Caroselli's Christmas Baby. Michelle Celmer

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СКАЧАТЬ have lots of space. You can have the spare bedroom and you can turn the den into your office.”

      Space wasn’t the issue. They’d tried the roommate thing right after college, in an apartment more than spacious enough for two people. Between the random girls parading in and out at ridiculous hours—and the fact that Nick never picked up after himself and left the sink filled with his dirty dishes while the dishwasher sat empty, and a couple dozen other annoying quirks and habits he had—after two months she’d reached her limit. Had she stayed even a day longer, it would have either killed their friendship, or she would have killed him.

      “Nick, you know I love you, and I value our friendship beyond anything else, but we’ve tried this before. It didn’t work.”

      “That was almost eight years ago. I’m sure we’ve both matured since then.”

      “Have you stopped being a slob, too? Because I loathe the thought of spending the next nine months cleaning up after you.”

      “You won’t have to. I have a cleaning service come in three times a week. And for the record, I’m not particularly looking forward to you nagging me incessantly.”

      “I do not nag,” she said, and he shot her a look. “Okay, maybe I nag a little, but only out of sheer frustration.”

      “Then we’ll just have to make an effort to be more accommodating to each other. I promise to keep on top of the clutter, if you promise not to nag.”

      That might be easier said than done.

      “Think how lucky the kid will be,” Nick said. “Most divorced parents hate each other. Mine haven’t had a civilized conversation in years. His will be best friends.”

      He had a good point there. “So that means you’ll be a regular part of the baby’s life?”

      “Of course. And he’ll have lots of cousins, and aunts and uncles.”

      Wasn’t a part-time father better than no father at all? And she would never have to worry financially. She knew Nick would take care of the baby. Not that she was hurting for money. If she was careful, the trust her aunt had willed her, combined with her growing web design business, would keep her living comfortably for a very long time. But Nick would see that the baby went to the best schools, and had every advantage, things she couldn’t quite afford. And he would be a part of a big, loving, happy family. Which was more than she could say for her own childhood. The baby might even join the Caroselli family business some day.

      “And suppose, God forbid, something should happen to you,” he said. “Where would the baby go if he was fathered by a donor?”

      Having lost her own parents, of course that was a concern. Now that her aunt was gone, there was no family left to take the child if she were in an accident or … Although the baby would probably be better off in foster care than with someone like her aunt. She would have been.

      “With me as the father, he’ll always have a family.” Nick said.

      As completely crazy as the idea was, it did make sense. “I think it could work.”

      He actually looked excited, although who wouldn’t be over the prospect of ten million bucks? Why settle for the life of a millionaire when he could be a multimillionaire?

      “So,” he said, “is that an ‘I’m still thinking about it,’ or is that a definite yes?”

      Though she was often guilty for jumping into things without full consideration, maybe in this case overthinking it would be a bad idea. Or maybe she just didn’t want the opportunity to talk herself out of it. They would both be getting what they wanted. More or less.

      “I just have one more question,” she said. “What about women?”

      “What about them?”

      “Will it be a different girl every other night? Will I have to listen to the moaning and the headboard knocking against the wall? See her traipsing around the next morning in nothing but her underwear and one of your shirts?”

      “Of course not. As long as we’re married, I wouldn’t see anyone else.”

      “Nick, we’re talking at least nine months. Can you even go that long without dating?”

      “Do you really mean dating, or is that code for sex?”

      “Either.”

      “Can you?”

      She could. The real question was, did she want to? But to have a baby, wasn’t it worth it?

      “Maybe,” Nick said, “we don’t have to.”

      “Are you suggesting that we cheat on each other?” Even if it wasn’t a real marriage, that could be an obstacle. And while she was sure Nick would have no trouble finding willing participants, with her big belly and swelling ankles, she was fairly certain no men would be fighting for the chance to get into her maternity jeans.

      “I’m assuming you plan to use artificial insemination,” he said.

      She felt a little weird about discussing the particulars, but he was a part of this now. It would be his baby, too. “That or in vitro, which is much more reliable, but crazy expensive. Either way it could take several months.”

      “Or we could pay nothing at all,” he said.

      She must have looked thoroughly confused, because he laughed and said, “You have no idea what I’m talking about.”

      “I guess I don’t.”

      “Think about it.” He wiggled his eyebrows and flashed her a suggestive smile.

      Wait a minute. He couldn’t possibly mean—

      “Why pay a doctor to get you pregnant,” he said,

      “when we could just do it the old-fashioned way for free?”

      Two

      Terri gaped at Nick, her eyes—which were sometimes green and sometimes blue, depending on the light—wide with shock and horror. It took her several seconds to find her voice, and when she did, she said, a full octave higher than her usual range, “That was a joke, right?”

      “Actually, I’ve never been more serious.” Nick would be the first to admit it was a pretty radical idea, but on a scale of one to ten, this entire situation had a weird factor of about fifty.

      He had given Nonno’s offer a lot of thought and had come to the conclusion that he just wasn’t ready to settle down yet. It wasn’t so much the idea of being a father that put him off—he loved kids—but the marriage end of the deal that gave him the willies. His parents had gone through hell, and put Nick and his two older sisters through it, too. Now with his sister Jessica’s marriage in trouble, as well, the idea of marital bliss was nothing more than a fairy tale to him. And not worth the pain of the inevitable divorce. Not even for ten million dollars.

      It had never occurred to him that the actual marriage could be a sham. Not СКАЧАТЬ