Chapter 15
"Oh, isn't Derrick, adorable?" Diana cooed, as she saw her adorable grandson, through the glass of the nursery.
The nurse had pushed Derrick's bassinet to the front row once she saw the group looking at him.
Derrick Spencer Rossi had his father's black hair, but his mother's nose and mouth. None of the people standing at the nursery window, could tell what color his eyes were, but since the eyes would likely change color by the time, he was a year old that really didn't matter. The eyes could stay blue like Lynnette's or turn brown, like Dave's. The odds were on they would turn brown in a year since that was the dominant color, but it was possible they would stay blue.
"Yes, he is adorable. He looks like dad, but with his mother's nose and mouth," Michelle agreed, smiling, as she looked through the glass of the nursery and saw, the baby that was technically her brother.
"Yeah, he does look more like Dave than Lynnette," Spencer agreed, smiling with his arm around Michelle's shoulders. "Hopefully, it won't be long before Michelle and I are have our own kids."
"So, you haven't gotten pregnant yet?" Diana inquired of Michelle, who shook her head.
"No, I hate to disappoint you, since I know you've been looking forward to grandchildren from Spencer and I, but it hasn't happened yet," Michelle said shaking her head. "Not for lack of Spencer trying, and no, I'm not taking anything that should prevent me from conceiving."
"Well, sometimes it does take a year or two to conceive," Diana conceded. "Don't put pressure on yourself to conceive in a certain length of time, as stress does you no good and could prevent you getting pregnant. It'll happen in its own good time."
"That's good advice, sweetie," Spencer told Michelle. "From what I've read, mom is exactly right, putting pressure on yourself does no good."
"So, what do you think Rocky, Roxie? Isn't your little nephew adorable?" Diana asked her other two children who had been silent and hadn't said a word.
"Yes, he is, adorable," Roxie agreed.
"So, getting any ideas?" Diana asked her daughter slyly.
"Mom!" Roxie said, rolling her eyes. "Give it a rest already! You, bringing up the subject constantly isn't going to encourage me to find a man any faster."
"I know you want both Roxie and Rocky to get married and have children, but it's not always easy to find someone to settle down with," Michelle told Diana. "All you're going to do is cause Roxie to dig in her heels and refuse to ever get married, because you keep harping on the subject."
"You know how stubborn Roxie can be," Spencer told his mother. "I know you want both Roxie and Rocky to marry, but it will happen or it won't and there's nothing you can do to change that."
"True, she can be stubborn," Diana admitted, kissing her daughter on the cheek. "What about you Rocky? Are you dating anyone seriously?" Diana asked her son turning to her younger son.
"I'm afraid not," Rocky admitted blushing looking deeply uncomfortable, as he stared down at his toes, as he was answering his mother. He really didn't like to talk about his girlfriends with his mother of all people. "You were lucky to get two of your children married off, practically at the same time. As for Roxie and me you're just going to have to be patient."
"You have to consider that there are many people in the world mom and a lot of them would try to take advantage of Roxie and Rocky. You don't want them to end up in bad situations," Spencer told his mother.
"I believe we've had this discussion before if you remember," Michelle added.
"I know," Diana sighed, turning back to gaze at her adorable grandson.
Dave finally joined them after having gone to see Lynnette in the private room that she was in.
"How's Lynnette?" Diana immediately asked Dave, as soon as she saw him.
"She's fine, just extremely tired," Dave reported. "She was drifting off to sleep as I was leaving."
"She certainly deserves to sleep as long as she likes," Rocky commented. "I mean, she was in labor for 10 hours I believe the nurse said."
"Yeah, she did," Dave agreed. "Really, it was a relatively short labor for a first child."
"That's true," Diana agreed. "I wish my labor had been that short with all four of my children, not just the last two, but it just didn't work out like that."
Dave moved to the front so he could see his son and thought he looked absolutely adorable, but then, he was probably biased since he was Derrick's father.
"I think it's time we all head home for the night, as visiting hours for patients are over, so it's not like I can go see Lynnette again. We're all tired after sitting in the waiting room, waiting for Derrick to be born. We can visit again tomorrow."
"I'll call and get us reservations at a hotel," Rocky offered.
"You won't be staying in a hotel," Michelle said, slapping Rocky on the back of the head for being an idiot. "You'll be staying with us. You know how big the Rossi Mansion is, so why you would want to go to the expense hotel when we have plenty of guestrooms is beyond me."
"Ow!" Rocky protested at the slap looking offended.
"That's for being an idiot," Michelle told him. "Why would you want to pay for a hotel when you can stay with us for free?"
"She's right," Spencer told Rocky, his tone amused. "You haven't been up to visit once since Lynnette and I got married and you're always welcome."
Rocky often stuck his foot in his mouth.
"We are always prepared to welcome guests, especially when those guests are family," Dave told Rocky hiding his amusement. "The place I had built years ago is way too big by half, even before I married your sister and your brother married my daughter. It's really good to have company on occasion."
"All right, I'm sorry, if I gave some great offence, because I suggested staying in a hotel," Rocky said, raising his hands in self-defense.
"You were being an idiot," Roxie told him rolling her eyes at her brother's stupid moment.
"I just didn't think you'd want the company. I mean, none of you have been married all that long and I would think you'd want the house all to yourself."
"If Lynnette and I want some private time, that's what our suite is for," Dave told Rocky with a bemused expression.
"The same goes for Spencer and me," Michelle added. "Dad's very right, that the house is more of a mansion than anything else and was always too big for just dad, James, Tristan and I."
"Why have such a big place built then?" Roxie wondered aloud.
"It's a matter of status. You can't really go for a more normal size house in that particular neighbourhood," Spencer explained.
"You're exactly right Spencer," Dave told his son-in-law proudly patting him on the back in congratulations for that astute observation.
"I asked the same question of Michelle, and she explained that once your family made it's fortune, they had that house built in that neighborhood for privacy," Spencer explained choosing his words carefully knowing that it was Dave himself that had had the house built. The rest of the family didn't know that, however, so he had to choose his words with care. Still, that didn't mean he didn't blush at the praise.
"If my family hadn't wanted to help people, and if they had made their fortune and then not been so public about it I wouldn't have had to have such a large house built. My family lived in other places, but I've made New York my home. Really, it's about the only place that I can remain unbothered without people trying their best to get my attention for one reason or another. A lot of times people try to approach me for some business or other not caring that I deserve my privacy if I'm out in public and that I didn't invite their company.
"A lot of times people just don't know how to give you your privacy because they know they'll never get a meeting with you if they go to your office, so if I'm at some restaurant or some other public place, they often approach me."
"And what do you do when that happens?" Rocky wanted to know.
"If I'm in a restaurant the waitstaff are usually right on the ball and if they manage to get past them in order to get to my table, one of them is soon intercepting that person and they are escorted to the door while politely telling them that I was dining and don't want to be disturbed. I often don't have to do anything at all," Dave said. "As for other places I go for business there's usually security and they deal with anybody that is bothering me or even attempts to bother me."
"Of course, that doesn't stop the women from trying to flirt with you, despite the fact that you're now married," Spencer said amused.
"So many people don't have any manners anymore," Diana said, speaking for the first time in a while to prove she'd been listening to the conversation.
"Very true," Dave agreed wholeheartedly.
"So, what do you do when women flirt with you?" Rocky wondered. "I mean, it's clear to me, they don't respect the fact that you're married now and think you're available to be flirted with."
"I make it clear, I'm not available of course, because I'm not," Dave said firmly. "I know plenty of men cheat on their wives, but I'm not one of them. If I wasn't so wealthy, so many women wouldn't constantly try to flirt with me, hoping I'll divorce Lynnette, and marry one of them. That's never going to happen and I make that clear. I married Lynnette because I love and there will never be another even if she was to die, like in childbirth I know I'll never get married again."
"And what do you do if they persist?" Roxie wondered. "I hate to insult my own sex, but many women can be persistent. "
"It all depends on how persistent they insist on being," Dave said. "If they won't back off when I tell them I'm not available now or ever and they insist on trying to get into my personal space then I threaten to sue them and sue whoever they work for or threaten to talk to their boss if they can't act appropriately in front of a married man. That makes most of them back off, though there have been a few that I've had to take further action against."
"I can't really blame you if you have to take action," Diana told him. "A lot of young women just don't know when to back off. They simply have no manners. The parents either never teach them any or they don't absorb the lessons etiquette that they are given.
"Lessons on how to behave properly while in public, which should mean not going after a married man. Peoples morals and ethics have gotten so lax in this day and age that a lot of them just don't know how to behave and that's true for both men and women. Both are equally guilty of often being rude or hurting someone's feelings," Diana commented.
"Or the parents urge their daughters to flirt with me, because they want them to marry a rich husband," Dave added. "While I can understand the parents wanting their daughters to marry someone who is at least well off, since I'm married now, I should be off limits. I might be wealthier than most others, but that's just because my family has always had good heads for business," Dave said.
"A talent, very few possess," Spencer said, knowing that when Dave mentioned his family had always been very good at business, he simply meant himself, but the rest of his family couldn't know that, so the slight fib was necessary. Everyone left the nursery to head out to their cars, so they could head home for the night.
Dave offered Diana, Rocky and Roxie a ride home while Michelle and Spencer headed for their own vehicle to head to the same place.
~~~Dave and Lynnette~~~