“I can get better,” he says, and now I scoff at him.
“I don’t want to toot my horn,” I say, “but I have a ninety-nine percent win rate.”
Maryse smiles at me, and Leonard puts his hands on his hips. “So, what, you find out you’re a father and what are you going to do?” he asks, and I don’t have to think about it.
“I’m going to take care of what’s mine, and Aiden is mine,” I say. “We haven’t gotten everything figured out yet, but Eliahn and I are going to put our son first like any parent should.” As a family lawyer, the stories I’ve seen where kids get stuck in the middle are more than I care to talk about. I will never use my son as a pawn in a game.
Leonard runs his hand up and down his face. “I can’t believe this,” he finally says, his tone now back to normal.
“Well, it’s a shock for all of us,” Maryse says, “but it’s their business what they do with their child.”
“If you think that, for one second, I’m going to go easy on you because you’re the best attorney I’ve got, then you have another thing coming. If for one minute, I see that they aren’t treated the way they should be treated, I’ll have your balls on a silver platter, and you’ll never practice law again.”
“Well, then I think we’ll be okay since I plan to do whatever it is that they need from me,” I tell him. “I have one goal now, and that is to make sure that Eli and Aiden are not missing anything.”
Maryse slaps her hands together. “We should go and do lunch.”
“I can’t,” I answer right away. “I have to be in court tomorrow, and I have to go over a couple of things.”
“Then a rain check? Perhaps we can have family lunch on Sunday,” she says, hopeful.
“We’ll see, Mother,” Eliahn says and then turns to me. “I know you have to go, so I’ll have Aiden stop by your office before we leave.”
“Yes, and then you can take my car home,” I tell her and nod to her parents and walk out. The breath I’m holding finally letting itself out.
When I walk back into my office, Lauren follows me. “Are we packing or are we staying?” she asks, and I laugh, going to my chair and finally sitting down. My heart is beating so hard I wonder if it will ever slow down.
Chapter Eight
Eliahn
I watch the door close behind Luca and walk to the couch, holding up my hand to my father. “Dad, for two seconds, let me just relax,” I tell him and rub my eyes. “It’s been a crazy twenty-four hours.” My mother comes and sits next to me, holding my hand in hers. “Just give me a second.” And I don’t know if he actually counts or just thinks that ten seconds is a minute, but he starts talking.
“Honey,” he says. Leaning on his desk, he crosses his feet and arms, shaking his head. “I am at a loss for words.”
“Really?” I look at him. “You didn’t seem lost for words when Luca was in here.” I throw up my hands. “I can’t believe you mentioned us using condoms.”
“I was caught off guard, Eli,” he says. “I mean, I handpicked Luca myself. I watched him the whole time he was at Harvard.”
“Well, trust me, I had no idea. When I saw him yesterday at the barbecue, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I never in a thousand years thought …” I say, now rubbing my temples.
The door opens, and Aiden comes running in. “I got a chocolate chip muffin,” he says to us, and I see chocolate smeared on his face.
“Where is my dad?” He looks around. “Did he leave me?” His face suddenly falling and looking crushed.
“Oh, no, honey,” I say, bringing him close to me. “He went to work, and I promised him that I would take you to say goodbye to him before we leave.” I kiss his head.
“How was the school visit?” my mother asks me as Aiden sits on my lap.
“Well, I’m sure the principal would love to have Luca visit again. She basically ignored me.”
My mother throws her head back and laughs. “You sound jealous.”
“I’m not jealous,” I point out to her. “I was there with our child. She could have had a bit more respect and not fawned all over him,” I tell my mother, who just looks at me.
“Do you want to date him?” my father asks, crossing his arms across his chest.
Yes, I say to myself but answer, “No, of course not.” I look at my mother, and she knows I’m lying. “We need to get together and make a parenting plan.”
“Don’t sign anything until I look it over.” My father, the lawyer, comes out. “Not even a napkin.”
I roll my eyes at him. “I know, Dad.” I look down at Aiden. “So what do you think about the school?”
“It’s good. Can I go tomorrow?” he asks.
“Yeah, I’m going to call Mrs. Hope today and ask what needs to be done,” I tell him and then look over at my mother. “I start work tomorrow. If I can’t get him, can you watch him?”
“Of course,” she says. “We can do all sorts of things.” She leans over and kisses him on the cheek, and he shrugs one shoulder, giggling.
“Now,” my father says, getting up and grabbing his jacket. “Let’s get lunch.”
We walk out, and when we walk past Luca’s office, it’s empty. I try not to let it bother me that his assistant isn’t there either. I wonder if they are more than just co-workers.
We have lunch at McDonald’s only because there is a park. My father stands at the bottom of the slide, waiting to catch Aiden while Mom and I just look on.
“When are you and Luca going to get together and discuss things?” she asks, picking up her coffee and drinking it.
“I have no idea, Mom,” I say, leaning on the table. “Did you know that he’s my neighbor?” I ask her. Her eyes widen and then she’s slapping the table laughing.
“You are kidding, right?” she asks. “I had no idea; we got the area from Noah.” She laughs now. “But now it makes so much sense.”
I shake my head, my hands going to my face as I rub my temples. “I guess we really need to get a plan down.”
“I think that is the best thing that you can do,” she agrees, and my father walks back to the table holding Aiden’s hand.
“I have to get back to the office,” he says, and we get up and walk over to his car.
Once we get back, my mother kisses us goodbye, and I walk back in with my father. I kiss him goodbye, and he makes a promise to Aiden that he will take him to play soccer tomorrow night. I hold Aiden’s hand, and we walk back to Luca’s office. His office door is open, and I see he took his jacket off, and the cuffs are rolled up to his elbows as he reads something. “Knock, knock, knock,” I say, looking in, and he looks up, his face lighting up.
“Hey, you two, I was wondering when you would be coming back,” he says. Getting up, he squats down in front of Aiden. “Did you have fun?”
“We went with Grandpa to McDonald’s,” he says, smiling. “I went down the slide ten times,” he says, holding out both his hands.
“Did you?” Luca laughs and messes his hair up. “I’m sorry I missed it.”
He gets up and looks at me. “Did you make a decision about the school?”
“Yeah,” I tell him. “I called Mrs. Hope, and he can start tomorrow, which is good since I start my job tomorrow.”
“Did she send you a list of things that he needs for tomorrow?” he asks, and I’m about to answer him when Lauren comes in holding two bags of food.
“Hey,” she says, smiling at me, and I force a smile. “I didn’t know you two would be here or I would have gotten extra.”
“That’s okay. We ate,” I tell her, and she hands Luca a bag.
“I got your favorite,” she says, and he smiles at her. I want to roll my eyes; can she be anymore obvious?
“Thank you so much,” he says, grabbing the bag from her. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
Yup, that’s my cue. “Okay, we’re out,” I say, then look at Aiden. “Say bye.”
“Bye, Dad,” he says with a smile, and Luca puts his bag of food do
wn, grabbing Aiden under the arms and picking him up.
“I should be home around five. Would you like to come over to my house and see it?” He looks over at me. “Maybe Mom can come also, and we can have dinner.”
“Yeah,” I say awkwardly. “Sure, we can go over things,” I say, looking at Lauren, who just looks at them and smiles. Luca hands me his car keys.
He kisses Aiden, and we walk to the car, making a stop at Walmart where we buy all the stuff he needs for tomorrow. Aiden is so excited about his new school bag he leaves it at the door to show Luca. The doorbell rings, and when I open the door, I’m surprised that it’s all our stuff from my mother’s house. Aiden and I start unpacking our things. Or better yet, I’m unpacking. Aiden is in his room becoming Batman and then Spider-Man.
My phone beeps some time later, and I see it’s almost five thirty. Luca has sent a text telling me he’s home and to come over whenever we are ready.
I change out of my outfit and put on yoga pants and a loose top that falls off the shoulder, then walk to the backyard. “Hey,” I tell Aiden. “Your dad is home.”
“Can I go now?” he asks me, walking down the steps. I walk out, watching him walk next door. He doesn’t even knock; he just walks in and closes the door.
I take out my phone and call Luca. “Hey,” he answers right away.
“I’ll be a couple of minutes. I want to start a couple of loads of laundry,” I tell him.
“Take your time,” he tells me, and I hang up, getting all our stuff ready for tomorrow. When I finally walk over, I ring the bell. I hear footsteps, and I smile, and then I see him, and my mouth suddenly goes dry.
Luca stands there and gone is his suit and in its place is basketball shorts and a T-shirt. “Hey, I was just starting the grill,” he says, moving out of the way so I can walk in. We have the same floor plan, but his house has more wood colors, and it just shows the difference between us. Where I’m light, he’s dark.
“Mommy.” Aiden runs to me. “Come and see my room,” he says, grabbing my hand and dragging me upstairs to his room, and I look around in shock. “It’s a Batcave,” he says, holding up his hands, and I look around, and it literally looks like a Batcave, everything is Batman. From the bed, to the comforter, to the lamp. It even has Aiden spelled over his bed in all bats.
“Isn’t it cool?” he says, and I look around and walk out the door and notice that Luca’s door is closed. I walk downstairs and see him walking in with the plate of burgers.
“Do you want to eat inside or outside?” he asks, and Aiden jumps around, shouting outside.
“What can I do to help?” I ask him, looking around his brown kitchen.
“You can grab the fries out of the oven and then the condiments,” he says, putting the burgers on the stove and asking Aiden if he wants cheese or not.
I grab the ketchup from the fridge and put some on his burger, then leave it out. We make our burgers inside and walk outside to the table. “I think I missed this the most,” I say while chewing. “Although Paris had the best almond croissants, they didn’t have the best burgers.”
“If I could eat anything for the rest of my life, it would be burgers,” he says, leaning over and biting into his.
“I would eat spaghetti,” Aiden says. “Or pizza.”
“Next time,” Luca says between chews, “I’ll take you to my favorite Italian restaurant. The owners come straight from Italy. Giovanni makes the best sugo around,” he tells Aiden, who just nods his head.
“After we eat can I go play in my room?” he asks Luca, who just nods his head at him. For the rest of the meal, Luca and Aiden get to know each other. Aiden is very free to tell him his favorite color, favorite truck, dinosaur, and most importantly, his favorite things to snack on.
When we finish, I walk inside after Luca and Aiden and place the plates in the sink and rinse them off. “Do you mind if I put them in the dishwasher?”
“You don’t have to do that. I can do it when you guys leave,” he says, putting everything away in the fridge.
“I think we should maybe talk about things.” I grab a towel and dry my hands.
“Yes,” he agrees. “Let’s go sit on the couch.” He walks into the living room. His big leather couch doesn’t look comfortable, but once you sit in it, you sink in.
“You would think I would be used to discussing things when it comes to children,” he starts off saying. “But I’m suddenly nervous.” He gets up and goes to grab a yellow legal pad. I have to shake my head, always the lawyer.
“Why don’t we go step by step?” I tell him. “School drop-off and pick ups?”
“I can drop him off in the morning,” he says, writing it down. “My schedule is pretty much flexible unless I’m in court.”
“That works good for me. Although I work from home, I have to go into the office three days a week,” I tell him, and he just nods.
“Perfect, so one thing is done,” he says. “I owe you back child support,” he says, and I shake my head. “Please.” His voice goes soft. “I’ve seen too many dead-beat dads get away with shit. Just give me this one thing.”
“Okay,” I say softly. “We can talk about back pay, but for now, we should share things fifty-fifty.”
“Not going to happen,” he says, shaking his head. “I pay for all his schooling and his activities.”
“That’s crazy. It’s too much,” I tell him.
“How much do you make a year?” he asks me, and I glare at him. “I can tell you, and so can your father, I make a shit load of money.” I don’t say anything because what I want to tell him is to go fuck himself. “So that settles that.”
I start getting up. “Don’t throw your money around. You may make a shitload, but I make pretty decent money.”
“Yes, and you’ve taken care of our child for the past six years by yourself. Let me do my share.” He gets up, looking at me.
I throw my hands in the air. “I’m not going to win,” I say more as a statement and not a question.
“I’d like for him to start spending time here,” he says softly, and although I knew it was coming, it still hurts my heart. “It might be hard at the beginning for him to adjust but—”
“We can start this weekend,” I tell him. “How about he spends Saturday night here?”
“Um …” He looks down at the floor and then up.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t even think that you might have a date or something.” I want to swallow the words back.
“No, it’s not that,” he says. “Saturday night, I usually go to my parents’ house. I was going to break the news to them that they are grandparents.”
“So how about Friday night?” I ask him, and he nods.
“Now about introducing him to other people in your life,” I start to say, and he puts his hands on his hips. “I would like it if we maybe discuss it.”
“What other people are you talking about?” He crosses his arms over his chest.
“Well, I don’t know if you’re with anyone or not.” I try to make it seem like I’m asking for Aiden, but if truth be told, I’m fucking dying to know.
“Why does that matter?” he asks, looking at me, and I see him trying to bait me.
“Look, Luca, I don’t know you,” I tell him honestly. “I don’t know if you’re a serial dater, or if you have a girlfriend.” He starts to say something, but I continue. “And it’s fine if you are with someone. I’m just saying I don’t want Aiden to meet everyone like it’s a revolving door,” I say, now using my hand going in a circle.
“Can I speak now?” he asks, and I nod my head. “You’re right, you don’t know me, just as I don’t know you. I will say that I will never introduce him to anyone who doesn’t mean anything to me,” he says and comes closer to me, so close I can smell his woodsy smell. “As for if I’m a serial dater, I haven’t dated in years. Seven, to be exact.” He gets closer and closer. “So I don’t have a girlfriend. Only because they had to live up to this woman I met seven yea
rs ago,” he says the last sentence, and I stop breathing. I don’t move, and I feel as if he’s about to say something else when we hear Aiden yell from upstairs. His eyes are on mine, and I can see the little gold flecks.
“Can I have a snack?”
His voice breaks the spell, and Luca walks away from me, shouting up the stairs, “Come down and have a fruit.” Aiden groans.
“I guess that means I just did my job as a parent.” He looks at me, smiling. “A groan means he’s unhappy, so I made the right choice.” He stands with his hands on his hips. “Look at me, being a parent.”
“Yes, it does.” I smile at him, tucking the hair behind my ear and looking at him. His chest beams with pride, and I think it’s going to be okay.
Chapter Nine
Luca
“Okay, hold on a second,” Nick says on speakerphone, while I make notes about what else I want to suggest. Eliahn and Aiden left an hour ago to get him washed and ready for tomorrow. “You actually told her that you haven’t dated since her?” He had just called to see how the day went, and I told him everything. Not my smartest move, but he would have found out eventually.
“It’s not a secret that I don’t date,” I tell him while I twirl the pen I’m holding between my fingers.
“Oh, I know it’s not a secret,” he says. “But when you say it out loud, it just …” He exhales deeply. “Sounds wrong.”
“What are you talking about?” I laugh.
“You’re a good-looking guy,” he starts, and I groan. “I’m being serious, and people would say you’re a catch, not people who I know or talk to but other people. Those people’s people.”
“You mean normal people?” I tap the pad with the pen.
“I wasn’t supposed to tell you this,” he says, and then you hear him walking. “All Mona’s friends get a hard-on for you, but don’t worry, I told them all you are gay so they don’t pounce on you at every turn.”
“What?” I yell, sitting up from my spot on the couch. “Why the fuck would you tell them that?”
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