Bought by Her Italian Boss(32)

"Vows to live by, mia bella. I do."





EPILOGUE

"DON'T YOU DARE, you little streaker!" Gwyn said, but her daughter had  figured out that her mother was handicapped by a belly the size of  Nebraska. She slithered away and left Gwyn on her knees holding a towel  and a clean diaper.

"Vito!" Gwyn cried, and awkwardly clambered to her feet, waddling after her just-turned-two-year-old into the hall.

Antoinietta made her way down the stairs with determined little feet,  hands gripping each of the uprights in turn, always tenacious about  getting what she wanted, but willing to play by the rules once they were  given to her.

Vito made no effort to come up to the girl, just stood at the bottom  with his hands on his hips. "You really take after your mother, don't  you?"

"Oh, you're funny," Gwyn told him, narrowing her eyes in a promise of  retribution. "I told her who was coming for dinner. It was supposed to  be an inducement to get her into her clothes, but..." She waved to  indicate how well that had worked.

"Bea!" Toni called, trying to dodge her father as he made a grab for her  at the bottom of the stairs. Then she said a very stern, "No, Papa,"  when he caught her and carried her up the stairs. The higher he went,  the more she struggled and the louder she said, "Down."

"Yeah, that's all me," Gwyn said as he took the diaper from her. Their  daughter was making a very serious effort to get out of his hold,  squirming so hard her face was red, pudgy fists white and tiny brows  screwed up with stubborn resolve.

"She's two," Vito said.

"She's yours," Gwyn said, chuckling when that actually made him close  his arms even more tenderly around his adamant little girl.

"She is," he said proudly, and proceeded to speak in a calm voice,  explaining that her cousins would be here soon, but she had to dress  first.

He wrangled her into her clothes amid a great deal of negotiating and, "Me do!"

The bell rang as Vito carried her down the stairs a few minutes later  and Toni's excitement soared as Bianca and the boys entered. She spared a  moment to hug and kiss the adults, but her adulation was reserved for  her true hero, Roberto, her partner in mischief, Arturo, and her dearest  and most beloved Bianca.

"Bea." She hugged the girl who knelt to hug her back with every warm and sweet bone in her body.

Gwyn was almost as excited as her daughter when family came over. Henry  now saw the advantage of a tablet and connected with them online when he  wasn't actually staying at the apartment he'd bought nearby, so he  could visit in person and watch his granddaughter grow up. He was flying  in next week, anticipating the new baby would be with them. Even Travis  had made a point of coming with his father for Christmas this year,  since Gwyn had been too far along to travel.

Tonight it was Vito's turn for having family over. All of Vito's  relations had made her feel welcome, Vito's parents especially, but  Lauren was like a sister to Gwyn. Now that they were both pregnant, they  were even closer than ever.

As for the man who was her boss again, after contracting her for a  special project he'd offered to her a year ago? She didn't find him  nearly as formidable.

"You're as much of a comedian as your cousin, aren't you?" she said to  Paolo as he set a bag she recognized inside the door. It was the  birthing kit he'd prepared when they had come to the house on Lake Como  and Lauren had delivered Arturo. "I'm warning you right now, if your  wife has her baby in my home, when I am already eleven months pregnant-"  It was an exaggeration, but that was how she felt.

Paolo cut her off by kissing her cheek. "I brought it for Vito."

"Ha!"

"Bite your tongue," Vito muttered.

"The doctor said I'm at least two weeks away," Lauren assured them and  they all groaned and rolled their eyes. "But honestly, Gwyn. The second  one comes faster."

"So I can count on thirty-six hours reducing to thirty?" Gwyn joked.

"Cara," Vito protested. He had been appalled, genuinely upset that all  the pleasure they gave each other had resulted in so much pain for her,  but Toni was such a gift Gwyn was more than willing to go through it  again to meet the next addition to their family. In fact, she had a  feeling it would be sooner than later. One of the reasons she had  invited them for dinner was because she had that low, dull ache in her  pelvis that had sat with her for two days before her labor had started  for real with Toni.                       
       
           



       

Soon, she knew, she'd be tied up with a newborn and not entertaining for  a while, so she wanted a proper visit with this family she enjoyed so  much while she had the time.

Sure enough, a few hours later, as she and Lauren were drying dishes,  the first pain hit, a nice strong one that took her breath.

"Vito," Lauren called as she took the plate from Gwyn's hand. "We're  going to take Toni home with us. You and your wife have a date with a  midwife."

They made that date, with no time to spare. Second babies did come  faster and Vito almost had to eat his smug words to Paolo as they'd  left, about how some men got their wives to the hospital before their  children delivered. His son arrived as Gwyn was being admitted, caught  by a startled ER nurse who barely had time to pull the curtain.

"Do you mind?" Gwyn asked Vito when she was settled in the maternity  ward, pronounced healthy along with their son, but staying for overnight  observation. "That he's a boy, I mean?"

"Why would I mind?" he asked, lifting a sharp gaze from studying the boy.

"You wanted a girl with Toni. I thought..." She had taken it to mean he  believed girls were less likely to develop undesirable behaviors.

"Because I wanted to name her Antoinietta. I knew my mother would be touched to have her sister remembered and she is."

"You're not worried your son will be like-"

"Me?" he cut in, mouth twisting into a wry smirk. "I'm counting on it."

She had to chuckle at that, and leaned forward to kiss him. "Me, too."