Amedeo, Her Italian Billionaire(46)
“I am. Not sure what to expect of being a father, but hey, I can handle it.”
“That’s more optimistic than I feel.”
“Oh?” Dante said.
He sipped his beer, shifting to look at his brother.
“Yeah. I’ve never really taken care of another human being. You took care of us when Dad died, but I never did anything like that.”
“I didn’t do much caretaking. I just kept you boys in line a little. It was all Mom.”
“I know.”
“Have you told her yet?”
Amedeo frowned. Why had he been putting that off? His mother wouldn’t be mad. She loved her boys and as much as she wanted them to marry nice Italian girls, she wouldn’t judge them if they didn’t. Dante had certainly paved the way by marrying Gwen.
“No, I haven’t. I guess it wasn’t real to me until this week.”
“It’s harder for us guys. We aren’t going through the changes. Seeing that baby for the first time on the ultrasound is amazing.”
“Violet had the early one, but it doesn’t look like much.”
“The next one you’ll be able to tell more and what sex the baby is.”
Amedeo wanted to look forward to that, but he was too concerned about his ability or inability to take care of another human being. “I’ve never doubted myself in anything I’ve done. Until now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Am I really capable of taking care of a baby?”
“I think it’s a little late to be worried about that. This baby is on its way and you have no choice. You wouldn’t want to abandon the child now.”
Dante was right. Amedeo couldn’t see doing that, but he wasn’t sure if he was just scared or lazy. He’d never considered himself lazy. “No, but am I doing the right thing by wanting to raise it? What the Hell do I know about taking care of someone? Especially someone as needy as a baby.”
“Suck it up, Bro. That’s the situation. You can’t change it. The only way would be to go against how we were raised. Mama would have something to say about that. How does Violet feel?”
Amedeo shrugged. “I think she’s okay with it.”
“You haven’t talked?”
“Not heart-to-heart about this.”
“You need to. You both need to be in the same place on this. You are both the parents and you have to agree on how this child will be raised.”
“You and Gwen have done that?”
“Yes. Long before she got pregnant. I had to know that she had my back and she had to know that I had hers.”
“That’s pretty complicated for Violet and I. We aren’t married. We aren’t two people in love. We are just two people having a baby together.”
“You still need to talk about it. Probably even more than a married couple would. You aren’t going to be living in the same house. You are going to be sharing custody and the child will need consistency.”
What Dante said made sense. He would have to broach things with Violet. They needed to be on the same page. In the same place about how to raise a child. His brother was right. Amedeo would have to initiate this talk. Violet probably hadn’t thought about it.
“I hadn’t thought of it that way. I’m glad I talked to you. At least if we’re discussing this I’ll feel like I’m doing something.”
“Planning is your forte so use that.”
Amedeo nodded. “I asked her to marry me so that Violet would be on my insurance plan. I’ve had a prenup drawn up, but Violet isn’t keen on marrying me.”
“That’s really her choice. In this day and age, not every couple gets married when the woman gets pregnant. I’d bet she’s pretty independent.”
“She is. Sometimes painfully so.”
“Something you have to work around.”
Amedeo nodded, thinking about how he would broach the subject with Violet. They did need to clear the air. He wasn’t worried about it, he just hoped they had similar values. He wanted his child to go to private schools. There were several in the Princeton area. Maybe that was getting ahead of himself.
“I don’t even know where Violet is going to live after the baby’s born.”
“You want to know that.”
“I guess I’ve been worried about some intangibles when I can deal with the tangibles.”
Dante slapped his back. “It’s okay, Amedeo. I went through some moments of terror. It’s normal, but you have to get through it.”
Amedeo had a lot to think about. There were logistics of raising a child that he could deal with. Might make him feel better about not being sure he can be a father. Never in his life had he set off in a direction that he wasn’t sure of. This insecurity was knocking him off his game.