Chapter 160: One or Two?

"Do I want children?" Giovanni repeated.

"Yes."

Giovanni studied him for a moment. "That came out of nowhere."

"I know." Alexander shifted in his chair. "I haven’t really thought that far into the future before. But after Arturo’s funeral, I started thinking about family and what people leave behind."

"And children somehow made it onto the list."

"Eventually."

Giovanni nodded slowly. "What about you?"

Alexander considered the question properly this time.

"I’m not against it."

"That isn’t exactly enthusiasm."

"I’ve had approximately five minutes to consider becoming a father. Give me a little time."

A faint smile appeared on Giovanni’s face.

For years, children had existed somewhere in that distant category of things Alexander assumed he’d eventually have to think about. His future already seemed planned enough: Vance Holdings, his grandfather’s expectations, and the marriage to Dominic everyone assumed would eventually happen.

Children hadn’t exactly been a priority while he spent most of his waking hours running a company.

Now that he was actually being asked what he wanted, however, the answer wasn’t particularly difficult.

"But no," he added after a moment. "I don’t think I’d want us to be childless forever."

Giovanni’s expression softened.

"Neither would I."

Hearing that made the conversation suddenly feel more real.

They’d discussed marriage plenty of times, although most of those conversations had revolved around the practical reasons behind their arrangement.

They’d never talked about a child waiting for them at home.

Or possibly children.

Alexander glanced at him. "One?"

"I don’t know."

"Two?"

"Possibly."

"That’s a very decisive answer."

"We’re discussing hypothetical children we haven’t even decided how to have yet."

"Fair."

Giovanni took another sip of coffee.

"Would it matter to you if they were biologically ours?"

Alexander thought about it.

There were plenty of possibilities. They could have a child biologically related to one of them, or perhaps each of them could father one if they eventually wanted two. Adoption was another option.

None of them sounded wrong.

"I don’t think so," he finally said. "It might be nice if one looked like you."

Giovanni glanced at him.

Alexander smiled. "Preferably with my personality."

"That sounds unfortunate for the child."

"Excuse me?"

"I’ve known you since childhood. I have evidence."

"So have I, Mercer."

"I was an excellent child."

"You were competitive and annoying."

"With Dominic."

"With everyone."

Giovanni didn’t bother defending himself.

Alexander laughed softly.

He could almost imagine it, which was perhaps the strangest part. A smaller version of Giovanni with the same dark hair and serious expression, silently judging everyone from across the breakfast table.

Then again, knowing his luck, any child who inherited Giovanni’s appearance and Alexander’s personality would probably learn how to weaponize both before kindergarten.

Alexander wasn’t sure society deserved that.

"We could have one biologically," he continued. "Or two, if we wanted each of us to father one. We could adopt too."

"Or both."

Alexander looked at him. "Both?"

"One biological. One adopted."

"That could work."

The ease with which Giovanni said it surprised him. Not because Alexander had expected him to object, but because he’d somehow assumed this would be one of those conversations requiring extensive research and possibly a spreadsheet.

Instead, they were sitting beneath a veranda after midnight, discovering they were surprisingly compatible when it came to hypothetical children.

"Would you want two?" Alexander asked.

"I think so."

That answer was considerably more definite.

Alexander raised an eyebrow. "You’ve thought about this before."

"Occasionally."

"And you accused me of bringing it up out of nowhere."

"I didn’t say I’d never considered having children."

"You neglected to mention it."

"You never asked."

Alexander opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Unfortunately, that was true.

He’d proposed marriage before asking Giovanni whether he even wanted children. For someone who’d approached the original proposal like a business arrangement, Alexander had apparently conducted remarkably poor due diligence.

"You know, this probably should’ve come up before I asked you to marry me."

"Probably."

"You could’ve mentioned it."

"I was distracted by the proposal."

Alexander narrowed his eyes. "You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?"

"No."

At least Giovanni was consistent.

Alexander smiled, then returned to the more important question.

"I don’t think I’d care which one was biologically mine."

Giovanni turned toward him.

"If we raised them together, they’d be ours anyway."

"Yes."

The answer came without hesitation.

That was probably the easiest part of this entire conversation. Whatever they eventually decided, Alexander knew he wouldn’t consider one child more theirs simply because one of them happened to share their blood.

"What kind of father do you think you’d be?"

Giovanni’s brow lifted. "We’re conducting interviews now?"

"I need to know what I’m getting into."

"You already agreed to marry me."

"Marriage apparently comes with insufficient disclosure."

"I’ll have my lawyers prepare an amendment."

Alexander laughed. "I’m serious."

Giovanni considered it.

"I don’t know. I’d try to be a good one."

The simplicity of the answer caught Alexander off guard.

Giovanni looked down at his coffee.

"My father wasn’t perfect, but I never doubted that he loved me. I’d want my children to know the same thing."

Alexander’s smile softened.

"I think that’s a good start."

"What about you?"

Alexander considered giving him an equally serious answer.

Then he remembered exactly who had raised him.

"I’ll probably feed them."

Giovanni stared at him.

"A lot."

"Your mother has already trained you."

"Exactly. They won’t stand a chance."

Rosalie would probably consider grandchildren an entirely new category of people who weren’t eating enough. Alexander could already imagine her following some unfortunate child around with fruit while insisting they’d become thinner since breakfast.

Alejandro wouldn’t be much better.

The image made Alexander smile, but it also brought another realization.

Their children would have grandparents.

Whether those children came to them through blood or adoption wouldn’t matter to Rosalie. Alexander doubted Alejandro would care either.

They would simply be family.

Alexander leaned back and stared toward the darkened garden.

"There’s another problem."

"What?"

"Where are we putting these hypothetical children?"

Giovanni raised an eyebrow. "I assume inside a house."

"Thank you. Very helpful."

"You asked."

"I meant which house."

That was another thing they hadn’t discussed.

Alexander had his own properties, while Giovanni had his penthouse and other residences. There was also the Vance ancestral home, although Alexander had never seriously imagined moving back permanently.

Somehow, two men who had already agreed to get married hadn’t even decided where they intended to live afterward.

"Your penthouse?" Alexander asked.

"If you want."

"That sounds suspiciously easy."

"Would you prefer an argument?"

"No. I’m wondering whether you actually want to stay there."

Giovanni considered it.

"I like the penthouse."

"So do I."

"But it was chosen for one person."

Alexander understood.

It was an impressive home, but Giovanni had lived there long before Alexander wandered inside and proposed marriage. Moving there permanently would mean Alexander joining Giovanni’s existing home rather than the two of them choosing one together.

"My place has the same problem," Alexander admitted.

"Then we could choose somewhere else."

"A new house?"

"If that’s what we want."

Alexander liked that answer more than he’d expected.

"Or we could keep both places for now," Giovanni added. "There’s no reason we have to decide immediately."

"Especially since our imaginary children aren’t arriving next week."

"I would hope not. We haven’t prepared a room."

Alexander laughed.

No need to decide tonight. They could keep their existing homes until they figured out what suited them, then eventually buy or build something together.

The last possibility appealed to Alexander most.

Something that wouldn’t begin as Giovanni’s home or his own.

It would simply be theirs.

"If we eventually have children, I’d probably want a house," Alexander said.

"So would I."

"With a yard, but not too far from the city."

"That would be practical."

"And separate offices."

"Definitely."

Alexander narrowed his eyes. "You agreed to that awfully fast."

"I know you."

Unfortunately, that was fair.

"And enough bedrooms," Giovanni added.

"For two children?"

Giovanni’s expression remained perfectly composed.

"You’ve already decided on two?"

"You’re the one who asked one or two."

"I didn’t realize I was taking a vote."

"You asked for my opinion."

"And your opinion is two?"

"I think I’d like two."

There it was again, that strange warmth Alexander hadn’t expected from such a hypothetical conversation.

He smiled.

"All right."

Giovanni looked at him. "All right?"

"I think I’d like two too."

"Biological?"

"Maybe."

"Adopted?"

"Maybe."

"One of each?"

Alexander shrugged. "We’ll figure it out."

Giovanni nodded. "We will."

Alexander took another sip of coffee.

Somehow, what had started as a question about children had turned into a conversation about the kind of life they might build together. They might have two children someday, or their plans might change. They might eventually find a house with enough space for a family and, apparently, separate offices that Giovanni considered nonnegotiable.

None of those details needed an answer tonight.

What mattered was how natural it felt to imagine Giovanni being there for whatever came next.

Only yesterday, marriage had still existed somewhere in the future as something they’d agreed to do eventually. Tonight, after discovering that Alexander no longer needed to marry Giovanni for any of the reasons that had originally driven him to propose, they were finally talking about what their life might actually look like afterward.

Not merely the wedding itself, but the marriage that came after it.

Alexander frowned.

For two men who had just discussed children and where they might eventually raise them, they’d overlooked one rather obvious detail.

They still hadn’t decided when they’d get married.