Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 398 -

*Olivia*

I whirled through the dining room in a haze of excitement. Dahlia and I were going to go back to school next week, and there was so much planning to do. I needed new notebooks; somehow my backpack had gotten lost in the wedding shuffle, and Mom just went home a few days ago, so I had barely had any time to do anything.

As I passed the room that had been hers for the length of her stay, I paused. I'd missed my mom more than I realized in the months since we moved to Italy. Having her here every day, teasing me about Gio with Dahlia and nagging me about wearing sunscreen when I went out despite the autumn chill, had felt like a dream come true.

Once, Becca made a joke about retiring to the Italian countryside, and her eyes had gotten kind of far away. Later, she asked me if I minded having her around so much. She'd joked about moving here on my wedding day, but I was starting to think she'd seriously consider it.

I did a happy little spin. Everything was falling into place perfectly.

Finally, I reached the room I was heading for. There was a little ground-floor room Gio was thinking of converting into a closet, but I'd been itching for a space of my own outside the suite. When I asked, he'd converted the room into an office for me to do schoolwork in. I didn't know where he found the time to do half the things he did these days, but having Dmitri off the map seemed to free up a lot of time.

Everybody had a lot more time since the Russians were out of the picture, and lighter moods, too. I'd even coaxed a laugh out of Gabriele the other day.

I flung open the door to my office and swept over to the big wooden desk Gio found for me. It was hand-carved by artists in Northern Italy but inspired by the altar table in Da Vinci's Annunciation, which I'd been obsessed with since I saw it in the Uffizi Gallery with Dahlia. I ran my hand over the scrollwork and grabbed the calendar I was looking for. Some paperwork required my last enrollment date, and in all the fuss, I could hardly remember anymore.

I flipped back a couple of months to my last day of school and noticed a red star on the day after, my own little shorthand for tracking my period.

I stopped short.

I flipped to the next page and found the next star. Yep, I remembered that one-awful timing in the middle of wedding planning. Then this month-there was the little star, right when I was supposed to get it. Two weeks ago.

My hands went cold, and I dropped the calendar onto the desk. We'd been responsible. I was on the pill, and I took it at the right time every day.

But it was only ninety-nine percent effective, a little voice in my head nagged. And you've really been putting it to the test.

Test. That was it. I just had to take a test. I wouldn't tell anyone, wouldn't turn my life completely upside down until I was sure.

But guards would go with me if I left. I needed to get someone else to do it, someone who wouldn't talk.

This time of day, Dom patrolled the back garden. I found him quickly and pulled him aside in a moment where none of the other guards could see him. Man, I was getting good at this mafia stuff.

He stepped into the shadows of an olive tree and furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you all right, Mrs. Valentino?"

A little shiver ran down my spine. I wasn't used to the new name yet, and it was exciting every time. But I shook my head and focused.

"You can still call me Olivia. And I'm fine, I just need you to get me something."

I passed him a note on which I'd written the brand of a well-reviewed pregnancy test. He unfolded it, studied it for a moment, and nodded.

"One more thing, Dom. You can't tell anyone, even Gio."

He grimaced. "But Mrs-Olivia, he's the Don. If he asks...."

I crossed my arms. "If he asks where you were, tell him to ask me. He can't know yet."

Dom hesitated another moment but finally nodded. "I'll go as soon as I can."

"Perfect. I'll be in my old room."

I spun on my heel and left the garden before anybody could ask what I was doing. Part of me wanted to keep getting ready for school, but the rest wanted to sit stock-still in my room until I knew if I could actually plan the next nine months of my life.

Nine months-if this came back positive, I would have to change the next nine months of my life.

I hurried up the stairs.

Dom, as I expected, was quiet and prompt. Nearly an hour had passed when there was a sharp rap on the door. I opened it, and he shoved the bag into my hands.

"Th-" I started.

He held his hands up. "I don't want to know anything else. I definitely can't keep the Don's kid from him."

I blanched. "Quiet! And... it's just a test. I don't know if—"

Dom plugged his ears and walked away. I sighed and closed the door behind him before padding into the adjoining bathroom.

I took a deep breath and opened the bag. The pink box stared up at me accusingly, but next to it was an Italian soda I'd been obsessed with but had only found in the school cafeteria.

I smiled. Dom might not be the most supportive person to have in this situation, but he did care.

I put the box and soda on the counter next to the sink and weighed what to open first. I needed to pee on pregnancy tests, right? A little hydration couldn't hurt.

I unscrewed the soda and took a sip, pacing back and forth as I stared at the box on the counter.

Did I want to be pregnant?

Someday, certainly. Every now and again, I dreamed about Gio and my little or not-so-little-family, and I always woke up feeling at peace. And he wanted kids. But did I want to be pregnant now?

Fuck it.

I took a big swig of the soda and ripped open the pregnancy test box. Pee on the stick, wait three minutes, so easy a baby could do it.

I took the test quickly, left it on the back of the toilet, grabbed my soda, and walked out into the main bedroom. I'd be too tempted to look if I stayed in there.

Instead, I paced.

Now that the test was taken, the question floated back to the top of my mind. Did I want to be pregnant now? I imagined myself waddling down the halls of the college, everybody whispering and shooting me pitying looks. But just as I began to worry about that, a vision of Gio's face when I told him the news overtook it. I could picture the smile growing on his face like a sunrise, worry lifting from his brow, years lifting from his tired eyes. He would pick me up and spin me around our room, laughing.

Did I want to be pregnant now? My mom had been so good about the wedding, and it had been so wonderful to have her here, but would she still be proud of me if I got pregnant so young, if I gave up my college career to take care of babies?

Dahlia liked kids okay, but she was never the biggest fan. Would she still want to hang out as much if I spent all my time with toddlers instead of going to fancy restaurants and taking impromptu day-trips to Tuscany?

I raked a hand through my hair. What I knew about Dahlia for certain was that she would be furious if she heard me listing down all these negatives without a single positive. I took another sip of the soda, savored it a moment, and then allowed myself to think about what might be good.

Did I want to be pregnant right now? It might encourage my mom to move to Italy faster. I was her only child, and her only chance for grandchildren. She'd mentioned that to Gio and me at the reception teasingly, but I thought I saw genuine desire in her eyes. Mom would love a grandkid-or grandkids. I could just picture her returning them from her place, all sleepy, and telling us in hushed tones that she let them have a little ice cream as a special treat. She'd spoil them senseless, enough to more than make up for the lack of family on Gio's side.

The kid would grow up in this house, or a house like this, huge and crawling with people for him to talk to and play games with even if Gio and I were both busy one day. They'd never run out of things to do or people to see.

Gio would be a spectacular father. It might encourage him to finally take a step back from work so he had more time for himself, but more importantly, he had so much love in his heart, and I wanted to let him express it. He would be the best jungle gym when they were younger and give incredible fatherly advice when they grew up.

More than that, I wanted to be a mother. I wanted to buy all the little outfits and accessories. I wanted to look at a kid the way my mom looked at me. I wanted to bring a little life into this world and do right by it in any way I could.

I took a swig of my soda and wondered if I was going to wear a path in the carpet before three minutes passed. Then, I let myself worry about the worst thing.

What if I had this baby, and it was as wonderful and beautiful as I thought it could be, and then Gio's job intruded on our lives again? What if something awful happened? What if they got kidnapped or worse? Could I survive that?

Could I ever have a child with the love of my life if I couldn't?

I paced and paced and paced. Three minutes turned into what felt like an hour, and I got no closer to figuring out if I actually wanted a baby right now or not. There were a million reasons for, and a million reasons against. My head swam with all the options, debating pros and cons until I felt nearly dizzy.

By the time the timer went off, I'd nearly made myself sick with anxiety. I crossed to the bathroom on shaking legs. I discarded my soda on the counter. My world seemed to narrow to the back of the toilet where the slim white stick that would change my life sat.

Only three steps left. Two. One.

I picked up the test in one quivering hand. For a moment, I couldn't read the results it shook so bad. Then, I steadied my hand with the other and it became clear. "Oh, my god."