Deadliest Desire Bonus Content
Bonus scene
Gender reveal
Matteo
“So, Mrs. Antonova, are we finding out?” I ask as Dani hops onto the medical table.
She grins at me, and my heart clenches in my chest.
We’ve only been married for a month, but it’s been the best damn month of my life. After spending two weeks in Mexico on our honeymoon—read: me spending two weeks in my wife’s sweet pussy—we returned, and life went back to normal.
A few months ago, normal meant a quiet condo. Now, it involves me cooking for my wife, her baking for me, us watching TV together, and me reading a new book to her since we finished The Giver—holy shit, that book was insane!
Normal means lying in bed with Dani and rubbing her belly, even though she still hasn’t started showing. It means Sunday family dinners at Peyton and Dominick’s house. Talking baby names and colors schemes. It means babyproofing the condo, even though she pointed out that we have more than enough time to do so.
I never thought any of this would become my norm, but now, I couldn’t imagine it any other way.
“I think we should,” she says. “I don’t want to do anything crazy for the gender reveal, but I think it’d be fun to have everyone place some bets and see what they think.”
The ultrasound tech comes in, and Dani lifts her shirt so she can get started. I move to stand next to Dani and thread our fingers together as we watch the screen. Because of her not showing and unable to feel the baby yet, she’s worried that something might go wrong and she won’t know, but I told her we can’t worry about what-ifs. In our life, anything can happen at any time, and all we can do is live for the moment.
Within a few seconds, a loud whooshing sound fills the room.
“One forty,” the tech says. “Heartbeat is perfect.”
She points out the baby’s limbs, head, and neck, telling us everything looks good while she takes various measurements. And I can’t stop staring at the image in front of us because, holy shit …
“That’s our baby,” I murmur to Dani, who sniffles in agreement.
“And do we want to find out the sex?” the tech asks, glancing at Dani and me.
“We do,” I tell her, squeezing Dani’s hand and smiling down at her. “But we’d like for it to be written down for a gender reveal.”
She nods and goes about taking a few more screenshots, showing us the baby’s nose and mouth—which I swear already look like Dani’s—and confirms everything matches with her due date.
When she’s done, she prints out the sonogram and puts one into an envelope for the gender reveal, congratulating us. I take the pictures and glance down at them, mesmerized by the little baby growing in her belly.
“He’s grown so much,” I say to Dani. “Did you know that he’s the size of a pair of clippers?”
The tech laughs, and Dani shakes her head, used to my shit. In my defense, I was only looking for a chart to see how big the baby was. I’m not the one who compared a baby to objects like light bulbs and golf balls. But the chart is awesome, so naturally, I printed it out and hung it on the fridge, right next to the first sonogram.
The tech cleans up Dani’s stomach, and then we go to the room to wait for the doctor.
A few minutes later, she comes in and introduces herself to me since it’s my first time meeting her, and we talk for a few minutes. I have a lot of questions, and she answers them all.
Once I’m done, since Dani’s blood work was perfect, the doctor tells her to keep doing what she’s doing and she’ll see us next month.
“What do you want to do for the gender reveal?” I ask Dani on our way home.
Hopefully, whatever it is will be soon because I’m dying to start the nursery.
“I was thinking since Sunday is family dinner, we could do it then. Have everyone guess and then do a cake with the color of the gender.”
I smirk at her, knowing she only wants the cake because it’s become her one craving. Ever since we taste-tested the wedding cake samples, she’s become addicted to cake, so several times a week, I make it a point to stop by the bakery and get her a slice of a different flavor.
“And what flavor are you thinking?”
“Chocolate. No, lemon.” She shakes her head. “Chocolate with coconut frosting. Mmm … yeah, that sounds perfect.”
***
“It’s a boy,” Dominick says, pinning a hundred-dollar bill to the corkboard.
To make it fun, each guess is accompanied by a hundred-dollar bill, and whoever wins gets the pot.
“Boy,” Walter agrees, pinning a bill to the corkboard as well.
“Boy,” Lorenzo agrees, pinning his bill on top of Walter’s.
“Boy,” Peyton adds.
“Does everyone think it’s a boy?” my mom asks with a laugh.
“We do,” I say.
“Actually”—Dani grins—“I think it’s a girl.”
“What? Since when? I thought you said you thought it was a boy.”
“No, I said I referred to it as a boy because there are already three boys, so that’s what I pictured. But I think she’s a girl.” Dani grabs a pin and sticks it on the girl side.
“I think it’s a boy,” Damien says, pinning the bill Dominick gave him onto the board. “And hopefully, he’ll play with me ’cause my brothers don’t play with me.”
Dominick stifles a laugh, and Peyton sighs.
“Unfortunately, the baby will be little, like your brothers,” Peyton tells him gently. “So, he won’t be able to play with you either. At least not for a little while.”
“What?” Damien pouts. “Then, I’m keeping my money.” He snatches his bill back and shoves it into his pocket before he runs off.
“I think she’s a girl,” Bri says. “We have enough testosterone around here. We need a girl.”
“I agree,” Mom says. “I think she’s a girl.”
“Wait!” Peyton grabs her bill. “I’m changing mine to a girl.”
“You know whatever the gender is won’t change based on you changing your vote?” I laugh.
“I know.” She sticks her tongue out. “But I’m choosing women power.”
“We already know you think he’s a boy,” I argue.
“I’m going with a boy,” Ian says, pinning his bill to the board.
“Boy,” George agrees.
“I’m obviously going boy,” I say because the thought of having a little girl is too scary to consider.
“Looks like it’s boys versus girls,” Mom says. “Ready to find out?”
“Damien, you want some cake?” I call out.
“Yes!” He comes running over. “Is it a boy or girl?”
“We have to cut the cake to find out,” I tell him. “Pink—it’s a girl. Blue—it’s a boy.”
Dani and I grab the knife and cut a piece together.
When we lift it off the plate, Damien yells, “Ah man, it’s a chocolate baby!”
Everyone laughs as we set the piece onto the plate.
When we look down, in the middle of the chocolate cake is bright pink frosting.
“It’s a girl!” the women shout.
Dani looks at me with a bright smile on her face, and my first thought is that I hope she has her mother’s smile and green eyes.
And my second thought is that I’m going to need to up security because, holy fucking shit, we’re having a girl.
***
Bonus scene
The baby kicks for the first time.
Daniella
“Not to sound cliché, but I like the pink.”
Matteo sighs. “I knew you were going to say that, but it’s not—”
“One of the soothing colors,” I finish with a laugh. “I know, but I still like it.”
We’re standing in the furniture and decor department at an adorable boutique baby store downtown, trying to pick out the bedding so we can pick out the paint for the nursery. Matteo wants a soothing color, but I’ve fallen in love with the sweetest bedding set—literally. It has various desserts all over the sheets—cakes, cupcakes, pies.
“Are you just saying that because you’re obsessed with cake?” he asks, quirking a brow.
“No.” I laugh. “Though it is fitting.”
I step toward the sheets and rub my belly, which has finally popped out enough that I was able to buy maternity pants.
“What do you think, little one?” I ask since we haven’t decided on a name yet. “Do you want yummy desserts all over your—”
My words are cut off when something bumps the palm of my hand, making me gasp.
“Oh my God, Matteo!” I shriek.
“What?” he hisses, coming to my side. “What’s wrong?”
My hand is bumped again, and tears prick my eyes.
“I felt her kick!”
I grab his hand and place it on my stomach in the same spot where mine was and wait. For the past few weeks, I’ve started to feel small flutterings, but nothing like this.
We stand still for several beats, and just when I think it’s not going to happen again, my stomach tightens, and Matteo sucks in a harsh breath, his eyes going to mine.
“I felt her,” he whispers, then drops onto his knees and lifts my shirt. “Hey, sweet girl,” he murmurs. “Are you having fun in there?”
Another kick, and Matteo looks up at me with glassy eyes. “Holy shit, Dani. She’s kicking.”
“She is,” I choke out. “And I think it’s totally a sign that she wants the dessert sheets.”
Matteo snorts out a laugh. “Is that what you want?” he asks my belly.
We wait a few seconds, and then she kicks.
“Okay, sweet girl,” he says, giving my belly a kiss. “Daddy will buy you the dessert sheets.” He stands and glances at the sheets. “At least they have beige in them.”