Caroselli's Christmas Baby

She couldn’t recall ever feeling more sure about anything in her entire life. She didn’t know why exactly. She just knew. “I want to do this.”

“The wedding, the baby, moving in with me. Everything?”

“Everything.”

“I guess the only question now is, how soon can we get started?” he asked.

“Well, I’m due to ovulate in two weeks, give or take a day or two. I’d rather not wait another month. The sooner I get pregnant, the better.”

“The question is, can we plan a wedding in fourteen days?”

“I guess it depends on the kind of wedding you want.”

“I would be happy to do this in front of a judge with a couple witnesses.”

“That works for me,” she said. Terri hadn’t spent her adolescence dreaming of and planning her wedding. And why drop a lot of money on a marriage that was guaranteed to end in divorce?

“There’s only one problem with that,” he said.

She knew exactly what he was going to say. “Your family would have a fit.” If there was one thing that the Carosellis loved, it was a party. They would never pass up the opportunity to gather together, overeat and drink too much.

“Exactly,” he said.

“So, how big are you thinking?”

“Immediate family only, maybe a few people from work.”

“Two weeks would be the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I can guarantee most places will be booked.”

Nick considered that for a moment, then his face lit up. “Hey, how about Nonno’s house? It would definitely be big enough. We could have the ceremony in the great room, in front of the fireplace.”

“He wouldn’t mind?”

“Are you kidding? He would be thrilled. The whole point of this is to get the three of us married off and making babies as soon as possible.”

It seemed like a logical choice to her, too. “Call him and make sure it’s okay. On such short notice, I’m thinking we should keep it as simple as possible. Drinks and appetizers will be the best way to go.”

“My cousin Joe on my mom’s side can get us a good deal on the liquor. Make a list of what you think we’ll need, then remember that it’s my family and whatever you plan to order, double it. And we should call the caterer we use for business events. The food is great, and their prices are reasonable.”

“Email me the number and I’ll call them.” There was so much to do, and so little time. But she was sure they could pull it off. She knew that as soon as his mom and his sisters heard the news, they would be gunning to help.

“You understand that my family has to believe this marriage is real, that we have to look like two people madly in love?”

“I know.”

“That means we’ll have to appear comfortable kissing and touching each other.”

The thought of kissing and touching Nick, especially in front of his family, made her heart skip a beat.

“Can you do that?” he asked.

Did she have a choice? “I can do it.”

“Are you sure? Last night when I touched you, you jumped a mile.”

“I was just nervous. And confused.”

“And you aren’t now?”

“I’m trying to look at it logically. Like we’re just two people … conducting a science experiment.”

Nick laughed. “That sounds fun. And correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you almost blow up the science lab in middle school?”

Which had taught her the invaluable lesson that when a teacher said chemicals aren’t to be mixed, she actually meant it. That, plus a week of suspension, and a month of summer school to make up the failing grade she’d more than earned in the class, drove the message home.

But what Nick seemed to be forgetting was she’d only done it because he’d dared her.

“I didn’t think it was supposed to be fun,” she said.

He frowned. “You don’t think sex should be fun?”

“Not all sex. I guess I just thought, because we’re friends, we would just sort of … go through the motions.”

“There’s no reason why we can’t enjoy it,” Nick said.

“What if we’re not compatible?”

“As far as I’m aware, we both have the right parts,” he said with a grin. “Unless there’s something you haven’t told me.”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t mean biologically compatible. What if we get started and we don’t get, you know … turned-on?”

“Are you saying you find me unattractive?”

“No, but in twenty years, I’ve never looked at you and had the uncontrollable urge to jump your bones. I just don’t think of you that way.”

“Come here,” he said, summoning her around the island with a crooked finger.

“Why?”

“I’m going to kiss you.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Now?”

“Why not now? Before we go through the trouble of getting married, shouldn’t we know for sure? Besides, what if we wait until our wedding day, and it all goes horribly wrong? Suppose we bump noses, or we both tilt our head the same way. And what about our honeymoon? Are we just going to hop into bed without ever having touched each other? Doesn’t it make more sense for us to ease into it gradually?”

He definitely had a point. The problem here was that she was trying to play by a set of rules that didn’t exist. They were making it up as they went along. “I guess that does make sense.”

“So, what are you waiting for?” He tapped his lips with his index finger. “Lay one on me.”