CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR #2
My hands gestured toward the basket and shears. Of course, I didn’t exactly know what to do, but I wanted something to preoccupy my mind. Something to keep me from my sadness. “Sì. Mostramelo, per favore?” Yes. Can you please show me how?
“I’ll show you, Bella,” Rocco offered. I glanced over at his kind, open expression but couldn’t help but remember how upset he’d been. He was relieved when Dr. Vitale said I wasn’t pregnant, wasn’t he? He’d been right, but still, it hurt.
I turned away from him, murmuring, “No, thanks.”
I walked away, and he called to my back. “Stop moving and talk to me, Bella.” His tone was authoritative.
I stopped walking and turned to face him, my head high.
“I want to do something other than feel so absolutely devastated that I’m not pregnant.
Yes, I know I chose for us, and I still feel bad about it, but…
inside me.” I pressed my stomach and sucked in air.
“Inside, it feels like an emptiness left there, like a life gone. I want a baby. Me. I still want a baby. Not two years from now.”
He went quiet and contemplative but stayed close, and I waited because more than anything, I needed him to hear and respect my feelings.
“Before, we never discussed children outside of our obligations.” He paused, his eyes searching for the right words.
“I guess…it kind of scares me. Becoming a parent feels huge with everything else going on. I don’t want to let you down or our child down by not being there.
There’s another part of me that also hopes that being a father could be the most amazing journey.
I hear you, Bella.” His hands tunneled through his hair.
“I imagined a life with more time, but even that’s not promised.
I worry about losing the freedom I love now, our spontaneous travel, the late-night work sessions, all of it. ”
I nodded. “I know it’ll take work, but we can still have it. I believe it.”
He moved back loose strands of my hair from my face and held my chin tenderly. “Okay. I understand your feelings, and I want to get to that point with you.” He paused, his eyes earnest. “Let me think it through. That’s all I ask.”
My heart lifted at his vulnerability, a side Rocco rarely shared, and hope replaced heaviness.
He hadn’t made a promise to start our family now, but still, I spoke gently back to him.
“I don’t want to do this without you, so if you need time, I’ll support you.
I just want my feelings to be clear.” For the first time, I didn’t feel the need to hide or mute my emotions.
This honesty was why I loved him and wanted to build a family with him.
He put his arms around me, and I held him close.
“Do you still want to learn how to prune?” He walked over, picked up a tool from the basket, and reached for a branch on the vine.
I stepped closer and took the tool from him. “Just the basics.”
He chuckled. “All right.”
After a short lesson, we returned to the car, and immediately, my phone buzzed. It was Xander’s name that lit up the screen.
“Hello?”
“Hey, gurl. How you holding up?”
It took me a second to catch on to the fact that he meant the incident at the nightclub.
“We’re okay. Rocco’s fine. That was wild, wasn’t it?”
“It was, and it wasn’t. That guy saw you with Rocco on the dance floor. He started it.”
“Maybe, but rumor is he’s planning to sue,” I murmured, sneaking a look at Rocco, who kept his eyes glued to the road, silent.
“I doubt it now.”
“Oh? Why not?” I asked.
“He did what everyone expected: posted a viral pic of himself outside the club, shirt torn, blaming Rocco. He’s got some low-grade Z-list celebrity out there, I think I read.
But anyway, one of his past coworkers from his old career recognized the shirt from his exotic dancer gigs and shared footage of him wearing it as a tear-away. ”
A laugh escaped me. “Seriously?”
“Yep. And a few of us added in that Rocco was protecting his wife, and the internet agreed.”
“So, you think it’s done?”
“He can try, but it won’t go anywhere. His lies are out in the open, and there’s video of him creeping up behind you while you were twerking—”
I groaned. “Oh, no. People saw it?”
“Gurl, you looked sexy and flexible—”
“Flexible?” I repeated in mock indignance and laughed. “Xander, you’re not helping.” But then a low chuckle had me turning my head to find Rocco laughing.
I grinned and touched his arm. “Hey!”
His laughter filled the car, and I couldn’t help but join in. After everything, it felt good to let go.
“I can hear Rocco laughing. My work’s done here. You’re welcome.”
I grinned. “Thanks, and thanks for the update.”
“Anytime, beautiful. Keep your head up, and be happy. Okay? You got your dream job and a dreamy hubby who rides in to protect you. I can see the love, and it’s something to remember and focus on.
It’s what I’d told Nadia, too. Life’s too short to worry about the little things. Keep going. You got it.”
“Thank you, Xander. And I’m so glad you came up here. I had a great time hanging out with you. I hope to do it again.”
“Oh, we will. We’re friends now. Shopping, dancing, and gossiping. You can call me anytime. Okay?” He left it in the air, and honestly, I was grateful to have someone around me that wasn’t working for us and could be a real friend.
“I will, and you can call me anytime, too.”
“You’re on my list.”
I hung up, and Rocco steered us down the winding road to the estate. “Everything good with Xander?”
“Yes, he’s fine.”
“Good. I did enjoy dancing last night.”
“I did, too. Xander was fun, and I thought maybe you’d like the… What?” I asked, peering out the window at a brand new SUV was parked at the entrance.
Rocco pulled the car in front of the house just as Rick came outside. “Who’s here?”
“Your parents came over twenty minutes ago.”