Tempt The Hookup (Tempt Series Book 3)

by Natasha Madison

  “She cooked for an army,” he says, putting the pot on the stove. “She also made spaghetti for Aiden and homemade gnocchi.”

  “Hi, Mom,” Aiden says, coming to me and sitting next to me on the couch. I reach over, and my body literally hurts and feels like I’ve been hit by a truck.

  “Did you have a good day at school?” I ask Aiden who nods.

  “I played baseball, and I really like it,” he says, and I want to groan because if anyone hears him, they will ask him if he wants to play it again and then sign him up for another sport. I look over at Luca who is about to say something, but the look I give him makes him second-guess.

  “We don’t have time,” I answer his question even before he asks it. “Go wash your hands if you want a snack.” I look at Aiden.

  “You have soccer practice tonight,” I tell Luca, and he just nods.

  “I’m going to ask my father to take him,” he says and looks over his shoulder. Right before he is about to say something, I reach out and hold his hand.

  “I’m fine.” I smile. “I haven’t thrown up all day long.”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave you,” he says. “What if you get sick and then fall on the way to the bathroom?”

  “Luca, if I’m feeling sick or weak I will call you,” I tell him, and I’m about to say something else when the front door opens, and my mother comes in.

  “Hey,” she says when she comes into the room. “You look horrible.” I roll my eyes at her.

  “Thanks, Mom,” I say, getting up and walking to the bathroom. I don’t tell anyone I feel like I’m going to throw up and I don’t tell them that I’m dizzy. I sit down and close my eyes, trying to get the dizziness to stop. When I walk out of the bathroom, the smell of the broth and the sauce hits my nose right away, and I put my hand to my stomach. My eyes lock with Luca, who is about to get up and rush to me, but I take deep breaths in and out. “I’m never eating sushi again.”

  “I just googled, and it said it could last up to forty-eight hours,” Luca says, and I nod at him. “Do you want to go lie down in bed, and I’ll bring you some soup up?”

  “I think that’s a good idea. I don’t know how I’m going to feel sitting at the table with food,” I tell him, and he comes to me and takes me in his arms. “I’m exhausted.”

  “Go up, and I’ll come up in a bit,” he tells me, and I look around and see that Dominic is sitting at the table doing homework with Aiden, and our mothers are in the kitchen. Gabriella is showing my mother her homemade gnocchi. “We have this,” he says, and I nod and walk away with tears streaming down my face. I always did everything myself, and now that I have so many people to help, it’s overwhelming but amazing at the same time. To finally give over the reins and trust that someone else can take care of stuff is everything.

  I slip into bed and roll into the fetal position, then turn on the television. I hear my father come in, and then I hear them talk about going to soccer practice, and when Luca brings me a tray upstairs, it’s full. There is a bowl of broth. Two cups of hot water and a red drink. “That’s electrolytes. Your father brought it,” he says and gets into bed with me.

  “The soup is still hot, so you can sip it slowly.” I look over at him, sitting up in bed with my back to the headboard.

  Our parents eat downstairs and then take Aiden to practice. Luca sits by me the whole time until Aiden comes back. I don’t even have the energy to lift my head. When he comes in after his bath to kiss me, I open my eyes for just a second and then fall back asleep. It goes on for three days until Luca has had enough of my excuses, and truth be told, I’m getting a bit worried.

  I get up on Wednesday and feel just a touch better until I turn my head to look at Aiden and have to run to vomit. “That’s it.” I hear Luca say and then he gets on the phone. “I need the doctor’s number, someone, anyone; she’s still sick, and it’s ridiculous. Should I call an ambulance?” I have no idea who he is talking to, and I can’t even yell at him that I don’t need an ambulance. “My mother is coming to get Aiden, and I’m taking her in. Call the guy and tell him I’m on my way and he has no choice but to see her.” I hear him slam the phone down and come to me. “I’ve had it. You need to see a doctor.” I want to tell him he isn’t the boss of me, but I don’t have the energy to do anything.

  Aiden leaves, and then I get up, putting on yoga pants and a T-shirt. I bring a bowl with me in the car, and when I walk into the doctor’s office, I’m not even told to sit down. Instead, I’m ushered into the back room. When the nurse comes in, she tells me to sit on the table and that the doctor will be in shortly. I look over at Luca, who is trying to be cool but is failing at hiding the worry all over his face. “I’m fine,” I tell him, and he glares at me. “I mean, I’m going to be fine.”

  A soft knock on the door, and then it opens. “Well, look who it is,” Todd says, and I look at him dressed in slacks and a button-down shirt with his stethoscope around his neck.

  “Don’t you look all official,” I joke with him, and he laughs, going to the desk and sitting down.

  “Only the best for you.” He winks at me, and then Luca groans.

  “Can we get on with it?” he grumbles and sits down in the chair beside the desk.

  “Excuse him, he’s all worried,” I try to joke, and my stomach roils, and they both look at me. I close my eyes and literally ride the wave that is going through my stomach.

  “I’m going to ask you some routine questions,” Todd says. “When was the last thing you kept down?”

  “We had sushi Saturday night, and she was throwing up Sunday after lunch,” Luca says. And Todd writes it down.

  “Any discomfort?” He looks at me. “Besides the vomiting.”

  “Nausea and dizziness,” I tell him, and Luca looks at me. “I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.” Then I look back at Todd. “Extreme fatigue.”

  “When was your last menstrual cycle?” Todd asks, and I look over at Luca.

  “I’m on the pill,” I tell him, and then he nods.

  “So when was your last menstrual cycle?” he asks again, tapping his pen on the desk.

  “A week ago, I think. It was just spotting this month,” I tell him. “It’s not the first time.”

  “I’m going to have your blood drawn,” he says. He comes to me. “Lie down, please.” He checks my blood pressure. “It’s low, which isn’t a surprise,” he says, and then he presses down on my stomach, and I yelp. “I’m going to check your blood and then do an ultrasound.”

  “What is the matter with her?” Luca asks, and Todd looks over.

  “It can be a stomach infection, or it can be her appendix. The good news is she has no fever.” He comes back and then hands me a little cup. “If you can pee in there, we can rule out pregnancy.”

  “I’m not pregnant,” I tell him. “I got my period.”

  “Humor me, will you?” Todd says. I nod, and the nurse comes in to take my blood and then tells me to bring her the urine sample.

  I go to the bathroom, and it takes forever for me to fill it up. I have to turn on the water, think of streams and waterfalls. The minute I feel it coming and put the cup there, it’s like my bladder gets stage fright. “Are you okay in there?” I hear Luca knock on the door.

  “I’m fine,” I hiss at him. “It’s just taking me longer than usual,” I tell him, and then finally I pee. I wash the cup off and wrap it in a brown paper towel, and I’m almost embarrassed to come out with it. I walk back into the room and hand the nurse my sample and then lie down on the table.

  “Mona says that she hopes you are okay and to let her know if you need anything.”

  “I need you to stop telling people about me having food poisoning.” I close my eyes. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

  “You are way past food poisoning,” he says, his eyes never lifting from his phone as he types away with his thumbs.

  “What medical school did you graduate from?” I ask him, annoyed.

&
nbsp; “The medical school of Google.” He laughs at his stupid joke. I’m about to tell him that if he googled my symptoms, it would probably tell him I’m either dying or already dead. The side door opens, and Todd comes in with a file in his hand and a huge smile.

  “So I think we found out what the cause is,” he says, and I sit up. “It seems that you are pregnant.” The minute he says the words, I think I’m going to vomit.

  “That is a mistake. I’m on the pill,” I stutter out, and my mouth suddenly goes dry. “You must have mixed up my results with someone else’s.”

  “Two urine positives and blood positive,” he says, and the nurse comes in with the ultrasound machine. I look over at Luca who just stands there shocked, his mouth open.

  “Um,” Luca says, now stuttering.

  “Bet your Google didn’t tell you that.” I look over at him, and he just blinks. I don’t know what to say. “There has to be a mistake,” I tell him, and he asks me to lie down and lift my shirt. I look over at Luca who hasn’t moved from his spot. Todd squeezes the blue gel on my stomach. “Dim the lights please,” Todd tells the nurse, and he switches on the machine at the same time that the light goes off. He grabs the handle and puts it on my stomach and presses down a bit and then smiles at me and then looks at Luca. “Go stand next to Eli.”

  Luca walks over and looks at me, bending down and kissing me on the lips. “I love you,” he says, grabbing my hand and then looking at the screen.

  “See this little black thing?” Todd points at the middle of the screen. “See this little white pea?” We both nod. “That’s your baby,” he says and then moves it around again and then looks at the nurse and then pushes a couple of things.

  “Is everything okay?” I ask him, and he looks down and then up again.

  “Well, I can’t confirm it right now since it’s too early, but I think you’re having twins.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Luca

  “Twins?” The word comes out of my mouth in shock. Ever since he walked back into the room with the results, it’s like I’ve been floating on a cloud. I wonder if someone can die of happiness? I should google that later. I hold Eli’s hand and look at her face, trying to be strong and manly for her, but the tears well up in my eyes. “Twins.”

  “But I don’t understand,” Eli says, looking at Todd who is pressing buttons on his machine. “I’m on the pill.”

  “The pill is only ninety-nine-point-seven percent effective,” I tell her, and she looks at me.

  “How do you know this?” she asks me, dumbfounded. I look at Todd to see if he is going to side with me, and he doesn’t.

  “Google,” I tell her, and she groans. Todd wheels himself over to the wall and turns the light on just in time for me to see Eli roll her eyes at me. Todd goes back and wipes off the gel off her stomach and then looks at me and then at Eli.

  “It’s common to have morning sickness. What is not common is to vomit all day. You can get dehydrated, so it is very important that if you throw up all day for twenty-four hours, you need to go to the ER. They will have to get you an IV,” Todd starts to say, and I interrupt him.

  “Shouldn’t we go there now just to be on the safe side?” I ask him. “There is no such thing as being too safe.” I then look at Eli. “I think we should go now just to check.”

  Eli looks at Todd for him to say something. “I think that you should see if you throw up anymore today.”

  “But she’s not eating anything,” I tell him. “So there is nothing to throw up.”

  Todd takes a big inhale, and he gets up, slapping me on the shoulder. “It’s going to be an interesting nine months.” He laughs, and I just look at Eli. Todd rips something from the machine and hands me the black and white sheet. “That is the first pictures of your children.” I look down, and it looks like two black circles with white dots. “Eli, call me if you have any questions.”

  “I have questions.” I almost raise my hand, and Todd stops with his hand on the door. “Should she be on bed rest?”

  “That is for her OB to decide, but if everything looks fine, then I don’t think she will be,” he says and rushes out before I have time to ask more questions. I look at Eli, who swings her legs off the table.

  “Do you need to throw up?” I ask her and look around to see if I can spot a trash can.

  “No,” she tells me and then looks down. “I want to go home,” she tells me, getting up and walking out. She is quiet the whole way home, and when we get home, she just walks up the stairs. I give her that space for three minutes while I walk to the kitchen and grab a water bottle and also a couple of the cookies I know she loves, and I walk upstairs slowly. When I enter the room, I see she isn’t in bed, and the door to the bathroom opens. She walks out with her face stained with tears, her eyes full of water, and the tip of her nose red.

  She stands there in the bedroom we share, looking at me, her hands in front of her. “We need to talk,” she says, and for a second, my heart sinks to the floor.

  “I brought you water.” I hold up one hand. “And cookies.” I hold up the other hand.

  “You don’t have to do this,” she says, and the tears just roll down her cheeks one after another, and after the second one, she gives up trying to catch them.

  “I have to take care of you,” I tell her.

  “No, that’s the thing. You don’t have to take care of me. I can take care of myself.” I want to interrupt her, but she just keeps going. “I know this isn’t what you signed up for, and I understand that it’s a shock to you as well as to me. And I never ever wanted this to happen,” she says, and I start to walk to her, but she holds up her hands and shakes her head to stop me. “You’re the most amazing father to Aiden, and even though this wasn’t planned”—she puts a hand on her stomach to protect the babies—“I’m not holding you accountable for it.”

  “Are you done yet?” I ask her, and she shakes her head.

  “I won’t have an abortion,” she sobs. “I didn’t for Aiden, and I won’t for these two.”

  “I’m giving you five seconds, and then I’m coming to you, so you better get whatever you need to say out,” I tell her, and I almost hiss it out.

  “I’m having the babies,” she says.

  “Well, I fucking hope so,” I finally say.

  “What?” she whispers, and I turn now and walk into the closet and go to my little hiding spot, grabbing the square box that I bought the day after she moved in.

  I walk back into the room, and she is still standing there where I left her. “When I left the boat, I left a piece of my heart with you. I mean, I left more than a piece of me with you. I looked for you and even went so far as to pray to Saint Anthony to find you. When I saw you, my heart started working again. It’s funny,” I say, looking down. “I was just going through the motions of life. Get up, go to work, have dinner with my parents, lunch with Nick. I wasn’t living my life. I was just moving along. But then you came back, and it was so much more. I woke up happy, and I fell in love with you from the minute you said this is our son.”

  I get down on one knee in front of her, and she gasps in shock. “I’m not asking you to marry me because we are having twins,” I say, grabbing her hips and pulling them to my face, and I kiss her stomach. “I’m asking you to marry me because I love you more than the world itself. I’m asking you to marry me because, with you, everything is better; I’m asking you to marry me because you are the most amazing mother to our children; I’m asking you to marry me because I know that with you by my side holding my hand, everything is going to be better, and I’m asking you to marry me because I don’t want to think about what my life would be like without you in it. I’m asking you to marry me because, without you, I just exist. I’m asking you to marry me because there is not a day that goes by that I don’t fall more in love with you.”

  I now show her the box and open it, showing her the four-carat square diamond ring I bought. “I bought this ring right after you moved in.
When I walked into the shop, there were so many different choices, and I didn’t know which one to pick. But then I saw this one, and it drew me in, not because of the diamond but because of the infinity symbol on the side.” I take the ring out of the box and show it to her. On the side of the square cut is the symbol in diamonds all the way around. “You see, what we have is unbreakable. Seven years couldn’t break it.”

  “Oh my God,” she says, sobbing now, putting her right hand on her mouth while I take her left hand in mine.

  “Eliahn, would you do me the honor of being my wife?” I ask her and look into her eyes. My heart pounds in my chest; I’ve never in my life been more scared than I was when she was sick. My parents, fuck, even her parents had to talk me off a ledge and told me that I had to be strong even when I was dying inside.

  “Yes,” she whispers, and I slip the ring on her finger. She bends down and takes my face in her hands and kisses me on the lips. “Every single day, yes.”

  She starts to get down on the floor with me, and her hands slide up my shirt, but I stop her. “Um, you’re sick and pregnant.”

  “Okay,” she says. “I’m not sick now. In fact, I feel the opposite of sick.”

  “I don’t think we should.” I don’t finish because the front door opens, and I hear Aiden yelling and then our mothers talking to each other as they walk in.

  “What are we going to tell them?” She looks at me.

  “Whatever you want to tell them we will,” I say. “I mean, I don’t think we can hide the ring since you’re never taking it off.”

  She laughs at me, and we don’t have a chance because Aiden comes running up the stairs. “Mom, Dad!” he yells and then comes into the bedroom. “Nonna, Grandma! Mom is crying, and so is Dad.”

  “I’m not crying,” I say, and I just look at Eli who gives me a yeah right look. My mother is the first one up, followed by Maryse.

  “What happened?” my mother says, and she already has tears in her eyes. Maryse stands next to her and puts her hands in front of her mouth, and I swear I hear a whimper. The front door opens, and now my father comes in, and I think Leonard follows him.