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Not to mention she couldn’t see his face and an irresistible grin . . . because that snippiness was familiar, a by-product of early pregnancy hormones, and damn it, she loved him even when she was mentally deriding his intelligence.

Not that he was saying a word. Daddy had not raised a fool. And the irritability didn’t last forever, evening out around week ten or so. Plus, the same hormones kickstarted her libido in a crazy way, and he didn’t mind that at all.

They settled with their trays at a table near the bank of windows, and he lifted the top slice of bread on his sandwich to arrange chips atop the filling. “I’d be here tomorrow if I could.”

“It’s a deposition, Tick.” She leaned in, a hint of impishness wrinkling her nose. “I understand you can’t skip that. Besides, it’s a routine first prenatal visit. You’re not missing much more than a blood and urine sample.”

He hated missing any of this. “If she does an ultrasound, send me the image.”

“Of course.” Smiling, she shook her head. “It barely has arms or legs at this point, though.”

“Still ours.” He lifted his sandwich. “Still want to see it. We’re going to need another Italian name for a girl that starts with an e.”

“It might be a boy.”

“Pfft. Right.”

“Enrica.”

She had not seriously gone there. He wasn’t jealous at all when it came to Volleyball Boy, the Italian Olympic player she’d dated right before he returned to her life, but he didn’t want his kid named after the guy, either.

Brows lowered, he shook his head. “No. Not no, but hell, no.”

“Didn’t you like Elletra last time?”

“Be serious.” Their phones buzzed in tandem, and he reached in his pocket while she flipped hers over. He stared at the grade notification and Eleanor’s less-than-stellar score on her biology quiz. He lifted his gaze to Caitlin’s horrified face. “Wow.”

Lips parted, she shook her head.

He dropped his attention to the screen once more. “How did she fail a bio quiz?”

“Grief. Extra dance practice. Basketball season. First real boyfriend.” Caitlin laid the phone face down on the table with a grimace. “Worried about us. Oh, not emailing her teacher before I talk to her is a challenge.”

“Yeah.” He was fighting the same urge. One failed quiz wasn’t the end of the world but, damn. And he wasn’t going to be that dad. “Letting her own it is tough.”

Nodding, she glanced at her phone, and he could feel her wanting to fire off an email. “Obviously, studying with Jamarion is not effective.”

“Wait.” He held up a hand, then tapped his phone. “They studied together?”

“Yes.”

“Biology.” Sweet Jesus. “They studied biology together.”

She lifted her gaze heavenward. “Don’t be ridiculous. They’re on the same content, and they were in the family room while I was in the kitchen with Eva.”

“I hope he learned it because she obviously didn’t.” Of course, he’d never learned a damn thing, at least not anything academic, when he and Allison had studied together either. He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “We can’t lock her down over one failing grade.”

“Of course not.” She speared a cucumber slice with her fork. “She’s my daughter and must carry a genetic predilection for rebellion.”

“We might suggest them studying together isn’t a good idea.” He reached for his coffee. “Probably don’t need to cut back on her overall time with him, though. Increases the draw and the distraction.”

Twirling her water bottle, she lifted a brow. “That sounds like the voice of experience, Calvert.”

He grunted over a sip of coffee. “The more Mama and Daddy tried to pull me back from Allison, the more I wanted to be with her.”

“Like a Romeo and Juliet scenario.”

“Oh, yeah.” He grinned at her across the table. “Stupid and doomed.”