Annette had no desire to push it and perhaps have him back out on letting her stay with the baby that night. If she could give her sister and brother-in-law a night of uninterrupted rest, she was going to.
"It sounds like you'll have plenty of time holding little Jocinda tonight," Carlo said smugly. "She is content with me right now."
"Until your phone rings," Annette teased.
Carlo shook his head. "You are feeling very brave when I have a baby in my arms."
"I don't remember Annette ever hesitating to tease you before," Fantino offered with a tired smile.
"Why Jocinda?" Carlo asked, ignoring his brother's comment. "Mama and Papa were wondering as well. It is not a family name on either side."
"Isn't it?" Fantino asked, his tone implying he thought Carlo should know the answer to his own question.
"I have never heard it used."
"Do you have to use family names for your children?" Annette asked lightly. "Surely, that would get confusing."
"No, of course not. We Messinas are not that hidebound," Carlo said.
"Well, then…" Annette didn't know why, but she was loathe to be there when someone explained to Carlo that his baby niece had been named for her, and not just her, but the nickname that had played so heavily in the scandal that followed their breakup.
Cinderella.
All discussion was abandoned when Valentina arrived on the scene, insistent on holding her first grandchild. "Your father and I are keeping the baby tonight, so you and dear Joyce can sleep through."
"I already offered," Annette said when Fantino just stared at his mother, like he was trying to parse her words.
"Nonsense," Valentina said with finality. "You are young. Go out, enjoy yourself tonight. I am sure my son can be prevailed upon to accompany you."
"Fantino?" Annette asked senselessly.
But Valentina couldn’t possibly mean Carlo, could she? And she didn't have any other sons.
Valentina's laugh startled the baby, who was quickly settled, but not before Joyce arrived looking harried. "Is she alright?"
"She is fine,cara. Do not worry. Her grandmother has her."
Both Messina men stared at their mother like the sight of her with a babe in her arms was entirely unexpected.
Annette rolled her eyes. "She had you both, if you will remember."
But the two brothers just shrugged. Like that didn't signify.
Valentina cooed down at the baby, ignoring her sons. Or so Annette thought.
"The boys think because I left certain care to their nannies and grandmother that I do not know how to care for a baby, I suppose. My causes kept me from them too often, but just as Alceu has had to slow down, so have I. I have every intention of spending lots of quality time with my first grandchild."
The look on Carlo's face was a cross between shock and pain.
And another thing about this man slotted into place. Valentina had been an absentee mother and Annette already knew their father had been a workaholic. So, that left their grandmother and the nannies.
Annette finally understood why his mother's volunteerism was not a source of pride so much as pain for Carlo, and clearly Fantino as well.
What she did not understand was why they didn't seem to blame their father for being equally, if not more absent from their formative years?
Annette would never question the power of Valentina's will again. Not when she sat in the passenger seat of Carlo's sleek black sports car.
"You'll be 35 this year, don't you think it's time for a more sedate form of transportation?" she joked as the scent of the leather upholstery teased her senses.