Gabriel's Redemption (Gabriel's Inferno #3)(141)

Julia winced. “I hadn’t thought of that, either.”

Cecilia smiled patiently. “This is why we have advisors, to offer advice and maybe a little caution. My advice is to take maternity leave. You won’t lose your place in the program or your funding. If you want, I can give you a reading list for your dissertation prospectus and you can work on that while you’re on leave. You could also work on your other languages. But let’s not be too ambitious. And there’s one more thing, but you must promise to keep it secret. Professor Matthews is waiting to make the formal announcement.” She switched back into Italian, as if that language afforded them more privacy.

“Of course.” Julia responded in Italian, looking at her supervisor with interest.

“Professor Picton has decided to come to Harvard.”

“Really? That’s wonderful.” Julia’s heart leapt with joy.

“Yes, it is. She’s committed to stay in Oxford one more year, then she will arrive next September, when you return from maternity leave. I cannot speak for her, but I believe she would be a reader on your dissertation. This is very good news for your project.”

Julia smiled as the wheels began turning in her mind.

“So,” said Cecilia, reverting to English once again. “I won’t tell you it will be easy, being a mother and a student. But you can do it. Please give Gabriel my congratulations. I’m happy for you both.”

Julia thanked her professor and exited the office.

When Julia arrived home for dinner, Gabriel was sitting on a bar stool at the kitchen island, reading the newspaper.

He immediately dropped the paper when he saw her.

“Why, hello, beautiful. How was your day?”

“It was okay.” Julia put her messenger bag down on the floor and sat next to him at the island.

“What’s wrong?” He placed his hand at the back of her neck and gently pulled her close so he could kiss her. “Are you ill?”

“I have good news and bad news.”

The edges of his lips turned down. “What’s the bad news?”

“Professor Marinelli said I have to take a maternity leave.”

“Why did she say that?”

“Since the baby is due in September, she doesn’t think I should register for courses in the fall. The way the schedule is, it would be too much if I tried to cram the third-year requirements into the winter semester. So she thinks I should just take the year off.”

Gabriel rubbed at his chin. “I’d forgotten about how busy the third year is. What do you want to do?”

“What can I do? I have to take a maternity leave.” She put her elbows on the counter.

“Julianne, you can do anything you want. If you want to take classes after the baby is born, we’ll make it work. You’ll just have to take incompletes while you catch up on what you’ve missed.”

“The graduate school doesn’t like students taking incompletes.”

“No, they don’t. But they allow it, in certain circumstances. I’m sure they’d allow it in this case.”

“Then I’d be playing catch-up while studying for my general exams.”

“That’s true. Just because Cecilia thinks it might be challenging doesn’t mean it will be impossible. As I said before, I will make this work. I promise.”

Julia looked up at him, at his warm and earnest expression. “You will make this work?”

“Of course. But I’m not going to tell you what to do. You decide and I’ll speak to Greg, if necessary.”

“No, I’ll talk to him. But—” She paused.

“What?”

“I need to tell you the good news. Cecilia said that Katherine is coming to Harvard.”

Gabriel’s mouth opened in astonishment. “What? I had an email from her last week. She never mentioned anything.”

“Apparently, she’s staying at Oxford next year and coming to Harvard the year after. That’s another reason why Cecilia thinks that a maternity leave is a good idea—Katherine will arrive when I come back.”

“That’s great.”

“It is. But—” Julia shook her head. “I don’t want to take a maternity leave, but I’m worried about failing my exams.”

“You won’t fail.”

“I won’t be in tiptop shape either.”

“Then we’ll get you into tiptop shape. You’re going to have Rebecca and me here to hold the fort. You can study for your exams and do what you need to do.”

“I want to be a mother, too,” she whispered. “I don’t want to ignore the baby.”

“I’m sure you can find a balance.” He kissed the top of her head before crossing over to the refrigerator. He retrieved a bottle of ginger ale and quickly poured it over ice in a tall glass.

He handed it to her. “You don’t need to decide right now. Register for the fall and if you feel like you need to drop the courses or take incompletes, you can.”

“I don’t want to start something and not finish it. I certainly don’t want to risk failing my exams.” She looked up at Gabriel, a worried expression on her face. “I don’t want to be an absent mother, like Sharon.”

“You won’t be like her.”