Dominic aka Dom above....
Dee's POV....

The last thing I expected was to meet Alex's whole family at once. Though they weren't as bad as I thought they would be, after all, my situation was known to them and it wasn't exactly a normal situation as we were neither together with Alex nor we were anywhere near being close. The only thing keeping us together were our babies.

But despite all this, they still welcomed me with open arms. We had apparently come for the wedding of Alex's youngest sister, Cara, who was to get married in a month. We were meant to stay in one of the many islands Alex owns until the wedding but my gut kept telling me there was something more to it. Cara and her best maid were the only ones missing. The groom and his family were meant to come a week before the wedding so that meant it was just the Rodriguez family and me.

Zoe and Zack had been ecstatic to see me. I had never been happy to see them before. I had missed the two munchkins. They had apparently made themselves my bodyguards and maids so that I won't harm their brothers (according to Alex and Zack) or sisters(according to Mrs. Rodriguez, who said I should call her by her name, Ruby, her two sisters in law Nina and Angelica.) I actually didn't mind any sex, so long as my babies were okay and breathing when they were born.

Antonio, Alessa son who was the same age as Zoe, was with his father and were meant to be coming in tomorrow with the rest of the gang. Hamida, Gina and Liz were also invited to the wedding by extension because they were my friends and Alessa's apparently since they had bonded when I was at the hospital. They too were meant to land any day now. When I had asked why they needed to come early, Alex shrugged and said we all needed a holiday though I could still smell something suspicious brewing.

I was currently sitting by the kitchen island, two days later after we arrived, watching as the rest of the women got to work on our lunch and I was made to watch because I was told I was on strict orders to stay off my feet. That didn't stop me from making the salad while sitting though.
Ruby was currently narrating how she met Senior, Alex's father and we were all cracking up at how awkward their meeting was.

"Wait, so dad fell in love with your voice first?" Asked Alessa, as she bent to place the pizza in the oven.
"Yep. He would always call 911 and it was his luck that I would always pick up. And he would always make an excuse to talk to me longer which made my colleagues tease me all the time. Funny thing is he knew my name but he always remained a mystery and every time I asked him he would make an excuse. I left the call center a month later and he went crazy when he found out I had left. He looked for me everywhere in LA until finally one day he showed up on my front door in the middle of the night. I immediately recognized his voice because I had apparently fallen in love with him too. He slept over that night and well the rest is history. We got married a month later, on the same day with Nina and Angie." Said Ruby and we all awwed at how cute their love story was.

Her story made me wish for a happy ending like hers. And even though her husband was dead, you could tell that she still loved him but she was content with the life they shared and that she was enjoying the last of her days with her family.

The irony was that all three( Alex Senior who was Alex's dad, and his brothers, Antonio, Nina's husband and Dominic, Angie's husband all died on the same day in a plane crush. It seemed weird to me really but clearly the three were so close that they got married on the same day, they children born months apart and then they all died on the same day. Made me wonder how weird fate works.

Nina had two sons, Dominic Jnr who was a few days older than Alex and Salvatore who was two months younger than Alessa.

SALVATOR AKA SAL ABOVE....

Angie had two daughters, Esmeralda, who was a few days younger than Salvatore and Zoe who was two months older than Cara.

Dom and Sal ran their father's shipping industry while Essie was a fashion designer and Zoe was a Victoria secrets model just like Miranda and Cara. Alessa, unlike the rest of the family, ran a small restaurant in LA and although she claims its small, from her family's reaction when she was telling me this I could tell it was anything but.

Of the whole crew, Essie and Zoe where the ones missing from the crew and obviously Cara.

Dom and Sal were cooped up with Alex in the house office doing business which was ironic cause we were meant to be on vacation. And despite their mothers complaints, they gave the excuse that they had nothing better to do, while the women worked.

"Sup sup Fam!!" I heard a raspy feminine voice shout from the hall and two figures walked into the kitchen. You could tell from their appearance that they were Angie's daughters as they were the spitting images of their mother.

Everyone left what they were doing and ran to them, engulfing the both of them in hugs and kisses, even the kids joined in on the hug. It was a family moment and I didn't want to intrude in their moment but Ruby and Alessa had other plans as they broke away from the group and dragged me to the rest of the group, forcing me to join in on the hug. We finally broke off and after every one had said their own special hallos to the two new arrivals, they women walked over to me.

They had not only taken their mum's facial appearance and hair color which was a deep brunette, but also her curvy figure which made me wonder how one of them was a model but then again when you come from one of the most influential families around and your sister was a fashion designer, why wouldn't you become one?

They could have passed for twins except one was rocking a pixie cut while the other one had tied her hair up in a messy bun and they both had different eye colors. One had the signature blue eyes of the Rodriguez family while the other one took her mother's hazel brown eyes. The closer they got to me the more I noticed the differences in them. Like pixie haired one was slightly taller than the other one, though they were both easily around five foot seven, and one was slightly curvier than the other.

"You must be the famous Dee we've been hearing about." Said the pixie haired one, who had a sincere smile on her face.
"Yeah. Am anything but famous though." I replied as I blushed and looked down.
"Aww, she's just as adorable as you said Lessa." Said the one with the bun who was the slightly taller one.
I turned to look at Alessa who had the grace to smirk back at me and shrugged.
"What? They were curious as to who has Alex the great shaking in his boots." She replied and the others agreed in unison.
"Well, before you die of embarrassment, which we don't want because we care about you and those little munchkins in the oven, let me introduce myself. Am Esmeralda, or Essie as I like to go by. This uglier version of me is my sister, Zoe." She finished pointing at a glaring Zoe.
"Please, we both know am the prettier one of the two of us." Said Zoe.
"Girls, you at both beautiful. But if you want me to disfigure your faces so y'all can both be ugly then I will. Am tired of telling you both every ten seconds you are together." Said their mother in a joking manner earning chuckles from the group.

"I was wondering why there is so much noise but now that am here I wonder why I even bothered to waste my brain on such nonsensical thoughts." Said a familiar deep voice and my head automatically turned to the direction of the voice, landing on the three figures standing on the door way of the kitchen. Actually, my eyes landed on one particular person, our eyes clashing and I broke away when he sent a wink my way, blushing and again I thanked God for my skin color.

The three men walked into the kitchen, each giving a hug and kiss to Essie and Zoe before standing next to the island.

Alex walked towards me and I felt my heart beat faster as he came closer, the smell of his cologne hitting my nose and I found myself breathing him in.
"Are you okay?" He whispered in my ear, standing behind me as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder bringing me to his chest. I was so flustered that no words could form in my mouth and I blushed looking down as I nodded. He chuckled and kissed my forehead sweetly, letting his lips rest there for a few seconds longer before he placed his nose in my hair and inhaled deeply.
"Hope you haven't missed me too much.." He said lowly.
"Why would she? Its not like we are a boring lot..." Said Alessa clearly hearing what he had said.
"Unless you are suggesting otherwise," added aunt Angie in a teasing scolding tone.
"Nope. You guys are the best company anyone could have.." He replied quickly making the whole room chuckle.
"Good answer boy. I was about to whoop your ass with this spatula if you said the wrong thing." Threatened aunt Nina waving the spatula she was using to make the stew in the air.

"Aww, isn't anyone going to say anything about how cute these two are?" Said Zoe snr teasingly.
"We have multiple times and it makes me want to puke." Said Dom with a teasing gag and Essie threw a paper towel at him.
"You are just jealous Dom cause you haven't found anyone who can make you feel love." Said Essie.
"Please, as if I'd want to be such a pussy...." He started but got interrupted when Aunt Nina actually threw the spatula at him.
"Language young man!" She scolded.
"Sorry. Geez...a man can't even speak his mind without being attacked." He said.
"Are you sure you can call yourself a man if you can still get beaten by a spatula?" Teased Zoe and we all burst out laughing.
"That was low Zee. But I'll get you...just wait." He said as if on a mission.
"Yeah. I've heard that statement all my life. It doesn't work no more boo.." Zoe replied while whipping her hair behind in sassiness.

As they continued to banter and joke around, a smile made its way on my face. This family is really something else. But you could tell they had strong family values and bonds that bonded them and made them stronger together. Something that I had only seen back home. I felt myself getting home sick just by looking at them. I looked up at Alex and found him already looking at me with an adoring gaze that made me want to melt but I didn't want to read more into it.

We heard more commotion coming from the living room and we turned just in time to see Alex's friends, Dante, Damien and Morgan walk into the kitchen, a little boy holding Dante's hand which he released as he screamed mama while running to Alessa who took him into her arms.

Antonio, Alessa and Dante's son looked like an exact replica of his father except the Rodriguez signature eye color, which he took from his mum obviously.

The rest of the gang greeted us and after a few conversations were exchanged dinner was ready.

After dinner, the younger women that is, me, Essie, Zoe and Alessa went outside to have chill around the pool as we waited for the food to digest before we went to bed.

I had settled for a glass of red wine which Ruby had insisted was good for me and the babies. She claimed that she would have two to three glasses while she was pregnant and Alessa had claimed that it had backfired on her last child, Cara earning a slap on the backside of her head.

"So did Cara tell you when she's coming?" Asked Essie as she sipped her glass of whiskey with coke. She unlike the rest of us preferred to go for hard liquor, saying wine was like juice to her.
"I should be asking you that since you saw her recently." Replied Lessa.
"Well you are her sister, figured you'd know since she acts like she doesn't know us when we meet her." Replied Zoe.
"Aren't you guys close?" I decided to ask, my curiosity nagging me.
"We used to. Before our fathers died. Then she became a brat and a bitch. I don't know why she acts like she's the only one of us who was affected by their deaths." Said Lessa a scowl marring her face.
"Maybe that is her way of coping with it. By acting out. Especially if she was really young when it happened." I tried to explain. I knew what acting out after loosing was like. After all I had experience. But you grow out of it eventually.
"This marriage is the last stroke. Gosh I don't know what Alex will do when he finally meets her fiancé." She said and they all sighed.
"Why?" I asked curious before taking a sip of my wine.
"Trust me you will want to see this for yourself dear." Was all she replied before she changed the subject, leaving me pondering about what she meant. It couldn't really be that bad, could it?