The Masters looked at each other, their chests out in pride, preening. They might be fathers, hot damn, thought O’Grady and chuckled again. Bianca looked from one to the other in exasperation and huffed,
“YOU …! Didn’t you hear a word? I said I might be carrying your child…and I most certainly DON’T want it.”
The brothers looked confused and contrite. Trying to hide their feelings of hurt, they led her to the bed and seated her between them, stroking her body gently. She noticed caustically that both of them were taking turns to stroke her flat abdomen with reverence.
Slapping away their roving hands, Bianca pushed them off and stood up, tugging a sheet around her nakedness.
“Get real guys,” she snapped.
“I need to do a pregnancy test. ”
And as they stared at her in puzzlement, she rolled her eyes. Mafia dons they might be, but is some things, they were like clueless bunnies.
“You get them at a pharmacist’s O’Grady,” she prompted, trying to hide her irritation. Her Master O’Grady rose obligingly and nodded.
“Right,” he said, “I’m on it. Not to worry.”
St Just looked at Bianca worriedly.
“I’ll stay with her, man,’ he said and O’Grady nodded, pulling on his clothes swiftly.
Bianca rolled her eyes; now they were treating her like she was about to melt!
Neither of them wanted the world to know about O’Grady’s mission, or so they thought till the burly Irishman had left the room.
They were still at the DeLano mansion, and were planning to leave for their abode after breakfast, for the Mafia Don’s Woman had insisted they only leave after having something to eat.
*
O’Grady hurried downstairs, where the Delanos were convening for breakfast.
It was only when he was at the foot of the stairs that it struck him; was there any particular brand he should be shopping for? Liam O’Grady was loathe to send one of his men on such a sensitive errand.
He glanced around, looking for Tara or one of the Delano women. Claude, who was hovering around the dining table, cheerfully munching on something, noticed him and came to thump him on the back. Claude’s parents were already at the table, with lovely Proserpina bending over her husband, leaning into him flirtatiously as she said something, which made the man look up, a smile on his strong features.
Tara waddled into the huge dining hall at that moment followed by Dom and Paddy, a bowl of oatmeal in his hands.
The young woman saw O’Grady and waved her hand,
“Join us, Liam.”
And then, seeing the look on his face, she asked quickly, “What’s wrong?”
O’Grady spoke without thinking,
“I need to get a pharmacy test kit…I mean a pregnancy test kit.”
Claude jumped in.
“Hey, Mumma always gets…” and he named a brand helpfully as he went on, guilelessly,
“Why she got a kit last week too, right Mumma?”
There was s silence, ominous and loud in the room. Proserpina raised her head and glared at her bumbling son, and O’Grady quailed.
The Don, his mouth a thin line, growled, “The f*ck do you mean, boy?” as his arm went around his wife protectively, for she had turned pink with embarrassment and fury.
The white-haired man, still looking like a virile lion, shot his Woman a sharp look, frowning.
Karina stepped to Claude and gave him a sharp pinch and the young man realised that he had once again, put his foot in his mouth.
Trying to rectify matters, he carried on, stuttering,
“Hey, it’s cool…I…I mean… there is this Hollywood actress…she’s in her fifties…had a kid…I just…”
Seeing the look on his Mumma’s face, he finally comprehended that he was only making matters worse. And he said plaintively,
“Mumma, I’m sorry…” Proserpina turned and stormed out and Claude darted after her. Tara turned to O’Grady; her eyes alight with interest.
But she only said,
“There’s a place close by. I can order it for you,”
She rose and quickly left the room while the Mafia Don rose with an oath and went after his Woman.
*
Bianca was sitting, hugging her knees, chewing her lower lip when O’Grady returned, looking dishevelled and discombobulated, a few minutes later.
He held up four boxes and St Just sighed.
“Just in case..” said the Irishman with a placating smile and Bianca dimpled.
Her beloved O’Grady was like a baby, now that he was thinking of becoming a parent. She stood up decisively and the men followed her but she placed a hand on O’Grady’s chest firmly.
“No,” she snapped,” I do this ALONE. Get it?”
O’Grady opened his mouth to protest but St Just quickly squeezed his arm warningly.
The handsome blonde man nodded and said,
“Go ahead, babe. We’ll wait here.”
*
A few minutes later, Bianca stepped out, her face a mixture of confusion and panic, Tears filled her soft brown eyes and the Masters, who had been alternately chewing their nails and pacing about, rushed to clasp her. Leaning her head against O’Grady’s chest, she listened to his steady, strong heartbeat as she said in a small voice,
“I don’t know…one turned blue. The other stayed pink…”
St Just looked at his brother in consternation. O’Grady, as always, rushed in.
He had never heard of fools rushing in where angles…thought St Just, this close to slapping his forehead.
“So are we having a boy AND a girl?”
The undisguised, hopeful happiness in his handsome face made Bianca want to laugh and scream at the same time. She opted for neither.
Instead, she stepped out of their arms and sank onto the bed, sighing heavily again.
“It’s …one says negative, the other says positive,” she raised her head, tears spilling out and the Masters rushed to gather her in their arms.
A discreet knock on the door alerted them and then Tara spoke in concern,
‘Everything okay? You can come and have something to eat, you know.”
They left her room, Bianca having changed into a pair of jeans and a shirt, unable to shake off the pall of gloom over her.