Rebecca Winters: The Count's Christmas Baby

There was a distinct pause. “Are you all right? You sound … different.”

Different didn’t begin to cover what was going on inside him.

“It’s … business. I’m afraid I’m preoccupied with it. Forgive me.” It was the kind of business Chief Coretti had referred to at the station. But it had everything to do with Ric, not with his father. When he thought of the way his suspicious mind had worked trying to get answers …

“Of course I forgive you, Enrico.”

Ric took a steadying breath. Before they were married, those words were going to be put to the test in the cruelest of ways.

Sami had called him a great man. How honorable did it make him if he kept this revelation from Eliana? But he couldn’t tell her yet. It wasn’t possible when he could hardly comprehend it himself. With this news there would be so many ramifications, he needed time to think how he was going to handle everything.

“I’ll phone you from Cyprus tomorrow.”

“That had better be a promise.”

He gripped the phone tighter. “Have I ever broken one to you?”

“No, but I’m still angry you’ve let business interfere so much. After we’re married I intend to keep you occupied for a long time. For one thing, I want to give you a baby. Hopefully a male heir.”

Ric closed his eyes tightly. Someone got ahead of you in that department, Eliana .

His fiancée was a beautiful, polished product of her aristocratic upbringing. He couldn’t fault his future wife for voicing her womanly expectations. But neither could he do anything about the new state of affairs. Fate had blown in with the avalanche, altering his world forever.

“Forgive me, Eliana, but I have to go. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“A domani, Caro.”

He ended the call and turned to Sami.

The baby had fallen asleep against her shoulder. She eyed Ric steadily. “While you were on the phone, I’ve had time to gather my thoughts. Maybe I’m wrong, but I sensed a woman was on the other end of that phone call. Judging by the tone of your voice, she’s either your wife or your girlfriend.”

During those hours they’d been trapped, they’d crossed all the boundaries waiting for the end. It didn’t surprise Ric she wasn’t only intuitive, but forthright. “My fiancée, Eliana.”

Not one dark eyelash flickered. “Were you—”

“No.” He knew what was on her mind. “I didn’t get engaged to her until long after I’d lost all hope of ever finding you. I kept the thought alive that since I’d told you my last name, you might come back to Genoa to look for me. Now that I understand you were carrying our son all that time, I know why you didn’t come until now.”

“Did you ever tell your fiancée about us?”

“Not her, not anyone,” he whispered before moving closer. “Are you involved with someone? Married?”

“No.” Her single-word answer shouldn’t have filled him with relief, but it did. “I’d just broken up with a man I’d been dating before I left for Europe on my trip in January. As you can imagine, I wasn’t the same person when I returned.

“When Matt found out I was back, he called me and told me he hadn’t given up on us.” Ric could understand why. “I told him it was over for me, but he said he was going to keep trying to get through to me. When I discovered I was pregnant, I told him the truth of what happened to me in Italy so he’d give up.”

Ric bit down hard. “And did he?”

“No. He said he’d marry me and help me raise the baby as if it were his own.”

The idea of another man parenting Ric’s son didn’t sit well with him. “He must love you very much.”

“Yes, I believe he does. I love him, too. He’s really wonderful, but I’m not in love with him. There’s a huge difference. That why I broke up with him in the first place, because I didn’t want to hurt him.

“He’s been very good to me, but I know it hurt him horribly that I would make love with a stranger, especially when he and I hadn’t gotten to that point.” Her voice faltered. “No matter how I tried to explain the circumstances, I realized it sounded incredible.”

“It still does,” Ric confessed. “Even to me, and I was there.”

Color crept back into her cheeks. “It would be asking too much of him to forget it. I know he’s still hoping I’ll change my mind, but I can’t see that happening.” She kissed the baby. “How soon is your wedding?”

The wedding to Eliana …

“January first.”

“New Year’s—that’s coming soon.”

With Sami standing there cuddling his son, Ric found it impossible to think about his upcoming nuptials. The shock still hadn’t worn off.

Her eyes searched his. “I realize it isn’t every day a man is confronted with a situation like ours—” she said anxiously. “If I’d known you were alive, I would have handled everything differently. But now that you know you have a son, I’m aware you need time for the information to settle in before you can tell how you really feel about everything.”

“How I feel?” he questioned, not understanding the remark. “You’ve just presented me with my child. I didn’t know that being a father would bring me this kind of happiness.”

Neither Ric nor his siblings had ever been close to their father. He was gone so much, they rarely saw him. Though he’d ruled over their family, he left the child-rearing to their mother and the house staff.

Not until college did his father take an interest in Ric. Even then it was all about duty and money. When Ric thought about how his father had always ignored Vito and Claudia, his insides twisted into knots. Early on he’d decided that if he were ever to become a father, he’d get totally involved in his children’s lives from day one.

For Ric, today was day one. He eyed the mother of his child. “I didn’t know learning I was a father would make me feel reborn in a whole new way.”

“Nevertheless, you’re getting married before long and have all this to talk over with Eliana,” she said in a pragmatic tone. “It’s a good thing my flight for the States leaves in the morning. Ric and I will go back to Reno while you let this sink in. Now that we know of each other’s existence and can exchange phone numbers, there’s no hurry.”

He frowned. “No hurry? I’ve missed the first two months of my son’s life and don’t intend to miss any more.”

“But with Christmas and your wedding almost here, this isn’t the time to—”

“To what?” He cut her off. “Decide how to fit our baby into my life? He wasn’t conceived on your schedule or mine, but he’s a living breathing miracle. Unlike my father, who hardly acknowledged the existence of his children until they were grown, I want to be with my son all the time that you and I can work out.”

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