavior that they didn't notice.

A moment later, as I returned my attention to my food, I felt Luca grab my hand and plant a reassuring kiss on the back of it.

I don't think he had wanted anytime to notice this quick gesture, but I knew Ana had by the way she smiled at her plate.

I looked around the table briefly, watching Luca's large and, for the most part, laid-back family.

I couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealously, wishing I had a family that loved each other like that.

Quickly following it, however, was the comforting feeling that, even though I hadn't been born into that family, I would certainly become part of it.

- - -

I wish my family was as cool as Luca's, lol... Betcha didn't expect him to grow up in a house full of girls, did you?

Love me some Momma Ronan though, she's one of my favorites.

What did you guys think of his family? Let me know in the comments! And please do me a big favor and vote on the chapter!

I won't be uploading tomorrow, but there will be a chapter uploaded on Sunday at 8:30am EST (New York time). See you then!

Take care, polar bears!

MaybeManhattan .x