Page 80 of Requiem

“No, no. I’m sorry, Maggie,” Matthew says with a contrite smile. “Julia knows I’m just teasing. I don’t care what we call the baby, I just want to get him or her into the world safely.”

“Good answer,” I say with a smile.

There’s a whirl of activity around us as two servers deliver beautiful plates, piled high with Italian delicacies meant to be shared family-style. My mouth is watering.

“Dig in, everyone!” Maggie says, starting the circulation of the platters and plates and bowls filled with our Italian feast.

“Wow, this all looks so amazing!” I say as I ladle a river of sauce onto a mountain of pasta. “Good restaurant choice, Maggie!”

“Thanks! I love to come here so I can try a little of everything.”

“Oh, yeah. And she means everything,” Brett teases. “Careful! You can run-up a bill that’s more than your bow is worth here, Matthew.”

“No worries about that tonight,” Matthew says, holding up the empty bottle for our server who hurries off to find an opened one. “Julia’s got the tab tonight,” he grins.

“Hmm?” I ask distractedly, having been caught glancing at my phone.

“Don’t you worry, Mama Bear, Baby Bear’s doing just fine,” he says, nudging my arm with his.

I nudge back and smile.

“Yeah, I don’t know, if I were you guys, I wouldn’t be worried about what’s going on now. But I would be losing sleep over what David will do when he has an accomplice!” he chuckles.

Matthew looks at me, his face suddenly panic-stricken.

“Shit, Julia, he’s right,” he says with deadly seriousness. “We are so fucked.”