Luca
“There you are.” I hear Leonard say from the doorway to my office.
“Here I am,” I say. Looking at the clock, I see it’s almost time for me to leave to go and get Aiden. It’s been five days since they ‘moved in’ with me, and we are like a well-oiled machine. I drive him to school every day, and then she picks him up. We prepare dinner side by side, and at night, after he’s been sleeping for an hour and a half and it’s safe, we get lost in each other. I thought sex with her seven years ago was the best I’ve ever had. I was wrong. It’s just so much fucking better, and I’m ready to take it to the next step. “I don’t have much time,” I tell him. “Eli has to work a bit later than normal, so I have to pick up Aiden.”
He nods his head at me. “I heard.”
I lean back in my chair. “What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to have a chat,” he says, coming in and closing the door behind him. I sit up, crossing my hands on the desk.
“This sounds like a serious chat.” My thumb starts to hit the desk nervously.
“It’s as serious as it comes,” he starts. “What are your plans with Eli?”
“You’re going to have to be a bit more specific with that question.” Now my leg starts to shake.
“It’s pretty to the point. What are your plans with my daughter?”
“For tonight?” I ask him, and he just looks at me. “If you have to ask me about what my plans are for the future, I have to say you haven’t been paying attention then.” He just stares at me. “She’s going to be my wife.”
“Is that so?” he says, and now a smile fills his face.
“That’s a fact,” I tell him.
“Does she know this?” He raises his eyebrows, and I could swear his eyes twinkle.
“Not in those words exactly,” I tell him, and he laughs now, and the weight that I had on my shoulders is suddenly lead. “I’m trying to get her to agree to officially move in with me, and then I’m going to throw down the marriage card.”
“What if she says no?” he says. and my stomach drops.
“Do you know something I don’t know, Leonard?” I ask him and try not to get up and pace the room. He’s the best poker player at the table, and I have to make sure he isn’t bluffing.
“I’m just wondering what you are going to do if she says no.” He leans back, and I can see he’s trying to poke at me.
“I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure she wears my ring,” I tell him. “Even if I have to throw her over my shoulder and drag her there.”
He laughs now, and I wish I could tell him that I am joking, but I’m not. “That’s what I thought.” He gets up now. “Not that you need it, but you have my blessing.”
“Good to know,” I say, and my phone buzzes to let me know it’s time to leave. “Now I have to go get my son. I’m planning on taking him for ice cream and then going home and making dinner.” I unroll my shirt and then slip my jacket on. “See you on Sunday,” I tell him and then walk out, seeing that Lauren is already gone.
When I pull up to the school, I get out of my car and walk to the school yard, my phone beeping in my pocket. Pulling it out, I see it’s from Eli.
Eli: Text me when you’re on the way home.
Me: Will do.
I put the phone back into my pocket when the sound of the bell rings. Children fly out of the door, running to their parents. I look for Aiden, who comes flying out of the door. His white shirt looks like he rolled around in the grass. His pants also have dirt all over them. “Dad,” he says, coming to me, “I played baseball.”
“Did you?” I say, bending to kiss his cheek. “How did you get so dirty?”
“I slid into home base,” he says, grabbing my hand as we walk to my car. “I didn’t have to, but it was fun,” he says, and I shake my head. “Can we have spaghetti for dinner?” he asks, and I nod my head.
“I think I can work that out,” I tell him, helping him in the car and buckling him in. “What do you say we get some ice cream before we head home?” His eyes go big, and he smiles, nodding. We sit on the bench, and I try to keep up with the leaking ice cream, but I’m afraid it’s a losing battle. By the time he finally finishes it, it’s leaked everywhere. We visit the bathroom where I attempt to clean his hands and mouth, but nothing can clean his pants.
When I pull up to my house, I get out and hold the door open for Aiden, grabbing his backpack and walking up the steps. I unlock the door and walk in, seeing that the drapes are closed. “Hey.” I hear Eli, and I look at her.
“I thought you were going to be late?” I say, going over to her and kissing her on the lips.
“You stopped for ice cream?” she asks me and then looks at Aiden who nods at her.
“We did,” I tell her. “Did you just get home?”
“No,” she tells me, and I see that she is dressed up, and I look at her.
“What’s going on?” I ask her, and she looks at Aiden and smiles.
“I think I need to sit down,” she says softly and then grabs a manila envelope, walking to the couch. The same couch that we usually start our make-out sessions on and then take it to the bedroom.
“Are you okay?” I ask her, and she looks down, and I see that her hands are shaking. Oh my God, maybe she isn’t really happy. Maybe this is why Leonard came to see me and asked me all those questions. Maybe she is suing me for full custody. I look at Aiden, who smiles, and the shirt starts to get tight around my neck. My heart starts to beat faster than normal, and I walk over to the couch. My hands start to get a bit clammy, and my feet feel like my shoes are suddenly filled with concrete, making my walk to the couch hard. She sits down and then opens her arms for Aiden to sit on her lap, and then I finally get there and sit next to them. My shoulders slump forward while I put my arms on my legs and fold my hands together.
“The past couple of weeks have been an eye-opener for me,” she starts and then looks down at Aiden. “Well, for us, really.”
“Okay,” I say, and it feels like I’m in court, and the judge is coming back in with a ruling, and he gives his speech right before he hands down the judgment, and I just want to speed things up.
“Well, I know that you’re Aiden’s father,” she starts, and I want to yell spit it out. “When he was born, and I had to fill out the birth certificate, I didn’t put anything under his father’s name,” she says softly and then a tear leaks out of her eye, and I reach over and wipe it away. She smiles at me, trying not to cry. “I knew your name, but I just didn’t know your full name.” She takes a deep inhale. “When we finally found you, I made my father draw up papers,” she says, handing me the envelope, and I take it, pulling it open and sliding out the documents inside.
I pull out the white paper with the official county logo on it. My eyes go to the place where you put in the last name Coco-DiMarco, and my eyes shoot up to Eli. “We,” she says, her voice trembling now, “thought it would be good to have your name on his birth certificate.”
“I’m a Coco-DiMarco. You’re really my dad now!” Aiden says, smiling, and I take them both in my arms, kissing first Eli and then looking at my son.
“We were hoping it would be okay with you,” she starts to say, and I kiss her lips to stop her from talking.
“Dad, she needs to finish, so we can go to the party,” Aiden says, laughing, and I look at him.
“What party?” I ask him, and he gets off Eli’s lap and grabs my hand, pulling me to the backyard where our family and friends stand.
“Surprise,” Aiden says as he opens the door. I finally see that my parents are standing there in the front row next to Maryse and Leonard. Mona and Nick are there, and so is Lauren and her husband. I spot other people from the office as well as Troy and Todd. Balloons are scattered all around the yard that spell out D-A-D.
“What is all this?” I turn to look at Eli.
“This is a party to honor you and to honor Aiden,” she says, and Aiden just takes off down the stairs and runs to my parents. “I didn’t just change his birth certificate. I changed his school records also.”
“Baby,” I say, pulling her close to me and kissing her lips. “I was so scared you were going to tell me that it was over.”
“What? Why?” she asks me.
“I don’t know. It was weird. Your father this afternoon, then you here, and you had to talk to me,” I tell her and look down at the paper in my hand. “Can we frame this?”
“We can,” she says, “but how about we get out there and celebrate with our family and friends?”
“I’m …” My eyes are still on the paper. “He’s got my name as his middle name.”
“That wasn’t changed,” she starts to say. “Luca was always his middle name. I couldn’t list you as the father without a last name, but I wasn’t going to let our son not have a piece of you.”
It’s me now who’s blinking away the tears. “I love you,” I tell her finally.
Smiling, she looks down, tucking the hair behind her ear when it falls forward. Her eyes look back up at me. “I love you, too,” she says softly, “but if we don’t get outside, we are going to have both our parents knocking down the door.” I look out into the yard to see Nick with Aiden, but both our parents are looking at us. My parents with a worried look on their face.
I turn to put the paper away and then grab her hand and kiss her fingers. We walk out of the house, and I walk down the steps, and my father is the first to congratulate me. “My son has a son,” he says, and I just nod.
My mother hugs me at my waist and then moves aside, so Maryse comes to me. “Congratulations, my dear,” she says, and I bend to kiss her on the cheek. “Welcome to the family.”
“Welcome to the family,” Leonard says, putting out his hand and shaking mine. “Couldn’t have asked for a better dad for Aiden,” he says, and right now, it means the world to me.
“Dad!” I hear Aiden yell and look his way to see him standing next to a table. “We have cake.”
Shaking my head, I walk over to him where Eli stands next to him, and everyone follows me to the table. I greet a couple of people while I walk over to the table, and I look down at the cake. “Nonna made it,” Aiden says, and I’m not surprised. She’s always made my cakes and decorated them with simple vanilla or chocolate frosting. This one is chocolate with white writing. Coco-DiMarco. I smile and grab Aiden and pick him up.
“Look over here,” Nick says, and we turn toward him. With my right hand holding Aiden, I reach over and hug Eli with my left. Her arms go around my waist, and we take our first family picture.