“You forgot something.”
“What?”
She wags my toiletry bag. “Ha-ha. I’m glad we came back, or you’ll have to deal with a grizzly bear husband,” I inform her. She loves my scruff in her hands and between her legs.
“Then maybe we should leave it,” she says as she bounces down the steps to me.
“I need the deodorant at least.”
“Yes. Let’s not forget that.” She pinches her nose. I pull her into my arms and kiss the top of her head.
“I love you, babe,” I growl, stealing a peck on her lips.
“I love you more.”
“No chance in hell, babe.” I kiss her again until her dad coughs.
“So who is ready?” Mrs. Vitello asks, acting a little anxious.
“Sure.”
We head back out after they use the restrooms and then the real road trip begins. Three hours into the drive, her parents have fallen asleep, and Rosalyn yawns. “Go to sleep, babe. I have the navigation on.”
“I can’t believe I’m so tired.”
“I’ll take credit for that,” I growl, grabbing her hand and bringing her palm to my lips, giving it a kiss.
“Yes. It’s all your fault.”
The phone rings again, and I say, “I don’t care who else is at our house. We’re not going back.”
“It’s your assistant.”
“Answer it, please. I hope it’s not another problem.”
Rosalyn answers it and says, “Okay,” and then passes the phone to me.
I tuck it under my ear, and say, “Yes.”
“They canceled the meeting in South Padre.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, they’re going to use a different contractor.”
“Did they say why?”
“No, but I thought you should know.”
“Thanks, Cynthia. I’m still taking my wife on vacation then. Everything else can wait unless it’s an emergency.”
“Okay, sir.” I end the call and hand it back to Rosalyn.
“Something doesn’t make sense.”
“What doesn’t?”
“My client wouldn’t have cancelled. We’ve been emailing each other for weeks. I’m going to figure it out while we’re down there.”
“Is it going to hurt the company if you don’t get the job?”
“No, but it was a big project and we were in the last stages of the negotiations part of the process.” I rake my fingers through my hair, hating that it’s on my mind. “It was all coming down to this meeting. Anyways. Let’s not let this bring the mood down. Even if this deal falls through, we get to have a wonderful vacation on the beach. I think that sounds pretty damn good to me.”
“I’ll second that,” her father says.
“If you’re sure you’re okay…”
“I am. Really. It’s confusing, but nothing I want to bother with. We have a luxurious hotel near the ocean with an outdoor pool if you don’t want to go into the saltwater.”
“That sounds so good.” I know all the other things I want to do with her as soon as I get her into our hotel room. Luckily, I managed to get a hotel suite for us and their parents have the suite next to ours for the week.
The rest of the drive I learn about Rosalyn as a little girl. I love learning all the things I can. As we get closer to our destination, I wonder if I’ll have a daughter just as adorable as her.
“So where’s your brother now?”
“I don’t know. He runs covert missions all over the world. We only hear from him when he can.”
“I hope to meet him one day soon.”
“Me too. I think you’ll get along well.”
“Ha.” Rosalyn glares at her father. “What? Your brother has always been super protective of you Rosa. You know that he’s going to do all he can to find out Tony’s secrets the second he can.”
“Let him. I’ve nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of either. Well, except growing up poor and without a dad, but we can’t pick our childhood, only how we grow from it.”
“That’s wise. And there’s nothing to be ashamed of being poor. We didn’t come from wealth either. My parents came from Verona before I was born and my father worked hard to keep his family fed and a roof over our heads. Nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Thank you.”
Another hour later and I’m ready to pull into the hotel already. We make a pit stop at a diner and eat our meal with more conversation. It’s the last stop for the next two hours, so we make good use of it and then pack up to leave. Rosalyn presses her head on my chest. “This has been fun so far. I hope you’re okay with all this going on.”
“Of course I’m okay. I can’t wait to get you to the hotel, sleep naked for a few hours and then pin you to the mattress and put my baby inside of you.”
“I can’t wait to get to the hotel either, but putting the baby inside me is going to have to wait.”
“Oh, did you get your…”
“No, but it’s probably going to take eight months for this one to get out first.” I stand there puzzled, trying to figure out her meeting and then it hits me. I’m going to be a dad.