My European Honeymoon (Completed)

Chapter Nine

Luca never said another word about it. He was always the same, he would just wait until I was ready to tell him what was going on in my mind. Although, I couldn't help but think his willingness to wait for me wasn't necessarily a good thing. If he had been more demanding of me when we were first friends, things could have been so different. I might never have wasted my time on Spencer and Luca and I would have had that time.

"Be warned, today's visit will be a disappointment compared to yesterday. It's just a pit stop, really."

"I figured."

"You're very quiet today."

"I'm just tired."

"It's not that. You don't have to tell me, but I would rather you not lie to me either."

"I've got something on my mind, but now isn't the time to talk about it."

"See, was that so hard? Let's see if we can take your mind off it and lighten your mood." I flashed him a smile just to mock his point. We pulled up next to a set of gate houses connected by black gates. It didn't take long for me to realise we were heading for a park.

As soon as we stepped inside, we were facing multiple paths, but one was much larger than all the others. It had two hard paths with a section of grass down the center. It was easily wide enough to drive a large vehicle down it. Lined on both sides by trees and benches. I could see so many varieties of trees and it was clear someone had made a lot of effort with the design of the park. I couldn't help but wonder how old it was.

We walked hand in hand down the main path. I could see why Luca had insisted on taking the pushchair. When we reached the centre, there was an open square. There were children playing on the play equipment and some peaking through the wires of an animal enclosure. We walked around and I stood by as Luca insisted on taking Isabella down the slide on his knee.

When we made it to the animal enclosure, I couldn't help but be impressed by the selection. There were small animals like guinea pigs, which somehow were what I had expected to find, but there were also large animals such as pigs, small deer and two alpacas mulling around. "It's surprising for them to have such large animals out here in the open. I'm surprised no one has stolen them. There was a park back home that had a bird avery and all the birds were let out by vandals."

"It's happened here too, according to the internet. I saw a news report about it while I was looking for places to visit. I guess they must keep replacing them." It was nice to think that idiots stealing or vandalising were not able to stop children from experiencing the animals. I had been quite upset as a teen when the birds had been let out. The council refused to replace them and I had so many fond memories of seeing them when I went to the park with my friends.

We weren't in the park for long and Luca had been right, it paled in comparison to the previous day. It was still nice just to wander and relax, for things to be a little more chilled. It wasn't even lunch time and we were already back on the road. There was a lot of driving involved and I couldn't help but think it would have been easier to fly to Paris and stay there for the whole trip. Although it would have been easier, I quite liked being stuck in the car with Luca. The main advantage was that it gave us time to talk.

We had to drive right through the centre of Dijon and I decided it was best to wait until we got to the other side before I started talking. He might have been happier than me driving in strange places, but he still got flustered when it was busy and he was trying to find where he needed to be.

As we drove down the dual carriageway, I could see what looked like a canal and it was complete with little barges going along without a care in the world. It must have been a peaceful life and I wondered if it was something we could do one day. The dual carriage was much busier than I had anticipated and I could still sense Luca's stress and annoyance. All it did was force me to abandon the conversation I wanted to have in favor of idle chitchat.

It was the most boring drive I had ever been on and it just made me even more desperate to discuss the prospect of another baby with Luca. The dual carriageway seemed neverending and I could feel myself drifting off. I started pinching at the little web of skin between my thumb and forefinger and tried to keep myself awake. It was only a three-hour drive and falling asleep enroute would throw my sleep pattern off completely.

"I'm assuming we're heading directly for Paris now?"

"Well, stop assuming, but on this occasion you are right." I really should have stopped trying to guess everything, it wasn't fair to him.

"Are you going to give me any details?"

"Nope."

"Go one, please, just one thing."

"We will be seeing Timothée and Jocelyne." I felt cheated and I knew that was his intention.

"I had deduced that for myself."

"You said one thing, you got one thing."

"Luca?" It was time to bite the bullet and ask him. I didn't care that there was still a lot of traffic, it was eating away at me. Not to mention it would have been on his mind too, because he knew there was something I wasn't saying.

"Yeah?"

"Have you thought much about the things we discussed before the wedding, at the canna sessions?"

"We discussed a lot of things. You will need to be more specific. I thought we had put those issues to bed."

"We did in terms of money and work. It was some of the other stuff I was thinking about." It seemed so long ago that we were at odds about sharing finances or about him working at the vineyard and giving up cooking. I had given in on the money and accepted the joint bank account and he had agreed not to give up his career. Thank God that he did. I couldn't bear to be the reason why he stopped cooking.

"You're still not giving me any specifics."

"I think we should try for another baby."