Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 744 : A Grandbaby

*Caterina*

Another man was gone... two good men lost in a month. And though we didn’t even know if he was dead yet, I stayed quiet, my back against the wall as Elio and Franky made arrangements to send his body to Eterna once they recovered it.

Elio was angry, but he didn’t seem as phased by this. Another man had just been lost, and all three of the men were still talking like it was nothing like it happened every day.

This guy, Artem Katz, wasn’t just a psycho. He was a serial killer. Killing wasn’t just his job; he liked it. Serial killers had a time limit, a certain amount of time before they grew impatient and killed again, like an addict searching for their next hit.

Images of Alexi, blood around his body, and an eternal scream etched on his lifeless face, flooded my mind, and of Teo, who I’d only seen through pictures, swollen and beaten. Each of them was discarded like they were trash on the floor.

And now, there was another one.

I swallowed, glancing at my feet as I laid a hand over my stomach. I felt nauseous, the room swirling around me and the scents of the overworked tech and of burning rubber and cigarettes from down below mixed together in a horrible cocktail.

I was going to throw up.

“Elio,” I spoke up as calmly as I could.

I was interrupted by Leo slamming his fist on the metal desk, and I flinched at the loud noise, as he got to his feet, getting into Franky’s personal space. “And you think you’re a better choice than me? You arrogant prick—”

“And that proves my point. You’re too immature for this matter.” Franky crossed his arms, looking at Leo like he was a piece of gum on the bottom of his shoe.

“Enough!” Elio intervened, pushing them apart with a stern look. “We don’t have time for this. Franky will be the bait. We’ll set everything up tonight and the trap will be set tomorrow. Are your men ready for this?”

“Of course,” Franky nodded.

“Elio—” I began, but Leo snorted, crossing his arms as he started another argument.

But I couldn’t listen to their childish banter anymore. I felt like I was about to hurl everything in my stomach right onto the floor. I bit my bottom lip, gripping the desk corner as I covered my mouth and tried to hold on.

“Elio!” I shouted, finally getting his attention as he turned to me with a questioning look. “Keys.” I held out my palm, absolutely firmly. Elio’s eyes widened in confusion and concern, but he didn’t even question it as he grabbed his keys from his pocket and handed them over.

“Cat, what—”

But I didn’t have time to answer him. I ran out of the warehouse faster than I had ever done before. As soon as I pushed open the door and fresh air hit my lungs, all of my lunch came rushing up.

I hurled into a corner, leaning on the metal walls to support myself. Not even a minute later, I felt warm familiar hands pulling back my hair, patting my back as I retched onto the ground. Once I was finished, I wiped my mouth, feeling better and worse all at the same time.

“Hey,” Elio said gently, holding onto my shoulders. “Is it the baby?”

“Maybe,” I admitted, thinking back.

I wasn’t sure how far along I was, but it was about that time for morning sickness. I leaned my forehead against him, exhausted all of a sudden. “You’ve got some more work to do. I’ll drive home.”

I tried to pass him his keys, but Elio just shook his head. “You’re not driving home like this. I’ll get one of the guys to drive your car back. I’ll take you home myself.”

“You’ve got to plan to catch that psycho,” I tried to protest, but Elio was firm as he gave me a stern look. I relented with a sigh.

“Here, stay in the car, play some music, do whatever to just rest up, okay? I’ll be ten minutes tops and then I’ll be back to take you home,” Elio promised.

“Okay,” I accepted softly, letting him fuss over me as he personally carried me to the car, slipping me into the passenger side.

He leaned over to put the keys in the ignition, starting up the air conditioning, and I sighed in relief at the cold fresh air.

“Ten minutes,” Elio said firmly.

He shut the door, hesitating to leave me, but I just hit the lock button on the doors, smirking as I heard them all click into place. He rolled his eyes and finally went back into the warehouse.

I sighed, leaning my back into the car seat. I slipped off my shoes, wiggling my bare feet as I got comfortable.

I didn’t feel nauseous anymore, so I waited patiently. I leaned my head against the glass window, looking out across the empty lot.

I played with my phone in my hand, having long turned into nothing more than a paperweight with a dead battery while I waited for Elio. Inevitably, thoughts began to pop up one by another.

True to his word, Elio was back with five minutes to spare, and I unlocked the car for him as he approached. He climbed in, buckling up, and those thoughts I’d been holding onto for the past few minutes blurted out of my mouth.

“You need to call your parents.”

Elio stiffened, his hand on the key in the ignition, and then turned to me with an incredulous look.

I winced, knowing the topic deserved more tenderness than I gave, but I was rushing with hormones so he couldn’t exactly blame me, right?

“My phone is dead,” I waved it in front of him with a grimace. “So, I was sitting in here thinking all this time and we still haven’t told anyone about the baby. I was thinking I would tell my mom tonight but if we’re telling my mom, then we have to tell your parents. But a phone call isn’t the best way to break the news, so I was thinking we set up dinner tonight to tell everyone all at once.”

I sucked in a breath of fresh air after delivering my speech in one breath. Elio stared at me blankly for a few seconds, not even moving his hand from the ignition before he heaved a huge sigh.

I winced. He hadn’t spoken to either of his parents since the blow-up. Neither of us had. I had seen his mother call a couple of times, leaving voicemails on his phone, but Elio never picked up or called back.

But I was hoping maybe this could be an olive branch between them.

Children were precious, I thought as I laid a hand over my flat stomach. And I would hate it if our child never got the chance to know their grandparents, especially Giovani. It was the only grandfather they would ever get to know.

I turned to Elio with a determined look, and he just stared out front, not even glancing at me as he flicked on the ignition. But I could see him wavering.

“Okay,” he finally agreed reluctantly. “I’ll call them and see if they can come. But I have a meeting with Leo until four, so I have to drop you off and then head straight there. Let the cook know what you want for dinner.”

I nodded enthusiastically, beaming.

“Thank you,” I leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, happy that he had swallowed his own pride for me and the baby. And hopefully, Elio could make up with his parents along the way.

Elio dropped me off at home before heading off to his meeting. I immediately charged up my phone, grabbing my portable charger. Once it turned on, I called Mom excitedly. I simply couldn’t wait until tonight to tell her.

“Hey, are you busy right now?” I asked as soon as I heard her pick up.

“Um, not right now, sweetheart, why?”

“I’ll be over in two minutes!” I grinned, ending the call and pocketing my phone and charger into the hoodie I was wearing. It was one I’d stolen from Elio, but he wouldn’t mind, especially since I was now carrying our child.

I made my way over to Mom’s cottage. Unlike our huge, formal house, Mom’s was always bright and vibrant. The out-of-season wreath on the door made me stifle a laugh as I entered and I stepped into the living room, grinning widely as I saw her bright and very full walls.

Pictures of me and Dad hung everywhere, including some abstract ones that I still couldn’t tell what they were of. Dad always used to say it was a spaceship driven by a cat, but I used to tell him it was a dinosaur and a lion having a tea party.

I headed down the hallway, ignoring my various art projects displayed on her shelves, some from when I was in kindergarten. I wondered briefly as I passed through memory lane if I would be like that, to have our child’s handprints cemented in clay and hung on the wall, scribbled drawings with crayons saved in picture frames and a school picture every year.

Maybe they’d be like Elio, but with chubby baby cheeks, with his wild curls. Or maybe they’d have my straight hair with my dad’s eyes.

Whatever they would be or look like, girl or boy, I’d love them more than anything in this universe, right next to Elio and Mom.

“Mom,” I called out as I came to her bedroom and opened the door.

I beamed to see she was standing there, staring at what looked like her whole wardrobe on the bed. She turned to look at me with that same bright look she’d had since before Dad died, and I knew immediately.

“You’ve got a date tonight?” I smiled, hiding my disappointment.

“Is it that obvious?” Mom cupped her cheeks in her hands, blushing bright red.

“Kinda,” I chuckled. I glanced at the dresses laid out, picking up a gorgeous deep violet. “This one.”

“Are you sure?” Mom took the dress, giving me a doubtful look. “You don’t think it’s too flashy?”

“Absolutely not,” I assured her. “You’ll look amazing in it. So, it’s the same guy as last time, right? Charles?”

“Yes,” She beamed. “We’re really starting to click. You’re not too weirded out by it, right honey? I mean, I don’t want you to be—”

“Mom, I’m not a kid anymore.” I grabbed her hand, pulling her to sit on the bed next to me. “As long as he makes you happy, then I’m happy.”

She smiled, tears brimming in her eyes as she cupped my cheek. “How did I get blessed with such an amazing daughter?”

I grinned, giving her a playful look. “Maybe it’s Dad’s genes.”

As she laughed, I felt like I was ready to tell her the big news. If she couldn’t come to dinner tonight, then I want to tell her right here.

“So, I was actually planning on having a dinner with you and Elio’s parents tonight, but since you’re going out with Charles, I figured I’d just tell you now.” I nervously glanced at her, holding tightly to her hand. I took a deep breath and like a band aid, just decided to rip it off.

“I’m pregnant.”

I opened one of my eyes that I had squeezed shut and Mom stared at me with an absolute blank face, seemingly not comprehending.

“Mom?”

“My baby!” Mom burst into tears at my touch, pulling me into the biggest hug I’d had in years. She sobbed in my ears, tears flowing onto my shoulder as she held me close. “A grandbaby.”

I buried my face into Mom’s shoulder, just relishing her joy as we both celebrated the new life growing inside of me.

“Oh!” She pulled back. “I can cancel my date with Charles and attend the dinner with you tonight. Don’t even worry about it—"

“No, it’s okay, Mom,” I laughed. “I want you to go.” I then sighed, thinking about me and Elio being alone with his parents. It was true that I had been hoping Mom could be sort of a buffer, but if she wasn’t there....

I put on a smile.

“You’ll probably have more fun tonight than me if this dinner is anything like the last one.”