Authors: Natasha Anders
“Theresa,
cara
. I‘m here. You’re okay…” were the last desperate words she heard from her husband before everything went black.
“When I said she shouldn’t overtax herself, I meant both physically and emotionally Mr de Lucci,” Theresa heard the sharp admonishment in the slightly familiar voice and frowned as she tried to hear over the weird buzzing sound in her head. “What on earth were you thinking, upsetting her like this less than half an hour after the procedure she’d just been through?”
“Will she be okay?” Theresa heard Sandro’s unusually subdued voice over the rapidly subsiding buzz and she wondered at the strange panicky edge in it.
“She bled a little, which is never a good sign and I’m not willing to take any chances, not after this, I want her to remain in bed for at
least
a week. Complete bed rest.”
“I can’t stay in bed all week,” Theresa suddenly protested, opening her eyes and Sandro surged forward to grab up one of her limp hands.
“
Theresa
, thank God! How are you feeling?”
.“Like I was hit by a bus,” she admitted shakily, lifting her eyes to the doctor who stood on the other side of the cot. “My baby? Is he alright?”
“Your baby’s just fine. In fact the baby is doing a hell of a lot better than you
are right now, Mrs de Lucci. I want you to stay in bed for a week, you are to do
nothing
, is that understood?”
“I take it that I am allowed bathroom breaks?” She asked sarcastically.
“You can get as snippy as you like with me, young lady but if you want a healthy, full-term baby, you will do what I say! Or I will be
forced
to hospitalize you to ensure that you get the prescribed bed rest.”
“She’ll do what you’ve ordered, doctor,” Sandro assured grimly and Theresa bit her lip and nodded. She wouldn’t risk her baby’s life out of sheer perversity.
“Right,” the doctor seemed satisfied. “I’d like to keep her here for tonight. Tomorrow, you may take her home… and try to get beyond the parking lot this time.” With that final admonishment, he turned and left the room, grumbling under his breath as he did so. Theresa and Sandro watched as the door swung shut behind him before turning to face each other awkwardly.
“I’m sorry,” they both blurted out simultaneously after a long pause.
“Why are
you
sorry?” Sandro asked in confusion, dragging up a chair and sitting down beside the bed, still clutching her hand like it was a life preserver and he a drowning man.
“I shouldn’t have brought up your private life like that. What you do after we split up is none of my business and after… after everything my father has done to you, I honestly believe that you deserve the happiness you’ll find with the woman you love. So I’m sorry for overreacting like a hysterical fishwife, I just… I got so
angry
after what you said. I don’t need empty platitudes… you don’t have to say anything to make me feel better about our situation. You really don’t have to pretend to care about me or about the baby.” He swore shakily, lifting her hand and resting his forehead on the back of it.
“What an unholy mess I’ve made of things,” he half-laughed, his voice sounding strained. “Nothing I say now will ever make a difference to how you feel, will it? Everything I try to say or do will come across as desperate and insincere.”
“What I don’t get is why you’re still trying?” She whispered in confusion, watching his bowed head intently. “You’ve won. You have everything you want within your grasp, the vineyard, freedom and yet you keep trying, coming to me with all of these demands to be involved in my life. Why?”
“Why don’t we just let it go for now?” He lifted his head to meet her eyes, his own brown gaze liquid with regret. She nodded slightly and he smiled half-heartedly.
“I’ve called Elisa and ask her to bring you a change of clothes. Are you thirsty?” She nodded shyly and he smiled. “I’ll go and get you something to drink, okay?” He stood up and brushed a gentle, slightly shaky, hand over her hair. “You scared the hell out of me, Theresa… so from now on you are to remain calm and not let your idiot of a husband upset you again. Okay?”
“Okay,” she smiled up into his gentle gaze.
“Good,” he leaned over to brush his lips over her forehead. “That’s good, Theresa.” She watched him leave and sighed softly; wishing that her life could be different and that they were a normal couple, excited about having their first baby. She ran a hand over the slight bump of her stomach, gently communing with her baby, apologizing for the recklessness that could have cost his life. She was lost in thought, humming a gentle lullaby while she continued to stroke the small baby bump when she gradually became aware of a presence in the open door. She gasped in surprise, not sure how long he’d been standing there. He stepped forward almost reluctantly, his harsh face more grim than usual. For a man who usually had his emotions sealed up tight he looked like someone who was struggling mightily to keep his expression absolutely neutral, even though the muscles were jumping in his jaw, cords tightening in his neck and his lips were thinned almost to the point of non-existence. Wondering at the incredibly
bad
job he was doing of pretending to appear completely detached, she was still absently running a hand over her stomach when she gasped and jumped for a completely different reason.
All pretence of detachment tossed aside, Sandro’s face paled and his eyes darkened in alarm as he surged toward the cot in the luxurious private room, thumping the bottle of fresh juice down on the cabinet beside the bed.
“What’s wrong, Theresa? Are you in pain?” She shook her head, before lifting her beaming face up to his. He stopped short, inhaling sharply at her radiant expression. Her eyes were alight with tears and absolute joy while her lips were parted in the most serene, stunning smile he had ever seen.
“He
moved
,” she breathed in awe. “I just felt him move, Sandro! For the first time…”
“You… he… The
baby
?” He asked incoherently, moving even closer to the bed and leaning over her small figure.
“
Yes
… Oh my God! There he goes again…” She laughed in delight and without thinking grabbed up his large hand and placed it over the gentle flutter, low in her abdomen. His hand was so big; it covered nearly the entire little mound of her stomach. He sucked in a ragged breath when the baby fluttered again as if on cue and uttered a harsh, disbelieving laugh.
“
Dio
…” he breathed, sounding as awed as she had, keeping his eyes glued on their hands, his on her stomach and her smaller, paler hand resting over his. “Does that hurt,
bella mia
?”
“No,” she giggled. “It kind of tickles…”
“Yes, well, give it a couple of months and it’s going to be hellishly uncomfortable,” a dry voice interjected from the doorway. Theresa squeaked in surprise, lifting her hand from Sandro’s while he, keeping his warm hand on her stomach, turned leisurely to face her cousin, Rick and Rhys who were all framed in the doorway, the portrait of a perfect family.
“That was fast,” he observed neutrally before, reluctantly, moving aside and removing his hand from her belly. Theresa felt the loss keenly and tried to hide it by smiling brightly at her cousin.
“Thank you for coming,” Theresa murmured, her eyes filling up and her cousin moved further into the room, leaning over the bed to hug Theresa warmly.
“Oh darling, I’m always here for you,” Lisa whispered into her ear and Theresa, without any warning whatsoever, surprising even herself, burst into tears. “No… oh no, sweetheart, don’t…” her cousin was crooning. “Don’t upset yourself like this; it’s not good for you or the baby.”
Theresa made a concerted effort to pull herself together, embarrassed by her mini breakdown. Rick was on the other side of the bed; he had Rhys cradled to his chest in a baby sling and was holding one of her hands with both of his, adding his silent support to her obvious distress.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that,” she choked out slightly and Rick grinned down into her distraught face.
“Hormones. You know what
you-know-who
was like. The cost of tissues was bankrupting me,” he said in a stage-whisper, jerking his jaw in Lisa’s direction and Theresa half-giggled, half-sobbed in reaction before looking around the room in confusion.
“Where’s Sandro?” She asked warily.
“Never thought I’d ever feel sorry for the guy,” Rick told her half-seriously. “But when you turned on the waterworks, the poor dude looked like someone who’d just been told that both his best friend and
dog
had died in the same freak accident. He hovered for a few seconds before hot-footing it out of here like the hounds of hell were on his tail.”
“Well…” Theresa shrugged bravely. “This is more than he signed up for.”
“Oh please,” Lisa rolled her eyes disdainfully. “This is
exactly
what he signed up for. He
wanted
you pregnant, remember?”
“I remember,” Theresa nodded forlornly.
“Look, far be it from me to defend the guy…” Rick intervened reasonably. “I mean you know I can’t stand him after the way he treated you and I would have cleaned his clock ages ago if you hadn’t called me off, Terri… but quite honestly the man looked downright pitiful just now. Not your typical ruthless Sandro.”
“I’ve been seeing a change in him lately, too, Theresa,” Lisa said.
“Please,” Theresa shook her head. “He’s the same as he’s always been. He wants out of this marriage and so do I.”
“Theresa…” Lisa murmured in her most reasonable voice.
“Lisa, don’t defend him… you don’t know what he’s done…” and suddenly it all came out, how he’d blackmailed her to prevent her from divorcing him, using Lisa’s loan as his leverage. “He probably gave you that loan so that he would have some kind of future hold over me if I ever stepped out of line!” Rick and Lisa exchanged a meaningful look before Rick shrugged, seeming to answer some unspoken question from Lisa.
“Theresa,” her cousin still clasped one of her hands tightly. “I know about that.”
“You do?” She was shocked by that. “
How
? How long have you known?”
“Sandro confessed all the last time you two came by. Remember? He wanted to talk to me alone?” Theresa nodded dazedly. “For whatever reasons, he doesn’t want or
need
that leverage anymore, he offered to write off my debt entirely. I refused… but I get the feeling that he’s going to do it anyway.”
“
That’s
what he wanted to talk about that day?” Theresa gasped incredulously.
“Yes and he made me swear not to tell you about it… but I suppose these are extenuating circumstances,” Lisa nodded and Theresa frowned in concentration.
“But I don’t understand any of this… why would he do that?” She asked in confusion before her face cleared up and she laughed at her own stupidity. “Well, he doesn’t
really
need the leverage anymore, does he? Not when I’m doing exactly what he wants? But to clear the debt before the baby’s born still doesn’t make sense… unless…”
“Is this a private conversation or can
anyone
join in?” Rick interrupted her musing drily and she blinked up at him. “I think you’re over-analyzing. From what Lisa tells me he was desperate to cancel that debt. She thinks, and I’m inclined to agree after what I just saw, that he wants a clean slate with you but doesn’t really know how to go about it.”
“Well, I live with him and I know you’re both wrong,” she maintained stubbornly, shoving all those Scrabble and chess nights to the back of her mind, determinedly trying not to think about the companionable meals and the silent support he lent her at every doctor’s appointment. “He’s in love with someone else! I’d say
another
woman, only in this case, I think I’m probably the
other
woman.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Rick asked furiously.
“He was in love with her before my father forced him into this marriage. She’s the woman he wants to have a family with. I’m the one who screwed up
his
life, Rick… not vice versa. Once I have this baby we’ll go our separate ways and both be happier for it.”
“This is so messed up,” Rick shook his head in disgust. “What about you and the baby? Don’t you count for anything?”
“I would
hate
it if he stayed out of some outdated sense of duty… I’m worth more than that, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely,” Lisa whispered, squeezing Theresa’s narrow shoulders reassuringly before sitting down on the chair beside the bed and leaning toward Theresa. “So you felt the baby move?”
Theresa’s eyes lit up with remembered joy.
“It was amazing,” she nodded and both Rick and Lisa went misty as they verbally recalled Rhys’s first movements. “After the fright I got, it was such a relief to feel him moving around in there.”
“Is he doing any wriggling now? His Auntie Lisa wants to meet him,” Theresa shook her head with a slight laugh.