Page 79 of Caged Bliss

He’s going to run, and when he does, we’ll be waiting.

Chapter 40

Claudia

Ifeel completely out of place sitting on gorgeous outdoor furniture in a lush and lovely back yard with four of the most amazing women I’ve ever met. Elena’s talking about how she’s trying for a baby with her husband, Brody, while Emily, Simon’s wife, leans back and watches her toddler, Jeremy, tear around the yard while Freddie chases after him.

“Enjoy your freedom while you can,” Emily says. She’s smiling to herself as her little boy just barely escapes the clutches of his grandmother. “Once that kid comes along, everything changes.”

“It can’t be that bad, right?” Elena shrugs, sounding nonchalant. “Brody says we’ll hire a fleet of nannies.”

“Nannies can only do so much.” Emily takes a long sip of wine. “Nannies can’t take away the constant nagging worry that you’re not doing enough, or that your baby isn’t perfectly healthy, and somehow everything’s your own damn fault.”

“Girl, I think that’s just your anxiety speaking,” Stefania says.

Emily laughs and shakes her head. “I mean, that’s probably true, but it’s also a mom thing.”

“Honestly, I can do with a little more anxiety in my life.” Elena waves away the looks she gets. Even I’m like, what the heck is she talking about? “Life is boring sometimes. The family’s not really at war anymore and Brody takes care of everything, and I guess I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my life.”

“I guess that’s reasonable,” Stefania says with a sly smile. “Or you could just, you know, get a job.”

“Kill me now.” Elena mimes stabbing herself in the heart. “I’d rather pump out kids than get a job.”

“Oh, the horror.” Stefania laughs and swats at Elena.

“Seriously, when are you getting pregnant? You and Davide have been together for a while now and we haven’t heard a peep about it.” Elena’s head tilts to the side.

Stefania looks down at her glass. Her smile fades away and she seems pensive. I get the feeling this isn’t a conversation she wants to have, and I’m about to cut in and save her, but she speaks up anyway.

“I don’t think I’m going to have kids.”

Everyone stares at her. I shift in my chair, feeling even more out of place than I did before, but there’s no way to get up and give these women some privacy. It’s nice they invited me, but I totally should not be a part of this serious of a conversation.

“When did you decide that?” Emily asks.

“I don’t know. It just sort of happened.” Stefania looks over at where Freddie’s got Jeremy in her lap and she’s tickling him while both of them laugh and roll around in the grass. “Davide never really pushed for it, and I got busy with work, and I guess one day we both looked up and were like—we’re happy, this is perfect, why change it?”

Nobody says anything. I could scream from embarrassment. Not because there’s anything wrong with going childless—that’s totally fine, whatever someone wants is their own business. I figure it’s better not to have kids than to have kids you don’t want. But I can tell this is the first time these girls are hearing about it, and they don’t know what to say.

Until Elena finally speaks up. “That’s… sort of amazing.”

“Seriously, it’s amazing,” Emily gushes.

And Stefania looks as surprised as I feel. “Seriously? You two don’t care?”

“Why the hell would I care?” Elena looks mildly offended. “Girl, you really think I’m the type of person that would, like, force you to get pregnant just because that’s what women in the mafia are supposed to do or whatever? We’re not having that kind of family.”

“Hundred percent agree,” Emily adds quickly. “I guess I just assumed you wanted kids, but that’s just my stupid bias. I think it’s amazing you two decided it isn’t for you and you’re sticking with it.”

“I’m mostly just worried about what she’s going to think.” Stefania’s still watching Freddie.

“She’ll be fine,” Elena says, waving away the worry. “Mom’s not stupid. She gets it. And plus, she’s getting kids from me and Emily and—” She waves a hand at me. “Probably from Claudia too.”

“Uh,” I say, unable to make my jaw work in order to form words, because now suddenly I’m next in line to get knocked up and I’m not even married to my man.

“That’s a good point,” Emily says, nodding as if that’s not actually an incredibly insane thing to say. “Angelo seems like the breeding type, right?”

“Uh!” I say, looking around in panic. Breeding? Like I’m a freaking dog or something?

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