Total pages in book: 197
Estimated words: 199143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 996(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 996(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Dante nodded, pulled out his phone, and brought up the recording app. The doctor held the wand steady as Dante recorded maybe fifteen seconds of his baby’s heartbeat. His wife was still looking at him—watching him. Only now, her silent words had changed to, See, I told you.
“Thank you,” Dante said after he turned it off.
“No problem.”
The doctor took his time putting his equipment away, pulling off the gloves, and helping Catrina wipe off her stomach before his wife was sitting straight on the bed. The curtain closed out the doctor and Dante for a minute so she could slip off the hospital gown, and put her clothes back on instead. Once the curtain was pulled back again, Catrina was back in her knee-length, body-hugging dress and sky high heels.
No matter how many times he told her the heels could be shortened a bit to make it easier for this pregnancy, she just gave him one of those smiles. A smile that simply said, Men.
Like he couldn’t possibly know better, and she was just going to pat his head like a silly little puppy who was cute, but was also still wrong. That was his wife in a nutshell.
She was amazing.
She was giving him something amazing.
And he loved her for it.
Penning something in the file he held, the doctor turned to Catrina with a smile. “Everything looks great, Catrina. And as of yesterday, you were beyond the first trimester which is really the only thing we were concerned about. It isn’t you that has the fertility troubles, after all, so I don’t consider you high risk for the rest of this pregnancy. Resume normal activity, within reason if it feels fine. And the ladies at the front will make your next appointment. Another five or so weeks, and we’ll be able to find out the gender ... if the baby wants to cooperate when we put him or her in the spotlight.”
Catrina smiled. “Great, grazie.”
Once the doctor was gone from the room, and Dante was alone with his wife again, he crossed the room to go to her. She was just picking up her Gucci bag from the chair when his hands found her neck, and he pulled her in for a kiss. Long, and lingering, and sweet. He really just wanted to kiss her because that always made everything better.
Catrina smiled as he pulled away. “You know, if this makes you so nervous every time we come to listen to the heartbeat, you don’t have to come to these, Dante. They’re standard appointments.”
He shook his head. “No way.”
Nope.
He wouldn’t miss one.
Even if he almost had a heart attack each damn time.
Catrina stroked her thumb along his jawline. “Well, the first hurdle is over with now.”
“First thirteen weeks, hmm.”
She smiled. “You know what that means, don’t you?”
It took him a second.
And then two.
“Time to share the news with everyone else.”
Catrina’s smile turned into a full-blown grin. “Are you ready for that?”
Terrified, maybe.
Not because his family would do something to make him feel that way. They would be just as excited and happy for this as he was. His brothers—his parents, too—knew how badly he wanted children, but over the years, they stopped talking about it with him. By his choice because frankly, it fucking hurt when it just wasn’t supposed to be.
It was the impossible for Dante.
And now it was real.
That was the thing, though ...
Telling everyone ...
“It’s going to make it very real,” he murmured.
Catrina nodded, and stroked his cheek again. “This Sunday, then?”
“After church, I think.”
Done deal.
*
Catrina passed a wiggling Michel over, and Dante finally got the boy settled in his lap in the pew. He could have sent his son down to Sunday school like a lot of the other children, but he didn’t trust anyone except family with his kid. Besides, Michel would much rather stay with his mother and father, anyway.
They wanted him with them, too.
“Here, play with Daddy’s phone,” Dante said, giving Michel the device to keep him occupied while the priest at the altar finished up his service. Michel pressed all the buttons on the screen, lighting it up, but unable to unlock the device. Not that it mattered—he didn’t keep much on his phone, anyway. No photographs he didn’t want seen, and certainly not videos. He had the recording of the baby’s heartbeat that he’d listened to that morning, but he doubted Michel was going to somehow get that turned on with the phone locked. “A few more minutes, Michel.”
The baby chewed on the phone as down the pew, Antony glanced at his son. “I heard we have news to share. Someone want to let me in on that?”
Catrina gave Dante a look.
He just shrugged. “It came up.”
“How does it just come up?”
“I didn’t tell them what, Cat.”
“Mmm.”
Chuckles passed over the front pew, but it only took a single look from the priest to quiet the Marcellos. It didn’t matter, really. Dante could still feel the eyes of his family on him and his wife. He had thought that mentioning they had news to share would help with his nerves a little bit. Like prepping himself for the big moment.