Casanova (Minnelli Family Series Book 1)

Gotta Work For It

A few days later, Zippy was sitting on her floor flipping through her design book from France. Her mind instantly picked up where she'd left off. Using a pencil and a marker, she put the finishing touches.

Then her doorbell rang. Amiri stood on the other side with flowers. She opens the door but doesn't greet him.

"Why are you here Minnelli? I'm busy." She doesn't give him eye contact.

"I came to see you...and the baby." He watches her slide back to her spot on the floor. Zipporah doesn't acknowledge what he said. She flips between several pages, seemingly not connected to each other at all.

"I know I messed up, Zipporah."

"Want a cookie?" her face doesn't change. She watches him put the flowers in a vase and sit on the couch beside her. The soft kicks almost made her want to smile but nope.

"What I gotta do? For you to see I'm serious." The tone in his voice caught her off guard. Her ears perk up. "I'm not leaving you or my kid."

"Okay...I'll be watching then." She doesn't look from what she's doing. "I find out the gender next Monday at 10 am. Hopefully your companies aren't more important than that." she scoots away and stands up using the couch. Her belly taking center stage. "You know what you did. And you know how fucked up it was. Figure it out." Zippy leaves the room to go take a shower.

"It's a boy Zip..." he yells from the front room.

"We'll see about that."

The next Monday, Amiri is irritated beyond measure but he's trying not to show it. "I have somewhere to be." He stands up, not even bothering to conclude the meeting. He'd temporarily moved his operating headquarters to Miami.

"Baby St. Victoire." The nurse calls her name. Zipporah stands up and heads to the back. She's dressed for the ultrasound.

"Sir, you can't just walk back there. You must be with someone with an appointment." Zippy instantly knows who's acting a whole fool in the reception area.

"Amiri Minnelli, stop acting a damn fool in this office!" she talks without even moving her lips.

"Minnelli?" the woman turns red instantly.

"Unfortunately. Come on here." Zippy pulls on his arm, pulling him behind her. Amiri licks his tongue out at the woman in victory. He liked having her attention. But we knew that.

"Now that has been settled, let's see what we're having." Her doctor smiles. Zippy's mother had a surgery that morning so she couldn't attend but she was going to be there.

Zippy holds her breath. She wants a girl. "It's a boy!"

"What!" she yells. Amiri fist pumps in celebration.

"Hold up...it's two boys. Twins!"

"WHAT!" Zippy can't believe it. Amiri is beside himself with the smugness.

"Nah Zip. Look at the screen. It's two Minnelli boys in there." He pokes his chest out. Two little babies had their privates proudly displayed on the screen. When the initial jubilation wore off, Amiri took the time to reflect.

Two more boys.

Now for the next battle...

"You are not naming my sons St. Victoire!" Amiri yells over her as she goes over names. Zippy ignores him.

"I like Alexander. But I need another name." she taps her pencil on her lip. Suddenly Aries and Antonio walk in Amiri's office.

"You just hollering down the hall like you crazy." Aries immediately starts fussing. A kick catches Zippy off guard.

"She won't listen to me. Naming my sons St. Victoire." He says her last name with a quiet disdain.

"So? Y'all ain't married nigga." Aries quips. Then he laughs. The more the baby could hear him, the more he kicked. Zippy noticed.

"Aries." She says the name. Kick. "Aries." Kick. "Aries." Kick.

"What?" he looks over at her in confusion. Her hand is on her belly, concentrating. She places Aries' hand on her belly.

"Aries." A strong kick this time.

"That's your name then." She writes it down and leaves the office without a word.