‘BRACE YOURSELF, here comes chaos,’ Dario murmured in Tali’s ear, his arm tightening around her shoulders as she waved enthusiastically while they watched Sante and Mia’s large black SUV drive into the palazzo’s forecourt—three hours late.
She laughed, delighted by his stern expression and the heat in his eyes. ‘Oh, shut up, and stop pretending you don’t enjoy the chaos when they’re here,’ she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.
‘And yet, I am also equally delighted when they are gone again!’ he said, but she could hear the amusement in his voice.
Mia popped out of the passenger seat, followed by two dogs who bounded up to them in a melee of delighted yips and barks and wagging tales. Mia’s round belly made the fierce hugs she gave them both—amid a tumble of profuse apologies for the delay—almost as chaotic as the dogs’ excited welcome.
Sante meanwhile jumped out from the driver’s side, to lift his baby daughter, Ariana, out of her car seat in the back and carry her over to join the welcoming party—the baby apparently totally unflustered by all the noise and activity.
‘Oh wow, she’s grown so much!’ Tali remarked, reaching out to take the blinking toddler into her arms. ‘How old is she now?’ she asked, even though she already knew the answer.
Sante’s chest puffed up with pride as he stroked his daughter’s fluffball of hair. ‘Thirteen months andfinallysleeping through the night!’ he said with mock exasperation. ‘Mostly.’
‘Just in time for this one to arrive in two months’ time and keep us up all night instead,’ announced Mia as she stroked her stomach.
‘And whose fault is that?’ demanded Dario, going into big-brother mode. ‘What were you two thinking getting pregnant again so soon after Ariana was born?’
Mia sent him a cheeky grin. ‘It wasn’t exactly planned, Dario,’ she said, at the same time as her husband murmured, ‘It is certainly not my fault your sister is irresistible, Dario.’
‘Dio, Sante!’ Dario said, covering his ears, while the dogs continued to prance around them and Ariana started to cry. ‘Do not talk to me about my sister like that…’
‘Hey, you’re the one that started it,’ Sante replied, the smile on his face one that made Tali smile, too.
She jostled Ariana on her hip until the baby stopped crying, while the staff arrived to transport the insane amount of luggage from the car to the apartment Tali and Dario had had decorated over a year ago, so Mia and her family could visit the palazzo whenever they wished.
The two men continued to talk on the patio, while she and Mia headed into the house.
It was so good to hear them joking with each other. After a shaky start, Dario and Sante had become good friends again. Buddies even. And she loved to see it. For Dario most of all… After having no one close in his life, he now had three people—four if you counted the niece she knew he adored—who would always be there for him.
‘Here, let me take her, she’s tired, I should put her down for a nap,’ Mia suggested, because Ariana was still niggling.
‘It’s okay, I’ve got her,’ Tali said, loving the warm weight of the little girl in her arms, and the smell of baby shampoo that clung to her. The pang of longing in her chest was hard to deny. ‘Let’s take her to her room,’ she said.
It didn’t take the two of them long to get Ariana ready for her nap. Tali changed her and gave her a bottle while her mother directed the staff where to put all the luggage.
After burping her, Tali placed her into the crib and watched with tears stinging her eyes as the baby rolled over and dropped into sleep almost instantly.
‘She’s so gorgeous,’ she murmured, the wave of raw emotion making her lungs hurt.
She blinked furiously, to stop the ridiculous tears from falling. She thought she’d got away with it, but as soon as they had tiptoed out of the room and Mia had closed the door softly, her sister-in-law’s eyes narrowed.
‘Okay, spill it, what’s going on? You look exhausted, Tali. And as adorable as I find my daughter, she doesn’t usually make people look as if they’re about to burst into tears.’
Tali choked out a laugh. She couldn’t help it, even as she felt the twinge of panic.
She should have spoken to Dario about this a week ago. She’d bought the pregnancy test five days ago now, and hadn’t had the guts to use it, convinced her period was bound to happen any moment. She’d had her coil removed, a month ago, and the doctor had mentioned they should wait seven days or use other forms of contraceptive after she’d starting using a contraceptive patch, just to be on the safe side. But they hadn’t…quite…and now she was more than a week late. And she still didn’t know how to bring up the conversation.
They’d talked about having children—of course they had. But only in a vague, we’re-both-on-board-with-the-concept-eventually kind of way. While she knew Dario had been joking with Mia and Sante when they arrived, she also knew he was a man who liked to plan things out. So did she, really.
But they’d been so busy over the last few days, finishing up their work commitments to make time for this two-week visit… And this morning, when she’d planned to tell him she was a bit late, and probably should take a test, before she could mention it, he’d started kissing her and well…they’d got sidetracked, completely.
Seriously, who am I kidding?
The truth was she was a total coward. She didn’t want to tell Dario, in case he wasn’t as overjoyed about the prospect of a pregnancy as she was.
‘I think I might be pregnant…’ she blurted, as the words she should have said to Dario first popped out without warning.
Mia’s eyebrows shot up her forehead, but then a smile beamed across her face. ‘Oh. My. God. This is wonderful. Why didn’t you two tell us when…’
