The Twelve Tables Ch. 16

After two weeks full of highs for both of them, Josh and Peri spent the weekend alone turning down a myriad of offers for dinner or drinks with friends and relatives. It was Sunday afternoon when Josh broached a subject he had been considering since they both returned to work. He hesitated because he didn't know how she would feel on the subject. He worried that not having been brought up in a family like his, she would take the suggestion of a housekeeper as a comment on her abilities rather than the benefit it would be to them.

He propped himself up on the couch cushions as she walked out of the bathroom and smiled at him. He was constantly amazed by how aroused she made him. He watched every move as she went to the kitchen to get a drink, the fresh lines on her skin making him relive the last few hours where she had submitted to his needs and slaked her own at the same time. She was his perfect other half and the idea that she could have left him seemed a distant memory for now.

"Sit with me," he said stretching out a hand toward her. Peri laughed and took his hand snuggling into his reclining body.

"This isn't exactly sitting," she said laying her head on his chest.

"I like this better," he said wrapping his arms around her. "This weekend is exactly what we needed, taking some time for us and the house." He spoke carefully edging toward what he wanted to say.

"We've just been so busy that we haven't had time for all the mundane things. We'll get into a routine and it will all work out," she added in a hopeful tone. She knew she had been rushing to get washing done and had been putting Josh's shirts in for dry cleaning rather than deal with them herself. They ate out or defrosted leftovers rather than cook during the week and she promised herself she would try harder to be a more attentive wife for Josh.

"We both have careers that require a lot of our time and attention. Maybe we could think about getting a housekeeper a few days a week just to take care of a few of those mundane things and maybe a home cooked meal or two during the week," he suggested tentatively. "You really should be eating better now."

"Do you think we could?" Peri leant up and looked at Josh. "I mean, I don't mind doing it but your right we have been so busy and I feel like I am on a tight schedule with these volumes," she stopped speaking as he put a finger on her lips.

"Yes, I think we could. I worry about you trying to do too much and you need to look after my son as well now," Josh said with a grin. Relief was evident in his voice as he took in her immediate agreement. "I'll call Mama and see if she will send us one of her girls until a suitable one can be found. One that can become part of our household."

"Wait," Peri said as his words sank in, "One of the house girls? A slave? You want a slave girl?" She asked incredulously remembering her conversations with Joseph about slave girls.

"I want a housekeeper, maybe one that also has some experience at being a nanny. The training they receive at the farm and the Battaglia facility in some cases is the best possible. I couldn't trust my home and family to anyone less qualified," he said not understanding her reaction.

"I thought you might wait for a year or two before wanting to move one of those women into our house," she said sadly. "And your mother will think I can't look after you properly on my own."

"Not all of the house staff are kept women," Josh laughed realising what she was thinking. "Even if they were I have no interest in anyone but you and your sexy body." He ran his hands over her curves as she reclined against him. "I would hate to think you didn't trust me."

"I trust you, but I know that your family looks at the Kept as a necessary evil. I can hear Papa explaining it to me in my head," she knew she was silly but she couldn't help it.

"I don't need that in my life but what I do need is to spend more time relaxing with you and I can't do that if you are rushing around doing laundry and cleaning every spare moment when we are home," Josh tried to reason with her.

"You're right I'm being silly," she sighed. "Emily, Carmen and Bianca have nanny's and housekeepers," she added trying to reassure herself but her insecurities were hard to repress once they got hold her.

"Why don't we talk to Mama when we go down for the gathering next weekend," he suggested taking the pressure of committing to the idea immediately away. "We can survive another week the way we have been and after the gathering things will only get busier for you at work with the arrival of the archivists from the other tables so we will need someone by then."

"That sounds like a good idea. Then I can choose a skinny grandmotherly type who will bake us cookies, instead of being interested in yours," she grinned. She also realised that he was giving her time to get used to the idea of letting another person into their home. "It would probably be best if we told them I was expecting before we asked for someone with experience as a nanny," she said seriously. She hadn't wanted to tell anyone else until she was sure everything was alright with the baby. Pete had booked her in for an ultrasound this week and while she was trying to stay positive, she was worried about medications she had been taking when she fell pregnant despite his reassurances.

*****

Peri found that the following week flew by in a whirl of activity as she struggled to accomplish everything she wanted to before leaving for the farm on the weekend. The men and women she had chosen for her team had come together beautifully and Darius had risen as the undisputed leader of the small group with his easy charm and self-assurance. Peri found that they looked to him for guidance because he was on top of everything Peri was trying to do in the space they had been given.

She found that quite often he was one step ahead of her having followed her line of thinking and he was wonderful in working with the staff in the Auction house, particularly Emilio and Dante. He began to take on the responsibility of the front desk and handled the calls from the chairs of the other tables as if he were born to it and knew them well

The girls seemed to revel in every discovery they made and consulted with Silvio who had a vast knowledge and a seemingly photographic memory when it came to the books they had already catalogued and what era's they belong to. His strength became the organisation of the library which had been assembled with only a rudimentary knowledge of the books it contained. Each team member seemed to be finding a niche that was theirs alone and Peri felt confident leaving the team to the tasks she had assigned knowing she would get a daily report from each of them via email.

She had given the girls the small amount of research she had started on the Battaglia family as well as a copy of the books she had created for Joseph and explained the concepts behind each and their history. She encouraged them to research as they catalogued and add notes to a file she had created for each family, about books that may be of interest to the archivists, who would look further into the family histories. She planned to impress each of the representatives from the tables with her team's thoroughness and dedication to the project.

It was Wednesday afternoon when Josh walked into Peri's Athenaeum to meet her team and drag her away from her work to see Pete for the ultrasound he had scheduled for her. Darius looked up in surprise at someone new entering his domain and immediately came to his feet extending his hand in greeting.

"Hello, I'm Darius and you are?" He said in his genial friendly way.

"I would be the neglected husband," he nodded his head toward where Peri sat between the two women at the far end of the round table.

"It's nice to meet you finally Joshua," Darius said, "I'll let her know you're here."

"No need, I can walk that far," Josh said easily and began to walk through the room. Peri looked up as he drew close and smiled at him before checking her watch and pulling a face.

"I'm running late again aren't I?" she asked looking up at him. "I'll grab my bag and we can go."

"Slow down and at least introduce me to the people you're spending so much time with lately," he chuckled. The women both came to their feet and shook his hand as Peri introduced them and looked around for Silvio, who was in one of the alcoves rearranging a set of books they had discovered earlier that day.

"Silvio?" she called out and he immediately stepped out into the centre area. "Come and meet my husband, Josh."

"Joshua Craig," Silvio said as he walked toward the small group. "I had hoped I would meet you. My Uncle Ryan worked with you up until this year."

"Oh?" Joshua raised an eyebrow both at the name he was called and the reference to the publishing house he had recently left.

"You had quite a reputation, he spoke of you often," Silvio said.

"I'm not sure I want to know the details of that," Josh joked.

"It was all good," Silvio chuckled with him. "He said you were a stickler for facts and details. You were tough but fair."

"When your projects complete I might have to steal this one for my company," he said with a wink at Peri. "It was nice to meet you all but we do have an appointment to get to." He put his hand out to take Peris.

"I'll see you all tomorrow," Peri said with a smile taking his hand and picking up her bag as they walked passed the front desk. She waved to Dante as she passed the office and hurried out to Josh's waiting car. He sped through the peak hour traffic and she wondered how she was still not used to his driving as she grabbed the seat when he swung into the car park.

"I hope you're going to slow down a bit when we have a baby in the car," she laughed lightly.

"What?" he looked at her innocently. "I was doing the speed limit some of the way. We were running late so I had to push it a little bit at times."

"Amber lights mean slow down not go faster," she teased as she got out of the car.

"I think you might have that part wrong," he chuckled and they walked inside together to meet Pete, who had wanted to do the scan himself and consult with an obstetrician immediately to alleviate Peri's anxiety.

Pete knew that Peri wanted to be sure that everything was perfect considering the timing of the conception and if he was honest, he too had a few concerns for her as well. She had been through a big trauma and rather than the slow well rested recovery he had advised she had been pushing herself through one major event after another. His concern lay with the impact the pregnancy would have on her still recovering body. While physically and mentally she seemed to be almost back to normal he knew that the trauma of what Nik had done to her would affect her over the longer term.

Peri had worn loose clothing so that she wouldn't have to change into a gown to expose her belly for the scan so she wiggled her skirt lower on her hips and lay up on the bed. Josh came to her side and pulled up a stool taking her hand in his.

"You ready for this?" he asked trying to keep the excitement from his voice knowing she was anxious and sharing some of her concerns.

"As ready as I will ever be," she smiled and put her free hand against his cheek. "I love you." She smiled softly and he bent his head to hers kissing her lightly.

"Gees," Pete said walking into the room. "They can't keep their hands off each other for five minutes," he commented to the woman at his side. "I imagine they will keep you in business over the next few years.

"That's the plan," Josh chuckled sitting back up and looking at the pair.

"Hello Peri, how are you feeling today?" Dr Anna Bellino inquired smiling at the newlywed couple.

"I feel great," Peri said truthfully. "Aside from a little nausea now and then, I feel better than ever."

"That's wonderful. You are one of the lucky ones who seem to blossom and glow when pregnant," Anna enthused. "Let's have a look at baby shall we?"

Pete took the gel out of the warming container and squirted a liberal amount across her belly. Peri craned her head as the scanner ran over her belly making an image appear on the screen. The imaged changed and moved as Pete and Anna discussed in quiet tones the best angles to capture images.

"Everything is looking fairly normal so far," Anna said looking from the monitor to the couple. "Your dates seem to be fairly accurate but it's always so hard to tell precisely in these cases."

"In these cases?" Peri said in alarm and felt the reassuring squeeze of Josh's hand in hers.

"Nothing to panic about," Pete immediately reassured her. "This small fluttering you see here is a heartbeat," Pete said pointing at the monitor, "And this small fluttering here is a heartbeat." He used his other hand to point at the second heartbeat.

"Twins?" Peri gasped but watched as Anna moved to place a third finger on the screen.

"And this little fluttering here is..." she turned to look at the stunned parents.

"A heartbeat," Josh finished for her excitedly.

"Three?" Peri frowned. "That's not possible. I mean, I know Josh is a twin but nothing like that has ever happened in my family."

"It's rare. Any multiple births without the use of hormones are rare, but not unheard of" Pete said trying to explain. "Damage to the rod in your arm could have caused the phenomenon but you have also married into a family that has a high percentage of twin births." He smiled then, "more often than not there is no explanation for event likes these."

"But triplets?" Peri frowned. "I can't be having three."

"We will have to take more care and possibly give you supplements to add to your diet but your pre-natal plan shouldn't be too arduous and I am sure your husband will make sure you have everything you need."

Peri lay back on the bed and sighed. "Since meeting Josh nothing in my life has been easy or boring why this should this be any different," she began to laugh. "They call me a drama queen but in reality, it's all his fault," she blamed Josh but looked at him with a wide smile.

"I can handle that," he smirked. "I realise it's probably a bit early to tell for sure but I am sure my three boys," he emphasised the word boys, "Will be kind to their mama while their playing in there." He placed a hand on her gel covered tummy.

"These poor girls are going to grow up as tomboys," she said to Pete and Anna.

"It's a little early to be able to tell you the sex of your babies but I can tell you that you will have identical twins and an individual," Anna looked from the couple to the screen again pointing out items on the monitor that looked totally foreign to Josh and Peri. "You could be lucky and have both sexes in there."

"You're going to be at the farm for two weeks so I can check on you there," Pete said. "We'll make an appointment with Anna for when you return and work out a schedule from there." He said to Peri but he was looking at Anna for confirmation as he thought through what would happen next.

"Emily will be at the farm too," Anna said, "So we can talk on the Friday about both women?" she asked in a way that made it more of a statement. "Emily is only six weeks or so from delivery if she makes it that long so keep a close eye on her. Peri should be fine, she young and fit and not feeling any side effects."

"I'm sure Emily and I can look after each other, and Bianca and Carmen will be there not to mention Antonia," Peri smiled.

Josh chuckled the gathering was different in that hundreds of people would be there and the little village would spring up out of nowhere but he decided not to remind her of that right then. Triplets was a lot to take in even for him and he was just glad that she was taking the news so well without all the usual questions and anxiety when she was faced with the unknown. He prepared himself for later when they were home and the realisation of what had been said sunk in.

For his part, the immediate concern was the size of their sweet little cottage and the knowledge that he would need to take on a building project almost immediately while trying to get his business heading in an upward direction. He had eight brothers though and a million relatives to call on but his house, the house his family would grow in needed to be built by him or at least heavily managed by him.

Peri and Josh both listened to Pete and Anna's advice, as their minds raced through what this would mean for them and how their lives would go from being young and in love to a family with three children overnight practically.

"We haven't even told anyone that we are having a baby, let alone three, so could we just keep this amongst us until after the gathering?" Peri asked still unsure of when or how they would tell Josh's parents. "I mean I just want to be sure everything is alright with them," she looked at the tiny fluttering spots on the monitor.

"As I said in cases like this, it is difficult to be absolutely sure of dates but they all seem to be developing perfectly for the times you have told me, you can relax and enjoy the moment and be spoilt by those who love you, Peri," Anna said gently. Having read her medical background, it was difficult to believe that Peri was as healthy and happy as she appeared.

"She will be spoilt I promise you," Josh said seriously. "We have already talked about getting some help around the house and not over doing it at work."

"I wish my husband was that accommodating," Anna patted Peri's hand noting the bemused expression on her face. "You can call me anytime even if you just need to come in and chat about everything that's happening to you physically. We'll also get a hold of the family pediatrician for our next appointment it will be good to have him in the loop. The Donati's are a strong, healthy bunch but I don't think they've had a set of triplets in the family for some time," she added.

The chatter continued for a while longer, without any major decisions or plans being made aside of the next month's appointments. Both Josh and Peri were dazed by the news and the doctors could see that they were not taking much of what they were saying in. The long trip home was largely quiet as well, as they both considered what this would mean for them.

"You never cease to amaze me," Josh reached out and put his hand on her thigh as he drove.

"Me? This is your doing!" Peri shot back with a laugh. "I'm an only child of only children remember."

"Okay then I'm amazing," Josh laughed breaking the quiet tension that had been building. "It changes a lot of our plans but luckily after tomorrow we have two weeks to think about it and a whole host of people nearby who can help us out with everything."

"Like what?" Peri asked suddenly nervous that Josh was talking about getting people to help them.

"Well I don't think our little cottage is going to be big enough anymore, for starters," he said. "We will have to talk about if we want to extend or build that dream home at the winery we have been thinking about."

"I like where we are," Peri said thoughtfully. "It's far enough away to be by ourselves, but not so far that I can't drive into work easily. The vineyard seems so far away and I worry that I won't be able to get to the city easily enough."

"There's no reason why we can't stay where we are," Josh said easily agreeing with Peri's reasoning. "We just need to think about whether to extend what we have or build a completely new dream home."

*****