Twenty
Lachlan ushered Rowena out of the hospital ten minutes later, still buzzing from the experience.
A baby girl. They were going to have a daughter.
It should have terrified him—what the hell did he know about little girls?
—and he had no doubt it probably would when he came down from his high, but right now, nothing could kill this buzz.
Even Rowena was floating and, given how pessimistic she’d been for so long, it only jacked up his buzz further. There was still a long row to hoe between them. Futures to be decided, issues to be sorted. But today was not that day.
Today was a day of celebration.
‘Fancy a perfect cannoli to go with our perfect baby?’
She laughed, her green eyes sparkling like sunshine on peridots. ‘You read my mind.’
Lachlan’s breath hitched at her unfettered happiness. He hadn’t seen her this relaxed since The Stockman, and it stirred up all the heat and attraction from that night. As well as the feelings he’d been tamping down while trying to be the person she’d needed him to be these past weeks.
But he didn’t let it go to his head. He knew that sparkle wouldn’t last. Rowena had already told him she was going to be on high alert right to the end, so he knew this was just a temporary ray of sunshine.
He’d take it, though. Today he would definitely take it.
‘I know what you’re thinking now, too.’
She shot him a coy kind of smile as she leaned in a little, almost conspiratorially. ‘Oh, you do, huh?’
Lachlan’s breath hitched again. Maybe he was rusty but … was she flirting with him? It was bizarre to think they’d done the wild thing but never actually flirted.
Or at least, she hadn’t, anyway.
‘You’re thinking … you want two.’
Rowena burst out laughing this time. ‘Would that be terribly greedy of me?’
Seeing her eating again had been such a relief, Lachlan would get her a goddamn baker’s dozen if that’s what she wanted. ‘Well, you are eating for two.’
She smiled as she looped her arm through his and Lachlan’s pulse skipped a beat. ‘Lead the way.’
‘Walk or drive?’
‘Walk.’
*
They hadn’t gone a hundred metres when they were stopped by Doug Thompson, who’d just exited his police car in the hospital car park. ‘I hear congratulations are in order?’ he said, offering his hand.
Lachlan grinned and shook it. ‘Thanks, mate.’
It wasn’t the first time he’d been congratulated in town—word had been getting around, and it made sense that the local cop would know—but it was the first time he’d been congratulated since seeing the evidence of his baby, so now it felt real.
He hadn’t been able to talk to Rowena about it, or lie beside her at night pressing his ear to her belly, or see the changes in her body, like a lot of baby daddies did.
He knew Rowena was pregnant—he’d seen the test, he’d seen her throw up and practically sleepwalk through the last few months—but he’d felt so … removed from it all.
Seeing his daughter on the screen, seeing her tiny fingers and toes, hearing her heartbeat and doing it with Rowena, had put him right there in the middle of it all.
‘You know what you’re having yet?’
He nodded, slinging an arm around Rowena’s shoulders without thinking twice, drawing her into his side. He wasn’t sure if Rowena wanted to share any of the details but he was bursting to tell somebody. ‘A girl.’
‘Oh, that’s great, man.’ Thommo’s enthusiasm was infectious. ‘Being a girl dad is the best.’
A girl dad. That packed a punch straight to his chest. He glanced at Rowena. ‘I’m going to be a girl dad.’
She nodded, her smile a little wobbly. ‘You’ll be the best girl dad.’
Another punch followed. It was crazy to let something like Rowena being swept up in this high go to his head. Because he knew, sure as eggs, that she’d come down from this and be back to her cautious, pessimistic self.
But for now it was bloody contagious. There’d been no days like this since they’d found out she was pregnant, so he was going to enjoy it and worry about later, later.
‘You bet your sweet arse I will.’
*
They were stopped a half-dozen more times on the way to the patisserie with people congratulating them on the baby news.
‘Bloody hell,’ Rowena said as they neared their final destination. ‘Does everybody know?’
It did seem there were a lot more people in the know, now. Lachlan shrugged. ‘It’s a small town, word gets around fast. Plus … I don’t like to blow my own trumpet but’—he waved a hand up and down his body—‘I’m quite the catch around here.’
He drew to a halt, puffed out his chest, shoved his hands on his hips and looked thoughtfully into the distance.
She looked him up and down. ‘What is this you’re doing?’
Lachlan bugged his eyes at her but dropped the stance. ‘It’s my lumberjack pose.’
Clearly, Rowena thought it was hysterical as she covered her mouth to stifle her laughter.
‘Okay, okay.’ Lachlan chuckled good-naturedly at her hilarity. ‘My point is, people in this town have been wondering when I’ll find a nice country girl and settle down ever since Gabby hightailed it out of town. It was bound to cause gossip.’
‘But this’—she waved a hand back and forth between them—‘is the opposite of that.’
True. But he wasn’t thinking about the uncomfortable facts today, because today he was a girl dad. Lachlan shrugged as they continued on their way. ‘Well … they’ll settle for knocking up a city slicker, too.’
More laughter. ‘That’s pretty damn fickle.’
‘What can I say? They are fickle. Plus they love a new baby around here.’
‘Oh god …’ She stopped abruptly and inhaled deeply, an expression of pure bliss shuttering her eyes. The kind of bliss only a good orgasm or a handmade Italian pastry from the Morellis could accomplish.
‘Oh yes.’ She opened them again. ‘Now that’s what I’m talking about.’
‘Then let’s get in there.’
Silvano was behind the counter when they entered, and he greeted them with a level of celebrity that might normally be reserved for royalty. Or the Pope.
‘Ah, here they are.’ He beamed at his wife, who was standing beside him. ‘My two guardian angels blessing me with a visit at the same time!’
He came out from the counter, his arms wide open. Silvano wasn’t a shaker, he was a hugger, and a fierce, passionate devotee of the art. He folded Rowena up first, then Lachlan, who wasn’t sure how she’d survived hers because he was pretty sure Silvano had cracked one of his ribs.
It was good to see the older man was feeling back to full strength. He certainly looked better than when he’d first come home from his stint in Royal North Shore. His colour was back, he was moving easier and he’d lost weight.
Silvano looked between the two of them. ‘Without you guys, I’m dead.
’ He held up a fist and made a noise of an exploding bomb as he spread his fingers wide.
‘A goner.’ He shook his head dramatically.
‘And you.’ He pointed at Lachlan, before smooshing Lachlan’s face between his palms. ‘You’re going to be a father. Bravo. Bravo. Felicitazioni!’
He grabbed Lachlan in another vigorous hug, slapping him hard on the back. When he was done, he turned to bestow another hug on Rowena.
‘Silvano,’ his wife protested from behind. ‘Silvano. Leave the poor girl alone. She can barely breathe. You’re squeezing her half to death, you’ll suffocate the baby.’
Lachlan was pretty sure that wasn’t a thing, but Silvano released Rowena anyway. ‘Scusi,’ he apologised with a chuckle.
‘So?’ Gina, who had also joined them around the front, looked expectantly at Rowena. ‘You know the gender yet?’
Rowena opened her mouth but closed it again, glancing at Lachlan, her eyes asking him if he wanted the honours. Her thoughtfulness wrapped around his heart but Lachlan shook his head, tipping his chin to indicate she should tell.
‘It’s a girl,’ she announced.
‘Ohhh. A baby girl.’ Gina’s face split into a huge grin. ‘Molto bello.’ Then Gina hugged her.
Silvano’s face lit up at the news. As a man with three daughters, his delight was obvious.
‘Ah.’ His eyes locked with Lachlan’s, full of pride, as if he’d somehow had a hand in arranging the baby’s gender.
‘You are truly blessed, my friend. No? Truly blessed. Those girls, they know exactly how to wrap you around their little fingers.’
And he went in for another hug.
Lachlan bore another squeeze without complaint. In fact, he lapped it up. He hadn’t had this yet. This public recognition and excitement. Not with Rowena at his side.
‘Okay, okay.’ Gina sniffled a little, her eyes shiny as she tapped her husband on the shoulder. ‘I’m sure these two came in for something to eat, not to be hugged within an inch of their lives.’
‘Oh, yes, yes.’ Silvano switched to baker. ‘Of course. You’re eating for two now, right?’ Following Gina back behind the counter, he focused in on Rowena. ‘Now, let me guess. You want cannoli, no?’
Rowena laughed. ‘Yes, please. Two.’
Silvano liked nothing more than when his customers appreciated his food by buying it in multiples, and he beamed appreciatively at Rowena.
‘Two for you?’ he asked Lachlan.
‘Absolutely. I’ll take two of those bomboloni as well. They’re Reggie and Albert’s favourites and she refuses to make them when she knows she can come here and get the best.’
‘How is your nonna?’ Gina asked. ‘We ran into her at the hospital back when Silvano first came home, but we haven’t seen much of her lately.’
‘She’s still got a bit of a cough from when the show came to town, but apart from that she’s in fine form. Still up every morning at five. Still saddling up Ace for a ride most days. Still cooking up a storm.’
‘She must be looking forward to the little one.’
Lachlan grinned. That was the understatement of the year. She’d been very circumspect about the baby around Rowena. But he and Reggie had discussed the topic and the future at length when Rowena was at work. As much as they could, anyway, given Rowena’s reluctance to contemplate any kind of future.