Page 75 of Sebastian's Baby

For. Fuck’s. Sake.

I really wish she would stop dropping bombshells like that. Her entire family is looking at me as though I’ve got horns and a tail. The devil who got Lita pregnant with no intention of making an honest woman out of her.

“What do you mean there is no wedding? Of course there will be a wedding,” her father says.

“Papà, Sebastian is just a friend, like I told you all.” Lita bites her lip as she says it.

“Just friends don’t get pregnant together, bella.” If looks could kill, I would keel over and die from the one he gives me before he demands, “Explain yourself.”

“I met Lita when she came to Chicago. We hit it off and spent the night together. Unfortunately, our contraception failed. Well, multiple forms of contraception failed for us, to be honest. We spent a few weeks trying to figure out what we would do.”

I’m not sure how religious her family is, so I quickly skate over this and move on in case they get angry that we considered it.

“Ultimately, we’ve decided to have the baby. Lita is going to be an amazing mother; I couldn’t have asked for a better person to co-parent with. I am more than able to provide for both my baby and your daughter. She will not struggle financially as a parent to my child.”

“You’re going to be in Chicago while my daughter is here with your child?” Lita’s mom narrows her eyes at me.

I look up at her and realize that I can’t keep staying in hotels when I visit Lita. I should get a place in Seattle, especially since I’ll be spending a decent amount of time here once the baby is born, I’m sure.

I nod at Lita’s mom. “That’s a really good point, Mrs. Ciccone. I might get a place here to make it easier for when I visit.”

“Aren’t you still sleeping with other women?” Antonella asks me slowly as she continues to glare at me.

My blood runs cold. Lita did tell me that her sister-in-law is a Cruise Control fan, but I didn’t put together that she might know about how I spend my time in Chicago. There is no fucking way to lie about this since I’ve been photographed with other women, and, apparently, some of them tell stories online.

I hadn’t expected to have to explain this side of my life, but I can’t meet Antonella’s glare any longer, and I look down at the table in front of me as I admit, “Yes.”

“Get out of my house right now,” Enzo growls.

I don’t blame him. Fuck. This has gone worse than I imagined it would. What a nightmare.

I start to stand, but Lita grips my hand tighter and says, “Stop! Sebastian, sit the fuck down. Papà, if Sebastian leaves, so do I. This is not an ideal situation, obviously. I’m a grown woman, though, and I can sleep with a man if I want to. We’re two consenting adults, and we decided to spend the night together. We were careful, but our contraception failed.

“Sebastian has been nothing but supportive to me this whole time. We’re not in a relationship together, and he’s free to sleep with whomever he wants, assuming she consents to it. Occasionally, that woman is me. If either of us finds someone to be in a relationship with, we are free to do that as well.”

I wonder what it will be like down the track when Lita finds a boyfriend. I hope we’ll be able to remain friends, and he won’t try to cut me off from her and my baby.

She continues, “We’re having a baby together, but Sebastian’s life is in Chicago, and mine is here. The pregnancy was an accident, but we’re just trying to find a way to make the best of it—something that works for us.

“Sebastian loves this baby as much as I do. Our baby is going to have two parents who love it. Our baby is going to be provided for by both its mother and father. I know that in a perfect world, I would have fallen in love with a man, gotten married, and then had babies as Antonella did, but this world isn’t perfect. Our baby, though? Our baby is perfect.”

Her passionate defense of me and our situation leaves a heavy silence in the room. Her family doesn’t seem able to say anything. I’m not sure if I should say something, but I have no idea what that would be, and Lita continues talking anyway.

“At the end of the day, Sebastian and I are having a baby together. Nothing is going to change that. People are starting to figure it out. I don’t know how long it will be until the whole world knows about this, and that is terrifying for me. What I need right now is not for Sebastian to stop sleeping with other women, but for my family to support me through something which is probably going to be really fucking difficult to get through. I need to make sure the baby and I remain as safe as possible, and I need you to be nice to the father of my child.”

After a few seconds, Marco says. “This is a lot to take in, Lita. Sebastian doesn’t have the best reputation. I know you love Cruise Control, but all you ever hear about them is scandal after scandal. Wasn’t he sleeping with his best friend’s fiancée last year?”

I can’t help but smile at the question because it’s kind of hilarious that I’m here telling Lita’s family she’s pregnant and they’re accusing me of screwing Heather. I’m used to the paparazzi asking me about it, but no one else has dared to say it to my face.

“Don’t talk about Sebastian like he’s not here, Marco, or I’ll leave,” Lita says in a warning tone before she looks at me. “But, no, Sebastian and Heather never had an affair.”

“How do you know?” Antonella asks, looking back and forth between Lita and me.

“They’ve both told me, and I have no reason not to believe them. Plus, if you’d ever seen Harrison and Heather together, Antonella, you’d understand,” Lita smiles.

I chuckle because it’s so damn true and say, “They’re pretty sickening whenever they’re in the same room.”

Santino has now taken a seat at the table, and he frowns at Lita, looking confused as he says, “He cheated on her, though.”

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