"Oh, look, she's smiling." Leigh glanced up from the baby she held toward Lucian. "Isn't your grandniece beautiful?"
"Yes." He smiled at the baby in Leigh's arms, then slid his arm around her, drew her to his side for a kiss and whispered, "But not as beautiful as her aunt."
"Hush, she'll hear you and you'll give her a complex before she's even teething," Leigh said with affection as she kissed him on the cheek.
"Give her back to me," Lissianna said firmly, but an indulgent smile softened the words. "You're so wrapped up in each other, you're going to drop her."
"Never," Leigh assured her, but handed the baby back, knowing Lissianna just wanted to hold her.
Lissianna and Greg peered down at the child they'd created and smiled, then Greg glanced up and asked, "So how are the wedding arrangements going?"
"Great," Leigh said with amusement. "Bastien is taking care of everything."
"Bastien?" Lissianna said with amazement. "You're letting him handle your wedding arrangements?"
"And the honeymoon," Leigh said with a laugh. "He insisted I was too busy, what with running back and forth between Kansas and Toronto trying to get everything in order."
"And her pregnancy," Lucian murmured, rubbing one hand lightly over Leigh's still flat belly. He liked to bring it up at every opportunity. He was very pleased that she was pregnant and liked to rub it in the faces of his nephews at every turn. He'd gotten her pregnant the first night. Leigh suspected it had something to do with the fact that they all knew he hadn't had a lover in years before her, and he saw the pregnancy as some sort of proof of his virility. Men could be so cute in a pain-in-the-butt kind of way, she thought affectionately.
"Yes, but Bastien?" Lissianna asked. "He's supposed to be arranging his own wedding to Terri. He -- "
"Yes. He says it makes it easier, they just double up on everything," Leigh said with a grin, then added, "And Thomas and Donny are helping him."
"Dear God," Greg breathed. "It's going to be a surfer dude/gangsta wedding."
Leigh burst out laughing at the suggestion. "Don't be silly. It'll be fine. Bastien is riding heel on them. Besides, those two aren't as bad as you think. Donny is really quite sweet now that he's away from Morgan. Actually, he always was quite sweet. And he's grown up a lot since Lucian took over his training. Donny wants to be a hunter for the council when he grows up."
Lucian rolled his eyes at her comment. Leigh was very protective of, and doted on, the little twerp. She was right, though, Donny wasn't a bad lad, just a bit misguided. He hadn't set a foot down wrong since that day in the cottage. Though, truthfully, he hadn't done more than bite mortals before that. He'd refused to kill, much to Morgan's displeasure. It was the reason he'd been allowed to live. Donny had been misled by Morgan and bullied by him, and still refused to kill even a dog. The council decided to give him a second chance. But if he blew it... Lucian sincerely hoped he didn't. Leigh would be very hurt, and then he'd have to hunt him down personally for doing it. Morgan and the others hadn't received a second chance.
"Have you heard from Marguerite?" Leigh asked, drawing Lucian's attention back to the people around him.
Lissianna shook her head and frowned. "Actually, I'm really starting to worry. It isn't like Mom to stay out of contact this long. Especially with my being pregnant and everything."
Lucian frowned, too. It really wasn't like Marguerite, but he said, "I'm sure she's fine. Maria and Vittorio would call if anything had happened."
"If they could. We haven't been able to reach them either. They've checked out of the hotel and not left a forwarding address, or number, or anything. That just isn't like Mom."
Lucian frowned, then squeezed Leigh to his side. "Have you ever been to Europe?"
Leigh blinked. "No. I've never been out of the U.S... . Well, besides Toronto, I mean," she added wryly.
"Hmmm... How do you feel about croissants for breakfast?" he asked.
Leigh smiled slowly. "You mean real French croissants from France?"
Lucian nodded. "We could grab a company plane, hop over, check on Marguerite and tell her she's a grandmother." He grinned at the word. "Grandmother. That ought to freak her out a bit."
"You're a cruel man, Lucian," Leigh said solemnly, and he grinned.
"Actually," Greg commented, "I think she went to Italy."
"Italy?" Lucian said with surprise.
Greg nodded. "The guy she's working for is named Christian Notte. I'm sure it was Italy."
"Notte," Lucian said slowly, and frowned as something twigged in his memory.
Leigh eyed him curiously, then said, "Italy sounds good, too. It might be fun to try real pizza from Italy. Or -- Oh! Gelatos!"
"Gelatos?" Lucian asked.
"Italian ice cream. It's supposed to be very good."
"Yeah?" he asked with interest.
Leigh nodded.
"Okay, Italy it is," he announced, and glanced at Lissianna. "Stop worrying. You're a new mother, you have enough to worry about. Besides, you'll produce sour milk and give the baby a stomachache."
"I'm pretty sure that's an old wives' tale," Lissianna said with amusement.
"Well, old wives ought to know, right?" he said. "So stop worrying. Leigh and I will head to Italy and find your mother and tell her she's a grandma. She'll be back here on the next plane."
"I need to go down to Kansas before we go, Lucian," Leigh said as he steered her toward the door. "I have to make sure Milly -- "
He silenced her with a kiss and asked, "Have I told you I love you today?"
She shook her head.
"Well I do. You brighten up my life and make me laugh, Leigh. I love you."
"I love you too, Lucian," she murmured, and rested her head against his chest as they walked along the hall. They had reached the elevator when she suddenly asked, "Do they have bidets in Italy? I've always wanted to try one of those."
"Can I watch?" Lucian asked with a lascivious grin, and Leigh smacked him in the arm.
"God! All you think about is food and sex," she accused as they stepped onto the elevator. She then turned into his arms and kissed him lightly on the lips before murmuring, "And I wouldn't have it any other way."
