The Twelve Tables Ch. 17

Authors Note: My apologies for the delay in this chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you to everyone left comments or sent me feedback about previous chapters of this story. Thank you to Margaret who proofread for me again, she is a gem. ~ellie

*****

Peri woke up in the bed that she and Josh shared during their visit to the farm and was not surprised to find Josh missing. He revelled in the large gathering and catching up with all the friends and relatives he rarely saw except at these events. The whole family seemed to be hyperactive and as promised Peri found herself being drawn to Emily and her quiet little corner of the Donati world.

They often sat in the glass atrium together chatting about the various groups of people they could see through the windows. They had announced her impending motherhood as soon as they had arrived rather than trying to maintain the secret and having people ask why they didn't say something earlier. Emily had been good about not lecturing her on anything to do with pregnancy but rather listening when Peri wanted to talk and answering direct questions with short factual answers, rather than long anecdotal spiels about what she had been through like the other women did.

Emily could remember when she was about to become a mother for the first time and how inadequate she had felt when taking with friends and relatives. Rosanna, on the other hand, had been a quiet port in the storm who had sat and listened as she now tried to do for Peri. Carmen and Bianca were full of unsolicited advice and scary stories, and Emily felt for the young woman who had been through so much already.

"It's so nice here away from the noise and excitement outside," Peri said leaning back in her chair and placing her book down beside her.

"I think Ben has threatened everyone with violence if they disturb, upset or over-excite me," Emily laughed lightly. "I love that man to bits, but he can be overbearing at times."

"I think it's a family trait," Peri agreed. "Plus all of the brothers seem to say the same thing. I have had Dante checking in on me so often I could almost forget which brother I am married to," she laughed with Emily.

"Josh is the baby brother they all love him the best. He's the one they all rely on never to be too busy to lend them a hand or keep them company. He's been at the hospital when each of his nieces and nephews was born. He's Mr. Congeniality in a family of big egos and even bigger wallets. You're lucky that they aren't all watching over you," Emily spoke of Josh with genuine affection. "If not for you I am sure he would be fussing over me like a mother duck and keeping me company while everyone else was out there enjoying themselves. Family means the world to him. I'm not sure Nik ever understood just how much he loved being part of this unruly mob. She hated these gatherings and would often pull him away from the crowd with one of her tantrums."

It was the first time Peri could remember when someone had mentioned Nik in casual conversation, and she blanched unconsciously prompting Emily to apologise.

"Oh, I am sorry, Peri. I didn't mean," she shrugged speechlessly.

"It's fine," Peri smiled. "I'm just not ready to think of her as part of the family again or at least part of Josh's life. I know that's irrational, but I have had to divorce her from all of you, so when someone mentions her casually like that, I react. My shrink tells me it will get easier as times goes on, though." She gave a sad half smile.

"Maybe it will help to talk about her in a distant context, you know like once removed. Or maybe it would help you to know that she was no one's favourite, but they all forgave her for being a bitch because she was family. She's been cut off from the family now, and they talk about her as if she is dead," Emily admitted. "What I am trying to say is that if anyone mentions her it will be in the past tense, and you have nothing to fear from the name being mentioned."

"Dead?" Peri took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I don't wish her dead," she said quietly. The truth was that she barely thought about how the rest of the family were taking Nik's guilt and subsequent incarceration. So much had happened so fast in their relationship that she and Josh had barely spoken of her since the panic attack at the engagement party. It bothered her more than she would have thought possible that Josh and his family treated Nik as if she had died. Had Josh grieved for his twin? Had he taken the time to consider what this would mean twenty years from now when she was a free woman again? Would he resent her in time for the loss of his sister? The thoughts swam in her head bringing forth new insecurities along with older ones that she had thought she was beginning to conquer.

"I know that," Emily said quickly watching a range of emotions play across Peri's face as she considered the words. "I have upset you, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, you seemed so happy and recovered I just didn't think," she gave a small shrug again. "I'm sorry, I never meant to upset you in anyway."

"I'm okay," Peri said. "You're right I am happy, and aside from a little nausea now and then I feel fabulous like I am bursting with energy all of a sudden. I feel like I could be out there playing, but Josh is trying to wrap me in cotton wool," she said. "It's like you said, I love him to bits, but he can be overbearing at times." She added making Emily laugh happily.

"I've come to steal my wife away," Josh announced walking into the atrium. "I have however brought you a replacement." Marisol walked into the room behind him.

"I could use a stretch," Peri said brightly coming to her feet. "I'll catch up with you later on," she smiled at Emily and took Josh's hand.

They walked through the main house which was teeming with people to the Athenaeum and up the long staircase to the main floor. Peri saw two women and three men all sitting at one end of the long rectangular table, and she looked up at Josh in surprise.

"I know we hadn't made a clear decision about the house yet but I ran into Carmella and Ferris, and they have some great ideas," he pointed to two of the people as he spoke. "Then we spoke to Paul and Tarsia and Grant. They thought if we can come up with some plans while we are all here together we could get it drawn up and submitted to the council by the end of the month so we could start to build."

Peri could hear the sense of urgency in Josh's voice and merely nodded rather than saying anything into the silence at the end of his speech about the idea. Instead, she turned to the small group and smiled. "It's very nice to meet you all. Josh had said there might be some people here who could help us out. It's very nice of you to take the time to look at our plans when everyone else is out there having fun," she said softly.

"Carmella lives for this stuff," Ferris chuckled. "I have t drag her away from work to get her down here at all, so this will keep her from getting bored."

"He's worse than I am," she shook her head. "I'm the dreamer, and he is the realist. Then we have the muscle and the pretty one and of course the bossy one." She went around the table smiling at each person.

"Would you like me to translate that for you?" Tarsia offered, "Considering I am the bossy one?" She waited for Peri to nod before continuing. "Architect and engineer, builder and interior designer and of course project manager," she pointed to herself.

"Thank you," Peri laughed softly and took the chair offered to her.

"How exciting having a honeymoon baby," Grant said with a wide grin and by the sounds of it, you're planning a big family. That means a big house, the question, of course, is do we go up or out," he said with an eagerness Peri hadn't been expecting.

"If my husband has his way I will be eternally pregnant I think," Peri laughed easily. "Honestly, I don't even know where to start with all of this, which is why we hadn't made any firm decisions before now," she explained.

"That my darling is why we are the best team there is," Carmella jumped into the conversation. "Relax and close your eyes," she paused as Peri looked at her with a frown but closed her eyes and tried to relax in front of these people she barely knew. "Now you're looking at one of those prize homes, except this one is different it's the house you have dreamed of for years. Can you see it in your mind?"

"Of course, it's Newstead House or something very similar to it," she opened her eyes looking at the people around the table. It has the wide open veranda around the front part, but the back is all cool stone and multi-levelled, it even has a cellar. I know it's heritage listed, but I have loved that house and grounds since I visited it on a school trip. I have seen a few similar ones, but they were never quite as good. It's all the iron work and wood and stone that work together to create something with history and substance. I don't know how else to explain it."

"The interior as well?" Grant asked considering her descriptions. "Do you like those heritage features and colour palettes or would you prefer a more modern look to the interior?"

"I love the heritage features, but I think both modern and heritage can be blended nicely. I can't imagine trying to cook in a heritage kitchen despite liking the look of it," she said.

"I need a shower, modern and hot and steamy, maybe a sauna room too now that I think about it," Josh said. "I need a modern bathroom."

"I've seen the modern heritage style done well. Leave it with me for a day or two and I will come back with some ideas for you to look at," Grant said. "Assuming that the dreamers pencil is sharp and raring to go," he looked at Carmella, who had pursed her lips and was thoughtfully looking at her phone.

"Are you kidding? This will be more fun than anything else we have on the agenda I love an urgent deadline like this," She looked up from her phone. "I'm not sure that six months is realistic, but we can give it a good nudge."

"If you want it done before Christmas I'll need the plans for council before the end of the month," Paul grumbled. "Who do we know on that council that can smooth the way?"

"I'll look into it," Tarsia said. "You two come up with the concept and leave it to the three of us to make it a reality. Once the initial drawing is done, we can talk costs and how we can save money if need be but go all out to start with. I'm sure Josh wants nothing but the best for his family."

"While that's true it doesn't need to be painfully so," Josh chuckled.

"So wow, we're doing this then?" Peri said with more than a little surprise.

"I'd like to bring our babies home to our forever home," Josh said taking Peri's hand. "I don't want them to have to live through renovations and building when their start to life should be calm and filled with love and cosy comfort." Again she could hear the urgency in his voice, and she squeezed his hand.

"Have I told you how much I love you today?" She smiled, and she could see some of the tension flow out of his body. She leaned over and kissed him lightly. "You're right. I'm just overthinking everything as usual. I trust you, and if you believe your friends can build us our dream home, I believe they can too."

"Great," Tarsia said eager to get on with what she needed to do. Josh had already given them the details of where they currently lived and what the house looked like. They could get the plans couriered out here and send one of their men over to take photos. Her mind whirled with all she needed to accomplish this afternoon so the creative team could start the process. "We'll get things underway and meet with you in a few days to let you know how we're progressing.

"One last thing," Carmella said as the meeting began to wrap up. "I didn't miss the fact that you said babies' plural just then. Are we expecting twins?"

"We aren't very good at this whole secret thing," Peri laughed looking at Josh.

"Shit," Josh sighed. "What can I say I'm an over-achiever," he grinned at Carmella and held up three fingers.

"It's early days," Peri said cautiously, "So we hadn't planned to tell anyone just yet. If you could just keep that snippet of information between us for a little while, I would appreciate it." Her anxiety about the pregnancy surfacing in her voice.

"Of course darling," Grant said immediately. "How exciting for you both, I will try and leave enough money in your budget for the mountain of diapers you're going to need." He pulled a face and the others all laughed with Peri, who had been stunned by the comment. She hadn't dared to think that far ahead. She had barely acknowledged that getting a housekeeper with nanny experience would be a good idea, and now she had to rethink even that decision as well.

Josh and Peri left the small team to talk some more about their future home and when out into the grounds to walk for a little while and talk away from the crowd. Peri had been surprised by how fast the small village had been filled with people on the first weekend and was glad she and Josh were in the main house where it remained relatively quiet away from the families and children and staff. She had been grateful for the quiet of keeping Emily company with her sisters-in-law. To say she had been overwhelmed by the amount of people in attendance was an understatement.

After they had been stopped for the tenth time and she had been introduced to yet more relatives she stopped in the shade of a big tree and leant her back against the bark.

"Josh maybe a walk wasn't the best idea in the world," Peri said looking up into his eyes.

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked concern for her written across his face.

"I'm perfectly fine. There's just so many people here. I think I am possibly better off hiding out back in the atrium with Emily or somewhere quiet with you. I can't possibly remember all these names." She said honestly.

"I don't expect you to remember them all," he chuckled and leaned down to kiss her.

"Oh my gosh," she said suddenly startling Josh, who stood back up and looked around for what had startled her. "How will we ever find names for our babies when you have hundreds of close relatives!"

"We'll work it out, I am thinking Joshua Junior, Josh Junior, and maybe wah-wah Junior but that's a heavy name to carry," he said seriously, and she punched his arm laughing.

"No, no, and definitely not," she laughed merrily. "I think we are going to have to tell our parents about the number of grandchildren they are getting, though. We can't keep it a secret very long now," she said.

"I guess I let that one out already," he gave her a guilty look. "No time like the present I suppose, they are probably holding court in the front room and will be grateful for the diversion," he suggested and took her hand again.

*****

As Josh had predicted Joseph and Antonia had been more than delighted to leave their friends in the front room and guide them back through the house to their rooms at the rear to talk privately. Peri walked into a cosy sitting room and took a seat. It was only as she sat on the comfortable couch beside Josh that took note of the subtle touches that told of their open love and sexuality. She blushed lightly trying not to look at the artwork and decorative touches in the room. She wondered idly how Josh dealt with it as if he had always been around such things.

Josh began to speak to his parents, and Peri found it hard to look at Joseph as a memory of their intimate interlude flittered through her mind like a movie she has once seen rather than starred in. She dragged her mind back to the conversation as she heard the word triplets spill out of Josh's mouth and she took in the stunned faces of his parents.

"Excellent!" Joseph said happily and slapped his son on the back. "You were always one step ahead of everyone else."

"My goodness," Antonia gave Peri a concerned look. "How do you feel about this?" She asked carefully.

"Well I have a little nausea now and then, but it's not terribly bad. Honestly, I'm not sure how I am supposed to feel because I've never been pregnant before but feel good. I have a lot of energy, and I'm happy. We always said that we wanted to start a family straight away, I guess this just means we will be starting with a bigger family than planned this early. It also means I will probably need some help."

"Yes, we should start thinking about a housekeeper immediately, but we will have some time to train a suitable nanny or maybe even two," she nodded wisely.

"I'm not sure that will be necessary," Josh cut in. "The house, while we love it, it not going to be big enough for this sort of increase in our family let alone household staff. I've already met with Carmella about coming up with some ideas for a renovation or complete rebuild. We love the location and don't really want to move from there, but the house just isn't going to be big enough."

"I thought you were going to build out near Andreas and Marisol?" Joseph asked scratching his chin, and Peri smiled at the affectation having seen each of his sons use it from time to time.

"Eventually, but we like the location of this house for now. It's close enough to work that I can come home quickly if needed and not so far from the city that Peri would have to worry about getting to appointments or seeing family and friends. There's enough room out there to build an airstrip so you can visit as often as you like," He added as a softener to the fact that they had plans to alter the gift they had been given.

"That makes sense," Joseph nodded. "Carmella and her team are good. I would like to see what they come up with. Are they working on it while you are here?"

"Yeah, we want to have some sort of plan happening by the end of the gathering that we could take to council for initial approval," Josh nodded his sense of urgency over having a home for his family creeping back into his voice.

"The home is the woman's domain and Peri, and I will be having an equal say about how this house is renovated," Antonia said forcefully but winked at Peri, who looked on in stunned amusement. "Is Grant handling the design aspects?" She asked.

"Yes," they both said in unison.

"Good Peri and I will meet with him after dinner tonight and get him to know exactly what we think," Antonia decreed not allowing arguments from her husband and son. "I can introduce you to some of the girls who are looking for work as housekeepers and might be interested in training as a nanny. We have some lovely girls here at the moment, and it won't hurt to get to know them while you are here you might find you click with one or two, and they would be grateful for the work," she said directly to Peri.

Peri took a breath and calmed her nerves as Antonia took over and told herself that she could take or leave Antonia's suggestions, despite the woman's forceful use of the word "we." She hadn't considered that the girls who signed contracts here would be grateful for the opportunity of working with her and Josh, and she chastised herself once again for getting hung up on the word slave.

"I'd like that. I have a few questions and idea's that you could probably help me with," she smiled at her mother-in-law. She would like Andie's input too, but there would be time for that she reasoned.

"It's a shame your mother isn't coming until the weekend, but we can catch her up on everything we talk about then," Antonia said as if reading her mind.

"So tonight after dinner then, Papa?" Josh asked his father.

Joseph mumbled his agreement as if deep in thought and then looked at his wife seriously. "I can't remember the last time one of our children let us be part of their projects voluntarily," he said. "Let's not get carried away with imposing what we think best and let them tell us what they would like us to help with," he said gently. "I am quite liking one of my sons coming to us rather than the other way around." He reached out to take Antonia's hand in a loving gesture.