Copia knew he had more urgent things to worry about. He was a cardinal, for Satan's sake. He had Nihil and Imperator on his ass constantly, not to mention the well-meaning but relentless pushing from his older brothers. The last thing he needed right now was a baby, but looking at you now, he couldn't help but wonder.

You were lying in bed together, and while he usually insisted at being right at your side, tonight he was resting his head on your belly, leaving the occasional kiss there, along with a small stain from the black paint on his upper lip. He brushed his fingers over your navel, and you could feel the slight tremble in his fingers.

"You'd make a beautiful mother," he mutters, his ear pressed against your lower abdomen. "Assolutamente meraviglioso. We just have to hope they get your nose and not mine."

Another kiss, and he felt you shift beneath him. "I could find the time," he says.