Blood and Fire (McClouds & Friends #8)(175)

She gave him a tremulous smile. “Um, Bruno. There’s something I need to talk to you about first. It’s—”

“I know,” he broke in, staving her off. “I know what you’re going to say, and I knew this was coming. It’s because of Tonio and Lena, right?”

She bit her lip. “Ah, actually—”

“It’s true,” he admitted. “My place is a madhouse. My bathroom stinks of the diaper pail, my sink is full of bottles, I’m drowning in laundry, I’ve got Zia Rosa smeared all over my life. It’s not like before.”

“Um, I knew that,” she said. “Actually, I was going to say—”

“It’s not like I can whisk you off to Paris on a whim, like before.” His voice was tight. “It was my decision to take Tonio and Lena. I made it alone, and I’d understand if you didn’t want to—”

“Bruno, I’m pregnant,” she said.

He stared at her. He gasped for breath. “Pregnant?”

“Six weeks. We played with fire, remember? More than once.”

Lily cupped his chin, pushed it until his jaw clacked shut. She waited for his reaction, soft lips pressed flat. Bracing herself.

The sun was rising inside his chest. “You, ah . . . you want to . . .”

“To have this baby?” she finished. “Yes. I do. I plan to.”

“Ah,” he said, helplessly. “I, uh, see.”

“I was going to give you the same spiel you just gave me. That I’d understand, if Tonio and Lena are enough for you to deal with. I made this decision alone, and I don’t hold you responsible if you don’t want—”

“Oh, no,” he burst in. “Oh, no, Lily. You got it wrong. I want it. I want it so bad.” He hid his face against her belly and lost it.

It took a long time for it all to work its way through him. His feelings ran so deep. They were entwined with everything else. Mamma, Tony. The lost brothers and sisters.

And now, suddenly, his future, too.

She curled herself down around his head, kissing his hair, stroking his shoulders. He pressed his face against her belly, tears soaking into her dress. He was amazed, humbled, at the idea of new life, flickering into being inside her. Making them one. Oh, yeah.

He loved it. A little brother or sister for Tonio and Lena.

He snorted back tears, lifting his head. “Oh, shit,” he said, appalled. “I think I trashed your dress.”

She laughed silently and dug a tissue out of the purse that lay on the carpet by her feet. “I don’t care,” she said. “So. Your life is all diapers and bottles. By a funny coincidence, mine will be, too, in a few months. So I guess it makes se to just—”

“Marry me?” he blurted. “Immediately?”

She froze, midword, mouth still open. “Ah . . . ah . . .”

“I was raised a bastard,” he said. “I want my kid to have my name. I feel very strongly about it. I hope that’s not too antique for you.”

She shook her head, eyes wide. Speechless.

“Good,” he said, with feral satisfaction. “Mine. All mine.”

“Oh, stop it.”

“Let’s go tell everybody,” he urged. “Right now.”

“Um, no,” she said, primly. “Not yet. I need to clean up first.”

There was a bathroom attached to the little library, oh joy and rapture. He stood outside the door while Lily put herself back together.

So happy, he was terrified of it. It was too good. It couldn’t be real.

He didn’t take his eyes off the door, and even that wasn’t enough to soothe his nerves. Like she might vanish into the mirror, dissolve into smoke, slip out a ventilator shaft.

But a few minutes later, the door opened, and there she was, dress straightened, makeup refreshed, lips crimsoned. She’d taken the pins from her hair. It rippled and swirled. The fuzz above her crown backlit by the light was illuminated like an angel’s halo. She made his eyes ache.

“My God, you’re beautiful,” he said.

Her lashes swept down, the lips curved up. “Thank you,” she said demurely. “So are you, incidentally.”

“I’m so happy, I think I’m going to faint,” he warned.

“No problem,” she assured him. “I’ll just get one of those ice buckets and dump it over your head. Since it seems to be our God-given job to provide entertainment for this event.”

His chest shook. “You know, the second we step out there, they’re all going to know,” he said.

“Of course,” she said, steadily. “I am so ready. And by the way?”

“Yeah?” he said.

“I love you, Bruno.” Her smile made his eyes water. He felt his chest puff out. His feet floated up off the floor.

They went into the corridor, pausing at the door to the ballroom. They could hear music. The swing band was playing the first dance. The tune was “Stand By Me.” How f*cking perfect was that?

He offered her his arm, gallantly. “May I have this dance?”

She went up on her tiptoes, branding him with a lipstick mark.

They shoved the door open, letting in noise and color, the racket and the chatter. The music and the laughter and the chaos.