Page 235 of Sebastian's Baby

“Of course. Sounds good.” Dad nods.

We head to the pool room, and I rack up the balls so Dad and Enzo can play a game. I’m standing at the side of the room and watching them play when the others join us.

“Hey, princess,” I say as I slip my arm around her waist and pull her to me. “Did the moms like the nursery?”

She nods and smiles. “Yeah, they did.” She rubs her bump. “I can’t believe she’s going to be here in five weeks.”

I lean down and kiss her quickly. “Me, either. I still can’t believe I’m this lucky.”

Dad beats Enzo and shakes his hand. “Good game, Enzo.”

“How about we do teams?” I suggest. “Are you good at the game, Lucia?”

“I’m not as good as Lita,” she laughs. “But I’m okay.”

I walk over to my mom and put my arm around her. “All right, well, Lita and I will take you, mom.”

“Are you implying that I’m not very good at pool, bello?” she asks me with a raised eyebrow.

She’s pretty terrible at pool. I get all of my skills from Dad, so I give her an innocent smile.

“I would never insult you like that, Mamma.”

She gives me a good-natured smile and hugs me back. We play a couple of games where everyone alternates turns. Dad is the only person in my life who beat me at pool until I met Lita, and Mom gives away two shots on three different turns, so it’s not an easy victory for our team in the first game. In the second game, Dad and Lita’s parents beat us, but we win the tiebreaker in the third game.

“Good match,” Dad says with a smile. “You’re very good, Lita.”

“Thanks, you too. Do you want to play a game?”

“Sure,” he agrees.

I’m standing next to Mom as we watch Lita rack up the pool balls. I put my arm around her shoulders and smile at the woman I love playing the game I love.

“I’m so glad to see you happy, bello,” Mom says quietly.

I look down at her and nod. “Yeah, I never thought I’d be happy like this. Never even knew I wanted to be happy like this.”

Mom is silent for a minute while we watch the game, but when she speaks, it’s in a quieter undertone again.

“I worried for a long time, Sebastian. You seemed so unhappy, and I thought that maybe it was my fault. That you’d watched your father and me for so long that you thought marriage would make you unhappy, too.”

I turn to stare at her, but she’s facing the pool table with a sad look on her face and very firmly not looking at me, so I turn back to the scene in front of us before responding.

“I love you, Mom.” I squeeze her tightly. “It wasn’t that, I promise.” I sigh and consider how much to tell her versus how much she might have guessed. “I never met a woman before Lita who I wanted to be with. I told myself that I was happy sleeping around and just having my friends and family for comfort. I didn’t know I was unhappy until I was finally happy. Trust me, I wasn’t suffering, and it wasn’t your fault.”

She’s quiet for a long time, then she finally looks up at me and says, “Lita’s personality is perfect for you, Sebastian. Someone else might have seemed like a good idea, but if you were too similar…it wouldn’t have worked. You’d have been miserable, and I wouldn’t want you in an unhappy marriage.”

I raise an eyebrow at her, but smile. “Yeah. I’ve kind of figured that out, too. There’s no woman better for me than Lita.”

Lita wins the game, but only by one ball, and it provides a distraction from the conversation I’ve been having with my mom.

“Dad’s the one who taught me how to play,” I tell her. “I don’t beat him very often.”

“I do think I’m getting worse in my old age. I don’t play often enough these days,” Dad says.

We play pool and drink some beers over the course of the afternoon before our moms head off to make dinner. I had suggested that we have dinner catered, but both of our moms were horrified by the suggestion. They’re making parmigiana, and I can’t wait to taste it.

Lita finishes a game against Enzo before she hands the pool cue to me and gives me a hug.

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