her pocket. “It died during my talk with Danny. Let me take a quick shower and I’ll fill you in.”
Henry waved at Nico from the front porch as he drove away; then he helped Toni into the shower and went to make her some food.
It smelled like spaghetti and red sauce by the time she rinsed off and wrapped herself in her favorite fluffy robe. She looked at her face in the mirror and noted the dark circles under her eyes, along with her lips, which looked fuller.
Her belly was starting to get firm and her hips ached. She wasn’t even going to mention her boobs, which were suddenly everything she’d wanted as a thirteen-year-old only somehow far more painful than anything she could have imagined.
She was nearly twelve weeks pregnant, and her next doctor’s appointment was less than a week away. Henry wanted to go to that appointment. By her calculations and her doctor’s reassurances, the chances of miscarriage were getting less likely by the day. The knot in her chest was starting to ease, and the reality of the future was starting to become clear.
A baby. She was going to be a mom. At forty-two. When the kid graduated from high school, she’d be sixty. Sixty?
What was she thinking? She couldn’t do this! Who decided that women could have babies in their forties? That was such bad planning.
“Toni?” Henry called from the kitchen. “You okay?”
Okay. Deep breaths. You can do this. Wasn’t Jamie Lee Curtis sixty? Emma Thompson was too. Or something like that. They weren’t old. She could do this.
And she had Henry. Henry would only be… fifty-three when the kid graduated high school. That wasn’t old at all.
“Toni?” He tapped on the door. “Are you okay?”
She pulled it open and steam rushed out, making Henry blink. “I can do this, right?”
His eyes fell right to her boobs. “Do what?”
“Have a baby. At my age.”
He raised an eyebrow and brought his eyes up to hers. “You are doing it.”
“I know that, but you know what I mean.”
“Will you be able to handle being a mother to an infant? Baby-proofing your house? Breastfeeding?”
“Stop thinking about my boobs, Henry.”
The corner of his mouth turned up. “I can’t help it. They are absolutely incredible right now, and you told me they were hands-off. I’m only human.”
Toni cracked a smile. “All of the above. I have never taken care of a small human before. Not full time.”
“And while I won’t be able to do some of the things, like breastfeeding, I am planning to do half of all the other stuff, so you’re not going to be on your own with all this, okay?” He hooked his finger through the belt on her robe and pulled her toward him. “We’ll figure it out. And we have lots of friends and family who can help.”
Toni took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“Kids are fun. And also a pain in the butt, but they’re fun. And I always wanted one, and I honestly cannot think of a cooler person to do this with.” Henry pulled her closer. “You’re going to be the fiercest, badass-est—”
“I don’t think that’s a word.”
“I think it is because you are.” He kissed her temple. Then her cheekbone. “You’re going to be a really good mom, Toni Dusi. And I’m going to be the best dad I can be.”
“Just don’t…” She lost her train of thought when he started kissing her neck. “Um…”
“What’s that?” His hands were skimming along the outside of her robe, raising goose bumps all over her body as the material brushed against her skin.
“I… don’t remember.”
“Don’t remember what you were worried about?”
“Nope.”
“Good.” He reached down and lifted her up so she was sitting on the edge of the counter. Then he nudged her knees apart and angled his hips between her legs.
The sensation of denim along her inner thighs made every nerve in her body go on alert.
Henry teased his fingers along the collar of her robe. “I like being your boyfriend. It gives me all kinds of ideas about how to distract you.”
“When I get mental?”
“Hey,” he said. “You’re a psychic. I’m guessing it comes with the territory.”
“Okay.” If Henry wanted to distract her, she wasn’t going to complain.
Not even a little bit.
Chapter 28
It was Sunday morning and Toni was in the middle of explaining to her mother why she wouldn’t be at mass that morning when Katherine and Baxter rolled up in their sensible compact car, followed shortly by Megan and her three kids in