Once again, her pregnancy brain struck. She had a feeling that these moments of lucidity were going to be few and far between.
*
Amedeo looked at his phone and realized that it was almost six. He hadn’t seen Violet all day. His assistant had grabbed some lunch for him, but he didn’t know if Violet had eaten. She must be starved.
They could go out. He was too tired and keyed up to cook. He’d take her some place nice, but not so nice that they would be underdressed. He’d ask what she wanted. That would be the thing to do. If she didn’t have a preference, he knew where he’d bring her. He had a few places he liked that were small and intimate.
They could talk about the baby.
He found Violet in an office, all alone. The rest of the IT department must have gone home.
“Hi.”
She looked up at him startled. “Hi.” She studied him. “You ready to go already?”
“It’s six, Violet. Time to eat. Did you get lunch?”
“Yes, Carl hooked me up.”
“Good.”
At least his employee was taking care of her. Even if the man didn’t know their story, Carl probably suspected there was more to the story than Amedeo had let on. His employee wouldn’t ask, but if he did tell him the truth, would be discreet. He had no doubt of the man’s loyalty to him. Amedeo knew how to pick employees.
“I need five minutes,” Violet said.
“That’s all I’ll give you and I’m timing you,” he said.
He settled himself on the chair opposite her, but didn’t stare. No matter how much he wanted to. She stuck her tongue out at him, just a little. Her brow was creased from concentrating. He played a game on his phone instead of reading emails. The emails could wait until he wasn’t hungry anymore. He might not give the person the answer they wanted.
His phone dinged when the time was up. Violet looked up at him. “Time?”
“Yes, Violet. Time. We need to get you some food. I can hear your stomach rumbling from here,” he said.
She packed up her laptop then followed him out the door to the car.
He picked an Italian restaurant. This was New Jersey so you could find one on any street corner or strip mall. All of them were delicious because a bad one would close quickly. He didn’t order wine since Violet couldn’t drink any.
She ordered the veal. He asked for manicotti in meat sauce.
“No wine?” she said.
“No.”
“You don’t have to go without on my account. I’m not a big wine drinker at all. I don’t miss it.”
He shrugged. “I’d like to talk.”
“That never sounds good.”
He chuckled. “Sorry. It’s not bad. I just think we need to finally talk about this baby.”
She nodded. “Go ahead.”
“Well, have you made a decision about raising this child?”
She took a deep breath, her gaze bouncing around the room. “No, because I’m not sure it’s real to me yet. I don’t feel the baby move, so I guess I’m not ready to make a decision.”
“I see. Well, I’ve made some decisions of my own. I’m setting up a college fund for him or her. No reason to wait.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“It’s the least I can do, Violet. I want to see my child succeed. He or she will need college.”
“He.”
“You know for sure?”
“No, I just have a feeling,” she said.
“Okay. Then I guess until we know for sure, the baby is a he.”
“Right.”
“Have you thought about names?”
“No. If the baby is a boy, it will make it harder for me to pick. There haven’t been any male role models in my life that I want to name him after,” she said.
The waitress brought rolls, butter, and olive oil. Amedeo poured some onto a plate between them then put pepper on it. He handed her the bread basket. Violet took two slices, dipping them into the olive oil before devouring them.
Guess she was hungry.
“I have some ideas. We have a few family names we pass down.”
“Okay. Not sure I’m ready for that discussion. Maybe we should wait until we know it’s a boy for sure.”
“Okay.” He chewed his bread then swallowed. “Are you planning on taking some time off when the baby comes? I can spend some time working from home at that time.”
She rubbed a hand down her face. “Amedeo.”
“Yes.”
“I’m hungry and tired. Can this wait until I’ve eaten?”
He smiled at her. “Of course. I’m just a man of action.”
“I get that, but right now I could eat this table.”
He chuckled. “Fair enough. I’m sorry.”