Page 30 of Italian Professor

ANTHONY

My school admissions board meeting has run later than expected, so I text Aria to let her know I won’t be home in time for dinner. I’ve told her that it isn’t necessary but she insists on making a home-cooked meal every night.

Rose, my secretary, told me it’s a nesting instinct. Pregnant with our second child, her maternal side is insistent on making a safe and loving home for our family. I have no qualms with that. Having had to feed herself most nights as a child, she’s an excellent cook. I just don’t want her placing any unnecessary strain on herself while she’s pregnant.

My phone rings just as I exit the meeting room. It’s Aria.

“Hey, Princess.”

“Hi, Daddy. I got your text. Do you know what time you’ll be home?”

“The meeting just ended. I have some paperwork to see to. I should be there in two hours or so.”

“Okay, just checking in. I guess I won’t hold dinner for you, then.”

I can hear the disappointment in her tone, so I immediately change my plans.

“You know what? The paperwork can wait. Let me get my coat and keys from the office, and I’ll be on my way.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to get behind because of me.”

“I’m positive. I’ll be there in twenty minutes, tops.”

I did commit to the board that I’d review these admissions applications tonight, but they can wait. There’s nothing more important than my family, and tonight should have been a special night. With wedding anniversaries, baby showers, and birthdays, I think Aria may have forgotten that this is the second anniversary of the day she stepped into my office and changed my life.

I spend the drive home reminiscing about that day. She was just a fresh-faced baby doing everything in her power to come across like a vixen. She didn’t know it but that was the perfect combination of attributes to awaken the beast inside me. I knew then that having her as my lover would never be enough. I needed her to be my wife and the mother of my children.

To my surprise, the house is silent when I arrive. The typical sounds of my home life—from the baby cooing to Aria blasting music from the kitchen—always make me smile. Did she misunderstand me? I did say I would be here for dinner, right?

I walk to the kitchen and find that the dining table is set for two. The highchair is tucked off in the corner and the candles are lit. Aria sneaks up behind me and wraps her arms around my waist. She smells like lilacs and vanilla, and I take a moment to breathe her in.

“Ariel is down for the night so it’s just the two of us,” she whispers.

“Sorry I missed her, but this is nice. I have my sexy little Princess all to myself,” I turn and rub her growing belly before kissing her.

“I made pasta and Italian beef,” she tells me as she pours me a glass of red wine.

“That sounds delicious, but what’s the occasion?” I ask, wondering if she remembers.

She looks at me, her mouth agape feigning offense to the question.

“I know what it is. I just thought that with everything going on, you might have forgotten. Happy anniversary of the day we met.”

Her beautiful face beams, “Happy anniversary.”

We sit down to an amazing meal, and I decide that this is the perfect moment to give her the gift I was holding for our wedding anniversary.

“Excuse me for a second, love,” I tell her and climb the stairs to the bedroom where I’ve hidden her gift in my sock drawer.

When I return, she’s clearing the table to make room for the dessert she’s baked.

“Baby, sit down for a second. I have something for you,” I tell her.

“What is it?” Her eyes light up as they always do when I have a present for her.

I hand her the box and say, “I’m sorry I didn’t have time to wrap it.”

“That’s okay,” she answers but she isn’t really listening. She’s too focused on getting the box open. “Oh, wow. I can’t believe you did this for me. It’s amazing.”

---