Page 114 of Family Bonds- Gabriela & Luca

When he went to the hospital, he stayed as focused on that as he could also to get through his shift.

At nine thirty, when he walked in the door at home, he went right to his bathroom to shower and change, and rather than climb into bed, he pulled out his personal laptop and started going down a rabbit hole he had no business digging.

33

WANT YOUR OPINION

“You want to adopt Taylor’s baby?” Gabriela asked the next day at Luca’s house.

She wasn’t sure her jaw could drop any further to the ground when Luca hit her with that information.

At least he waited until they were done working out at the gym before he sprung it on her.

“I saw her yesterday. She doesn’t want the baby. She doesn’t even want to be pregnant.”

She cringed. “That’s not good, but a normal reaction from a teen.”

“It is and I told her that. She’s very emotional. Extremely immature on top of it. Her major concerns are getting fat and kids talking about her.”

“Again, normal reaction from a sixteen-year-old.”

“They haven’t contacted an agency yet. I thought maybe I could do it privately myself with an attorney, but after my research found it still has to go through an agency for all the home studies.”

“I don’t know much about it,” she said. “If that is what you found, I’m positive it’s true. An attorney would know more.”

“I don’t have one yet. I’m running this through my head first. Listing pros and cons, of which there are plenty. There is no reason to do it if she won’t pick me. And I’m single, so it’s highly unlikely she will.”

“Luca,” she said, running her hand on his arm. She was still trying to process this, but wouldn’t discourage him either. “She’s a young, scared girl who doesn’t look like she’s had much of a family life.”

“No. She hasn’t seen her father in years. Her mother doesn’t want any part of this. Her aunt is barely holding on. The boyfriend left.”

“And she’s having a boy. Maybe she’ll feel it’s a good thing that her child has a man in the house.”

“But what about a mother?” he asked. “She might want that too.”

“You don’t know any of those things. Are you sure about this? It’s a lot in a new place. Your job.”

He let out a breath. His eyes held hers. “I know it’s a lot. Then there is us and you might not want this either. I thought of all of that.”

“Stop right there,” she said, shaking her head. “Don’t you dare put me in the equation when it comes to this. I know how much you want a child. I get it. I love kids. I mean come on, how can a pediatrician not love kids?”

He laughed. “I know, but it’s not the same.”

“Luca. If you want to do this, I’m not talking you out of it. But I also don’t want to encourage it and have it not be what youreallywant, as opposed to something that happened in your past. I just don’t know, so I guess I’m riding the border of Switzerland here.”

Part of her wanted to get excited for him.

Crazy, but not really.

They really had no clue if Taylor would be interested, so no reason to get their hopes up.

And there she was, thinking of it as ‘them’. Which told her right away how far she’d come with Luca.

“I want your opinion. It’s fine if I don’t agree with it. Maybe I need someone to talk sense into me.”

She nudged him with her arm, then threw her legs over his lap on the couch to get closer. “I’m the last person who might talk sense into anyone. Don’t you know that?”

She laid her head against his chest, her finger moving around his stomach.