Page 71 of Storm

“It’s been a bit of a struggle.” Miriam takes a sip from her water glass, then sits back and folds her hands over her stomach and looks around the mostly empty dining area. “My coworkers are great for the most part, but I think they’re frustrated with having to cover some of my hours. I don’t work nights, so now that I have to take time off to go to all these damn doctor appointments, one of them has to cover.”

“And they’re not thrilled about that.” Miriam sent us her upcoming schedule for appointments, and I know what she’s talking about. I had already talked with my boss about it, but luckily, we’ve got enough people to readjust the schedule moreeasily. My partner and I just ended up flipping days around, so each day she has an appointment, I have off work.

“Nope,” she says, popping herpto stress her answer. Then with a sigh, adds, “I don’t know what else I can do. I could always offer to swap to the night shift, but it took me over a year to gain seniority just to get days. Nights freaking suck.”

I frown, not liking that idea. “That would be a horrible idea. Working all night, only to get an hour or two before an appointment, then going back to sleep for another few hours would mean you were doing nothing but sleeping and working.”

Our waitress comes over with a tray and sets all of our plates down, then offers a pile of extra spoons so we can share everything. Miriam leans forward and rubs her hands together. “Fuck talking about work.Dios mio, this looksamazing!Thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome. Let me know if you two need anything else.” The waitress leaves us to dig in and sample everything.

As we eat, I ask, “Have you thought of names?”

Miriam pauses, a spoonful of strawberry gelato halfway to her mouth. “Maybe.” Then she takes the bite and grins.

Laughing, I scoop up the lemon gelato and hold it out to her. “I’ll let you have this last bite if you tell me a few options.”

She grins, leans forward and takes the bite. Tilting her head to the side as she swallows it down, she holds up a finger to give her a moment.

“I have a few ideas. Ihadhoped you guys would do the paternity test so whomever this little baby’s daddy is could give input, but since you all decided to wait, I’m picking on my own. Finding a girl’s name has been tough, but I do have a few boy options.”

I grab a fork and use the edge to slice a large bite from the tiramisu, offering it to her as a bribe. “I’ll give you a bite for every name you give me.”

“Deal.” She sits forward with her arms crossed on the table and opens her mouth. Sliding the fork against her tongue, I watch as her lips wrap around the tines and closes her eyes in enjoyment.

Sitting back to chew slowly, once she swallows, she opens them and says, “Mateo.”

“Good name. Do you know what it means?” I ask, cutting off her next bite from the cannoli and I hold it out to her.

“It means gift of God.” She takes the next bite, repeats her slow enjoyment of the dessert, then says, “Gabriel.”

“Meaning?” I set down the fork and pick up a spoon to pick up the pineapple flavored gelato. She shakes her head, so I take the bite, then use the same spoon to grab some more strawberry for her.

With her approval, I offer it and she keeps her eyes locked on me this time when she takes the spoonful into her mouth. “It means God is my strength.”

“Are you religious?”

She tips her head back and forth in thought. “Yes and no. I believe something is out there that’s bigger than us, but I’m not sure we’ve got it exactly right just yet. I’ll take the strawberry again. It’s quickly becoming my favorite, especially now that the sugar sweet isn’t making me feel sick anymore.”

With a chuckle, I get her another bite and offer it. Just as she leans in to take it into her mouth, I pull it back. “I need one more name.”

“Ricardo.” She bolts forward to take the bite and I scowl at her.

“I don’t like that one.”

Giggling, she covers her mouth. “Neither do I. I was fucking with you, although it actually has a decent meaning.”

I take a bite to finish off the pineapple gelato since Miriam isn’t enjoying that one. Pointing the spoon at her, I ask, “What does it mean?”

“Powerful leader. I’ve been reading a lot of baby name books lately.”

“Richard would probably like it.”

She snorts, then picks up a fork to take a small bite of the tiramisu. “Probably, but I’m not planning on using that name. I do really like Gabriel, though. It’s the one I’m leaning toward.”

I raise a hand to get our waitresses attention, and she hurries over with our bill. After paying, I lead Miriam back to my car before driving her to the next spot. An ice cream parlor.

Once inside, we each grab a cone and head back out to the car to enjoy them. We spend the time commenting on each person as they walk by, making up stories about what they’re headed to do. Once we’re finished, I ask, “Do you want to find another spot?”

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