"You need to watch where you're going, bambina," Massimo said. setting her back on her feet. "You'll get hurt."
She stuck her bottom lip out and prepared to cry.
"None of that," Massimo said firmly, even though he kissed her forehead. "What works on Nonna doesn't work on Papa."
"She pinched me!" I rubbed my leg. "She pinched me and ran away."
"That's not very nice," Massimo told Pasquelina. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I was bored," Pasquelina said. "And Mommy just wanted to make cake."
"The cake is for you," Massimo said.
"But Mommy won't play with me!"
"Well, how about Papa does?"
"Okay." She started pulling various stuffed animals out of her toy chest, arranging them in a circle around Massimo. She began to tell him all of their names before I turned back to the chocolate cake with vanilla frosting that I was baking for her.
If Massimo had chosen differently, if he'd been married to a princess and future queen, Pasquelina's cake would've been made by someone with real experience. Instead, I was making it out of cake mix that I'd bought from the store. The frosting came from a can. It tasted pretty good, though.
The oven was ready right when I made sure that the cake settled. I slid two pans in because I was doing a two-layer cake. I'd smear coconut frosting in the middle.
Today was her small family birthday party. Tomorrow would be a more formal affair befitting a princess. Pasquelina's birth had gone a long way towards softening Nonna's view of Massimo's marriage. She was never going to love me, but she could tolerate me.
And I was sure that she'd be even happier when she met the newest addition to our family. I touched the bottom of my stomach. Right there was a gentle swell that meant that a baby was growing inside of me. I could feel in my bones that the baby was a boy. He would be the heir to the throne that Massimo mostly delegated to other people.
There'd been an uproar when he announced his intention to live outside of his kingdom, but in the end, it was up to him. They were terrified of his abdication, which meant that they would do anything to keep him. He had cousins who were in the line of succession who would absolutely ruin the kingdom for their own amusement. Massimo was the lesser of two evils, even if he lived in America with me.
The doorbell rang.
"Coming," I called. Massimo was trapped in a circle of stuffed toys by our tiny demanding princess. I wiped my hands on a dishcloth before heading to the door.
"Hi," I said to our neighbors, Sam and Eileen, who had their baby daughter Chiara with them. She waved at me before scampering inside of the house, beelining for Lina. Pasquelina was a bit of a mouthful for a little kid. She'd been our little Lina since she'd been a week old. She'd grow into her name one day.
"We brought ice cream," Eileen said, thrusting a cold tub into my hands. "I tried to make some, but..."
"You burn ice," I told her, laughing. "What happened?" I motioned for them to come in.
"No matter how cold I made the ice cream, it just wouldn't work..." She twisted the end of one long strand of hair around her finger.
"No problem," I said. "I love old-fashioned custard." It was true. The custard place around the corner made thick stuff, but it was really good.
Sam clapped me on the shoulder before walking past me to Massimo, who was now playing with two princesses. Sam sat right down on the ground, though his net worth was several times what mine was. Looking at our two husbands sitting on the ground playing with our daughters made my heart warm up. Both of them were coldly ruthless businessmen who wielded the power to make kings bend to their will. Here they were, wrapped thoroughly around their daughters' little fingers.
"Do you think we'll get in trouble if we eat ice cream first?" I asked Eileen, turning to her. She had the same smile on her face that I did.
"I don't think anybody will tell on us," she told me, winking. I brought the custard into the kitchen. She got out bowls while I counted out enough spoons. Eileen was as comfortable in my kitchen as I was. Chiara and Lina were equally comfortable in both of our houses, almost as if we were one household in two houses.
I took out our big ice cream scoop before putting one scoop in each bowl. Ice cream was going to ruin our daughters' appetites, but on Lina's birthday, it was okay. Eileen put a spoon in each bowl before handing them out. The two of us ate at a table while the four others ate on the floor like heathens, happy heathens. The smooth vanilla flavor filled my mouth. I made a mental note to go buy some more. I'd had some strange cravings with Lina, like the time I'd bought Buffalo Ranch Pringles, and it looked like ice cream was going to be one with the little one inside of me.
"I have news!" Eileen said as she polished off the last of her ice cream. One scoop wasn't much for an adult, although our daughters were letting about half of their ice cream dissolve into thick soup.
"Yeah?" I asked, turning my head to look at her.
"I'm pregnant again," she said.
"So am I," I blurted out before I could think. I hadn't even told Massimo yet.