No Boundaries

What he didn't realize was that I had made myself easier to find. Roberto had given me explicit instructions on where to work and who to be with. Everything down to the apartment I was living in. Roberto assured me that I would be safe now, and I couldn’t say no to him because I honestly had no one else to turn to.

I'd been waiting for Luka to get out of prison for six months. But I had expected to be waiting a lot longer—Roberto had even talked about years. When Luka found me, my whole plan fell apart. As I looked into his dark gray eyes now, all the anger that I thought I had for him melted away. I thought it would take months of us reestablishing our relationship for him to trust me enough to tell me about my parents. And I thought that time that I wouldn't fall for him. But I had been so wrong.

He was just too irresistible.

“I know you’re scared, which is why you ran. But I had to find you again. You needed to know how much I care about you and how much I want us to be together.”

“So why not tell your parents about us, then?” I was getting closer, I needed to tell him…

“Because they haven't seen you in a decade! And they didn't even know how I felt about you back then. I never told anybody. But we’re together now,” he said as he put his thick hands around my face. He pulled me in for a rough kiss. “And I'm not letting you go.” His voice was gravelly. This was it, our moment. It was time to tell him.

“You don’t have to.”

“Good.”

“No I mean really, we’re together, forever.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I’m pregnant.”

His eyes grew wide and a smile spread across his face. “Is this why you came back?”

I nodded, choking back tears. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away. I needed to have some time with you first. I just needed to know more about you.”

“Because we’re having a baby?” He could barely contain his excitement.

“Yes. Because we’re having a baby.” I smiled back at him. His happiness was infectious.

He kissed me fully on the lip and I lay back on the pillows once more. I hoped the Chinese guy was comfortable with waiting a while. I’d make sure we gave him a good tip.

20

Luka

The next morning, I met my family at mass. I watched people walk past me with their children and I felt pride swell in my chest. I would be one of them soon. I would be a father.

I was still avoiding Vienna and her secret. She hadn’t tried anything yet; maybe she never would. I mean we were a family now. Even if she had wanted the truth about her parents before, that couldn’t matter to her anymore, could it?

I should have dealt with her. Found out the truth. But whenever she was naked, my mind went blank. I couldn’t focus on what was real and what wasn’t. All that I wanted was to be inside her. It was like she had a magic pussy or something. And now she was having my baby. Her pussy really was magic.

“Luka! Come give your mother a kiss!”

I bent down and hugged her. “Mama, how are you?”

“I'm good, my son. Good. Come see everyone! They’ve been waiting so long to see you.”

She looped her arm through mine, and I escorted her over to a group of gossiping old Italian women. They parted like the Red Sea and led us into their circle. I spent the next twenty minutes listening to how much older I had gotten and how I filled out, as well as how I wasn't eating enough and how I still looked so young. I smiled and nodded, appreciating that they didn't have any real questions about myself. They only asked what they wanted to know. None of the hard stuff.

“Now Luka, you're getting to a certain age. Gloria here wants grandbabies. When are you going to settle down and find a nice girl? It would make everyone so happy.”

Well, that was the question I wasn’t expecting. “You know me, ladies, not really a one woman man.” I shouldn’t have lied. My mother would have to find out about Vienna soon enough, she’d want to plan a big baby show. That ought to be interesting.

My mother slapped me playfully. “You silly boy! One day, he will give me grandchildren. But until then, he should have some fun. He was away for so long.”

They all nodded understandingly. Women were strange. I really didn't want to have a conversation on my sex life with them.

“Mama, the bells are going to ring soon. We should take our seats.” She waved goodbye to friends and I escorted her into the church. Members of our family took up almost half of the chapel. At least ten rows were other guys like me in suits, with old Italian mothers sitting next to them. My family sat right in the front row. Another level of respect. We received communion first and were blessed by the father first. Everyone else waited behind us.