Baby by Design

“I see Tony’s here.” Angie stood on Trish’s front porch, lips in a grim line, envelope in hand.

Trish opened her mouth, looked at her ringing phone, closed her mouth, and then opened it again. “You’re not my mother.”

“Don’t be a smart ass.” Angie pushed Trish aside. “Where is he? I’ll happily crash your little nightcap before it goes too far.”

“He’s, ah, in the bathroom.”

Angie raised a brow and then gave Trish the once-over. “He didn’t even take you to dinner, did he? If he took you out, you’d be dressed up. What is this?” She waved a hand up and down Trish’s disheveled clothing. “Was it a booty call?” She shoved a finger to Trish’s chest. “I may not be your mother, but I’m still worried, especially since…”

“Hey.” Tony stood shirtless in jeans at the top of the stairs.

“Jesus,” Angie spit, whipping her head from Trish to Tony. “You don’t waste time, do you?”

Trish laid a hand on Angie’s forearm. “You said you didn’t care. You said you didn’t want to know.”

“Yeah, well that was before I realized he was going to take you to bed before he even took you to dinner.”

“Ange, chill. What’s the big deal? We’re consenting adults.”

“Shut the fuck up, Tony.” She took a step toward him, like she might charge the stairs. “As far as I’m concerned, only one of you is an adult, and it’s not you.”

“Here we go again.” Tony descended slowly, shaking his head. “How long are you going to hold it against me? How long? I didn’t want to run the company. So what? Nobody said you had to do it.”

“Because they knew I would do it. Because they knew I wouldn’t back out. I couldn’t back out after you already did. I was all that was left.”

All Trish could imagine was a colossal confrontation in her foyer that would lead to a family feud. “Tony, go back upstairs.”

His eyes widened, and his lips sort of sneered. “No. Not until you’re ready to come with me.”

Angie groaned. “Never mind. I’m going, because this is making me sick. I swear to God I’ll puke if I have to witness another minute of your mutual disease, so here.” She handed the envelope to Trish. “You forgot to sign it.”

Trish recognized the business envelope, featuring her company logo in the corner. With unsteady hands she pulled a check from the envelope. Sure enough, the usual loopy endorsement was missing.

“I can’t pay my crew until I can cash this check.”

Trish squeezed her eyes shut on a wave of remorse and then opened them on a promise to regain her focus. “I’m so sorry. I must’ve been…busy.” Preoccupied with Tony and the baby-making scheme was more like it.

Rushing to the catchall drawer in the bureau beneath the hall mirror, Trish rummaged among hair ties, paper clips, loose change, and keys until she found a ballpoint pen. “Here.” She signed the check, drew a deep breath and faced Angie, who was glaring at a silent Tony. “I’m sorry. I really am.” About all of it, because standing between Tony and Angie was never a place she wanted to be.

Angie snatched the check. “Thanks.” She glanced up the stairs at her brother and then again at Trish. “I’d say enjoy the rest of your evening, but I don’t want to make myself sick.” She turned, took two steps toward the door, and then stopped. “Finishing Collins’s hardwoods at eight, right?”

Trish couldn’t think of what to do now, let alone what came tomorrow morning, but it sounded reasonable, so she nodded. “Yep.”

“See you then.” And with that, Angie stormed out.

So much for Trish’s simple, uncomplicated plan.

* * *

Tony watched Trish, staring at the stained glass window, hand on the doorknob. She didn’t move a muscle, but he knew the wheels in her head were churning at breakneck speed.

“Don’t let her bother you,” he said, walking to her side, placing his hands on her shoulders.

She moved her head from side to side as he rubbed away the tension. “How can I do that? She’s my best friend. When she’s bothered, I’m bothered.” She dropped her chin to her chest.

He wrapped her up and drew her against him. “She’ll get over it.”

“But what if she doesn’t?” Trish stepped away from him. “What if I’ve ruined everything? What if she never looks at me the same? What if she never looks at you the same either?” When she looked at him, tears shimmered in her eyes.

“Ah, come on. This is Ange we’re talking about. She’s harsh, but she’s decent. I’ve never seen her hold a grudge on anyone but me. You’ll be good.”

He chucked his knuckles beneath her chin and smiled, but inside he was furious with himself. Screwing around with Angie’s best friend wasn’t smart. Getting caught with Trish didn’t do a damn thing but affirm his irresponsibility in Angie’s eyes.

“You really think it’ll be okay?” Trish sniffed.

“Yep. I do. She wasn’t mad because we slept together, she was mad because I didn’t take you to dinner first.” He chuckled, because it was just like his non-traditional, carpenter of a sister to have traditional relationship views. “And you know what? She’s right. That was pretty shitty of me. I brought beer and got laid. Typical one- track-minded male.”

Trish matched his grin, but there was still worry in her eyes. “God, Tony, we really did it, didn’t we?”

He wasn’t sure which it she was referring to. Maybe she meant making Angie mad. But the way she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and the tousle of her hair had him focused on another it. And it was explosive. And it was much more appealing than rehashing what had happened with Angie. “Yes, we did.”

“Okay, so as far as Angie goes, I’ll talk to her tomorrow, smooth things out some more. And as far as this goes…” she palmed her non-existent belly, “I wait until I miss my period to test. Of course, I could get a blood test sooner, but I’d like to keep this as normal as possible, because once I’m…” She interrupted her babbling with a slightly unhinged laugh. “Oh my God. Once I’m pregnant. By you. Tony.” She turned to the door and then to him again. “If Angie was upset because you slept with me before taking me to dinner, can you imagine how she’d react if I got pregnant this soon?”

He blinked. Shit. He’d never thought of it that way. And Angie wasn’t the only one with a reaction to worry about. Ma. Nonna. How did he expect to go from Trish’s contract employee to the father of her baby without raising his traditional Italian-Catholic family’s collective blood pressure?

“Your mother and Nonna.” Trish slapped a hand over her mouth. “They’ll think I’m a slut.”

“Puttana.” He’d heard the word enough to know it.

“What?”

“That’s what Nonna calls a whore. Puttana.”

Trish paled.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Tony reached for her, but she backed away, pressing against the wall. “You’re not a whore.”

Her face wrinkled. “Thanks for that, but I hardly think they’d agree once they found out I was pregnant by you without so much as a dinner date between us.” She banged her head off the woodwork. “What was I thinking? Angie was right.”

Like fingernails down a chalkboard. Angie was always right, and it irked him. “Let’s go.” He marched up the stairs. “I’m taking you to dinner.”

She scrambled after him. “Tony, it’s not that simple.”

“The hell it isn’t. Ange knows we slept together. It’s only a matter of time before she whines to Ma. But nobody can say a damn thing about it if we’re dating.”

“But we aren’t dating.”

“We are now.” He grinned. “And don’t forget to put on a bra. I can still see your nipples.”

* * *

Sitting across from Tony Corcarelli in an IHOP restaurant, Trish surmised this was her life. There was some sort of poetic justice in it. Hadn’t her mother always warned her about falling for the smooth-talking guy? Oh, and