Chapter 7
Francesca
After our extended shower, Nick, and Eve stayed in our bed for a while. But they eventually went back to their own room.
Stefan and I talked for a bit after they left, just holding each other. Then Stefan made love to me—softly and deliciously slowly until he brought us to climax one more time. By then I was too tired to move, and I fell asleep quickly in his arms.
The next morning, my body felt wonderfully—used. I was just about to get up to shower when I heard yelling downstairs.
Stefan sighed underneath my head. “Fuck. I knew it was too good to last. Let me up, Chesca. I better go save my brother from whatever the fuck he did wrong this time.”
I moved away, and he jumped out of bed. I watched his well-muscled body—and his great behind as he walked to the closet. I decided to grab my robe and go see what was going on downstairs.
Stefan came out of the closet, zipping his pants as he walked. His shirt wasn't buttoned, but he looked good.
Really, really, really good.
“You don't have to come down.” He stopped and took me into his arms. “Go back to bed. I can handle this.” He kissed me softly and let his hands graze down my body. “You worked hard last night.” He smirked. “You deserve a rest.” He let me go and sauntered out of our room.
I didn't listen. If there was something I could do—I'd do it. So, I quickly ran to grab my robe and slipped it on. Then I hurried to catch up with Stefan. A few steps into the hallway, I heard Giselle say, “No! You did—not—send the plane back to get her bunnies—again! You have to stop doing that.”
Carlo answered her back, “No, I don't. She's my daughter, too. And if I want to send the plane back for her bunnies, I'll send the plane back for her bunnies!”
“Oh, boy,” I said to myself.
Stefan had hustled and was already down the stairs.
“Ah, I see. Daniella's bunnies have arrived.” Nick walked out of the living room and headed straight for the two cages by the door.
“She'll be overjoyed. When I was over at the other house yesterday, she was crying about how much she missed them.” He bent over and stuck his finger through the cage to pet one of the bunnies.
“Nick, that's no excuse to waste an entire plane ride to bring them over!” Giselle yelled at Nick.
Yikes.
Carlo spotted me hurrying down the stairs. His gaze took me in from head to toe.
“Okay, well, what's done is done,” Eve said from the top of the stairs. She was in her robe, too. Her breasts bounced as she quickly walked down the stairs. “We can't very well send them back. Let's get you some breakfast, okay?” Eve walked by me and up to her very distraught, very pregnant friend.
Giselle shook her head but allowed Eve to give her a quick hug and then guide her in the direction of the kitchen. “Francesca,” Eve called back to me. “Come with us, please.”
I looked over at Stefan, and he nodded. “You better go,” he said, and then jerked his head toward the other women.
So—I followed them into the kitchen.
“I can't believe that man,” Giselle mumbled while walking to the table. Eve sat her down and then insisted she put her feet up.
“There are worse things that man could be doing, honey,” Eve pointed out with a sigh. “Like—not—looking after his daughter.”
Giselle's jaw dropped open. Then she looked at me. “Do you hear her?”
I smiled and shrugged. “I hate to say it—” I bit my lip and then continued, “but she's right. I think that was a really sweet thing to do.” I sat down across from her and put my hand on hers. “He loves Daniella so much.”
Giselle's head fell back as she groaned loudly, “You two don't know what you're saying! He's turning her into a little monster. Anything she wants—” Giselle snapped her gaze to me, “she gets. That's not real life. Can you imagine what she's going to be like when she gets older?”
I felt a burning behind my eyes and felt them fill with tears.
“No.” I shook my head. “Because I grew up with a dad who didn't give a crap about what I wanted.
He didn't even care if I'd eaten or slept. Or had clean clothes to wear.” I squeezed her hand.
“So, no. I don't know how Dani will turn out—” I sniffled and wiped a tear or two away, “having the kind of father who'd fly her bunnies halfway across the world for her.
But if I had to guess? I'd bet she's going to turn out great.”
Eve was suddenly there to lean down and hug me. I looked over her shoulder to see—Carlo at the doorway. Our eyes met briefly before he quietly stepped back out.
“I'm sorry, Francesca,” Eve said. “Giselle and I had crappy parents, too. The worst. But I still hate that you struggled like we did.”
I hugged her tightly for a minute before she let go.
“I'm sorry, too. The crappy parent club isn't a good one to be in.” Giselle was crying now.
“Okay, stop. Please? Don't cry, Giselle. And please don't be sad that you have a wonderful man who loves you and your children so much that he'd send an entire airplane to bring bunnies to your adorable daughter. This is not something to be sad about.”
She dragged her feet off the chair and turned to the table. Then she looked at us. “He's driving me crazy. You don't understand. My hand is killing me. My entire arm is killing me. And—” she rubbed the sides of her face, “my freaking jaw is killing me.”
Eve burst out into laughter.
Like—loud laughter.
Giselle rolled her eyes, folded her arms on the table, and lay her head on them. “It's not funny,” she grumbled into her arms.
I looked from Giselle—to Eve—and back again. “I don't understand.”
Eve laughed even louder and sat down beside me. “Giselle can't—you know—service Carlo in the regular way. She finds it uncomfortable in the final months of pregnancy.”
Giselle raised her head. “Uncomfortable? He doesn't fit. Not with his giant baby inside me.”
Eve let out another laugh.
My eyes went wide as I considered the logistics of everything. I'd never had a baby. And—I'd never had Carlo. So, I really couldn't relate. At all. But I believed her.
Eve simmered down enough to touch my arm and say, “Our husbands have healthy sexual appetites.
You've observed that. But when we're pregnant—they kind of go into overdrive.
That's why you caught me with Carlo so many times. I was looking after him while Giselle was—” she pointed at Giselle, “taking time off from marital relations.
And she did the same for me when I was pregnant with the twins.
I had a lot of complications. And Giselle took care of Nick for me when I couldn't.”
Giselle gazed at her best friend and nodded.
“It was a good deal all around. Benefited everyone. At first, I refused, though. Before I understood what—and why. But Evie kept pushing.” She and Eve grinned at each other.
“And I finally gave in. And now, when I need her help—” Giselle leaned on her elbow, “Carlo feels bad for leaving me alone. And that means—my arm is sore, my wrist is sore, and my jaw is sore. And I have enough things on my body that hurt.”
Eve let out a breath. “He's being stubborn. I've tried everything to seduce him. Trust me.” She stood and walked to the fridge. “I don't know what else to do.”
Giselle bit her bottom lip and stared at me. “I know something that would help.”
Eve took out a bunch of fruit and set it on the island. “What? Tell me, and I'll try.”
Giselle kept her eyes on me, though. “It isn't something you can do, Eve. I think it's something—” she looked at me with pleading eyes, “that only Francesca can do.”
Okay—what the heck does Giselle want Francesca to do for her???
With—Carlo?
To find out what happens next, go grab Vows of Longing by Jessa York