Page 13 of Shiver

Luca

My shoulders feel heavy with the weight of all the changes in my life. I feel fucking terrible that I suddenly have to add so much more to my family’s plate, and all because an ex of mine didn’t trust me enough to tell me she was pregnant.

What kind of fucked-up person must I be that she didn’t think she could tell me?

It only further adds to my frustrations.

Clenching my eyes tightly shut, with my hands balled into fists at my sides, I release a long sigh before shaking myself out and trudging into the house.

Ale’s lying across the couch with Gia resting on his chest, and the TV is set to his favorite rom-com.Mom calls these rom-cums, that thought the first to shake this feeling of dread.

I shake my head at the sight, a small smile tugging at my lips as I slip out of my shoes and head over to them.

“Ale, wakey, wakey,” I whisper behind him.

He opens his eyes to glare up at me. “I wasn’t sleeping. I was just resting my eyes,” he explains, slapping his hand over his mouth to muffle a yawn.

I roll my eyes at him. “Yeah, okay…” I draw out the word. “You swap out with Gi?” I ask, confused as to why Ale’s here in his place.

“Yeah, he left a few minutes ago. I was dropping by to check on you guys and figured I’d relieve him,” he says with a low laugh.

I nod, grateful for the way they’ve all jumped right in to help me, not that I’d expect anything else from my family. “How come you’re so tired? The sun hasn’t even set yet.” I chuckle, rounding the couch to sit beside him and take Gia.

She wiggles in my grasp, groggily blinking her eyes at me before finding a comfortable position in the crook of my arm and falling back into a milk-drunk haze.

She really is the cutest kid.My kid.

“The wedding planning is taking more energy than either of us had imagined, and—” He looks down at his empty lap before peering up at me with an expression that makes my stomach churn.

“You’re wearing that guilty look on your face you used to give me when we were kids. Just because I haven’t seen it in a long time doesn’t mean I don’t recognize it,” I tell him warily, my brow quirked in question.

He sighs, leaning forward with his elbows pressed to his thighs. “You can’t say anything to anyone about this yet. I don’t wanna jinx it.”

“Fine, just tell me,” I practically beg.

He shakes his head, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Dante’s been helping us set up an adoption for a little boy named Oliver. We’re already in love,” he says, his green eyes glossy, “but it’s been such a process to get it together with everything else going on, and the fact that we aren’t married yet has complicated things a little. We have an advantage since Dante’s helping facilitate the adoption, but there’s still a lot of legal shit to trudge through.”

The hand not supporting Gia shoots out almost of its own will, smacking Ale in the back of the head. He bolts upright, gripping the spot before his bright eyes meet mine. “What the hell was that for?” he grunts out.

“For making me worry! You made it sound like something bad was happening, and honestly,” I tell him, peering down at my daughter, “I can’t take a whole lot more right now.” The moment the words leave my mouth, I realize how selfish they are. He and Kat will make incredible parents, and yet they’re struggling to adopt a child in need of a family. And here I am, feeling like I have the weight of the world on me because I’ve suddenly become a father.

Ale doesn’t seem to clock my shift in emotions though. He chuckles, dropping his hand back to his lap. “I know we may not have anticipatedyoubecoming a father before me, but I promise, Luca, this is going to be good for you. I can feel it. And you’re already turning out to be an incredible dad.”

We both look down at Gia, soaking up these quiet moments before the madness begins again. “What’s meant for you will come; this is just a changing of the tides.”

“Alright.” I grab the remote control lying between us, flipping the channel to a sports station. “Enough of this romantic shit for you, buddy. You’re starting to sound like a poetic fortune cookie. Now get out of my house and back to your fiancée.”

Gia decides at that moment to have the burp of a lifetime, upchucking the contents of her stomach all over my dress shirt.

Ale tosses a cloth at me as he gets up from the couch, laughing at my misfortune. “And that’s my cue to leave,” he says as he makes his way to the front door.

I gently wipe the milk from Gia’s quickly reddening face, then readjust her onto a towel over my shoulder to burp her in case she’s got anything else brewing in there.

My gaze shifts to Ale’s as he watches me from the open door. “You’re going to be fine, Luca,” he tells me in an assured tone.

“Thanks, and thank you for watching her on such short notice. I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime.” He grins and heads out the door.

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