by Sian Ceinwen
A few moments later, Daryl opened the door. Sebastian exited the car, and Lita followed after him. Someone walking their dog along the path in front of her parents’ house was staring open-mouthed at the car, then they did a double-take when they saw Sebastian. He took her hand in his as they walked up to her parents’ front door.
Lita pressed the doorbell, finding the familiar action of Sebastian stroking her hand very soothing and calming. The door opened after a few seconds, and her younger brother, Santino, smiled as he saw her. Then he caught sight of Sebastian, and his jaw dropped open.
“Hi, Santino,” Lita smiled. “Can we come in?”
“Sure,” he muttered, and held the door open for them to walk through. “This is who you wanted us to meet, Lita?”
“Oh, yeah. Sebastian, this is my younger brother, Santino. Santino, this is”—Lita hesitated—“Sebastian Fox.”
As her brother shook Sebastian’s hand in a daze, Lita realized she didn’t have a way to introduce Sebastian to people. Their roles in one another’s lives as co-parents of a future child didn’t really work when people didn’t know yet. At least she’d made this fumble with her younger brother, not her parents.
Her brother led them into the house and to the kitchen and dining area, where her dad, her older brother, and her sister-in-law were sitting at the dining table. Lita’s twin nephews, who had turned one a few weeks ago, were here as well. Dante was sitting on her dad’s lap, and Orlando was in her brother, Marco’s, arms. Her mom was in the kitchen, organizing everyone’s lunch.
“Lita!” her sister-in-law, Antonella, called out. Then she caught sight of Sebastian and said, “Whoa.”
Everyone turned to look at them. Even her mom stopped moving in the kitchen to look at them both. Everyone here knew Cruise Control, not just because they were the world’s most popular rock band, but because Lita had talked about them so much over the last three years.
“Hi guys,” Lita said, her heart pounding in her chest. “I guess I should introduce my friend, Sebastian Fox.”
“Do you hold hands with all your friends, Lita?” Marco asked, some slight amusement to the tone of his voice as he asked the question.
Sebastian tried to let go of her hand, but Lita squeezed his hand tighter and smiled at him. “I do with this one. Sebastian, this is my older brother, Marco, his wife, Antonella, and their two boys, Dante and Orlando. That’s my dad, Enzo, and my mom, Lucia.”
They took seats next to each other at the end of the table, facing her family, and Lita didn’t let go of Sebastian’s hand at all. She felt like she was holding on to him for dear life.
“I’m assuming you two met in Chicago?” her father asked.
“Yes, we did,” Lita replied.
“How long have you been dating?” he asked.
Lita sighed, then figured the truth was the easiest course of action. “We’re not dating. As I said, we’re just friends.”
Who fuck every opportunity they get. She probably didn’t need to say that, of course.
Her mom frowned, and Lita thought from her next question that she might suspect why they were here. “Why did you bring Sebastian to meet us, Lolita?”
Lita looked up at Sebastian. He looked completely and utterly overwhelmed by this experience. She’d seen this man hold court onstage in front of tens of thousands of people in an arena. Yet, he looked absolutely terrified here in the much smaller venue of the Ciccone household.
“We have some news.” She swallowed heavily.
Everyone’s heads snapped up, and they all looked curiously at them. Her mom paused mid-way through chopping a tomato.
“What do you have to tell us, bella?” her mom asked.
“We’re, um, having a baby.” Lita felt Sebastian stiffen next to her, and she gave his hand a comforting squeeze.
“You’re having a baby with Sebastian Fox?” Santino asked incredulously from behind them.
“Yes, Tino.” Lita turned in her seat to smile at him. “I’m twelve weeks pregnant. Well, thirteen weeks tomorrow.”
“Sebastian doesn’t seem to have much to say for himself,” her dad said darkly.
“I’ve found I don’t need to speak for Lita,” Sebastian said in a mildly amused tone. “She’s more than capable of carrying a conversation herself.”
“What is your plan now, bella?” her father asked her. “When will there be a wedding?”
Lita wrinkled her nose. “There’s no wedding, papà.”
The air in the room grew tense. Telling her parents about the baby had never been a concern for Lita; it was the fact she wasn’t in a relationship with her baby’s father that she didn’t want to tell them.
“What do you mean there is no wedding? Of course there will be a wedding,” her father said.
“Papà, Sebastian is just a friend, like I told you all.” Lita bit her lip as she said it.
“Just friends don’t get pregnant together, bella.” Her father glared at Sebastian. “Explain yourself.”
“I met Lita when she came to Chicago. We hit it off and spent the night together. Unfortunately, our contraception failed. Well, multiple forms of contraception failed for us, to be honest. We spent a few weeks trying to figure out what we would do.
“Ultimately, we’ve decided to have the baby. Lita is going to be an amazing mother; I couldn’t have asked for a better person to co-parent with. I am more than able to provide for both my baby and your daughter. She will not struggle financially as a parent to my child.”
“You’re going to be in Chicago while my daughter is here with your child?” Lita’s mom narrowed her eyes at him.
“That’s a really good point, Mrs. Ciccone. I might get a place here to make it easier for when I visit,” Sebastian said casually.
He talked about buying some kind of property here in Seattle as though he was talking about buying a loaf of bread, which was disconcerting for Lita.
“Aren’t you still sleeping with other women?” Antonella asked him slowly as she glared at him.
Antonella was a Cruise Control fan too. Not as big a fan as Lita and Becky were, but enough to have been disappointed she didn’t get to come to Chicago with them. Enough to have read recent posts or articles about him out with other women.
It was the first time Sebastian had ever looked ashamed of his womanizing ways, as he admitted, “Yes.”
“Get out of my house right now.” Her dad looked angrier than Lita had ever seen him, and Sebastian began to stand.
“Stop!” Lita said. “Sebastian, sit the fuck down. Papà, if Sebastian leaves, so do I. This is not an ideal situation, obviously. I’m a grown woman, though, and I can sleep with a man if I want to. We’re two consenting adults, and we decided to spend the night together. We were careful, but our contraception failed.
“Sebastian has been nothing but supportive to me this whole time. We’re not in a relationship together, and he’s free to sleep with whomever he wants, assuming she consents to it. Occasionally, that woman is me. If either of us finds someone to be in a relationship with, we are free to do that as well.
“We’re having a baby together, but Sebastian’s life is in Chicago, and mine is here. The pregnancy was an accident, but we’re just trying to find a way to make the best of it—something that works for us.
“Sebastian loves this baby as much as I do. Our baby is going to have two parents who love it. Our baby is going to be provided for by both its mother and father. I know that in a perfect world, I would have fallen in love with a man, gotten married, and then had babies as Antonella did, but this world isn’t perfect. Our baby, though? Our baby is perfect.”
There was a heavy silence as Lita finished speaking. When no one said anything, she decided to continue.
“At the end of the day, Sebastian and I are having a baby together. Nothing is going to change that. People are starting to figure it out. I don’t know how long it will be until the whole world knows about this, and that is terrifying for me. What I need right now
is not for Sebastian to stop sleeping with other women, but for my family to support me through something which is probably going to be really fucking difficult to get through. I need to make sure the baby and I remain as safe as possible, and I need you to be nice to the father of my child.”
Marco was the first to say something. “This is a lot to take in, Lita. Sebastian doesn’t have the best reputation. I know you love Cruise Control, but all you ever hear about them is scandal after scandal. Wasn’t he sleeping with his best friend’s fiancée last year?”
“Don’t talk about Sebastian like he’s not here, Marco, or I’ll leave,” Lita warned him, then looked at Sebastian, who seemed amused by the persistent rumor he’d had an affair with Heather. “But, no, Sebastian and Heather never had an affair.”
“How do you know?” Antonella asked her, and Lita could tell it was the fan in her who wanted to know the answer.
“They’ve both told me, and I have no reason not to believe them. Plus, if you’d ever seen Harrison and Heather together, Antonella, you’d understand,” Lita smiled.
Sebastian chuckled next to her and confirmed, “They’re pretty sickening whenever they’re in the same room.”
“He cheated on her, though.” Santino had sat down at the table as well now, and finally joined the conversation.
“Because he was drugged.” Lita rolled her eyes. “We’ve talked about this. I told you all about the interview, Tino.”
“I wasn’t really listening,” he shrugged, and Sebastian burst into laughter.
“Just how much time do you spend annoying your family with stories about us, fangirl?” he asked her with a grin.
Lita cringed internally as she remembered all the hours she’d spent regaling her family with information about the band. She felt a wave of embarrassment flood through her body and shrugged at him.
Sebastian’s expression darkened. “I do have to warn you all, Lita will really need your support. I don’t know how bad this could get.” He paused for a second before continuing, “I do expect that when people figure out who Lita is to me, and that she’s having my baby, the pressure might get really intense. Lita was right when she said the most important thing is the safety of her and the baby. Depending on how bad it gets, I might end up getting her a bodyguard or something.”
“You’ll what?” Lita whipped her head around to look at him.
“Yes, princess. As someone who was once drugged against his will, I won’t hesitate to get you a bodyguard if you’re starting to be harassed on a daily basis,” Sebastian shrugged.
“You haven’t even discussed this with me before now,” she said, glaring at him. “Now you’re saying it like it’s a foregone conclusion?”
“Because it didn’t occur to me until just now, Lolita. When I think about you being followed by assholes trying to get some kind of information about your pregnancy, and it makes me feel sick. I know how bad it is, and I hate it’s my fault you’re in this position. I don’t think I’ll be able to function if I don’t know you’ve got security to help you and to make sure you’re both safe,” he rubbed a hand over his face and shook his head.
Lita didn’t know what to say to that; it made sense, but the idea of having a bodyguard was bizarre to her.
“This is scary,” she said to him, as the reality of what was surely coming finally hit her.
“I know.” He gave her a wry smile. “I do. We’ll make sure we do everything we can to keep you safe, okay? Even if that’s getting you a bodyguard, maybe?”
Lita smiled at him. “Okay. I trust you. If a time comes when you think I need a bodyguard, I’ll accept that. See how well we compromise, Seb? We’re going to be the best co-parents ever.”
“Bad news, princess, you just gave me what I wanted, so that’s not actually a compromise. But agreeing with one another on what course of action to take is a step in the right direction.”
He laughed, and Lita laughed as well, remembering how they had argued about nearly everything in their first few conversations about this pregnancy.
“I can’t pretend I’m ecstatic about this situation,” her mom said from where she still stood in the kitchen, and Lita jumped; she’d forgotten where they were while they’d been discussing security. “But I can see you care about my daughter’s wellbeing, and that of your baby, Sebastian. So, I guess I’m going to be a nonna again. Come here, bella, and give your mamma a hug.”
Lita finally let go of Sebastian’s hand, stood up, and walked into the kitchen to hug her mother. Then, there were more hugs. Her dad hugged her, then went and shook Sebastian’s hand.
“A cousin for the boys,” Antonella smiled, then looked at Lita’s stomach. “Oh, you’ve already got a little bump.”
Her brothers both hugged her, and they all sat back down at the table again. Her mom finished dishing up lunch for everyone, and they talked. Both of her parents seemed kinder toward Sebastian when they found out he was Italian.
When they wished them farewell a few hours later, Sebastian told her parents, “Thank you so much for a great afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Ciccone. I’m sure we’ll see each other again. In the meantime, I promise I will always put your daughter’s wellbeing and safety first.”
It was a solemn promise, and her parents thanked him, then they made their way out to the ostentatious limousine, which was still parked near the curb in front of her parents’ house.
“Well, that went well, don’t you think?” Lita couldn’t resist teasing him once they were both settled inside.
“Very funny. Holy shit, that was the scariest four hours of my life, princess,” Sebastian said.
“At least it’s over. All we have to do now is wait for the other shoe to drop. Until then, I guess we just go about our lives the best we can.”
14
LEVEL 15.5 – Differing Opinions
Your baby is the size of a can of Spam.
You’re well into the second trimester of your pregnancy now. Your bump is growing as fast as your baby is, and it’s more obvious there is a baby in there and not just a big lunch. A side effect of your bigger bump is that your spine curves more than usual to accommodate for it. This can strain your back muscles, but don’t worry—prenatal massages can help with this. The time has come to find yourself a sexy masseuse.
Lita was stretched out sideways across Becky’s sofa with her legs on her friend’s lap, eating ice cream from the tub with a spoon. It was Friday night, and Lita was wrecked; work had started getting full-on again because they’d just started focusing on a new game release, which was due in two months’ time. Becky was scrolling through the Cruise Control subreddit, reading out all of the threads about Lita.
“Thank god they haven’t figured out my name yet,” Lita said through a mouthful of choc-mint ice cream.
“I don’t think it’ll be long,” Becky warned her. “How are you even going to see him tomorrow?”
Sebastian had been busy the last few weekends, so he hadn’t been back to Seattle since the day they’d told her family about the baby. Cruise Control had some, but he was free for the rest of the weekend and was flying out to see her.
“I’m going to check into the hotel before he even leaves Chicago,” Lita smiled.
“Is it the same hotel he goes to every time he’s here?” Becky asked her.
“Yeah, it is. He likes it there, I guess,” Lita shrugged.
Becky frowned. “Is that smart? I mean, if he keeps going to the same hotel, it just makes it easier for them, right?”
“That is true,” Lita said slowly. “I hadn’t thought about that. I’ll talk to him about it. He’s looking at places to buy here, anyway.”
“I can’t believe he’s going to do that.” Becky shook her head. “It’s kind of romantic, really.”
Lita raised her eyebrows at Becky. “Romantic? Sebastian Fox? Have you forgotten who I’m having a baby with?”
“No, but it is romantic. Like, he’s going to buy a place to live in so he can come to visit you and
the baby. Come on; you don’t think it means something?” Becky asked her.
“Yes, so he can visit our baby and me on the weekends he’s not screwing other women. We have amazing sex, we are having a baby together”—she pointed her spoon at Becky and said in a stern voice—“but we are not in a relationship.”
“You keep saying that, but the lady doth protest too much, methinks.” Becky raised an eyebrow at her.
“I don’t get why you and Heather are so confused by this. We’re just friends with benefits…and a baby,” Lita said, shaking her head.
“What does Heather think about Sebastian wanting to get a place out here?” Becky asked her.
“I don’t know; I haven’t asked her,” Lita shrugged.
“Well, ask her now, and tell me what she says.” Becky looked back down at her phone.
Lita put the ice cream aside, grabbed her own phone, and sent a text to Heather.
Sebastian has been looking at buying a place in Seattle to make it easier for him to visit. Becky wants to know what you think about that.
“Oh fuck,” Becky said.
Heather hadn’t replied to Lita’s message yet, and she looked up from her phone to see Becky staring, wide-eyed, at the screen in front of her. “What?”
“Us.” Becky turned the phone to show her.
On the screen, there were pictures of the two of them leaving the hotel in Chicago, accompanied by Cruise Control. Lita felt sick. It was in a thread where somebody was trying to figure out with whom Sebastian was having a baby. There had been a lot of speculation; there were also pictures of him with other women from around the same time.
“It was probably only a matter of time before they found those pictures,” Lita cringed.
“How are you feeling?” Becky asked.
“I won’t lie, I’m freaking the fuck out. Thinking seriously about taking Sebastian up on the whole bodyguard thing the second there’s any sign of people knowing who I am. I’m just worried about our baby, you know? I don’t want anything to happen to it.” Lita found herself struggling to hold back tears.