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“Francesca can go with you,” he insists. “You need to be checked out. Things were stressful when you got pregnant.”
I stare at him, still confused. “Are you on drugs?”
Nico chuckles lightly so he doesn’t hurt his chest. “I mean, yes, but that’s not what this is about.” He frowns. “Is it not okay to be worried about my baby?”
“Of course it is,” I say quickly, biting my lip.
“What’s with that face?” he asks.
“What face? This is just my face,” I insist.
“No, it’s not. It’s your worried face. I’m okay,” he insists. “The doctor says I have to stay here for a few days, but I can go home soon and you can take care of me there.”
“I can take care of you?” I ask, shocked.
“Who else is going to do it? Francesca?” He snorts. “She’ll kill me on purpose.”
I laugh, but I’m reeling. “You want me to take care of you?”
He frowns. “Didn’t I just say that? Why, you don’t want to?”
“Of course I want to,” I say. “But...would it be weird, me being at your apartment?”
“Why would it be weird?”
I open my mouth and then close it again, not sure how to answer that.
I think about Francesca and Mia, what they’d said, about how Nico looked at me, about how I should tell him.
I’m not sure that I can, but… “Listen, Nico, I need to tell you something,” I say slowly, and he just looks at me expectantly, so I blurt it all out. “I’ve kind of had a thing for you since I was a kid, and when we started seeing each other...I really fell in love with you. I fell hard. And I know that I said I was okay with us being casual but I’m just...I’m not, Nico. I need more. I need you.”
“Of course,” he says easily, and my mouth drops open.
“What?”
“Of course. You have me,principessa. All of me.” He taps his chest gently. “Bum ticker and all.”
“What are you saying, Nico?” I ask, hope rising in my throat, but I’m not sure if he’s saying what I think he’s saying. It’s hard to believe, after everything.
“I’m saying what I said yesterday,principessa. Don’t you remember? I love you. You’re mine and I’m yours.”
“You... you remember that?” I ask, tears welling in my eyes.
“Of course I remember it,” he says, sounding exasperated. “It’s the first time I’ve ever told a woman that I loved her.”
“I’m the first?” I ask with a big grin, wishing I could throw my arms around him but not wanting to hurt him.
“The first and only,” he assures me, smiling back. “So, you’re moving in, yeah? You’re taking care of me, and then I’ll take care of you until the baby comes, and then we’ll take care of each other.”
I can’t believe it. This is everything I’ve ever wanted to hear, but I feel nervous, unsure.
“Will we... will we get married?” I ask, not even daring to hope that much.
Nico groans. “I mean, Iguess.”
I can’t help but laugh at his tone. “What does that mean?”
“It means, baby steps,principessa. I want you, and I want you forever, but marriage is hard for me to wrap my head around.”
