A few minutes later, Beth answered.
“Aria?”
“Hello, sweetheart. I have an idea and a few favors to ask.”
“I’ll do whatever you need,” Beth said.
Aria smiled. She was so sweet. “I want to have a holiday party with the two families at the beginning of December.”
“Oh, well, I’m the wrong one to ask—”
“Beth, do you think my guys and I are less of a unit because we don’t have a piece of paper saying so?”
“No, of course not.”
Aria smiled. “Do you think you and Alastair are a couple?”
“Oh, well, I would say yes, maybe. We’re together.”
“What makes you different from me, sweetheart?”
“You’re the head of the Moretti family, for one, and I’m a nobody. You and your guys have discussed a future and marriage, but he hasn’t.”
“Have you talked about this with him?”
“We’ve tried, but we just end up having sex, so nothing gets discussed. He says he loves me and that he will always want me, so that’s enough for me.”
Aria sighed. She wanted to kick Alastair in the ass for being such an idiot. This woman, more than most, needed security, and he wasn’t giving her any. “We’ll talk more about this later. I consider you to be the monarch of your family—”
“Oh, God, no.”
“Beth, being with the head of the household makes you the monarch.”
“Only if we were, you know, together.”
“But you are.”
“You know what I mean.”
Aria could hear the panic in the young woman’s tone, so she backed off for the time being. “Let’s talk about the party. Can you round up the other girls and get them here? I need all four of you for this.”
“I can find the girls for you.”
“Good. Can the four of you come over today? We need to get started on it as soon as possible. We’ve only got five months to plan it.”
“I’m sure they can. I’ll have to ask Alastair if I can go.”
“If you can’t, we’ll just meet at your place.”
“I don’t want you to change anything for me,” Beth said.
“I damn well can. My final plea and favor, now tell me if this is offensive in any way, but I want you to call me Mama like the other girls.”
There was a moment of silence.
“Are you sure? How will the other girls feel?”
“They’ll love it. They have all talked about you as a sister, sweetheart. Any way you try to fight it, we’re still going to shove our way into your life.”