Page 1 of My Big Fat Shifter Wedding

1

OLIVIA

IT’S MY BIRTHDAY AND I’LL CRY IF I WANT TO

“You are a capable woman. You are worthy of praise. You look great, and you’re gonna go down there and mingle like you know you’re a rock star.”

I stared at the reflection of my dull, dishwater-brown eyes and tried to will myself into believing the words I was saying.

“You got this. You rocked this entire quarter and convinced a long-time client not to take a cheaper offer from a competitor. You’re now able to run an extra twenty as a wolf without getting winded and another five on the treadmill as a human. You deserve to⁠—”

“Olivia!”

My sister Serafina’s voice cut into my affirmations, and I jerked upright, unable to miss the deep flush that colored my slightly tanned cheeks. While I didn’t have the deep olive tone that some of my Sicilian cousins had, I could tan almost as well as them. With summer approaching, it was almost time to switch to a slightly darker shade of foundation.

“In here!” I called, hoping she hadn’t heard my peptalk as I exited my en suite bathroom. Thankfully, since my family had grown up in the house, we’d had lots of time to soundproof most of the spaces so we weren’t hearing each other go about our business. Before two of my siblings moved out, there had been nine shifters living in this house, and nobody needed that many showers, bad singing into hairbrushes, and other hygienic events as constant background noise. “Are you okay?”

“Need help,” Serafina said, nearly bursting through my door like the Kool-Aid Man. I didn’t blame her. She was so ridiculously pregnant that I was proud of her for being mobile.

“Of course!” I hurried over to her, offering her my arm, but she breathlessly waved me off to sit on the edge of my bed.

“I was trying to pull up my stockings, but I forgot Cillian helped me get them on this morning,” she said sheepishly, lifting her long, traditional skirt to show me the compression hose that was now bunched around her knees.

Okay, now I was really impressed that she was able to walk into my room.

“Oh, I got you, don’t worry!” I soothed, quickly kneeling in front of her. “I’ll get these unbunched, then you can stand and I’ll shimmy them into place.”

“You are a godsend.”

I warmed at her words. Sometimes, being the fifth child out of seven felt pretty thankless—especially since I was supposed to be the final Rizoli baby until my little brother Massimo decided to make a surprise announcement about his conception at my dance recital by having Mom throw up while she was hugging me—but I really did enjoy when I could bring genuine relief to those that I loved.

“Want me to rub your feet while we have a moment?” I asked. I was being careful with the hose because with shifter strength, it was far too easy to destroy even the strongest of underthings.

“Sorellina, there’s a party to get to. Let’s table that for another time. Like tomorrow.”

Chuckling, I finished the first part of our quest and stood, offering my second eldest sibling my hands. She took them, and I was immensely grateful for my natural shifter strength, which allowed me to pull her to her feet with ease.

“Head rush…” she murmured, blinking a bit, and I scented the air to make sure everything was all right.

Serafina’s first pregnancy with Aggie had been rough, so I’d learned what to have my nose search for in regard to high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, and pre-eclampsia. Pregnancy was hard on pretty much every species, no matter how magical.

“Do you wanna sit back down?”

“No, no, I’m good. I’m afraid if I do, I’ll get stuck up here.”

“Fair enough. Hold onto my shoulders.”

She did, and I busied myself with getting the hose up her thighs, over her rear, and finally into the proper position over her baby bump.

“There you are! Right as ra⁠—”

A child went streaking by the door with a broom above their head, yodel-shrieking like they were an alien from a generational space opera.

Then a second blur, swinging around an expandable feather duster like a wand.

And finally, a third blur, wielding someone’s personal massager. It wasn’t mine, so I could only hope it was one for someone’s neck rather than the alternative.

“Go,” Serafina said, her eyes wide. “They’ve been released!”