Note: Sorry this chapter took so long, my laptop has been at the doctors :/
"You're biting your nails. You've never been a nail biter." Morelli said in the car on our way over to my parents.
"Yeah, well, I've never been this nervous." And besides, I could examine my beautiful ring more closely if my hands were this close to my face.
"Cupcake, relax. You're respectfully engaged, you have the ring, and if it's the shotgun type wedding you're worried about, we can always tell people the baby was premature." I shot him a glace out of the corner of my eye. He was clueless. "Besides, my mother had a bit of a rush job wedding herself," he winked at me. "It's us Morelli's. Italian stallions, all of us." I gave him a shot to the shoulder.
"It's not your Italian stallion-ism, its defective birth control. Don't go getting a big head." We dove on it silence for a while, until we turned into my parents street. "Oh God." Morelli pulled into the driveway and held my hands in his.
"You'll be fine. We will be fine." He bought my hand up to his mouth and kissed the inside of my palm. "Come on. I can see your Grandmother looking at us through the window. If we take any longer she'll be out here to see what's going on herself."
"Look here Helen, Stephanie and Joe are here." Grandma Mazur called into the kitchen. My mom came out of the kitchen, and the scent of pot roast, mashed potato, green beans and gravy wafted out after her.
"Helen, Edna, would you like to join me at the table?" Joe said, moving towards the table. "You get your dad from the living room," he said under his breath to me. "And bring him out here too. If you try to sneak out, I will hunt you down."
"Would I do something like that?" I said with an insulted look on my face. Damn if the man didn't know me. That was exactly what I was planning on doing.
When my father and I joined everyone at the table, Joe was commenting on the weather.
"Ok, I may be old, but I'm no dummy. What's going on here? You two are acting awfully suspicious." Grandma said, eyeing us both off. I'd been hiding my ring behind my other hand since we walked in, so I was sure no one knew what we were here for. Yet.
"Your right Edna, we do have a reason for visiting today." We both took a deep breath, and Morelli grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "Stephanie and I are engaged." I put my left hand up on the table to show every one my ring. "But that's not all. We're also expecting a baby." Joe was grinning wider than I had ever seen. Boy, he was really looking forward to this baby. Yeah well, let him get up in the middle of the night to change a diaper.
"Engaged! Thank goodness! And a baby!" My mother burst into happy tears.
"Congratulations." Said my dad in a gruff voice he used when he got emotional.
"That's a pip of a ring," Grandma said, leaning in for a closer look. I smiled. This wasn't so bad after all. There was kissing and hugging all round, before my mom handed me a bag of cookies, and we left for Joe's parents' house. I ate a couple cookies on the way, and was feeling pretty sedated, thinking I could face anything, even Grandma Bella. Well, maybe not Grandma Bella. Need a couple more cookies for that. Morelli parked on the street in front of the house, got out and opened my door for me. We walked up the path and Mrs Morelli met us at the door.
"Joseph! Stephanie! Come in, come in. Such a nice surprise." She bustled into the kitchen and bought out coffee cake, cupcakes, and fresh brewed coffee.
"Mom, call down Grandma Bella." He and I sat at the table. "She's going to want to hear this." Morelli turned his head and grinned at me. I groaned. I would never hear the end of this from Grandma Bella. Ever. Bella walked down the stairs.
"No need to call me. I knew you were coming. I know these things. I got the eye." She looked at me, and looked down at my stomach. She gave me a small, knowing smile. "Come sit at the table." She gestured to where Mrs Morelli was setting out the food.
"Mum, Grandma Bella, Steph and I have an announcement…"
