Page 62 of Secret Babies For My Brother's Best Friend

“Leo? How do you feel about that?” I asked, thinking a bit of prompting would help.

“Daniel kissed Melissa H. at recess the other day,” he said. “Jodie says it’s because they’re girlfriend and boyfriend. Do you guys kiss? Are you girlfriend and boyfriend? Do you think Daniel’s going to marry Melissa H.? I don’t think kids should get married, anyway. Besides, I think Melissa H. likes Kyle. She said so last week when—”

“Okay, okay, son,” Luca interrupted Leo’s tirade, holding up both his hands to get him to stop. I bit back a laugh at the look of confusion on Luca’s face. “Can we talk about your school friends later? We want to talk about this family for now.”

Leo nodded, and a slow, naughty smile crept onto his face. “You do kiss her, don’t you, Papa?”

The same kind of smile brightened Luca’s face, and I realized for the first time how alike they were—father and son.

“I kiss her sometimes,” Luca admitted, taking my hand. “And yes, we are girlfriend and boyfriend. But… maybe a little more than that?”

I nodded. “Yes, more than that.”

“You mean, married?” Leo’s mouth dropped open.

Luca laughed lightly. “Not yet, but… how would you feel if Scarlett was your stepmother?”

The kid jumped to kneel on his chair, fists pumping the air excitedly. “Yes! We can talk German all the time, then. I want Scarlett to be in our family for real.”

“And how would you feel if this family got a little bigger?” I asked. “Like, maybe, with a baby brother or sister?”

This time Leo got straight to his feet, towering above both Luca and I. “A baby? You mean it? A real live baby?”

We couldn’t help but descend into relieved laughter as we watched Leo do a little happy dance on his chair, crying out to the restaurant about the baby that was coming. It brought applause from the other patrons and staff alike, which made me immediately blush.

Luca leaned over and placed a soft kiss to my lips. “I guess that’s settled then.”

“I guess so,” I replied, nuzzling his nose with mine.

Leo crashed into our little moment when he fell back down to sit just as our desserts arrived.

“Oh boy, I can’t wait to tell Uncle Christopher,” he exclaimed, digging into his ice cream without hesitation.

And just like that, my bubble of bliss burst wide open. Leo was step one, and now because he could barely contain his excitement, I was going to have to speed up step two. I looked at Luca and could tell he shared the same thought—we’d have to talk to my brother before Leo got to him.

Chapter 25

Luca

“Youknow,Luca,I’mbeginning to think you get off on seeing me in a tie.” Christopher tugged at his shirt collar for the hundredth time.

Julia, heavily pregnant and beautiful in a simple blue dress, slapped his hand away. “Stop that. You look great, honey.”

I smiled at their easy companionship and wondered if Scarlett and I would ever get to that point. Sure, right now we had the passion and rose-colored haze that goes along with having just fallen in love. But I hoped we could someday have both.

“This is probably the last time we’ll get to eat in a fancy place like this,” Julia said, fanning her napkin onto her lap. “Once the baby’s here, we’ll be stuck with noisy family restaurants.”

She rolled her eyes, but Christopher’s face brightened.

“Jeans and T-shirt places…” He laughed. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

“You’ll wish for this time in…” I looked at Julia and asked, “How long?”

She leaned back in her chair and lovingly stroked her belly with both hands. “A week this Thursday.”

I didn’t hide my surprise and gaped at them both. “That’s around the corner!”

“Tell him that.” Julia hiked her thumb in Christopher’s direction. “He hasn’t set up the crib yet, and we still have a few more staples to pick up.”

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