Chapter Thirty-Seven
“Merry Christmas!” Gina walked into the common area at the Aspen Corners Fire Department carrying a tray of cookies almost as large as she was.
“What’s this?” Rafe asked as he cleared off a portion of the table for her to set down the goodies.
“I made you some cookies! Well, Mama J and Angie helped too. And Zio Rico made you a casserole because he said you shouldn’t eat cookies before you have something that’s good for you.”
Rico laughed as he placed the glass baking dish on the table. “Not sure that this qualifies as healthier, but it is good. And Gina helped me scramble the eggs, so she had a hand in this too.”
“Sure beats Rafe’s breakfast,” one of the firefighters Rico didn’t recognize said as he set some plates down on the table next to the dish and peeled back the aluminum foil.
“Your Christmas wish came true, Michael,” Rafe said. “You don’t have to eat my burnt bacon and overcooked eggs.” Rafe uncovered the cookies and picked up two of the sugar ones with sprinkles. “But I’m good with spoiling my breakfast,” he said as he took a bite. “After all, it’s Christmas.” He chewed and made a moaning sound. “These are the best cookies I’ve ever eaten. I got to have a few last night at the Feast, but having more this morning is icing on the cake.”
Gina beamed at him for choosing to eat her cookies first. He thought he might see a little hero worship in her eyes. Rico would agree that Rafe was pretty handsome, and well deserving of all the hero worship he could get for what he did in the community and the family.
“What did Santa bring you?” Rafe asked.
“Some Legos, sketch pads, Cleo de Nile to go with my doll collection at home, an art kit in a cool wooden box, and some kinetic sand. Oh, and I got a jellyfish lava lamp to use as my nightlight.” She turned to Rico. “It looks just like the moon jellyfish we saw at the aquarium.”
Precisely why I chose it.
“You made out like a bandit,” Rafe said.
“Oh, and magic mixes, new books, and two new shirts. But you know the best part?”
“No, what?” Rafe asked. He seemed enthralled by her report on what she’d received. Rafe had always been a little more standoffish than the other Giardanos. Not as bad as Franco during his avoidance period, but still, Rafe had always acted as though he was above frivolous things, which made this interaction with Gina all the sweeter. Knowing he’d helped Gina make the ornament showed there was a side to Rafe he didn’t have a clue about.
“Santa hid a bicycle in the pantry so I wouldn’t see it right away.”
Rafe glanced at Rico and grinned. “Santa’s pretty sneaky sometimes, but I’ll bet it was fun for you both to find that bike hidden away.”
“Well, at first I thought Santa left it for me,” Rico teased.
Gina opened her eyes and mouth wide. “But, Zio Rico, it’s lavender.”
“Hey, I love purple!”
“But it also had my name on the tag,” Gina pointed out, as if worried he might try to claim the bike.
“Well, it’s a little small for me, so no doubt it’s yours. I may have to wait for next Christmas to get a bike of my own.”
“Santa only gives gifts to kids.”
Rico slapped his forehead as if just figuring that out. “You’re right. Guess I’ll just have to buy my own so we can ride together. Then I don’t have to wait until Christmas.”
“Oh, that would be fun!”
Rico made a note to get a bike as soon as the stores opened tomorrow because he wanted to take advantage of letting her ride around the plowed Aspen Corners High parking lot while they were here. It would be safer than the busy streets of her neighborhood in Denver.
“Brad! Fi!” Rafe called out to a door that must lead to the back. “You’d better get in here if you want any of this. We might eat it all up. I no longer plan on cooking until supper.”
The two came out and Rafe introduced them. “Why don’t we—” Rico didn’t get the words out before two little girls came bounding into the room.
“Daddy! Look what Santa brought us!” The girls made a beeline for Brad who gave them both big hugs before checking out the fire engines they’d brought to show him.
“How’d you get here so fast?” he asked them. “We were just talking on the phone.”
“Mommy wanted to surprise you.” He glanced up at the pretty blonde who came into the room just then.
“Merry Christmas!” She looked at the food on the table and set her pan beside it. “It looks like someone beat me to it this morning. I hope you have room for my cinnamon rolls.”
“Always,” the crew assured her in unison.
Rafe introduced Rico and Gina to Elaine and her daughters, Avery and Mackenzie, who turned out to be twins. Gina engaged immediately with the two girls, who seemed to be about her age, and they went off to a corner to look at and play with the fire trucks they’d brought. Gina seemed as fascinated with them as they were.
Gina made friends fast, which would be good when they visited Aspen Corners. Even if Rico moved to Denver, he had no plans to sell Mama’s house.
“Rico and Elaine, join us for breakfast?”
“I didn’t bring you the casserole to stay and eat it too,” Rico argued.
Elaine said the same about her goodies, but added, “Although I did bake enough for each of you to have three, which you probably won’t need with all this food.”
“There’s plenty,” Rafe assured them. “It’ll make the meal a little more festive if we have company. Assuming the tones don’t drop to interrupt us.”
Brad knocked on the table for luck before closing the gap between him and Elaine, giving her a hug and a kiss. Holidays must be hard for first responders scheduled to work. But Rico noticed the familial ties among the crews both here and in Leadville. They were a tight-knit group and Franco said that most crew members regarded each other as family.
Rico vowed to make sure his pub served a weekly meal at the firehouse moving forward. Or perhaps one for each crew. It was the least they could do to give back to those who sacrificed so much in his community. He’d mention the idea to the Chamber and maybe some other businesses would take turns too.
Franco took a long gulp of his hot, black coffee. He hadn’t been getting much sleep lately. The lack of progress with the arson investigation over the past few months continued to nag at him. He couldn’t prove it yet but had a feeling two other fires could be linked to the same firebug. The jerk had already killed five. He or they needed to be caught before anyone else died.
Having spent the night here at Angelina’s, the two siblings had found some time to chat in the quiet by the fireplace late last night. She hadn’t divulged any secrets about Rico during their high-school days or their subsequent years of friendship. While he admired his family’s loyalty to Rico, he still wished he knew more about what had happened back then. Knowing they loved him so much, though, made him think he jut had to accept that whatever occurred, Rico had moved on from it.
“Rico! Gina! Merry Christmas!” Mama’s voice drifted to him as she greeted them at the door. Franco smiled, set down his mug, and made his way in that direction.
He hadn’t seen Rico since last night at Mass, which seemed a lifetime ago.
Entering the great room, he found Rico and Gina removing their coats before Gina was wrapped in Mama’s arms for a big hug. Rico and Franco locked gazes across the room, and Rico smiled at him, making his heart skip a beat.
God, I’ve missed you.
His boi had dark circles under his eyes making him wonder what had caused them. The need to take care of Rico would always remain a strong one. “Merry Christmas, Rico,” he said, without asking why he hadn’t slept.
“Zio Franco!” Gina launched herself at him. “Want to know what Santa brought me?”
“Absolutely!” She began to recount everything as he hugged her. A bicycle? That might explain why Rico hadn’t slept much, unless he’d thought to assemble it early. But then where would he have stashed it? “Sounds like you’ve been a very good girl this year.”
“I tried!” Her attention went to the noise coming from the kitchen. “I have to go tell Angie.” She scampered off, her hair bouncing as she practically skipped out of the room.
Franco turned to Rico who had been talking with Mama. “Good Christmas so far?” Franco asked him.
Rico nodded. “Busy, but good. Last night we tried to do some of the things she used to do with Michelle, and today we opened presents before going down to the firehouse to drop off cookies and breakfast for Rafe and the others on duty.
“How thoughtful of you both!” Mama said.
“Gina was sure to mention that you and Angie helped with the cookies too.” Rico glanced away a moment. “Michelle left a letter for Gina to read last night and encouraged her to do something to give back this week, so we thought that would be one way we could do something.”
Mama stroked Rico’s upper arm, “What a wonderful legacy for Michelle to leave Gina. And having it benefit my boys at the firehouse is even more special.”
Needing to touch him, Franco closed the gap between them and embraced Rico. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered.
“Me too you.” Neither of them put space between them, but kept an arm around the other.
“How are you doing, Rico?” Mama asked.
“Actually, really good. We had a good week. No meltdowns or stress. And she met a couple girls her age at the firehouse, so she might have someone to hang out with besides me in the coming week.”
“That’s wonderful! Sounds like Brad and Elaine’s twins. Gina certainly isn’t shy.”
“Definitely not!” Rico laughed. “Takes after me, I guess.”
Franco didn’t think his genes as a cousin would have been a factor, but he’d spent a lot of time around Gina growing up and must have rubbed off on her.
“Well, if you’ll excuse me,” Mama said, “I’d better get back to the kitchen to help Angelina.”
Franco had a feeling that her presence wasn’t as necessary as she made it sound, given how much prep she’d already done and that her lasagna was in the oven, but he welcomed this time alone with Rico. He hugged Rico more tightly.
“Missed you so much, Sweet Cheeks.”
“Missed you too.” They separated and Rico met his gaze. “You look tired.”
Not exactly how he wanted Rico to see him. Franco grinned. “Gee, thanks.”
“Just saying.”
“I could say the same about you but am guessing you were up half the night assembling the bike.”
“You know me so well. Now, what’s your excuse?”
“I stayed here last night. Angelina seemed a little lonely with Marc being on duty, and her restaurant closed for a couple of days.”
Rico didn’t buy that as his only reason for sleepless nights. “I’m worried about you, Stud Muffin. Rough week?”
He sobered. “Yeah.” Franco didn’t really want to talk about that today, though. “But my team and I decided to take the holiday weekend off to regroup before tackling the cases again Monday.”
“You’re welcome to stay with me tonight and tomorrow night.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Franco hitched up the corner of his mouth. “You know that’s where I’d rather—.”
“What are you guys doing hiding in here?” Marc asked as he came from the kitchen carrying a glass of white wine. “Rico, what can I get you to drink?”
“I’m good for now, thanks. I’ll have something with dinner, though.” He moved closer to Marc. “You two have a gorgeous house.”
“Thanks. Have you had a tour yet?”
“Oh, yeah. Angie showed me around the place soon after you two moved in. I’m jealous of your vantage point overlooking the mountains.”
“I find a lot of peace here. Reminds me a little of where I was born in Italy.” Marc turned to Franco. “Did you want a refill?”
Franco hadn’t brought his glass in here when he’d come to greet Rico. “No, I’m good too.”
The door opened and Matteo and Dakota entered. His brother held a proprietary hand at the small of her back as he solicitously ushered his very pregnant wife into the house. She looked ready to pop, even though it was a few weeks until her due date.
Franco walked toward her. “Let me get your coats. Dakota, you look like you’ll be glad to have this baby.”
She cast him an anguished look. “You will never know how much, but I have a feeling I’m doomed to go beyond my due date. It would be my luck.”
“We just want to keep that little girl in there,” Matteo said, patting her belly, “as long as possible so that we have a healthy baby.”
“It’s a girl?” Franco had missed that news.
“Matteo!” Dakota chastised him. “We were going to keep it a surprise.”
“Well, I’m surprised,” Franco assured her. “You thought it would be a boy before.”
“Yeah, well, I guess I don’t have the same knack your mother did for predicting such things.”
“How’s your nana doing?”
“Chomping at the bit to come down here, but I’ve convinced her to wait until closer to my due date or even after the baby’s here. Cynthia plans to drop her off for a month or so.”
“Sounds like it’ll be close quarters,” Franco said to Matteo.
“Well, the baby will be in our room for the first few months, so she can use the spare room. It hasn’t been converted into a nursery yet.”
“I’m sure you’ll have plenty of baby advice between your nana and our mama.”
“What are you talking about?” Mama said as she entered the great room. “I do not intend to butt in. I’m only going to be available as needed to spoil my granddaughter.”
Apparently, Mama knew the gender too.
“Mama,” Dakota assured her, “feel free to give as much advice as you want to. The closer I get, the more nervous I’m becoming.”
Mama gave her a hug. “Don’t you worry about a thing, Sweetie. You’re going to be the best mama this little lamb could ever have.” She patted Dakota’s belly.
Franco took their coats and carried them into the room where he’d slept last night and laid them on the bed before returning to the foyer just as Tony and an even more pregnant Carmella came inside. She looked exhausted; her due date was barely two weeks away, so that was understandable, he supposed.
After greeting them and going back to the bedroom again with their two coats, Franco rejoined everyone in the kitchen where a lively discussion was underway about names for the two babies. Tony and Carmella hadn’t revealed the gender of their baby yet, if they even knew it themselves.
Everyone sat down to dinner at the large farm table adjacent to the kitchen, which accommodated everyone with room to spare for the upcoming generation. And they had a lot more room to spread out here than at Paul and Mama’s condo.
Franco and Rico sat with Gina between them and across from Tony and Carmella. He couldn’t help but notice that Carmella grimaced every now and then, and about the time he wondered if she might be going into labor, her eyes opened wide.
“Tony! I think my water just broke!”
Holy shit!
“Is Carm’s baby coming?” Gina asked. Franco wondered how she would know that was a sign of impending birth, but Mama reassured her that first babies take a long time to arrive.
Chaos ensued as Marc, now a paramedic, asked Carmella some questions about how long she’d been in labor. Sounded as though it might have begun overnight.
Dayum. Maybe they didn’t have as much time as Mama thought. Props to Carmella for going on about her life as though nothing momentous were about to happen.
“I just thought it was more Braxton-Hicks contractions,” Carmella explained.
She agreed to be checked by Marc, and he and Tony helped her away from the table and down the hall to the bedroom where Franco had just ditched their coats a little while ago. Angelina sprang into action and ran up the stairs saying she’d grab a change of clothing to replace Carmella’s wet dress. Mama steered Gina into the kitchen on the pretense of putting together a platter of cookies, probably thinking all of this commotion might scare her.
While Franco had taken EMT courses, he’d never really had to use the skills, so he’d leave it to Marc and Tony to sort everything out in there. But he could offer to drive her to the hospital if the time came and no ambulance showed up.
Rico stepped closer and slapped him on the back. “Looks like you’ll soon be an uncle for real.”
That stung a little, because he took his role as uncle to Gina as real too. Or maybe Franco was just being overly sensitive after being excluded from most of their activities last night.
“Mama, can you come in here?” Tony called out, jarring Franco from his thoughts.
“I’ll get her,” Franco offered before going into the kitchen to get her. Mama ran down the hallway.
“Should we be boiling towels or something?” Rico asked. Franco glared at him for making a stupid joke, but he looked perfectly serious. Clearly, Rico knew nothing about birthing babies other than what he’d seen in old TV shows.
“Take care of Gina.”
“Franco!” Marc called.
Now it was his turn to answer the call, although he had no clue what he had to offer. When he entered the room, Carmella’s face was covered in sweat as she panted and blew out short bursts of air between tensed lips. The coats had been dumped in a chair in the corner and Tony looked like he was about to lose his mind with fear.
To Mama, Marc said, “Could you get some clean towels and something to wrap the baby in?”
Baby? Was Carmella that close to delivering?
“We don’t have time to get her to the hospital?” Franco asked.
“She’s fully dilated and ready to push,” Marc responded. To Carmella, he teased, probably trying to lower her anxiety, “Woman, your tolerance for pain must be off the charts.”
“We just thought they were practice ones this morning,” Tony explained. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
Franco couldn’t picture Tony as anything other than his goofy baby brother, but he was about to become a father. Whoa.
“What can I do to help?” Franco asked.
“Run out to my vehicle and get my kit,” Marc said. “And ask Rico to call 911 so we can transport them by ambulance as soon as possible.”
“Absolutely.”
Franco was happy to have something to do other than watch the scene unfolding in the bedroom. The kit would have all the supplies Marc would need. But how many times had Marc done a delivery before this one?
At least a couple, I hope.
Franco remained confident Marc had the necessary training to pull this off, though. As he made his way through the great room, he waved Rico over and away from Gina. He didn’t want to upset her.
“Hey, call 911 and tell them we have a woman about to deliver a baby. We’ll need an ambulance.”
“Crap! Sure thing.”
“Is Carm going to be okay?” Gina asked, her lower lip trembling.
“Absolutely,” Franco assured her. “She’s doing great!”
Just in time, Angelina swooped in to hug Gina, having delivered the clothes to the bedroom. “Let’s finish up that cookie tray. Everyone’s going to be hungry when the baby comes.”
Without further delay, Franco headed for the front door with Rico following him out as he dialed.
“Is Carm really all right?” Rico asked in hushed tones.
“I think so. She’s in good hands and less than two weeks from her due date, so everything should be fine.” Still, an unplanned home delivery didn’t sound ideal. Even in hospitals, complications could happen.
Before Rico could say more to Franco, his 911 call was answered and he relayed the information about the situation to the dispatcher. Franco opened the back seat of Marc’s vehicle, grabbed his medical bag, and ran back inside and down the hall to the bedroom.
“Here you go.” Franco practically dropped it like a hot potato and took a couple of steps back. Seeing Carmella in such pain made him weak in the knees. How was Tony holding up so well?
For one thing, he was seated behind Carmella, cradling her back as he stroked her arms and coached her on how to breathe.
Way to go, brother!
“Can someone…” Carmella began between breaths, “call my parents?”
“I’ll ask Angelina to call.” Franco had no doubt she’d have the number for her in-laws.
Glad to be out of the room again, Franco returned to where Angelina was cleaning up the area where Carmella’s water had broken while Matt and Dakota tried to occupy Gina. A quick glance at the front door showed Rico’s silhouette against the patterned glass still talking to dispatch. Damn, he must be freezing.
“Sis, can you let your in-laws know what’s happening. Right now, I’m not sure what hospital she’ll be taken to, here or closer to where she was supposed to deliver, but they might want to get ready to head out.”
“I’ll have Marc’s brother bring them. They’ll be a nervous wreck and probably shouldn’t be on the roads alone anyway.”
“Good thinking.”
Franco returned to the bedroom to grab Rico’s coat to bring to him. Outside, he found Rico answering the dispatcher’s questions.
“Here,” Franco whispered, holding the coat open for Rico. “Put this on.”
“Do you know how far she’s dilated?” Rico asked as he slipped one arm at a time into the coat.
“Marc said fully dilated. Do they know we have an off-duty paramedic here?”
Rico nodded.
“How long before the ambulance gets here?”
“Ten minutes tops.”
“I’ll let them know. Do they have any other questions?”
Rico asked the dispatcher then relayed to Franco, “They said Marc will know what to do as long as there aren’t any complicating factors.”
“I didn’t get the impression there are—not yet, anyway. Maybe you should go inside the bedroom to make sure.”
Rico’s eyes opened wide. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Weren’t you at Gina’s birth?”
“I coached Michelle, but it was all she could do to keep me from passing out when the time came.”
Franco grinned, shaking his head. “Let me borrow your phone.”
Rico handed it over with a look of relief. When Franco went back inside, he heard the sound of a robust baby’s cry.
“Dispatch, sounds like the baby’s here.” Franco ran down the hallway and into the room but kept his distance so as not to introduce any additional germs to the area.
“It’s a boy!” Mama cried, tears streaming down her cheeks as she wrapped the baby in a soft, warm towel.
The umbilical cord was still attached and Marc was still positioned below Carmella’s tented knees. There wasn’t going to be another one was there? Then he remembered that there would be afterbirth to deliver.
“How’s everyone doing?” the dispatcher asked.
“Marc? Can you update dispatch?”
“Carm and the baby appear to be doing well,” he said loudly enough for them to hear. “Tony, on the other hand, is in near shock.” Marc grinned at Tony, who didn’t seem to have it under control anymore. Reality must be setting in.
“Congratulations, Tony and Carmella,” Franco said. The wail of a siren drew closer. To the dispatcher, he said, “Ambulance is here. I’ll show them in.”