Caroselli's Accidental Heir (5 page)

She made it sound as if Lucy would have starved to death had she not intervened. “Where is she?”

“Taking a shower. I made her a healthy breakfast.”

Breakfast?
He looked at his watch. “Mom, it’s almost four in the afternoon. How long have you been here?”

“What difference does that make? You can’t just abandon a pregnant woman in an apartment with nothing but sour milk, shriveled carrots, moldy cheese and Dijon mustard. She needs a balanced diet. It’s a good thing your father called me, and a good thing I still have your spare key.”

He put a clamp down on his anger. “Did you at least try knocking first?”

“Of course. No one answered.”

So she just let herself in. In her world, that probably made perfect sense. She had an issue with boundaries. The issue being that she had none. “That typically means that either no one is home, or whoever is home would rather not be disturbed.”

“Well, lucky for both of us she was still asleep. She didn’t have to wake up to an empty home with an equally empty refrigerator. You’re welcome.”

She meant well, he knew she did, but she still drove him nuts. Although in retrospect, she had a valid point. He should have made sure Lucy had everything she needed before he left. He wasn’t used to being responsible for anyone but himself.

He relented and told his mom, “I appreciate you coming by, but I’ve got it from here.”

“This was a novelty for me,” she said. “It’s not often I get to meet your girlfriends.”

“She’s not—” He shook his head. “Never mind.”

“Tony, sweetheart.” She laid a hand on his chest and patted affectionately, regarding him as if he were still a clueless kid. “Promise me you’ll be patient with her. It’s a very confusing time. She’s going to need all the support she can get.”

A couple of hours with Lucy and she thought she knew her? He’d known Lucy for over a year, and he still had no idea what went on in her head. She was one of the most self-sufficient women he knew, and one of the most insecure. “I appreciate the advice. And I know you mean well, but you don’t even know her.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” his mom said, her smile sad. “I
was
her. I know exactly what she’s going through.”

Come to think of it, she probably did. And it would be in his best interest to listen to her. “So what do I do?”

“Be there for her. Protect her. And just give her time. She needs you, even if she’s afraid to show it. And for heaven’s sake, take her shopping. She showed up empty-handed. There must be a million things she needs.”

“Like...?”

“Shampoo, deodorant...a hairbrush. And some decent-fitting clothes.”

These were things he should have realized himself. What the hell was wrong with him? Had seeing her again and learning about the baby really zapped him so hard? He was acting like a selfish ass. This was why he avoided serious relationships. He was no good at it. Perhaps because the longest relationship of any kind that he’d had with a woman was with Lucy. It was so...easy. She had her life and he had his and every so often those two worlds would collide. It was a pretty cool arrangement. One that he’d thought was working for the both of them.

His mom to the rescue again.

He lifted her hand off his chest and kissed the back of it. “I will, Mom. I promise. And thank you.”

She smiled and patted his cheek, making him feel six years old. “My good boy.”

That was him, always the obedient son. But maybe it wasn’t so bad this time. She may have driven him nuts from time to time, but her intentions were good. She did it out of love. It was easy to forget that.

“I’m going to go talk to Lucy.”

“And I’m going to go home. Your father promised to take me out to dinner tonight. Call if you need anything.”

“I will.”

After she left he walked to his bedroom, hoping his mother’s visit hadn’t been too traumatic for Lucy. And he was so used to having her around, he didn’t stop to think about her privacy as he opened the door.

Five

T
hough she wasn’t typically shy about her body, and Tony had seen her naked more times than she could count, when Lucy turned to see him standing in the bedroom doorway, her hands flew up to cover herself. Her bra and panties covered the essentials, yet for some reason she felt utterly exposed. Then she realized that no one other than the clinic doctor had seen her undressed in the past four months.

What if Tony found her body revolting?

Maybe under the circumstances that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

“I’m sorry, I should have knocked. I didn’t think...” He trailed off as his eyes settled on her stomach then went wide. “Wow, you’re big.”

Maybe it was the look she gave him, or his brain was just catching up to his mouth, but he quickly added, “I mean your stomach, not the rest of you. In fact, my mom is right. You are too thin.” He hesitated, then added, “Although not in an unattractive way.”

“Quit while you’re ahead, Caroselli,” she told him, before he dug himself in any deeper. For a man so educated and sophisticated, he had this way of putting his foot in his mouth. And though he sometimes said things that made her want to smack him upside the head, she considered his cluelessness one of his most endearing qualities.

He shot her a grin that made her knees go weak and said, “I think you know what I mean.”

“I do.” It would have felt so natural to slide her arms around his neck, push him down on his bed. Like she had so many times before...

No, she definitely couldn’t do that.

“Did he just move?”

That was an understatement. “He’s been doing gymnastics all day. I think he liked that breakfast your mom made.”

“It looks like it would hurt.” Tony said, transfixed by her tummy. It was academic in a way. Like Pregnancy 101.

“Not usually, although sometimes he’ll get a foot up under my rib cage and kick hard. That can be a little uncomfortable. And he likes to lay on my bladder.”

“Can I feel?” he asked.

His bare hands on her bare stomach. Why did that sound like a really bad idea? But what was she supposed to do? Tell him no? Hadn’t he missed enough already? And all because of her. From this point on she wanted him to be totally involved. She
owed
him that much. “Of course you can.”

Wearing a look of childlike anticipation, he sat on the edge of the bed, bringing himself down to her level. She poked at her stomach, looking for a discernible body part for him to feel.

Tony winced. “It doesn’t hurt pushing on your stomach like that?”

“Sometimes you have to give him a poke to get him to move. I think he’s on his back. Let me try...oh wait...I found him.” She took Tony’s hand and pressed it against her belly. “Push right here.”

He applied the slightest bit of pressure where his hand lay, cringing as if he was expecting her to howl in pain.

“You won’t feel anything that way. You have to really get in there and dig around.”

He looked at her like she was nuts.

“I’m not kidding.” She folded her hand over his and really pushed hard, until they met with something solid about an inch or so in. “Feel that?”

His eyes shot to hers. “Is that him?”

She smiled and said, “A leg I think. Sometimes it’s hard to tell.”

“Fascinating,” he said, cupping her belly in both hands, sliding his thumbs back and forth....

He obviously wasn’t doing it to excite her, but try telling that to her body. It didn’t seem to know the difference. She was already on hormone overload. If she could at least put some clothes on—

Tony leaned closer, pressing his cheek against her belly, and Lucy sucked in a breath. He must have touched her there a million times, but today, as his afternoon stubble tickled her skin, she felt it like an electric shock. One that fired up her libido and sent her hormone production into overdrive.

He peered up at her through a veil of thick black lashes, wearing a look so ridiculously adorable, she melted.

“Too much?” he asked.

Yes. And no. And again please. And while you’re down there...

All she said was, “Stubble.”

“Sorry. Missed my afternoon shave,” he said. His beard grew so aggressively, he kept an electric razor at work for touch-ups. It was those Italian genes of his. She was sure that if she looked closely enough, she could probably watch it grow.

“I hope my mom didn’t give you a hard time,” he said, his cheek still pressed to her belly. The tickle of his beard, the warm fan of his breath, the desire to tunnel her fingers through his hair, were almost too much to take. “She’s been known to overstep her boundaries from time to time.”

“The truth is, she was really nice to me. Probably more than I deserved under the circumstances.”

“You did what you thought was right. No one can fault you for that.”

No, she had done what was
easy.
She ran. Sticking around meant facing her mistakes, and living with the consequences.
That
was the hard part.

“I talked to my sister Chris today. I got the names and numbers of her OBGYN and pediatrician. I took the liberty and made us an appointment for tomorrow morning at nine with the former.”

“I’m surprised you got us in so fast. They must have had a cancellation.”

“Not necessarily.” He grinned and said, “I can be very persuasive.”

Tell me about it.

“After the appointment we’ll go shopping. We’ll get you whatever you need. And don’t bother saying that you’ll pay me back. This one is on me.”

That was exactly what she had been about to say. And normally she would have put up at least a little bit of a fight, but she was just too darned tired. It would feel good, for once in her life, to let someone take care of her. It went against everything she had learned, but she was determined to try.

“I had an interesting visit with
Nonno
today,” Tony said.

“You saw your grandfather?”

Tony nodded, the scrape of his beard creating a whole new round of sensations she shouldn’t be feeling. “He called and asked me to come by.”

According to Tony, when
Nonno
called, you didn’t tell him no. “Is he angry with you?”

“He wants to meet you.”

Her stomach bottomed out.

Her look must have said it all. “Don’t worry. I made him promise to be civilized.”

The fact that he’d felt it necessary to make
Nonno
promise was a bad sign. Besides, there were degrees of civilized.

“I’m sorry I left this morning,” Tony said. “I should have stuck around until you woke up. And fed you. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You were thinking what you always think when I spend the night. That in the morning you go to work, and I go home. That’s the way it’s always been. So don’t beat yourself up over it. Okay?”

“You can’t deny that things are a little different now.”

“They don’t have to be. Why can’t we just pick up where we left off?”

He peered up at her wearing that look and she knew exactly what he was thinking.

“Except for
that.
”

“Damn,” he said, with a grin that melted her like butter. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

No, not once or twice. But if he kept trying, she might forget to tell him no, and then where would they be? She was already pregnant, so what was the worst that could happen? She would fall
more
in love with him? Compromise her dignity a little? Shred her heart?

Piece of cake.

“The only other real difference is that I won’t go home in the morning,” she said.

“So what you’re saying is, we’ll be like roommates.”

“Yes, exactly.”

It was a little sad that after a year, and a pregnancy, all they had managed to progress to was roommates. Which was actually a step back from their friends with benefits status. Why did she suddenly feel as if they were going in the wrong direction?

Unfortunately, for the sake of everyone involved, including the baby, that was the only place they
could
go.

* * *

Lucy sat on the exam table, clutching together at the front a way-too-large white paper gown, waiting for Dr. Hannan. Tony sat in one of the two chairs, his long legs stretched out in front of him, checking his email on his phone. Unlike the free clinic or health department where she received her care in Florida, this place was state-of-the-art. According to Tony’s sister, all of their mothers and female cousins went there.

Since leaving her alone yesterday morning, Tony had been going out of his way to be more attentive. He woke her with breakfast in bed, then, while she was in the shower, he ran a steamer over her clothes to freshen them up. It was sprinkling when they left, and though she didn’t mind getting a little wet, he insisted she stay by the door while he went and got the car, which was parked a block away. At the doctor’s office he dropped her by the door, where she waited while he parked, and all she could think was that this all seemed a little too good to be true. She wasn’t used to being pampered this way, or any way for that matter, so she couldn’t help but wait for the other shoe to drop.

“I’m curious,” Lucy said, and Tony looked up from his phone.

“Like this is news to me?” he said with a grin.

“Do you miss her?”

He looked at her blankly. “Miss who?”

Really? He couldn’t figure that out? “Your fiancée.
Alice.
”

“Oh, her,” he said, as if he’d forgotten all about her. Out of sight out of mind? Had he forgotten Lucy that quickly?

“It’s been two days since you two split up and you haven’t said a word about her.”

“Nothing much to say.”

“Is it true that you didn’t like her much?”

A frown tugged down the corners of his mouth. “Let me take a wild guess. My mom told you that.”

“She didn’t seem to like Alice much.”

“Don’t look so happy about that.”

Who, her? “I’m not. I swear.”

His look said he thought she was full of it.

“Okay, maybe I am a little.” Especially since Sarah did seem to like Lucy. For now anyway. “It’s just a little...confusing.”

“What is?”

“Why you would marry someone you don’t love. I mean...in our case it’s different. There’s a baby involved.”

“It’s a long story,” he said, eyes on his phone. One he clearly didn’t want to tell her. It might have been awkward if the doctor hadn’t chosen that second to open the door.

He was an older gentleman with thick silver hair and a kind face. He introduced himself and shook their hands, addressing Lucy as Mrs. Caroselli.

In her dreams maybe.

“It’s Ms. Bates,” she told him. “But you can call me Lucy.”

“All right, Lucy,” he said, skimming through her chart, which, unlike the clinic in Florida, he accessed on a laptop computer. Which reminded her that she had left her laptop in Florida. There was no point in asking her mom to send it. She’d probably already pawned it. It was outdated and on its last leg anyway. Maybe Tony would let her use his computer from time to time. If only to access her online journal. She tried to write it in every day.

“Lie down, feet in the stirrups,” the doctor said. “Let’s do an exam, and then we can talk in my office.”

He examined her, poking and prodding, firing off questions. Many of them the same questions the nurse had asked as if maybe they were trying to trip her up and catch her in a lie.

Any nausea? Not really. High blood pressure? Never. Prenatal vitamins? Just the over-the-counter kind. Does the baby move around a lot? Like an Olympic gymnast.

Dr. Hannan was incredibly thorough.

Tony stood by the head of the table, absently rubbing her shoulder, looking fascinated and a maybe little horrified as the doctor did the internal exam, then measured her tummy and listened to the baby’s heartbeat.

Then he was done.

He made a few notes on her chart and said, “Get dressed and meet me in my office down the hall, last door on the left.”

“That was interesting,” Tony said, when he was gone, turning away so Lucy could get dressed in private. “I didn’t think it would be so...invasive. You have to do that every month?”

She tugged on her jeans. “Probably not until I’m closer to my due date. Typically it’s just a tummy check.”

When she was dressed they walked down the hall to Dr. Hannan’s office. He offered them a seat, then Lucy waited for the usual report. She was fine, the baby was fine. Yada yada. But the doctor was wearing a frown that said maybe everything wasn’t fine this time.

“I don’t like what I’m seeing here,” he said.

Lucy sucked in a quiet breath and Tony went tense beside her.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“The baby isn’t growing like he should be.”

How could that be possible? “But...everything was fine at my last appointment,” Lucy told him. “They did mention that he was on the small side, but the doctor said that’s probably because
I’m
so small.”

“It’s more than him just being small in size. He’s underdeveloped for his gestational age. I think you’re both suffering from malnutrition. It could result in complications.”

“Malnutrition?” Tony said, like that was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. “How is that possible?”

“It’s something I might see in a woman with severe morning sickness. Which you said you didn’t have.”

Lucy shook her head, wishing she could disappear. Or that Tony wasn’t in the room. There were certain things the doctor needed to know. The same things she
didn’t
want Tony to know. She could fudge it just this once, but one lie had a way of turning into two, and so on, and so on. And before she knew it, the doctor might miss some critical detail, and the baby might be born with a third eye or fifth appendage, or something even worse.

If she and Tony were going to make this shared-parenting thing work, she was going to have to be honest with him. A lie by omission was still a lie. But there were some things she just couldn’t tell him. Ever. For his own good. And for hers and the baby’s.

“In my experience, Caroselli babies are above average in size,” Dr. Hannan said. “We could be looking at a metabolic disorder.”