Page 53 of A Treasure To Keep
Both of us remain silent as I scan through everything. My eyes subtly glance up and notice tears in El’s eyes. I know these are out of anger, heightened by the pregnancy's hormones, versus being sad. When I finish reading through the paperwork, I set it down on the counter. El’s shaking hands reach out, turning the packet toward her.
“What does it say?” She raps her nails on the counter while trying to keep control of her anger. I know her quarks better than she does, knowing this is the moment she could crack after my next sentence.
“First of all, we will need to hire a lawyer. I’ll call James’s husband. Marco is asking for partial custody. That is, if he is the biological father, which will make things complicated for me. Since he wants to claim paternity, that means without it stated in writing, I have no legal rights over our baby. Medical decisions, anything school related, and whoever is on the birth certificate will fall on you and Marco. He’s also asking for a paternity test as soon as possible to confirm said paternity. He wants Dr. Rossi to be your doctor during your pregnancy. And for the baby to have his last name.” I didn’t think that last part was possible. I guess if you have enough money and power, anything is possible.
“You’re fucking kidding me, right? This kid isn’t even born yet, and he thinks he has the right to fuck up my life? The audacity! I should have cut off his dick when I had the chance. Maybe his genitals would match how much of a bitch he’s being.” She takes the knife from the cutting board we forgot to washafter breakfast and stabs it into the cutting board, mimicking what she would do to Marco’s genitals.
“Woah, mon trésor. Let go of the knife.” I peel her hand away from the handle, setting it in the sink once I pry it from her.
When I turn around, El is staring at her hand, still open from where the knife was. Eventually, she blinks, clinching both hands and placing them on the counter. The silence is deafening until she inhales deeply, screaming out all of her frustration. The silence that follows is deafening when she’s done screaming. My nosy neighbor knocks, interrupting the silence before I can even inhale to ask if she’s okay.
“Is everything okay?” My next-door neighbor is sweet and caring, but she picks the worst time to get involved. El stares at me, eyebrow raised, questioning what I’ll do. Cautiously, I walk past El similarly to how I’d walk by a bear until I reach the door.
I open the door, attempting to be as polite as possible. “Everything will be okay. We got some unexpected news.”
“Does it have to do with the guy in the hallway?”
I try to think of something to say, but run short, slamming the door in her face.
When I step back into my kitchen, El is grasping the counter, with her head tilted to the side. Oh no. That’s never a good stance.
“Mon trésor?”
“Who the fuck does he think he is?” El doesn’t say anything else before swiping up her keys and storming out of the apartment without another word.
This can’t be good.
Chapter 58
Marco
Ireceived a call an hour ago informing me that the paperwork has been delivered. I still can’t believe Alessandro convinced me to sign and send the paperwork. Who the fuck even knows if it’s my baby? People who struggle with infertility manage to have babies. At least, that’s what stories on the internet say.
I’m sitting in my office when I receive a notification from our gate and click on our camera, noticing whose car is racing up the driveway. I should have guessed this would happen.
I race to the front door with enough time for the door to slam open, busting a hole through the newly fixed wall.
“We just fixed that wall!”
“Fuck your wall!” El’s heels come stomping toward me, blazing fire in her eyes. She shoves me with enough force that I stumble back a few steps until I catch myself on a small table. She’s more pissed than I thought she would be. “Anything to fucking say now? You entitled son of a bitch! Who fucking said you had any right to interrupt my life? Also, who said I’m keeping the fucking baby?”
“You and Andrea said I had that right the moment we started sleeping together, and I started regularly coming inside your pussy. You said it yourself, the shot isn’t 100 percent effective. When it comes to your second question, if you didn’t plan on keeping it, you wouldn’t call it a baby.” El screams out of frustration, slamming her fists against my chest until Alessandro bursts in.
“What the fuck is the problem? I’m on a call with Geno.” His footsteps halt when he notices El in the room, instantly knowing what’s happening. He should know. It was his fucking idea.
Her mouth drops open, realizing by Alessandro’s reaction whose idea it was in the first place to draw up everything. “You! You’re behind this, aren’t you? Marco didn’t say a goddamn word for weeks. All of a sudden, your name pops up on the paperwork handed to me when I’m sixteen weeks pregnant. Just because you’re a dad doesn’t mean you have the right to interrupt my life. Does Luci know about this?”
A petite body holding a four-month-old smiling baby appears from the stairwell. It suddenly clicks in my head. Four months. Gia was born four months ago, and El is four months pregnant. My baby could have been conceived the night Gia was born. Also, the night I barged into Andrea and El’s apartment, distraught about Alessandro being shot. Luci interrupts my thoughts as my mind pieces everything together.
“Do I know about what?” Three of the people she cares most about stand in front of her. I can see from the worry in her eyes that she’s not prepared to take a side. Also, knowing she’ll be forced to take a side, disappointing at least one person in the meantime. Being the people pleaser she is, this is a massive worry of hers.
“Mio premio, this doesn’t involve you. Please take Gia upstairs.” El’s face says one thing. ‘The fucking audacity.’
“No. Stay here and see what a piece of shit your husband and his best friend are. Alessandro convinced Marco to serve me papers claiming partial custody of Andrea and my baby. A baby that’s not even born. Can you honestly say you’re okay with that?” Luci avoids eye contact with El, looking over to Alessandro, then at the floor while chewing on her lip. There it is, the side Luci chose to take.
“I’m sorry, El, but I have to agree with them. If Marco is the father, he has a right to help raise his baby. The last thing I wanted was for Elio to raise Alessandro’s baby.” Alessandro groans deep in his chest, his lip twitching at the mention of Luci’s ex-boyfriend, who had full intentions of raising a baby that wasn’t his.
El stands there in silence, dumbfounded by her best friend's reaction. After a minute, she turns toward me, the anger gone from her voice but still deeply ingrained into her eyes.