I look at the water on the bathroom floor.
“Are you sure you aren’t a puddle?”
“You’re my Marcus Aurelius!”
“Sweetheart, I don’t follow.”
“Where’s my towel?”
He climbs out of the tub and grabs the one I hand him.
He starts drying himself with relish.
“Aurelius calmly ruled an empire during wars and a plague. You do the same in Baywood!”
“We don’t have wars or a plague.”
“We have Earl and Steve.”
“Fair.”
“Marcus believed in responsibility and restraint. You didn’t sleep with me when I was a Labubu!”
I rub my face.
“That phrase will haunt me.”
“He wrote about patience. About kindness. About self-control. Caspian—he wrote about you!”
“Antonio—”
“He protected Rome. You protect me!”
That lands softer. I’m starting to warm up to this theme.
Antonio leans closer, kissing my chest.
“You both endured a lot and suffered with dignity. You’re basically twins.”
“Okay,” I say slowly. “As Emperor of Baywood, I decree that you stop talking and we go eat. What do you want?”
“My soul is nourished.”
“Great. Let’s try nourishing your stomach next.”
“Can we go to the trattoria? I want to re-introduce you to my family as Caspian-Marcus Stone-Aurelius.”
He tilts his head.
“The first of his name.”
I give him an amused look.
“Are you still going by Antonio or shall I call you by something even more majestic?”
“Antonio the Unsmall,” he says after a pause.
The name brings an unexpected lump to my throat. What a perfect name for my brilliant, larger-than-life boyfriend.
