by Nina Singh
“Okay. I see.”
Laney rolled her eyes. He was clearly at a loss for words. Or maybe he was just really concerned that he was missing his important meeting.
It hardly mattered. She’d delivered the news. The rest was up to him, the ball completely in his court.
“I’ll let you get back to it, then,” she told him, clicking off the call without saying goodbye.
Tears stung the back of her eyes as she sank down into the floor. His reaction was one she would have never guessed. She’d had less business-sounding calls with her wine supplier.
She was a fool to have expected any different.
* * *
Gianni slipped the phone back into his pocket and braced himself against the wall with one arm. Laney’s phone call seemed like some kind of daydream. As if he’d just made it up.
But it was all too real, he knew. A baby. His baby.
The new reality was going to take some time for him to process. The truth was, he hadn’t seen this coming by a light-year. He knew he could have handled the call better than he had. He’d just been so shocked by the news. So he’d tried to be very careful with his words, saying less for fear of saying the wrong thing. Perhaps he’d been a bit too straightforward and narrow with his response. But that was better than the alternative. Hurting her somehow or making a statement she didn’t agree with.
For all he knew, she might not even want him in this child’s life. That thought felt like a slice across his midsection. If that were the case, he’d have to do all he could to convince her otherwise. He couldn’t live with himself if his reality was to live his life as an absentee father. Or worse, if he were made to simply stand back and let another man raise his son or daughter.
But he was getting way ahead of himself. First, he had to let it all fully sink in. And he had to check in on Laney as soon as was feasible.
His accountant stepped out into the hallway. “Mr. Martino? Has something come up? Did you want to reschedule?”
Gianni didn’t even realize how long he’d been standing out there. It could have been an hour or merely a few minutes. He just remembered jumping out of his chair and running out of the room when he’d realized he’d missed Laney’s call. “No. I don’t want to reschedule. In fact, there’s an entirely different matter we need to discuss.”
The man lifted an eyebrow in question.
“On top of the financial documents to present to my father for a purchase offer, I’d like to establish a few trust and college funds with investment to begin immediately.”
His accountant didn’t bother to question him, simply motioned for him to step back into the room. Good thing too—Gianni wasn’t sure how he would even try to explain the additional request that seemed to have come out of nowhere.
Besides, his finance man wasn’t the first person he intended to announce the fact that he was going to be a father. The words echoed around in his head, like musical notes ricocheting off the chambers of his mind.
He was going to be a father.
* * *
Two and a half hours later, as he arrived at his brother’s house, Gianni felt he might have finally absorbed the brunt of the shock. He rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer, not even sure exactly how to break the news to Angelo. There was a lot to explain, given the circumstances.
His brother opened the door wearing pajama bottoms and a gray T-shirt that had seen better days. “Please tell me you’re not here to rile my kids up right before bedtime.”
“No. That’s not why I’m here, though it’s very likely to happen.”
Angelo looked upward, whispering some kind of prayer to the deity above. “You gonna let me in, or what? It’s starting to drizzle out here.”
Angelo rubbed his jaw, as if thinking about leaving him out there. “I suppose I have to,” he said as he walked inside, leaving Gianni to step in and shut the door behind him.
“Though you might be recruited to help with a bath and then to read a bedtime story. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Angelo continued walking toward the kitchen where Gemma could be heard demanding more water in her cup. Gino was nowhere to be seen or heard. Which, based on past experience, did not bode well for anyone.
“Well, that’s part of the reason I’m here, little bro,” he said to Angelo’s back.
“Yeah, why’s that?” Angelo asked, throwing the question over his shoulder. “You’ll never convince me you actually came here to help with the bedtime routine.”
“Ah, that’s where you’d be wrong. See, it turns out I might need the practice.”
It took an instant or so for his words to register. Angelo stopped in his tracks and whirled around to face him. “Come again? Why would you need practice—” Gianni watched as realization dawned over his brother’s features. “Honey,” he bellowed in the direction of the kitchen. “You might want to come out here.”
“I just found out myself.”
“Just found out what?” his sister-in-law wanted to know.
“Looks like our little bambinos are going to have a cousin soon.”
Marie gasped and nearly let go of the toddler on her hip. Angelo strode across the room, his hand outstretched. Gripping Gianni’s palm in his, he gave him a firm, hard handshake.
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense. Who is the unlucky lady?”
If they only knew. “It happens to be a bit of a long story.”
Marie pointed to him. “Then I suggest you brew some coffee, then come upstairs to help your brother and I get the little ones bathed and tucked in.”
Gianni scoffed in mock affront. “You’re so bossy.”
His sister-in-law nodded. “Si. And I’m also nosy. So let’s get to it. You know where the coffeepot is.”
He’d have to brew it really strong. Telling them the entire story was going to take a while.
* * *
Forty-eight hours, forty-seven minutes and however many seconds.
That’s how long it had been since she’d spoken with Gianni about her baby. Their baby. She hadn’t heard a word from him since save for a couple of impersonal texts. No matter. Nothing he could say would make a difference at this point anyway. She was going to be a mother, and if that meant single parenthood, then so be it. She’d find a way to cope.
A small knock sounded at her office door and pulled her out of her thoughts. It had to be her cousin. Mabel was on a two-week break from school. She usually helped out at the club when she wasn’t up in Vermont studying and she was here helping now. Thank the heavens for it too. Laney was definitely slowing down, even though it was rather early in the first trimester. This little one was already proving to be rather demanding, between the increase in her calorie count and the sheer exhaustion she often felt.
“Come in.”
She pulled the supply order form from under the pile of papers on her desk. Mabel had offered to do the weekly inventory for her. But the footsteps sounded wrong, too heavy. A lump formed in her throat when she looked up.
“Hey, Laney.”
How many times in one lifetime could he approach her that way, completely unannounced? Each time felt as if a rug had been pulled out from underneath her.
“Hope it’s okay to just show up?”
She did her best to appear unaffected. Inside, she was a shaky mess. “That depends, I guess. What exactly are you doing here?”
“I came to check up on you. Are you feeling all right?”
“I feel fine,” she lied. He didn’t need to know about the exhaustion or the sudden bout of morning sickness that had come out of nowhere and nearly had her heading back to bed.
“Good. That’s good.”
Leaning back in her chair, she folded her arms across her chest. “Was that it, then?”
He looked at her in question. “I’d say it’s not. Don’t you thi
nk we need to talk?”
“Oh. So now it’s time to talk. No business meetings today, I take it?”
Without asking, he pulled the chair by the wall over and across from her desk and sat down. Laney had half a mind to tell him not to bother, but figured she owed it to her unborn child to hear him out. For now, at least.
“I apologize for that. I was not in exactly a good position to talk at that very moment. Not physically or in any other sense.”
Did he think that served as any kind of acceptable excuse? She was convinced he wanted nothing to do with her or their child since she had barely heard from him aside from a few perfunctory text messages. Now, here he was telling her he thought they needed to talk.
She summoned a deep breath to try to calm down. Just last night, she’d read in her baby book that stress hormones could have an impact on the baby. It didn’t help that he looked as handsome as ever. His hair had grown just enough that it almost reached his shoulders now. He must have been at the gym earlier. He had that glow that came from a good bout of exercise followed by a long shower.
She really had no business imagining him in the shower. Focus! “And since then? It’s been almost three days since we spoke.”
“Didn’t you get my texts? Asking how you were?”
If he thought texts were adequate in this situation, he was sorely mistaken. “Texts? You think a few texts were enough?”
“Laney, I didn’t want to come and talk until I had everything in order. There were a lot of matters to tie up. Please know that I understand what a huge responsibility this is. One I don’t take lightly.”
There it was. Responsibility. Loose ends to tie up.
While she considered this baby a blessing to cherish, he clearly saw their situation as just an inconvenience that had to be addressed. Yet another rejection, another let down. Gianni no doubt planned to move on with his life. Who knew if she or their child would even be part of it. And she had no business feeling hurt or even surprised. Given what he’d told her that night on his aunt’s balcony, the complicated relationship he had with his parents, she knew it must be difficult for him to find himself an unplanned expectant father.
Still, it was pretty hard to accept. Without warning, her anger suddenly morphed into pure, unfiltered weariness. She didn’t have all the answers, and just felt so tired.
Another knock on her door suddenly interrupted them. It was followed by her cousin rushing into the room. “Sorry it took me so long. Had a little spill of pomegranate juice as I was mixing. What a mess. Red liquid everywhere!” She halted when she finally realized Laney had a visitor. Her eyes narrowed when she realized who that visitor was. “Gianni. Wish I could say it’s nice to see you again.”
He didn’t acknowledge the goading nor the tone. Mabel had been the one to hear the alternating angry then sad rants since Laney returned from Europe. “Mabel. Hope you’ve been well,” he answered with a polite nod in her direction.
“I can come back another time?” Mabel directed the question at her.
But Gianni answered by standing up. “I should be the one to go. Can we meet for dinner, Laney? To discuss all this and go over all our options.”
He may as well have been speaking about a business negotiation. As much as she wanted to get it over with, delaying this conversation would give her time to get her thoughts together. “I think that’s a wise plan.”
“I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
* * *
“Are you okay?” Mabel asked as soon as Gianni had left. “That was pretty intense.”
“I’m not sure I’d describe things that way,” Laney answered, waiting for her pulse to slow. Seeing Gianni for the first time since announcing her pregnancy was wreaking havoc on her insides. “I’d say Gianni was the opposite of intense just now.”
“What do you mean?” Mabel asked.
Laney puffed out a sigh in frustration and pushed the bangs off her forehead. “He’s just so... I don’t know...flat, and straightforward. As if this is all no big deal.” Darn it, her eyes were beginning to sting. She was not going to cry. Not again.
“You want him to be more excited about the baby.”
That was it in a nutshell. Funny how she hadn’t been able to articulate that one fact. Not even to herself, let alone be able to communicate it to Gianni. “Is that too much to ask?”
Mabel walked around the desk and sat on the edge of it, facing her. “Of course not, sweetie.”
Laney sniffled, still desperately trying to keep the tears at bay. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold out. “My parents could barely hide their disappointment in me. Again. That I’d gotten myself in yet another predicament they see as less than ideal.” She squeezed her eyes shut at the memory of the heavy scene in her parents’ living room when she’d broken the news to them. “Mom’s first words after I told them was to ask how I could have been so careless.”
Mabel’s lips tightened. “I’m so sorry. As much as I love my aunt and uncle, they can be completely tone-deaf. They’ve always been the type that had that proverbial stick up their—”
Laney cut her off before she could complete that unseemly statement, as funny as it was. “Well, I seem to be the only one feeling any sense of thrill about this soon-to-be little human.”
Mabel patted her arm. “That’s not true. You know I can’t wait to be an aunt to this little one.”
“Thank you for that. I wish Emily had said the same thing when I told her yesterday.”
“I take it she was also less than congratulatory.”
“You would be correct. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was rather disappointed that I’d be a mother before her. She’s the one who just got married.”
“Families come in all different ways these days. Plenty of women have babies on their own.”
“Yes, I know.” Looked like she was well on her way to becoming one of those women. Life as a single parent was daunting, and she couldn’t help but feel scared. But she’d do whatever it took to make sure her baby thrived. Having her child’s father by her side, in some way or another, would have been ideal. But it didn’t seem to be in the cards for her.
“And we both know Emily usually finds ways to feel slighted. She’ll come around. And so will your parents.”
But her family’s reaction was secondary. What mattered more than any of their feelings about her child was the way the baby’s father felt about him or her. Judging by what she’d seen so far, all indications implied he felt little to nothing.
“I hope so, May.” She patted her belly. “Or else the size of our family is going to be small indeed.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MAYBE AGREEING TO dinner at Gianni’s apartment hadn’t been the best idea on her part. After all, this was where it had all begun. The night he’d cooked dinner for her seemed ages ago. Hard to believe it had been close to two months ago. How different things were between them now.
Laney sighed and pulled her car to park along the only spot left on the street. As she reached the steps, Gianni’s door suddenly flew open and a small child ran out onto the porch. A little boy. He looked to be about two or three. The slight resemblance was there if one looked hard enough. He had to be Gianni’s nephew.
“Hi!” he declared to her, then stuck his thumb in his mouth. Gianni stepped through the door at that very moment. He lifted the child up and in one smooth gesture lifted him over his head to sit on his shoulders.
Laney had to remind herself to breathe. The image of Gianni with a small child was pushing all the wrong buttons. If he had planned this scene, he couldn’t have done a better job.
“Hey. You’re here.” He gave his nephew a small bounce on his shoulders. “I see you two have met.”
She had to clear her throat in order to speak. “Um... We were just getting acquainted.”
“Gino won’t
be here long. Angelo just ran out to get some groceries from the North End.”
He motioned her in, then followed her through the door, ducking low as he entered. His nephew giggled when he finally let him down. The little boy scrambled away toward the living room where several wooden puzzles lay scattered across the rug. He bit down on one of the large pieces before trying to cram it into a spot it clearly didn’t fit in.
“You’re babysitting?”
“Yeah, sorry. He was supposed to be picked up an hour ago. Angelo’s just running late.”
“No. Don’t apologize. I’m glad to be able to meet your nephew.”
Gianni glanced at his watch. “Well, looks like you’re going to be able to meet my brother, as well. He should be here any minute.”
Laney was a grown professional woman. Yet the prospect of meeting Gianni’s brother for the first time sent a shiver of nervousness down her spine. What would he think of her? What would his parents think when she eventually met them?
Though she hadn’t allowed herself to really dwell on it, she had to acknowledge there might still be some lingering resentment about her unwillingness to sell her business.
All of that had to be water under the bridge, however. They had bigger fish to fry, as the saying went.
“The good news is my babysitting fee is being paid in a very valuable currency.”
She had to laugh at the clear humor in his tone. Gianni’s natural charm served well to lighten some of the tension. She couldn’t help but feel appreciative. “What would that be?”
“Desanti’s pizza. Extra-cheesy. Hope you’re hungry.”
How uncanny. She’d been craving pizza for the past day or so, never getting around to order any. Usually, by the time she got home, she was so famished and so low on energy that she nibbled on toast while boiling pasta or reheating leftovers.
“It’s like you read my mind.”