28. Chloe
28
CHLOE
S omething I considered a mom clock ticked on. I woke up well before Franco did, attuned to the intrinsic need to make breakfast for my boy.
I didn’t know how I did it. It just worked. My body was programmed to always take care of him, and somehow, I woke up when I knew he’d be ready to rise. Maybe it was a biological phenomenon. Maybe it was crap and I was imagining things, but I liked to think that I was simply attuned to where my son was and what he might need.
In the kitchen, I joined Dante and Eva as they argued over the best way to make eggs.
“For fuck’s sake, Uncle Dante,” Eva declared. “The baby isn’t going to know the difference between Nina eating fried eggs or scrambled eggs!”
I bit my lip to stifle a laugh.
“Am I right?” Eva held out the spatula at me.
Dante narrowed his eyes at me, and I was surprised by how domestic it was. Never mind the fact that these people afforded a hefty household staff. They were in here like ordinary people, preparing food themselves.
“Uh…” I shrugged. “Eggs are eggs.”
Dante rolled his eyes. “Well, Nina hardly touched breakfast all week when I made them scrambled. I think she might prefer fried.”
“And I think you, my dear uncle, are so thoroughly pussy-wh?—”
I lunged forward to cover her mouth with my hand. “Good morning!” I said cheerily to Caleb as he entered the room.
He eyed us carefully, then shook his head. “If you’re worried about me hearing a bad word, Nicky said I’d learn them all in a day.”
Dante shrugged. “We try.”
I let Eva go. “Ha!” She barked out one wry laugh. “We barely try. Liv’s in her parrot phase and repeating everything that resembles a naughty word.”
“Dante,” I said. “If Nina is picky about her breakfasts, it might be because she can’t eat as much.”
He frowned, and it endeared him to me that much more. This Mafia Boss, so worried about his pregnant wife’s appetite. It was oddly sweet from someone who should be so gruff.
“There’s not a lot of room for food anymore,” I advised.
“I suppose,” he said.
Nina entered the kitchen then, the same as the head housekeeper and Nicky. He hurried to sit with Caleb, fitting right in despite the employment barrier his mom had.
“I’ll tell you,” Nina said with a wince. “There’s not a lot of room for this baby anymore, either.” She put her hand on her back as she sat on a high stool.
Dante dropped the spatula and hurried to her side. “Are you okay?”
“I think the baby is coming today.”
Dante shared a look with Eva. “But Danicia isn’t here. She’s on vacation this week.”
“Then you have to take me to the hospital and someone else can help me have this baby!”
I patted Caleb’s head as I walked past him. “Cereal or eggs?” I asked him.
Nicky slid a box of cereal over. “Want these?”
Caleb nodded, taking a bowl from the stack. He glanced at Nina and looked at me. “Is she really having a baby today? Here?”
I shrugged. Doubt it.
“How are you feeling?” I asked Nina.
She grimaced but morphed the expression into something of a surprised smile. “Hey! You know how this feels. Help.”
I laughed. “What do you feel?”
“Like I’m having a baby.”
I nodded. “All right… Did your water break?”
She shook her head, then frowned and looked at Dante. “Did I?”
He shook his head as well. “No…? The bed was dry.”
I cleared my throat and sat next to Nina. “It’s early yet.”
“That’s why I’m freaking out!”
“Have you started feeling Braxton-Hicks yet?” I laid my hand on her arm and rubbed softly. If she was having her baby, comforting touches might help. It did for me, but no two women were the same.
She gripped my hand, ceasing movement.
Okay. She’s not a touchy-feely type.
“I don’t know!” she wailed. “I can’t tell what they feel like, if I’ve felt them, or how they should feel. When Danicia and my other doctor explain them, it sounds like nothing I can understand.”
“Okay. Okay. So they feel like real contractions?—”
“That doesn’t help.”
“But they don’t increase and last as long as the real ones do.” I smiled, hoping to reassure her. “When it’s time for the baby to come, you’ll know.”
She narrowed her eyes. “How?”
I shrugged and winced a bit. “I don’t know. Honestly, I think it’s just a saying people tell you to throw you off.”
She groaned.
“There you are,” Dante said as Romeo came into the room.
“What’s wrong with her?” he asked of Nina.
“I’m pregnant, that’s what.” She cringed. “That’s not what I mean. I’m glad to be pregnant. I’m excited. But I’m this pregnant and I can’t tell if I’m having the baby.”
Romeo’s eyes bugged out. “Now?”
“Okay, okay. Let’s take this down a notch. Nina? Are you having anything that resembles a contraction anywhere right now?”
She pursed her lips and uttered a quiet, sheepish, “No.”
“Then we’ll watch it,” I advised.
“Are you sure?” Dante asked. He had his phone in his hand, seeming ready to call for help.
“Well, I’m not a doctor, but I was pregnant before.” I patted Nina’s arm and she latched on to it, gripping my hand like it was a lifeline.
“I’m so happy you’re here.”
She said it because I was uniquely able to sympathize with what she was experiencing, but her words touched me, anyway.
“I’m happy to be here.” As Franco entered the kitchen and caught my eye, I smiled. “And I’m happy to stay here.”
“Oh, shit.” Franco looked at Nina’s distressed expression. “Are you having the baby now?”
“I think you’re supposed to say oh shoot ,” Caleb said. “So the young ones don’t hear bad words.”
“Whoops.” Franco nodded at him.
“Why can’t I have the baby today?” she snapped at him.
“For one thing, it’s too early,” I reminded her.
“Because I need to chat with Caleb first,” he replied.
My heart beat faster, knowing why they’d have a conversation.
“And we need to discuss what happened last night,” Romeo said, looking at Dante.
“What happened last night?” I asked. Wes? Did someone find him and kill him? I didn’t feel bad about wishing for it.
“The ‘war’ is done,” Dante answered.
Franco nodded. “Reports came in overnight that the Devil’s Brothers MC and the Giovannis eliminated each other.”
I appreciated that he toned down his announcement around Caleb. It would take some adjusting to inform him about what this family represented.
“So.” Franco pointed at Nina. “Baby emergency or no?”
Nina looked at me expectantly.
I laughed lightly. “Maybe not yet.”
“Okay. Caleb, wanna see the basketball court?” Franco said.
“Yeah!” Caleb wiped his face off with a napkin and hurried off his stool.
“Aw, shoot.” Nicky sighed. “I gotta get to school. I’ll see you later.”
Caleb nodded. “Okay.” Then he stopped rushing and backtracked for his cereal bowl, grabbed it, emptied the milk in the sink, and set it in there.
“This way,” Franco said, leading him toward the sliding glass doors to the side.
Eva and Nina stared at the sink. Dante and Romeo did as well.
“You did a good job raising that boy,” Dante said.
I smiled. “I know. But Franco will help too.”
Dante nodded, seeming happy about that. “If you need me,” he told Nina, “ at all , I’ll be in my office talking with Romeo. Okay?”
She waved him off, nodding. “Okay.”
Dante glanced at me and I gave him a thumbs-up.
“Oh, damn,” Eva said. “I need to get Liv up before her checkup.” With one more glance at me, then Nina, she hesitated. “Everything good here?”
“Yeah,” I replied.
“I’ll let everyone know if today’s the day,” Nina said.
Once we were alone, I snacked on the toast that was set out and grabbed a coffee. “Feeling anything?”
“Dumb.”
I smirked at her.
“I do! I’ve never done this before.”
“Fair enough, but trust me, you’ll realize something is up.”
“Did you?”
I nodded. “I suddenly stood in a puddle and felt like I had to poop. Badly.”
“That’s not very descriptive. The second part.”
“You don’t often stand in a puddle that gushed out of you, right?”
She shook her head. “I suppose that part is obvious. It’s just so scary. The unknown. How the hell did you cope on your own?”
“The same as you. Clueless and worried I was dumb.” I smiled. “I think every woman feels like that.”
“First-time moms, at least.”
I glanced again in the direction of the sliding glass doors, wondering how Caleb and Franco were faring out there.
“Everything okay?” she asked me, noticing where I was looking.
I laughed. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?”
“Distract me. What’s going on with you and Franco? That was a hell of a bombshell you dropped yesterday.”
I nodded. “We talked last night. And… then some.”
She grinned. “Sounds promising so far. Just seeing you two smiling like that is a good sign. And his wanting to talk to Caleb.”
I nodded and leaned in. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Ooh. You’re really rocking it in the keeping-the-pregnant-lady-distracted department. Yes, I want to hear a secret.”
“I asked if you could keep one?”
“For how long?” She arched a brow.
“Not long.” I glanced again at the doors, wondering what was said so far. I wondered if Franco had a ring already.
She gestured for me to spill.
“Franco wants to ask Caleb for permission to marry me.”
She slapped her hand over her mouth but a loud gasp came out loudly before she covered it.
“What?” Dante rushed out of his office, where he must have kept the door open. “What? What is it?”
“Girl talk,” she sassed, waving at him to shoo him away.
Facing me, she exaggerated a grin. “He does? Is that what he’s doing right now?”
“I think so.” I nodded. “He wants to be a father to Caleb.”
“Ooh, this is so— fuck !” She winced and laid her hand on her stomach.
Dante ran back out. “Nina?”
But her wince was gone. “False alarm.”
Romeo slowed after his father, sighing.
Once they left again, she smiled at me. “This is so exciting. I’m so thrilled for you. This is wonderful news! When I first met Franco, I thought he was so subdued. Quiet. I always wondered what his story was, assuming he had been heartbroken before. Getting to see him around you solves it all. He’s your soulmate. It’s just so obvious. And I’m so happy for you both that you’ve found your way back to each other.”
I leaned my head on her shoulder. “Thanks, Nina.”
“I can’t wait to see our family grow. More to enjoy.”
I couldn’t wait either. The idea of finally having my dreams come true felt so surreal. “But… maybe tell his little girl or boy to sit tight for a couple more weeks.”
“It is too early,” she worried.
“Not too early, but the longer they stay in, the better.”
“Was Caleb on time?”
I laughed. “He was five days past my due date.”
“Oh, wow. I’m so impatient to meet our little one now.”
“Hang in there,” I advised. Looking out the sliding glass doors again, I tried to coach myself to do the same.
I was nervous but excited. Everything was changing so fast, but I respected that Franco would go at Caleb’s pace. If he was ready for us to marry, great. If he needed a little more time to get used to the idea of it, then we’d wait. Franco’s consideration of Caleb’s opinions and reactions was so sweet, so touching that I had more than enough proof that he was going to be an excellent father to our son.
Hang in there. Be patient. Just a little longer and I’ll have my answer about whether I’ll finally be able to become Mrs. Franco Constella.