Page 53 of The Hottest Daddy
Sunday rubbed her face. “Let me have some time to think. You’ll stay for dinner?”
Jack nodded but she could see he thought she would say yes. Both he and River looked excited about it.
Later, after saying goodbye to Jack, they sat with Berry and read her stories until she fell asleep in Sunday’s arms. Sunday kissed her little dark head. “Riv?”
River lay next to his girls, his hand on Sunday’s belly. “Yeah, babe?”
“If I do this, if I do the story … I might get a taste of it again, and that’s what frightens me.”
River frowned. “Why should it frighten you?”
“Because … because, Riv … we’re having a baby.”
She almost giggled at the abject shock on his face, then he whooped loudly. Berry woke up, grumpy, but her father wasn’t sorry. He hugged them both, and then they told Berry she was to have a sibling.
It was another two hours before they got an excited Berry back to sleep and then they returned to their own bedroom, River with myriad questions.
She giggled as he peppered her with a millionwhensandwhysandhows. “This afternoon. I took a test about five minutes before Jack arrived and was waiting for it. I kept chickening out so I left the bathroom and that’s when you came got me. I finally checked it just before we put Berry to bed.” She stroked his face. “We. Are. Having. A. Baby!”
River held her tightly. “Oh, baby, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
She giggled. “You had as much to do with it as I did, you silly man.”
“I know.” He smoothed her hair back and gazed down at her. “But I have to say this. You, Sunday Giotto … you are capable of having it all. And you will. Do the series. We have nine whole months before he or she gets here. You have time. And when the little one is born, we’ll work it out between us. Your career was taken from you. Take it back.”
And looking into his eyes, Sunday knew what her answer would be.
Diving back into the world of journalism wasn’t as scary as she thought it would be and Sunday flew back and forth between New York and Tuscany to help make it the documentary. It aired just before Angelina was to stand trial and Jack sent over a video file for River and Sunday to view at their convenience.
They made time for it one night. Sunday, nervous about River seeing her work for the first time, especially on such a sensitive and personal subject for him, was stress-eating.
They watched the whole thing before River shut off the television. Sunday waited for his reaction.
“Wow,” he said quietly, but she couldn’t read his expression. He leaned forward and took a deep breath in. “Wow.”
Sunday put a hand on his back. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. “Baby, yes. Yes, I’m okay.” He looked up and she was shocked to see tears in his eyes. “You brought them back to life. My mom, my dad. You never even met them, but you treated them with so much respect, you spoke of them with so much love … Sunday …”
He gave a sb which was half a laugh too and they hugged each other. Sunday was beyond relieved. “It was my honor to talk about them. They made the human I love most in the world.”
River chuckled. “And now we’re making another one.”
He put his hand on her five-months’ pregnant belly. Sunday smiled at him. “We’ll tell him or her all about her grandparents, don’t you worry.”
“Have you ever thought of reconnecting with your own family?”
Sunday shrugged. “If I’ve learned anything, it’s that it isn’t blood who makes the family. They’re happy in their world and I’m ecstatic in mine. It’s okay. There’s no bad blood, just different paths.”
River kissed her. “Mrs. Giotto, future Pulitzer Prize winner?”
She giggled. “Yes, Mr. Giotto, already-world-famous-award-winning-artist?”
“I’m going to take you to bed now, and I hope, I really hope, that all that popcorn you just demolished has given you a ton of energy.”
“And why is that?” Sunday was already chuckling as he pulled her to her feet and led her to the bedroom.
“Because I’m going to plunder that beautiful body of yours all night long.”
