16: Chapter 16

RYAN

The day of the party, the Saturday before Halloween, Ryan came out of the bathroom wearing red yoga pants and a white shirt with tons of colorful balls all over her stomach.

She made eye contact with Marco, who was wearing all black with the giant quarter hanging off his shoulders.

“What do you think?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

Ryan smiled. It wasn’t the most creative costume, but it was easy enough. “We’ll do something better next year.”

“I’m fine with whatever you want to do, kitten. Normally I don’t even dress up for this thing. Now come on, or we’ll be late.”

When they got there, the house was decorated with tons of fake white spiderwebs. Just about everyone was dressed up, and a lot of them had clearly put a lot more effort into their costumes than Marco and Ryan.

Ryan guided them toward a couple of tables full of food and drinks. She stuck to water but piled her plate full of snacks, while Marco poured himself something stronger.

Connie and Roberto came over to say hello, and Ryan saw they were dressed as Bonnie and Clyde. They looked great, especially Roberto—the gangster look really fit him.

“Aww, don’t you look cute,” Connie greeted them. As though she couldn’t help herself, she reached out and rubbed over the gumball pattern on Ryan’s stomach.

Ryan shrugged. “Everybody’s going to do that all night, aren’t they?”

MARCO

“You don’t look drunk enough,” said Luca after a while, wandering over to hand Marco a fresh glass of whiskey.

Ryan held up the car keys. “I’m driving home, so go ahead.”

Shrugging, Marco took the glass and took a sip. He hadn’t been drinking much lately, since Ryan couldn’t.

Luca led him outside to where a lot of the men had gathered. “Don’t get too drunk”—he snickered—“or else you’ll have trouble inserting your quarter later.”

“I don’t plan to get that drunk,” said Marco, smiling and taking another measured sip.

“Wise choice.” Luca smirked as he tipped his beer up.

“What’s that look for?” Marco asked, not sure he wanted to know.

“I remember what Maria was like that late in her pregnancies; she was on me every chance she got.”

Marco crinkled his nose. “I don’t want to hear about you having sex with my sister.”

Luca’s smirk grew. “Then I guess you don’t want to hear that it just wasn’t my dick she wanted?”

“No,” said Marco emphatically, trying not to think about it.

Lucas laughed at his discomfort.

Fiona came out and crawled up on Luca’s lap. “Zio,” she said, addressing Marco, “are you going trick-or-treating with us on Halloween?”

Marco nodded. “I’ll even wear my costume if you want me to.”

She yawned, and Luca gave her a little pat. “I think it’s time for bed. Hey, Maria?” he called.

Maria walked outside, eyeing her daughter and then scooping her up to take her to bed. Ryan followed a few steps behind Maria, coming over to sit on Marco’s lap.

“Are you tired?” he asked, bringing both hands up to cradle her back.

“I’m good.”

Luca handed Marco another drink on his way to tuck the kids in and another when he came back. The four adults sat around, just shooting the shit, enjoying the crisp night air.

After a while, feeling the alcohol, Marco nuzzled into Ryan’s neck. “You look so sexy tonight, kitten.”

“Okay,” said Luca, laughing and pulling Maria to stand up with him. “I think that’s our cue to leave you lovebirds alone.”

“I like being alone with you,” Marco admitted, pressing a kiss under Ryan’s ear.

“You’re drunk,” she laughed.

He kissed her neck and pulled her closer. “I think you’re just as sexy either way.”

She made a noise of half-amusement, half-arousal, and glanced around. “I think the party’s dying down. Let me take you home.”

He nodded, helping her to her feet before standing with only a little bit of sway.

“Did you have fun tonight, kitten?” he asked in the car.

“I did,” she said.

“I told Fiona that we would go trick-or-treating with them,” he remembered. “Hope you don’t mind.”

She pulled into the driveway. “Not at all. I already told Maria that we would.”

Marco stumbled his way through the house and up to their bedroom, refusing to let Ryan help for fear that he would accidentally knock her over.

Once he was safely in the bed, he pulled her close and nestled his face into her shoulder. “I love you, kitten,” he mumbled, sleep pulling him in quickly.

RYAN

Marco was recovered from his hangover by the time they headed out to go trick-or-treating with Fiona and Louis as they’d promised.

Ryan only teased him a little bit for getting drunk at the party. She figured he’d deserved to let loose, and it had been really cute.

When they arrived, the kids looked adorable all dressed up, but none of the four adults had bothered to put on their own costumes.

Fiona kept tapping Maria’s stomach with her “wand” as they walked from house to house, looking frustrated when nothing happened.

“What’s wrong?” Luca asked.

She sighed. “I thought I’d try and make Mommy have a baby girl.”

“You know that’s not a real magic wand,” her brother chided her, swinging his bag of candy.

“I know that,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But I had to try; I don’t want to be outnumbered.”

“Something you need to share, sis?” asked Marco, eyeing Maria’s flat stomach.

“No,” Maria laughed.

Fiona crossed her arms. “Does my happiness mean nothing to you people?”

Maria bent down. “Well, we can either stand here and discuss it, or we can continue trick-or-treating; which would you prefer?”

“Candy, please.”

“Wise choice,” said Maria, patting her butt as she ran away.

Luca offered his wife a smile. “I’ll get her, babe.”

Maria sighed and hung back with Ryan, walking behind the others. “We’ve been trying for a couple years now; I just don’t want to get Fiona’s hopes up.”

Ryan was surprised; she’d had no idea. “What does your doctor say?”

Maria shrugged helplessly. “Unexplained infertility. All my tests have been fine.”

Ryan nodded. “My friend Anna is an excellent ob-gyn; I can give you her number if you’d like a second opinion.”

“Thank you. We didn’t have this problem with Louis or Fiona; I don’t understand it.”

“Sometimes these things happen.” Ryan felt bad; she hadn’t even planned to get pregnant, and now here she was. “Seems like people get pregnant when they aren’t trying more than when they actually are. It’s the stress of it all.”

Maria shook herself. “Anyway. You’re getting so close to your big day! Are you ready to be a mom?”

Ryan glanced ahead at Marco, who was holding Fiona’s hand as she reached up to ring the doorbell of the next house. “I think so.” Marco glanced back and made a silly face at Ryan before blowing her a kiss.

“Yeah,” Ryan said, voice gaining strength. “I think we’re both going to be really great parents.”