Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 410 -

*Olivia*

Dread and restlessness had a vice grip on my throat on Friday afternoon. The ticking of the clock was driving me up the wall as we waited for the time to head back to Surrogazione Generazionale to meet our potential surrogate. My nails were bitten down to the quick with how much anxiety was radiating off of me. If my nervousness was radioactive, I would be one second away from a nuclear meltdown.

I paced back and forth in the middle of the sitting room of our suite. The rhythm was a good way to get out my excess energy, though it wasn't helping all that much. At this point, I wouldn't have been surprised if there was a hole left in the carpet from how many times I'd circled it.

"What if something goes wrong and neither of them is available anymore?" I wondered aloud.

"Nothing is going to go wrong, carina," Gio sighed as he watched me from the couch. There was clearly disapproval in his eyes, but he didn't make a move to stop me. I doubted he could. "You don't know that," I shot back. "What if—"

"No more 'what ifs,' Olivia," Gio said firmly. "Now take a seat, right here."

"But "I protested, turning to him.

He sent me a scolding look, and I sighed, my whole body tensed like a live wire as I reluctantly made my way to the couch and took the seat at the other end. Clearly, that was the wrong move.

"No, you don't," he clicked his tongue, reaching over to grab me by the middle.

"No" I half-heartedly protested as he dragged me across the couch and plopped me straight into his lap. I pouted as he held me like I was a naughty child, grabbing my fingers so I couldn't bite my nails any longer. "Relax, carina," he said soothingly, digging his fingers into my wild and messy hair.

I was so nervous I hadn't brushed it that carefully that morning, and Gio was more than happy to as he gently tugged out any knots with his fingers.

Despite my attempts to remain firm, I melted into his embrace.

"There we go," he chuckled, pressing his lips against my temple as he moved my hair to my other shoulder.

I sighed, my body unfolding from its tight form as I focused on his rhythmic heartbeat in my ears and the soothing way he combed through my locks. But that didn't stop the worries or anxiety, only quieted them for the time being. "Which one do you like?" I asked softly, wanting to know his opinion.

Alessia was experienced and seemed like a friendly girl, but there was something about Elena that I just liked.

I felt like the two of us could be friends-maybe she could even stay in our child's life and be an honorary aunt. Although, Dahlia had already claimed the godmother spot, and she deserved it. I knew I wouldn't be here without her. "Hm," Gio hummed. "Whichever you like."

I rolled my eyes. Ever since we'd come back from the agency, he'd been doing that-pretending like he didn't have an opinion, just saying it was my choice. But this wasn't just going to be my baby-it was ours, our family.

"I'm serious, Gio. Do you like Alessia or Elena more? They're both very pretty," I hinted, wondering what he thought about the girls. There was no way he didn't see how gorgeous they were.

I glanced at my hands.

And more experienced compared to me, I thought.

"Carina," he smirked, "neither of them can hold a candle to your beauty. You are my wife-the only woman I see is you. As long as you like them, it doesn't matter to me. Alena or Elessia, I couldn't care less."

"Don't pretend you don't know their names!" I smacked his arm, even as a smile threatened to overtake my lips. Some of my worries were a bit relieved by his answer, I couldn't deny that. "You probably had them investigated the moment I picked them out."

"No, actually," he replied easily. "I was waiting until we picked one. I wouldn't want to invade the privacy of one girl for no reason, you know. I'm not a monster."

"No, just a nosy husband," I giggled, sending him a cheeky grin over my shoulder.

"You wanna play that game?" He raised an eyebrow, and I felt his teeth grip my upper ear. I stifled a moan as he bit down softly, not hard enough to leave a mark but enough to make me think of other things besides surrogates, at least for a second.

I pouted, widening my eyes in that way I knew he was weak too. Two could play at this game.

"But I'm not wrong?" I said, pretending to be pitiful.

"But you are naughty."

I burst into shrieks of laughter as his fingers crawled up and down my sides, tickling me without any mercy or remorse.

"Okay, okay!"

He laughed loud and boisterous-as he finally stopped his torturous methods. I could feel his chest rumbling along my back with every laugh, and I smiled, listening to the rare sound. It wasn't often that Gio let himself be completely free, even around me, and each time, it was a wonder.

I turned in his arms, straddling him as I laid my head on his shoulder, thinking about how quickly our lives had changed and how much they would soon change again.

"Is this a good idea?" I asked, in our quiet moment. "Are we really doing the right thing?"

"Yes," Giovani said without a shadow of a doubt. "If we want our own baby, one of our own blood, then this is the only way to do it. Adoption is wonderful, and we can look at that later down the road maybe, but we've gone over this over and over. I know you won't be able to carry our child, but that doesn't mean it won't be ours."

A pang stabbed my heart at the reminder. It was still hard to believe and even harder to hear. The little bean I thought I had been carrying for a few brief moments was still a fresh wound in my mind, one that I could never move past.

I would never carry a child in my womb. I could never give Gio that or be a resting place for our baby. But even if we had to borrow another woman's womb, we could still have our little bean in the world, a little child who looked just like Gio with wide eyes and a sweet, chubby face.

I nodded, realizing he was right as he brushed comforting circles on my back. We had to do this. We were going to do this.

"It's time to go," Gio reminded me as the clock hit 11:00 AM. We moved from our positions of being glued together to finally go and meet the woman who would give us our own baby.

The two of us were quiet on the ride there, both of us lost in our thoughts, but I refused to let go of Gio's hand, even as we stepped out of the car and into the agency. Mrs. Ortez met us at the entrance again, quickly taking us back to what I was beginning to think was her office.

"Alessia is already here, so you can meet her as soon as you're ready," she informed us with a smile.

I nodded, holding Gio's hand tightly as my heart raced in my chest.

"Ready?" Gio asked me, checking in on me as he did. I had no doubt that if I said I wasn't, he would make the whole company wait for me. I smiled, the appreciation for my husband growing stronger.

"Ready," I said, relieved to have him by my side.

We entered the conference room Mrs. Ortez led us to, and she joined us. It was a small four-person table with four chairs, and Mrs. Ortez took the seat next to the unfamiliar woman. I recognized her immediately from the photo. Alessia.

She smiled, beaming almost, as she got to her feet and offered her hand. Gio took it and then me. She had soft, gentle hands, and her smile lit up her whole face like a star shining.

She was beautiful, on par with Dolly and her mother, if I was being honest. I felt a little inferior as Mrs. Ortez talked about the ins and outs of the program, and Alessia spoke about herself. She answered every question Gio threw at her without missing a beat, like she was answering questions in a Miss Universe pageant.

I especially didn't like the flash of judgment that came across her eyes when she asked about our ages. The age gap was quite large, and it had caused a lot of friction for too long. She stared at the bands on our hands for a little too long to be polite, and by the end of the meeting, I was feeling a little nervous.

She'd been nice enough, but I just didn't feel any connection to her. She was a stranger-that was to be expected-but if she were to be carrying our child....

I wanted to at least like her.

We barely had time to talk before Mrs. Ortez was whirling us to meet our next potential surrogate Elena. I hoped I could get along with her better. There was a knock on the door, and Mrs. Ortez beamed. "Here she is!"

"Hello," Elena came in and sat across from me, and I had to suppress my gasp. For a moment, I thought I was looking into a mirror until I noticed a few details that gave it away. Her hair was shorter than mine, her eyes narrower, and she was clearly taller than me.

Older, too, considering she had lost all of the little baby fat I still carried on my cheeks. I would have assumed her to be my sister if I didn't know any better. I'd noticed we looked a lot alike in her photo, but it was uncanny now that she was in front of me.

Elena smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners, and the resemblance faded a bit. I breathed a sigh of relief. It would've been a little weird to have a clone of me carrying our baby.

"It's so nice to meet you," she said, offering us her hand to shake.

Gio did, and then me. Her hands were cold, almost like ice, and there were clearly calluses from hard work in her life.

Elena, as we learned, wasn't much older than me, and she had a similar love for art. As soon as she mentioned studying Picasso, I couldn't stop my art nerd from rearing up to rant.

"My favorite piece was always 'Girl Before a Mirror,"" Elena told me with a massive smile, just as excited as I was to meet a fellow art nerd. "I liked the way the reflection was so different from how she appeared in the painting. It was like she saw a different version of herself."

"I know!" I beamed. "The colorful fragmentation delivered through the duality is iconic! You see it in 'The Weeping Woman,' too."

"Is that your favorite, T'he Weeping Woman'?" Elena asked, her eyes bright with curiosity.

Gio chuckled as I blushed, having already gone over this a hundred times with him.

"No, actually," I laughed, a bit embarrassed. "My favorite's actually 'Guernica.' My mom introduced it to me. Maybe it was just me overemphasizing it, but the horse in 'Guernica' was my favorite. While everything was in chaos and people were dying, it was only the horse who looked truly horrified by the war around it. It felt like it was telling everyone to stop."

Gio smiled, squeezing my hand as his eyes glinted with adoration as he stared at me.

"That's a very unique take," Elena said, a smile on her lips. "And a very optimistic way of looking at it."

"That's kinda me," I laughed, flushing at the attention of the room now on me.

"Well, then, you two seemed to have struck a connection," Mrs. Ortez laughed. "But I'm afraid we're running a bit over time."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," I said, unable to believe I took up so much time ranting about art again.

"It's no problem. I had fun," Elena laughed. "It was lovely to meet you both. Thank you so much for your time."

We both thanked her and got to our feet, saying our goodbyes to Elena and Mrs. Ortez. All we had to do next was decide who to pick and move forward. I was quiet as we left the building, my thoughts burning in my mind. "Who did you like?" I asked Gio.

He smirked, glancing down at me. "Clearly, you had a favorite."

I blushed, feeling a bit brighter after the talk with Elena.

"I did. I liked Elena the best, but I don't want to make a decision without you," I told him honestly.

"As long as you're happy, I am. If you're ready to decide now, then I'm all on board for it. Do you feel good about choosing her?"

I pondered a bit, still a bit nervous over this whole thing, but after meeting her and speaking with her, I felt so much better.

"Yes," I said determinedly. "Let's do it. Let's hire Elena as our surrogate."