Pet glanced both ways up the hall, he noticed, before following and pushing the button for her floor.
“What were you looking for?” Santo asked, suspecting he already knew.
“Oh, the apartment manager usually likes to jump out and try to scare me whenever I’m coming or going. But I didn’t see him when we arrived earlier either. It makes me wonder if everything is okay with him.”
“Does he?” Santo asked, and when she glanced up at him, added, “Scare you?”
Pet snorted at the suggestion. “That old geezer? I could take him with both hands tied behind my back. Although,” she added with a wry smile, “he did manage to startle me the first couple of times after I moved in.” She shrugged. “I’m used to it now, though.” Pet frowned before adding, “I do worry about the other ladies here, though. There are a couple of old biddies I suspect are terrified of him and I’ve been thinking maybe I should write a letter to the owners of the building and let them know what he gets up to. I swear he spies on everyone coming and going, which isn’t so bad. I mean, no one’s likely to get in without his knowing, but I think he needs to lay off the tenants. If he did that, he’d be the perfect manager.”
Pet started to chatter about some of the other tenants in the building then. Santo suspected she was just babbling a bit because she was a little uncomfortable with him after what had happened between them. He listened to her with half an ear, but a good portion of his mind was now considering her words, and he was wondering if he should have given the manager the order to go home, turn off his cameras, and not bother his tenants again. It did poke a big hole in the security set up in this place.
He’d stop at the man’s door and have a word with him on his way out tonight, Santo decided. Have him turn his cameras back on and watch them as he apparently did normally.
“Here we go.”
Santo shifted his attention to the doors as they began to slide open, but let Pet get off first before turning sideways and following.
Eleven
“Well?”
Pet smiled faintly at Parker’s impatient demand the minute the credits began to roll, but admitted, “It was good. I really enjoyed it.”
“I told you it was good,” Parker crooned, hopping out of the overstuffed chair he’d been sitting in and dancing excitedly around the room. “Guardians of the Galaxy rocks! I’ve watched it like thirty times and it’s still good every time.”
“What?” she squawked, grabbing the couch pillow beside her and tossing it at her excited nephew. She missed him by a mile, but he did stop and grin at her. Shaking her head, she asked, “Why did you want me to buy it if you’ve already seen it? And thirty times?”
“Because it’s an awesome movie,” her nephew said in a tone that suggested that should be obvious. “The second one is pretty awesome too. Not as good as the first, of course, but still good. Can we watch that now? Please?”
Pet glanced at the wall clock above the gas fireplace and shook her head. “Sorry, buddy, it’s a school night. Bed for you.”
“Ahhh,” he whined. “Tomorrow then?”
“Maybe tomorrow,” Pet allowed with a small smile. She really had enjoyed the movie.
“Awesome!” Parker squealed and then hurried back to the chair where he’d been sitting and snatched up Mrs. Wiggles from the huge cushioned footstool she’d been resting on in front of it. The poor cat had been sleeping. She woke at once and was obviously disgruntled at being jarred awake, but Parker petted her soothingly and headed out of the room, cooing, “Come on, Mrs. Wiggles. We have to get ready for bed. Tomorrow is a school day.”
Pet watched him go, an affectionate smile curving her lips.
“You really love him.”
Pet glanced to Santo at that rumbled comment. He was slouched on the opposite end of the couch with his ankles crossed, feet resting on the coffee table, and his hands clasped on his chest. He’d been so still and unmoving through most of the movie that she’d been sure he was asleep. But every time she’d looked at him, his eyes had been open, and she was quite sure she’d heard him chuckle a time or two.
“Of course I love him,” she said finally. “He’s my little man. And probably the closest I’ll get to having a child of my own.”
Santo glanced at her sharply, his eyebrows rising. “Why?”
Pet shrugged and sat up to begin gathering the glasses and plates on the coffee table from their pizza meal as she informed him, “I’ll turn thirty-seven next month, without a serious partner or even any real prospects in sight. And I’m not the type to do the whole test tube baby thing and raise a kid on my own. Although, I did consider it earlier this year,” she admitted, standing with the items she’d gathered and heading for the kitchen.
Santo and Parker had set up the television and her laptop on top of the fireplace mantel in the living room and connected everything while she’d transferred the plates and napkins Parker had gathered to the coffee table and fetched drinks. She’d then brought out the pizzas as well before using her laptop to purchase Guardians of the Galaxy on iTunes at Parker’s insistence. It had been past seven when they’d sat down to pizza and a movie. Guardians of the Galaxy was two hours long. Of course, they’d finished eating well before the movie ended. But it had all been good. A nice family type night she thought they’d all enjoyed.
“You considered having a child on your own?” Santo asked, following her with the remainder of their detritus from dinner.
“Well, sure,” Pet said as she placed pizza crusts and napkins in the garbage and put the plates and glasses in the dishwasher. Straightening, she added, “I mean, I’m a realist. It’s getting late in the day to count on the right man coming along. And then you have to figure the time schedule.”
“Time schedule?” Santo queried uncertainly.
“Well, the guy’s not going to propose right away, so maybe you date a year, and then you’re engaged for at least another year. Plus, few men would want to have a baby directly after marrying. Couples need to adjust to each other before they bring a baby into the equation, so figure at least another year before you start trying to get pregnant . . . And then there’s the nine months for gestation. Even if I met Mr. Right tomorrow, and everything went perfectly I’d probably be at least forty-one, maybe even forty-two before I squeezed the poor kid out.”
She shrugged. “But that’s doubtful. Once you hit forty, fertility decreases, so I’m not likely to get pregnant on the first try. And then there are the increased risks for both the baby and the mother at this age. The risk of hypertension, gestational diabetes, and preeclampsia increase. So do the possibilities of miscarriages and chromosomal abnormalities.” She sighed at the thought of it, and then said, “But even if I did get lucky and I had a healthy baby on the first try . . .” Pet grimaced and asked, “Having a baby at forty-one or -two? That means I’d be a tired fifty when they’re an energetic eight, and I’d be sixty when they graduated from high school. And if they wait to forty themselves to have a kid, it’s fifty-fifty as to whether I’d even be around to see my grandchildren. But if I was, I wouldn’t necessarily be in the best physical shape to help out with things like babysitting and stuff.”
Crossing her arms, Pet admitted, “So, I considered going IVF and having one right away.”
“But you decided against it,” Santo said quietly.
Pet hesitated, and then said, “I guess I’m old-fashioned. I believe a child should have two parents. I also believe a parent should have a partner or at least someone to back them up raising a child, and while I have my sister and my parents, they’re all doctors, always busy. They don’t have the time to be my backup. So . . .” She shrugged. “Barring a miracle, or an accident, I’m probably not going to have kids.”
Pet fell silent then and waited for his response but began to feel uncomfortable when she noted the expression on Santo’s face. The man looked like he’d just been hit by a Mack Truck. Raising her eyebrows, she asked, “What?”
Santo shook his head. “I can see where Parker gets it.”
“What?” she asked on a half laugh, bewildered by the comment.
“His tendency to think so much and spit out facts and data,” he said in a rumble.
Before Pet could respond, Parker rushed in to the kitchen. He was in his pajamas, face scrubbed clean, and teeth brushed, ready for his good-night cuddle. Pet smiled at the boy and bent to kiss his cheek and hug him. As she straightened, she reminded him, “Don’t forget to set your alarm on your cell phone.”
“I won’t,” he promised, and then surprised her by moving around her to give Santo a hug good-night too.
If she was surprised, it was no less than Santo. His eyes widened incredulously, but he did hug the boy back, and even ruffled his hair affectionately, before watching with a somewhat bemused smile as Parker ran out of the room again.
“Kids, huh?” she said with a smile, and then turned to the coffee machine and began to make a pot.
“Yes,” Santo murmured, and then announced, “I would like to have another child. Actually I would like to have many more.”
Pet stiffened and then turned to peer at him. “You have a child? You’re married?”
“No, I am not married,” Santo assured her firmly, and then added, “But I had children with a female immortal who was not my life mate. Five of them. Twin boys, twin girls, and then a lone boy.” His jawline clenched briefly, and she saw pain flicker in his eyes, and then he added, “They are dead now, along with their mother.”
Pet let her breath out slowly and then swallowed before turning back to the coffee machine and murmuring, “I’m sorry. What happened to them?”
Santo was silent for so long that she was sure he wouldn’t respond. Pet didn’t press him or comment, she simply continued going about the business of making coffee and then moved away to get cups, sugar, and cream. She had just finished gathering the items and returned to watch the coffee begin to drip when Santo released a long sigh and then said, “House fire.”