Elley Arden - Baby by Design

“Where’s Trish?”

Angie’s question wasn’t one Tony cared to answer, so he ignored her, staring at the horse on the dashboard of her ’65 Mustang instead.

“I went into that bathroom, remember. I know something was wrong. Is she sick?”

Why were the women in his life so damn nosy, and why did he feel this obligation to keep the peace by giving in? No wonder he ran every chance he got for so many years. It was easier than hanging around and being badgered by them.

“Tony?”

“She got her period. Okay? Cripes.” It was easier to word it that way than to say she wasn’t pregnant.

“Oh. Maybe that’s a good thing.”

He heard his patience snap. It sounded like ears popping from too much pressure in his head. “A good thing? Seriously? No, Ange. It’s not a good thing. It’s a terrible thing, a fucking awful thing. That baby meant something…to Trish.”

“Sounds like it meant something to you, too.”

She was not going to bait him again. “Whatever. I’m gonna try callin’ Aunt Connie again.” How shitty was his life that he was distracting himself from bad news with even worse news?

Of course, she didn’t pick up.

“It’s a hospital, Tony. She has it on vibrate, which means we won’t talk to anyone until they call us. Settle down.”

And talk about Trish? No thank you. So he’d stick with the next worst thing. “Why does the fluid make Nonna cough?”

Angie shrugged. “Vin did some research on his phone while we waited in the lobby. He said it could be building up in her chest cavity. I don’t know what it’s called. Some fancy name.”

“I don’t care what it’s called, either. I just wanna know if it means the cancer is spreading?”

She shrugged again. “All I know is they can drain fluid from her chest like they’ve been draining it from her abdomen. She’ll get some relief then. Let’s focus on that.”

Tony pressed fingertips against his eyelids until the pressure hurt, and then he whacked his head off the headrest a couple times. He didn’t want to focus on anything, because everything sucked.

He opened his mouth to tell Angie to swing by Trish’s house so he could grab his bike, then he could ride far and fast as soon as he knew Nonna was comfortable. He could also check on Trish, make sure she was okay.

But what if she wasn’t? He closed his mouth without saying a word. If Trish was upset, he wouldn’t want to leave. It’d be the same feeling he’d felt when they were alone in the restroom, like he was being torn apart.

“You know, up until today I couldn’t figure out why she was with you.”

Tony sort of glared at his sister, knowing exactly which “she” she was talking about. Was it too much to ask for her not to analyze this relationship? Heck, Tony was still trying to figure out exactly what it had become. Maybe Angie figured out what brought Tony and Trish together in the first place—Trish’s baby-making plan. It was definitely too much to ask for Angie to think it possible that Trish was with him because he was worthy of her.

“You’re different with her, you know?” Angie continued. “How you hold her hand and look at her, all that touchy-feely crap I’ve never seen you do with anyone. And she talks to you, more than she talks to me, which is warped, but also a good sign. I mean, it must mean you’re good to her…for her.” The wrinkles on her face tightened. “Blah, blah, blah.” She lifted her hands from the wheel, waved them in front of her like she was erasing the sentiments, and then shot him a shitty grin.

Well, color him surprised. Part of him wanted to thank her, but that much emotion between them would’ve been plain weird. “I don’t know about all that,” he said, trying to play it off.

“Well, how ’bout we say you have moments? And the last thing I’m ever going to say about it is she’s good for you, too.”

Tony had less of a problem agreeing with that, but he didn’t say so. Saying it would’ve made him miss her even more. Inhaling, he focused on the blazing ball of sun rising above the U.S. Steel Tower.

“What I’m trying to say is, you’re here, and that’s…something.”

He caught Angie’s insinuation, that Trish was somehow the reason for him not bailing on this family vigil, like he’d bailed on every one when Dad was sick. Maybe Tony being here did mean something, but he was too worried about the women he loved to analyze it.

Not until Angie parked in Vin’s packed driveway did Tony’s thoughts catch up with him. He was here, because he was worried about Nonna. He loved her. And if he wasn’t here, he’d be with Trish, because he loved her, too. He had to. He couldn’t imagine life without her by his side.

Baby or no baby, he wanted to be with Trish DeVign.

His jaw dropped, and he feigned an itch so he could scratch his chin and manually close his gaping mouth.

He was in love?

Vin was going to shit.

Now what? He leaned closer to the passenger door, hoping Angie didn’t catch onto his erratic breathing. If he told Trish how he felt, she might not feel the same. But what if she did? What if all the hypotheticals could be real?

Tony didn’t know what shocked him more, that he managed to fall in love or that he wanted hypotheticals that included marriage. Marriage. He couldn’t think of anything better than being hitched to Trish, waking up to her day after day, making love to her night after night, and laughing with her every moment in between.

As soon as the Nonna situation was under control, he was going to find Trish and tell her.

Trish stared at the telephone, wanting to call Tony. But when she picked up the phone, she wondered if she shouldn’t call Angie instead. Maybe she’d pushed him too hard. Maybe he wasn’t calling for a reason.

Like maybe there’s no news. Of course, that could be true.

She slid the pain reliever off the counter and popped four into her mouth, swallowing them without a drop of water. They caught in her throat for a few seconds, and for those few blissful seconds, she thought of something other than the Corcarellis. But then she swallowed the pills completely, and the worry for Nonna and questions about Tony returned. Trish might not be a Corcarelli by blood, but lately the family had consumed her. In some ways, she felt like she belonged more to them than to her adoptive parents.

Curling up on the couch, Trish lifted her phone and this time dialed her mother, the woman who used to put her to sleep with stories about adoption being love by choice, not by accident.

The older Trish got, the more she resented the reminder that she came into this world an accident, and the more she forgot about how powerful a choice could be. She needed to make the choice to appreciate her mother for what she did give, because love was never easy.

“Hello.” Delores sounded like she answered the phone following a five-mile run. Trish trampled the impulse to assume the breathlessness meant her mother didn’t have time for her. She’d done enough overthinking for one day.

“Hi. I thought you might want to know they had to rush Tony and Angie’s grandmother to the hospital.”

“Oh my. I’m sorry to hear that. Which hospital, dear? I’ll have an arrangement sent with a card. Are you doing something on your own or should I include you?”

“I’ll do something on my own.”

“Fine, dear.” There was a pause, and then a sigh. “Something else is wrong, isn’t there?”

“Nothing as important or serious as Nonna.”

“Work?”

“It’s good.”

Another sigh, like it was hard for her to even think about her next words. “And Tony?”

“It’s complicated.” Even more complicated than having this conversation with her mother.

“Well, I think…”

“Mother, I already know what you think, and it’s time you know what I think.” Trish sucked a big breath into her lungs. “I love him. I don’t know how it’s going to turn out, but me loving him isn’t going to change.” She expected the shocked silence. “I just wanted you to know.”

“Does he love you?”

The phone chimed in Trish’s ear and vibrated in her hand. She pulled it back far enough to see Tony’s name flashing on the screen. “I gotta go. That’s him with news about Nonna.”

In the seconds that it took to disconnect one call and connect with the other, there wasn’t relief over avoiding her mother’s question so much as there was resignation at what the answer would be. Trish loved Tony, like it or not, and whether or not he loved her.

“Hey, how is she?” Trish asked without the customary hello, wanting to get straight to the point before she said something stupid.

“Better. They’re draining the fluid.”

“Good.” And it was good, good that Nonna was feeling better and good to hear his voice.

“How are you?”

She smiled, because at least he cared. “Better, too.”

“You up for company?”

Her heart flipped. “Sure.” But then she heard the ruckus in the background. “I don’t want to take you from your family.”

He was quiet longer than necessary, unless he was struggling with where he wanted to be.

“I could…come there,” she babbled. “If you wanted me…needed me to.”

“Okay.”

Their breathing filled the line, and a feeling of importance overwhelmed her. Occasionally in life, when you made the right decision, it pummeled you. “I’ll be there soon.”

By the time Trish reached Vin’s, the moon glistened on the river. Cars filled the drive and lined the street in both directions. She rounded the corner and parked a block away, thankful she wore ballet flats instead of heels. As she approached the house, the shadow of an open car door and two outstretched legs caught her eye. A few more steps and she could see it was Angie.