“Good morning,” she greeted cheerily, as she headed over to the breakfast nook. She dropped a kiss on the baby’s cheek and then, after the briefest of hesitations, one on her husband’s lean cheek. While Sandro was a lot more affectionate these days, she still felt a certain reserve around him, not sure if she could touch and kiss him as freely as he did her. She knew she was being silly but she seemed unable to overcome her emotional barriers. He told her he loved her every day but she still couldn’t quite bring herself to believe him. She often cynically caught herself wondering if he meant the words or merely said them because he thought they were what she wanted. She didn’t understand herself, on the surface it looked like she had everything she’d ever wanted but she still didn’t quite believe it was real.
“Good morning,” he smiled up at her and put his newspaper aside as she got herself some cereal and sat down opposite him. He did that all the time now. She seemed to have his undivided attention: the business section was set aside, the television switched off, phone calls terminated and stock reports carelessly tossed away whenever she walked into a room. He wanted to know how she was feeling, how her day was going, what her plans were… they talked all the time, they spent companionable evenings together and he was a hands-on father. They’d had a quiet family Christmas and had both delighted in buying hugely impractical toys for Lily, things that she wouldn’t be able to play with for years. Sandro had surprised her with an emerald pendant and earrings and she’d given him a silver Montblanc pen with Lily’s and her names engraved on. Their New Year had been equally quiet as they’d invited only Rick, Lisa and Rick’s brother over for a poolside barbecue. They made love every night and he worshipped her body during those long, dark hours. They had a great life… so why couldn’t she trust him?
She knew that her reserve was frustrating Sandro… hell, it was frustrating her but she needed something more. She just didn’t know what.
“I thought I’d let you have a bit of a lie in,” he was saying, as he sipped his coffee. “Between Lily’s and my demands last night, you didn’t get much sleep.” She blushed and averted her eyes to her cereal.
“Thank you,” she mumbled. Her cellphone rang and she retrieved it from the kitchen counter where she had left it to charge the night before. A quick glance at the screen told her it was Lisa.
“Hey,” she greeted.
“Hey yourself Birthday Girl,” her cousin greeted and Theresa started. It was her birthday. She’d completely forgotten. “Rhys and I are taking you and Lily out to lunch. Our treat. But we’re doing some serious birthday shopping first.”
“I’m not sure…”
“No arguments, cuz. I’m sure Sandro will understand. He won’t expect you to spend your birthday by yourself while he swans off to work… and he can have you this evening.” Theresa glanced over at Sandro, who was playing peekaboo with a slightly groggy Lily. A helpless smile tugged at her lips as she watched him earnestly play with his daughter. Lily looked confused but at least she hadn’t started wailing yet.
She refocused on her conversation with Lisa, certain that Sandro had no clue that it was her birthday and she wasn’t about to inform him, not when she knew how angry this new Sandro would be with himself for never bothering to discover that information.
“Uhm… okay, what time do you want to meet?” She and her cousin quickly worked out the logistics of their meeting and she hung up shortly after they’d finalised their plans.
“You are meeting Elisa?” It was a question more than a statement, Sandro had lifted Lily from her carrier and was cuddling her to his chest, while she suckled on one of his knuckles.
“Yes, some shopping and lunch.”
“Do you want me to take Lily to the office while you enjoy your girls’ day out?” She smiled at the inherently selfish offer, knowing that he would love showing his daughter off at work.
“I appreciate the offer, Sandro… but until you start lactating, I don’t think having her away from me for hours at a time is a good idea.” He grimaced at that logic. She knew he missed Lily while he was at work. After a month of paternity leave, he had very begrudgingly gone back to work but he called every day, claiming to miss “his girls”. It was sweet.
She watched him go back to muttering sweet nothings to his daughter between sips of coffee.
“Sandro, do you know who leaked that story about our marriage to the press?” She surprised herself by asking and she could tell by the way he jerked that the question had thrown him. He lifted his eyes to her, absently rocking Lily as he tried to gauge her mood.
“My oldest sister, Gabriella, had indiscreet conversations about our private family business with one of her friends. When my father died, the family was in the news for weeks and this ‘friend’ saw a golden opportunity to make some money. Our marriage wasn’t the only thing that was dragged out for public scrutiny, my sister Rosalie’s teenage abortion hit the news, my other sister Isabella’s cheating husband...” he shook his head in disgust. “Ours was just the biggest news because of your father’s involvement. It made a bad time for the family even worse. I was so busy doing damage control after the news of Rosalie’s pregnancy and subsequent abortion that when the story of our marriage first hit, I wasn’t even aware of it, until my mother brought it to my attention. I dropped everything and flew home to you. I couldn’t stand the thought that you’d think it was true… that you’d think I valued our marriage so little that I would file for a divorce without even talking to you about it.”