"I'm sorry. Work's been crazy." I stood, sat down beside her, pulled her into my arms. Chloe didn't resist. She tucked her face against my chest, fingers clutching my shirt.
It was a defensive gesture, insecure. It unsettled me. My arms tightened around her instinctively.
"Did you eat today?" I asked.
"I did. Anna made chicken pasta. It was good." She leaned into my shoulder, then grabbed my hand and placed it on her belly. "I have something good to tell you."
I was already smiling before I knew what it was. "What?"
"He kicked me today."
I brushed my chin gently against the top of her head. "Really?"
"Really." Her voice brightened in a way I hadn't heard in weeks.
"Around three this afternoon, I was lying on the carpet looking at the catalog, and suddenly I felt something bump me from inside. At first, I thought maybe I'd just eaten too much, but then it happened again. And again. Anna said that was the baby moving."
Chloe adjusted my hand on her belly, pressed it down.
"Wait a second. Maybe it'll happen again."
I kept my hand there, palm against the thin fabric covering herstomach. Nothing. But Chloe kept her head down, watching my hand, lips pressed together, waiting with absolute focus.
Something about her earnestness was endearing. Made me want to lean in and kiss her forehead.
Then I felt it.
A feather-light touch beneath my palm. Small. Soft. Like a tiny finger poking me through water.
"Feel it?" Chloe looked up at me, eyes bright.
"Yeah." My voice came out rougher than I expected.
"Maybe we should start thinking about names." Chloe laid her fingers over the back of my hand, stroking gently.
"Yeah. We really should."
I held Chloe close, struggling to name what I was feeling. Actually feeling this little life made being a father real in a way nothing else had.
We stayed like that, quiet. I started thinking about names.
"Maybe... Elena?"
Chloe didn't comment on the name. She just looked up at me, and that look made my heart jump for no reason I could explain.
"Enzo."
"Yeah?"
"You wouldn't lie to me, would you?"
Chloe was trembling slightly. Maybe I'd screwed something up recently. Because she looked like she sensed something, needed that reassurance.
But the answer was clear.
Yes. I would.
The alliance had to happen. It was the final piece to crushing the conservatives and Julian. The wedding was in two weeks. There was no turning back.
