Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
“I’m heading home now,” I said mechanically. “I need to talk to you.”
“Are you alright?” he asked immediately, his voice going serious.
“Yeah. No. Maybe,” I said, confused. “I’m just… I need to talk to you.”
“Alright, I’ll be there in a few minutes. Wait for me in the bedroom, alright?” he said, his voice a bit alarmed, and I didn’t blame him. Even if the whole Dmitri thing was over now, his protective instincts were still haywire.
He still lived a dangerous life.
“Okay,” I said quietly and hung up before I could hear his answer. I was in a bit of a daze as I somehow got out of the car and into my bedroom without toppling over or ending up curled on the floor in an anxiety attack.
I sat on the edge of the bed and I waited.
Soon enough, just as I expected, Gio burst through the door with a concerned look on his face. He quickly spotted me, rushing over and falling to his knees as he grasped my hands.
“What happened?” he demanded. “Are you hurt? Did someone do something?”
I smiled a bit, reminded how lucky I was to have him as a husband as he flipped my arms over and then trailed his hands down my legs, searching for any sign of injury. He looked suspiciously at the bandage.
“I’m fine, Gio,” I giggled, grabbing his cheeks in my hands. His eyes were blown wide with the scare–the thought of me in danger–and I smiled helplessly as I waited for him to calm down.
“Are you sure?” He squeezed my knee with a frown. “You sounded… upset on the phone. Is there something bothering you about school? Did I do something?”
“Honey,” I called affectionately, “I’m fine. I just needed to talk to you.”
To my surprise, he sighed in relief but avoided my gaze as he broke away from my grasp and hid his flushed face in my lap.
Ooh–a new side.
A grin curled on my face as I spotted the tips of his ears turning bright red.
“Something wrong, dear?” I tested, smirking as I noticed him flinch the tiniest bit.
“The sheer power of that,” he mumbled into my legs, probably not intending me to hear, but I did. I filed that little tidbit away for later.
For now, though, I had something important to tell him.
My smile fell along with my good mood as I remembered the kind words from the doctor, the ones I now needed to repeat to my husband.
“Gio,” I started, avoiding his eyes as he looked up at me. “I went to the doctor today.”
“Are you okay?” Gio asked, slowly, and I could see the gears turning in his brain, fishing for any kind of idea of why I had gone to see a doctor. But I wasn’t sure he would like the answer.
I swallowed, then decided to rip it off like a Band-Aid.
“I missed my period,” I said softly, checking his mood as I bulldozed my way through the emotions I’d had an entire afternoon to sort and process. He only had a few seconds.
“I’m never late so I took a pregnancy test. It was positive.”
I wasn’t even sure what I expected at this point, the understanding hit him first, and his whole face went blank. There was nothing on his face, but I could see the emotions whirling past in his eyes.
It was like waiting for the spin of a slot machine. Which one would it land on?
I bit my lip, clasping my hands together as I waited for the result.
But finally, it hit him. His eyes burst wide open and his whole face lit up with wonder and awe.
“You’re pregnant?” He grinned. “Olivia!”
His lips hit mine, and I gasped at the suddenness as his sheer excitement poured through his every movement.
“You’re happy?” I breathed out between kisses. He moved on to kissing my forehead, my cheeks, anyplace he could reach.
“Of course I’m happy!” he beamed. “How could I not be, carina? This is wonderful news!”
And that made it all the more heartbreaking what I had to tell him next.
My lip wobbled as my eyes heated up, a sure precursor to the waterfalls that were bound to happen next. I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Gio.”
“Olivia?” he asked, gentle and sweet as he lifted a finger under my chin so he could see my watery eyes.
“I’m not pregnant,” I blurted, the voice of the doctor echoing in my ears as she told me exactly what I didn’t want to hear. “It was a false positive. The blood test at Dr. Gallo’s office confirmed it. I’m sorry.”
Gio stiffened for a moment, gazing into my eyes deeply before finally, I could see the resolution come over him like a warm blanket of air.
He tilted his head, serious as he asked, “Do you want to be?”
*Olivia*
I stammered, staring into Gio’s patient eyes as he waited for my answer.
“I never thought about it,” I admitted quietly to both him and myself. “I just assumed that was something far off into the future. I didn’t expect it to be positive but….”
“But?” he prompted, so gentle as he cradled my cheek in his hands. I leaned into his warm, calloused hand, shutting my eyes tightly as a few tears spilled over my cheeks. I hated being such an emotional person, hated how I couldn’t keep myself calm like Gio.
“But it was,” I said softly. “And I thought of you, and I thought of… the baby… a little baby with your curly hair and your eyes, and I realized….”
I sniffled, grasping Gio’s hand as I buried my face into it. “I made the appointment with the doctor because I had to be sure, but she said I wasn’t, and I just felt….”
“Felt what, carina?” my caring husband asked, his voice a low rumble in his chest as he rubbed his thumb back and forth over my knee, offering the comfort I so desperately needed. He’d always been like that—knowing just what I needed when I was too emotional to get myself together. He was my rock, the one who kept me grounded when my thoughts became too much, when my emotions threatened to send me spiraling into an endless whirlpool of anxiety.
I held onto him, struggling to keep my head above the water as I voiced my thoughts. Honesty about my emotions had never been my best virtue, but for him… for the little bean I didn’t have… I had to try.
I took a shuddering breath, forcing myself to stare into Gio’s warm face as I said, completely and truthfully, what I had felt.
“Disappointed,” I choked out.
A small smile curled onto his lips, and he slid from his knee to take a seat beside me on the bed. It took very little effort for him to maneuver me into his arms, effortlessly picking me up and sitting me straight between his legs. He wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me close as he rested his chin on my shoulder.
“If you were disappointed, then does that mean,” Gio said resolutely, “you want to have a baby?”
I hesitated. “Only if you—”
“No.” He cut through my excuses like a hot knife through butter.
