Elvira glanced at Mary’s mother, sideways. “Vita, don’t hog the baby. We’ll have a schedule. I’ll sit on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and you guys sit on Tuesday and Thursday.”
Mary’s mother’s eyes flared in indignation, so Mary stepped in. “Ladies, let’s not worry about it now, we still have two months to go.”
Feet interjected, “Mary, how are you going to swing this at work? You’re going to stay home with the baby, right?”
Mary was about to answer, but Anthony stiffened, cutting her off. “No,” he said coolly, “that’s not what we’re planning. Mary’s going back to work as soon as she feels ready, probably in a few weeks, and I’m going to stay home with the baby.”
Mary’s mouth went dry. She wouldn’t have gone there, but Anthony was on a roll, turning to his mother.
“Mom, I appreciate your offer, but we won’t need a babysitter at all. I’m going to take care of the baby full-time.” Anthony then faced Mary’s mother, with a smile. “Vita, thank you so much for your offer to babysit, but I don’t think we’ll be needing you or Matty on a daily basis, either.”
“What?” El Virus’s mouth dropped open.
“Che?” Mary’s mother asked, frowning.
“DID HE SAY HE’S GONNA BE THE BABYSITTER?”
The Tonys looked uniformly aghast. Feet set down his fork. “Ant, you’re the dad.”
Tony-From-Down-The-Block shook his head. “Ant, you mean you’re going to be, like, the mom?”
Pigeon Tony spoke rapid Italian, and again, Mary got the gist, which was, Women are supposed to stay home with babies and men are supposed to go out and make money, the way God intended. Also they can have mistresses, but this might not be the time to bring that up.
Mary didn’t intend to argue with any of them. There was no point in trying to convince this very traditional group of men of anything remotely modern, like the fact that women should have the vote. Meanwhile, she could see her father getting with the program, his gaze softening. He slumped in his white T-shirt, and his eyebrows sloped down behind his glasses. He’d been a tilesetter his working life, but his blocky build had changed as he aged, his broad shoulders worn by time, like rocks. Even though he was uneducated, he was no dummy, and despite appearances, he was the more intuitive of her parents. Mary was a Daddy’s girl, from way back.
Her father’s soft gaze shifted to the Tonys. “GUYS, YOU’RE TOO OLD-FASHION. MEN CAN BE MOMS, TOO, NOWADAYS. IT’S THE NEW THING. IT’S OKAY. IT HAPPENS.”
Feet nodded. “I know, I’ve heard of that. Hell, I got those guys across the street, they’re gay and the one dad stays home with the baby and the other dad goes to work. If you got two dads, you gotta have a dad staying home. You got no choice.”
Tony-From-Down-The-Block shrugged. “Whatever floats your boat.”
El Virus turned to Anthony in bewilderment. “But honey, when do we get the baby?”
Mary’s mother nodded, equally confused. “Si, quando? Maria?”
Mary had to derail this before the moms lost their minds. “Ma, Elvira, listen. Of course you’ll get to see the baby. You’ll come over our house, and we’ll come over your house. You’ll get to see the baby plenty. You just don’t have to babysit every day.”
Anthony added, “Exactly, it goes without saying that you’ll see the baby. We want you to see the baby and we want you in the baby’s life. But my staying home makes the most sense for Mary and me, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
“Mmph.” El Virus sucked her teeth. “I don’t like the sound of this.”
“Allora,” Mary’s mother said under her breath, and Mary knew her mother wasn’t happy. Allora could mean arg, sheesh, or we’ll see about that, and in this case, it meant all of the above.
“MARE, I HATE TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT BUT I GOTTA ASK. I HEARD SOME CRAZY NEWS FROM CAMARR ANNIE. SHE HEARD IT FROM CHICKEN JIMMY WHO HEARD IT FROM HIS SISTER DENISE WHO HEARD IT ON THE TV. FROM DENISE NAKANO, THE ONE YOU SAID IS JAPANESE NOT CHINESE.”
“What?” Mary asked, worrying that dinner was about to go from bad to worse. Nobody in South Philly needed the Internet because they already had the Neighborhood.
“I HEARD THAT YOUR LAW FIRM IS GETTING SUED. IS THAT RIGHT? THAT CAN’T BE RIGHT, CAN IT?”
Mary cringed inwardly. “Yes, that’s true. We got the papers today.”
“HOLY GOD, WHAT THE HELL FOR?”
Mary picked at her ravioli. “We’re being sued for reverse sex discrimination.”
“HUH? WHAT ARE YOU TALKIN’ ABOUT?” Her father’s eyes flew open, cataracts edging his brown eyes like advancing stormclouds. “YOU CAN’T DO THAT, CAN YOU? THAT’S NOT LEGAL!”
“Mare, for real, some guy is suin’ you because you’re all girls?” Tony-From-Down-The-Block wiped his chin.
“Remember, we’re not an all-women firm anymore. We have John Foxman, a male lawyer, and we also have Lou Jacobs, a male investigator.”
Feet recoiled, blinking. “I can’t get over this! That’s not gentlemanly! What kinda man sues women? That’s like hitting a woman! Who does such a thing?”
“Disgrazia!” Pigeon Tony frowned deeply, speaking Italian so quickly that Mary couldn’t translate fast enough, though she got the gist again, which was I will kill anybody who hurts you, Mary.
“WHAT COURT WILL LET YOU GET SUED FOR THAT, MARE? THE JUDGE WILL THROW THE CASE OUT, WON’T HE?”
“Matty, stop askin’ her questions.” El Virus moved Mary’s plate closer to her. “Mare, don’t talk, eat!”
Her mother looked worried behind her glasses. “Maria, whatsa matter? You no like? You wan’ some soup? Some crackers?”
“No, thanks, I’m fine, Ma,” Mary said, stabbing a ravioli. “Pop, it’s a ridiculous lawsuit, but we’ll win. Don’t worry. Nick Machiavelli’s on the other side, so you know the whole thing’s a sham.”
“YOU’LL GET IT THROWN OUT. MACHIAVELLI IS A CAVONE.”
Feet nodded. “Sure she will. Mary’s a great lawyer!”
Tony-From-Down-The-Block nodded, chewing. “You’ll win, Mary. You always do. That phony’s got nothin’ on you.”
“RIGHT.” Her father’s gaze, full of love, found Mary’s across the table. “EVERYTHING’S GONNA BE ALL RIGHT, HONEY.”
“I know, Pop,” Mary said, and for a second, she almost believed it was true.
CHAPTER NINE
After dinner was finally over, Mary and Anthony cruised in their Prius through the warren of streets that was South Philly. Mary began to relax, the fatigue of the day catching up with her. The car interior was dark and cool, she rested her head back on the headrest, content to let herself be driven. She always loved that Anthony knew the neighborhood as well as she did, and he could navigate the crazy matrix of one-way streets. Luckily there was almost no traffic, and the motion of the car lulled her into drowsiness.
“That went well,” Anthony said after a moment, and Mary opened her eyes, realizing that she’d almost fallen asleep.
“What did?”
“You know, breaking the news that I’m going to be staying home with the baby.”
“I was surprised that you did that,” Mary said, realizing that it wasn’t the best thing to say after the words left her lips.
“Somebody had to.” Anthony looked over in the darkness, and Mary couldn’t make out his features, but she knew from his tone of voice he was hurt.
“I didn’t mean it to be critical.”
“It sounded critical.”
“It wasn’t, I’m just tired.” Mary felt it was the truest sentence she had spoken all day, and maybe even for the past seven months.
“Okay, whatever.” Anthony fell silent, watching the light change from green to red. “I know it shouldn’t bother me, but it does.”
“What does?”
“You know, that I’m the one staying home.”
Mary sighed inwardly. “Don’t let the Tonys get to you. They’re from a different place and time, you know that.”
“I know, but still.” Anthony hit the gas. “I’m only staying home because it makes the most sense for all of us.”
“I know that, and I appreciate it.”
“As soon as my book is finished, I’m hoping I can find a publisher.”
“I know that, too.”