A Package Deal

The Wait is On (Chapter 39)

Finished with their evening meal, taking the dirty dishes from her, Ignazio ordered his wife to stay put. Instructing Addilyn to help him, he proceeded to do all the cleanup.

"Should we try to get my family all on FaceTime?" Gabby asked, grabbing her laptop from the living room, and placing it on the counter.

"Yes!" Addilyn again said excitedly.

"Since we're doing this as a FaceTime call, we'll have to use both my computer and yours simultaneously. You text my parents and I'll text my in-laws," Gabby said.

Starting up his laptop, Ignazio answered, "On it!"

***

"Hi, Nanny, we have something super exciting to tell you," Addie said.

"Hold on," Gabby interrupted. "We have to wait for Gramma and Grampa K, too." Finally, seeing her in-laws, Gabby said, "Alright, go ahead."

"We have something exciting to tell you," Addie repeated.

"Are you coming home for a visit?" Bob asked.

"There's a baby in Mommy's tummy."

Hearing multiple reactions, "Are you kidding me?" from her mother, "Oh, oh," and clapping hands from her dad to Brian, exclaiming, "That's the greatest news ever," over top of his wife screaming, "Gabby!" Ignazio and Gabby both laughed.

"Oh, I would hug you so tightly if you were here that I would probably hurt you," Kate said, hugging her husband instead.

"How far along are you?" Bob asked.

Standing and lifting her shirt, Gabby turned sideways. Watching her mother and mother-in-law point to the screen and cover their mouth with their hands, Gabby beamed and said, "Somewhere in my late first trimester or maybe the very start of the second. I'm feeling like I'm so much bigger this time than I was with Addilyn. We'll know more after my ultrasound appointment. So, I'll let you know for sure then."

"Ignazio, Ignazio," Brian called out, "How are you doing?"

"Uh, I am in shock, super excited and scared to death."

Laughing at him, Bob offered, "Sorry, I can't help you with this one. I had no children of my own, and Gabby came to me as a ten-year-old, so I guess all I can say is good luck."

Needing time to calm herself enough to speak coherent sentences, Elly finally said, "I'm so thrilled, and Addilyn... you are going to become a big sister!"

"Yes, and guess what, Nanny? Nazio thought he had a baby in his tummy, but it was only a pizza baby."

Grabbing Addilyn, Ignazio covered her mouth and, laughing, said, "Shh! You're not supposed to tell anyone that.

"Well, I'm so happy and can't wait to see this new little one," Bob said, interrupting the women as they unintentionally excluded their spouses. Saying goodbye, he blew the family a kiss and walked away. Taking his cue from Bob, Brian did the same.

Sticking around for a bit longer, Ignazio figured it would be best to take the hint from the men and leave when the women got into the nitty-gritty of pregnancy and delivery. Kissing Gabby's cheek, he excused himself and scooping Addilyn up ,he took her to the living room.

Engrossed in a National Geographic show, neither Ignazio nor Addie heard Gabby come in. Sitting down, she reclined her section of the sofa.

"Addie, my love, come join me."

Scooting over to make room Gabby kissed her baby girl's head. No matter how big my belly gets or how tired I am, I will always make time for our cuddles.