He grinned at her sleepy tone. She could've told him she hated him and he would've smiled right through it, knowing she was so far out of it she might not remember a single word, much less mean it. "It came in handy when figuring out why you were blowing so much money fixing a car that wasn't yours."
"Oh, yeah? And why did I?"
"Because you needed to prove to yourself that you could," he said. "You were pregnant, and scared, and your life had been ripped away from you. You needed to know that you could fix something, that you could make something whole again, that you could make it beautiful, because you were going to be a mother and you needed to know that you were capable of taking care of something."
Complete silence surround them as Matty gazed only at the baby before Genna's soft voice responded, "Score one for Matty-B."
Shifting around, he looked at her… really looked at her. "You're going to be a great mother, Genevieve. Don't even worry. You're ready."
She smiled softly, watching him. "I'm only ready because of you, Daddy Matty."
Time passed, minutes melting away as they sat there, savoring the moment.
After exactly thirty minutes, there was a soft knock on the door and the others filtered in. Gavin grinned as he approached, his eyes on Genna. "Looking beautiful as ever, Genna with a G. You're glowing."
"Screw you."
Gavin laughed. "That was a compliment."
"I know," she said. "Screw you for being nice to me again. I don't like it."
Gavin stopped beside Matty, looking down at the baby. "Would you look at that? He's a mini Matty-B."
"My fault," Genna said, lazily lifting her hand, tugging on the IVs connected to it. "I bred with him, apparently. Should've figured those selfish Barsanti people had greedy DNA."
Matty laughed, offering the baby to his cousin. "You want to hold him?"
"Oh, hell no," Gavin said, backing away quickly. "I'm not touching that thing. If I break it, the Ice Princess will kill me."
Gabriella approached, shoving Gavin out of the way to take a peak, her expression lighting up. "Oh my goodness, look how precious he is!"
"Do you want to hold him? Or are you afraid of breaking him, too?"
"Oh, pfft, please." Gabriella took the baby from him, no hesitation. "I'm afraid of no human, not even the tiniest ones. I did a stint in Labor & Delivery once."
"Oh God, does that mean you know how to change a diaper?" Genna asked. "Because Matty's professor forgot to show him and my parents forgot I was human so I kind of lack most domestic skills."
"Of course," Gabriella said, laughing as she turned to Genna. "I'm also certified in infant CPR, so if you ever need a babysitter, I'm your gal."
"You, lady, are a fucking Saint." Genna's gaze scanned the room before settling over to the doorway, where Dante lurked. He just stood there, in silence, watching Gabriella. "What did I tell you, brother? Call the Pope. We've got us a winner here. You need to wife that up."
Dante turned to Genna, eyes narrowing. "Are you high?"
Everyone laughed, including Genna, who pointed at a bag of fluid connected to her IV. "Morphine."
Dante blinked a few times before turning back to Gabriella.
"I told you," Gabriella said, grinning as she approached him, like she knew he hadn't planned to come any closer. "That's what you get for being so stubborn."
"Family trait," Genna said, slapping Matty's back. "Isn't that right?"
"Definitely one of your many fine qualities," Matty said, leaning in to kiss her, but she covered her mouth.
"Ugh, gross, my mouth is all fuzzy."
Matty pulled her hand away, kissing her regardless.
"Side effect of the anesthesia," Gabriella said. "Maybe the morphine, too."
"I like the morphine," Genna said. "It makes me all floaty."
Her eyes closed, a grin still on her lips.
"So precious," Gabriella murmured, stopping in front of Dante, standing toe-to-toe. "Look at your sweet nephew, Uncle Dante."
Dante stared down at him in total silence.
"Did you want to hold him?" Gabriella asked quietly.
Dante shook his head.
"Hold my baby, Dante," Genna ordered without opening her eyes. "Don't make me get out of this bed and force him on you."
"Don't go getting your panties all twisted," Dante muttered, carefully taking the baby from Gabriella. "I'm holding him."
"Him," Gavin said. "Does he have a name?"
"We haven't really talked about it," Matty said. "We know what we're not calling him."
"Primo?" Gavin guessed. "Roberto?"
Genna waved his direction. "Ding ding."
"Gavin's a great name," Gavin said. "Means white hawk,