I'd Rather Have You

“I shouldn’t have laughed at you or your situation.” she replied “So I vote we sit down here eat Papa’s pastries and figure out what we need to do to either prove or dispute Miss Echo’s claim.” She sat down and looked at all the sweets. She realized that he might not eat junk like this. “I can get something with more protein. Not sure what you guys eat in the off season.”

He sat down at the table “I can splurge every once in a while, and I’m pretty sure your mama will throw me out of this joint if I don’t eat. I tend not to mess with mamas. Mine is Italian and loud.”

“My whole family is loud.” she laughed “And probably eavesdropping at the kitchen door.”

“Well your mama has told me I look sad, and then shoved pastry at me, accused me of being a criminal, and finally told me to stay away. So I think she is making sure she doesn’t need to hit me with a broom.”

Antigone laughed. Michael finally realized this was something she freely did. She wasn’t making fun of him. Damned if he didn’t like that sound a lot better now. “We’ll see how much of a threat mama thinks you are, Mr. Del Zotto. If my hellion brothers show up, mama has called in back up.”

“I guess we will see” said Michael “If I am getting ready to tell you about banging strippers I think you need to call me Mike.” She laughed again. Part of him wanted to make her do it again? Antigone looked up to see him smiling for the first time. Oh! My God the boy was gorgeous when he smiled. She could see how woman got sucked into the Mike Del Zotto trap.

“Okay Mike,” she began “Let’s talk about how you met Miss Echo.”

“First tell me what these pastries are.”

Antigone got animated as she talked about her papa’s pastries. “These are loukoumades. They are little yeast-risen dough puffs and are deep-fried,papa drizzles them with honey syrup and sprinkles them with cinnamon. One of my favorites.” She pulled the tiny pastry through the Nutella on the plate “I like them best with Nutella.” She shrugged. She pointed a pie type offering. “This is galaktoboureko. It’s a custard and phyllo pie. It’s my great great Nona's recipe.” Antigone grabbed the plate in front of him and started dishing up the pastries. “Oh, this one is my absolute favorite it’s Milopita. It’s an apple coffee cake.” She sat the plate in front of him. “Sorry,” she said sheepishly “My Greek comes out when I get excited.”

Michael smiled at her again. Antigone was once again struck by how handsome he was. Nope, no more pretty boys. “It’s okay Italians are loud. Hockey players are super loud. I'm used to it.”

Antigone put the legal tablet on the table and started scribbling. She motioned for him to eat. She was busy writing on the tablet. Michael popped one of the donut balls into his mouth. It was absolutely amazing. He watched her write. He was getting nervous since she was writing and he wasn’t talking. He tried to read the notepad and she turned it over.

“I don’t get to see your notes?” he questioned taking a bite of coffee cake.

“It’s just the date, the time, and location of the interview. Nothing to be worried about. So far all I know is your name, you play hockey with Mr. Giroux, and that you may or may not have knocked up a stripper.”

“I slept with her once.” he stated "She wasn't even a one night stand. More a few hours stand."

He watched her scribble again on the pad. She pulled another little donut through the Nutella. He was fixated on her licking Nutella from her fingers.

“Okay, so you slept with her one time. When was that, and where did you and Miss Echo sleep together?” she quizzed as she doctored her coffee. He watched her take a spoonful of the Nutella and stir it into her coffee until it melted. She then added milk and stir. Michael cocked a dark eyebrow at her. “No judging, Del Zotto. Judgment free zone remember were talking about you banging strippers.” Michael threw his head back and laughed. It had been the first time he had really laughed in three days.

Antigone’s hand shot out and she turned his head. He had a wicked scar beneath his jaw line. She stroked her thumb across the scar. “What happened? Looks like it was stitched by Frankenstein.”

“Got cut by a skate blade.” he replied honestly.

“How does that even happen?” she quizzed. He turned his gaze to her. She jerked her hand back “Sorry. I have brothers, and that was rude.”

“Twice.” he said.

“Twice?” she questioned.

“Yeah, I’ve been cut by skate blades twice. I have two nasty scars.” He answered.

“Is it stitched neater than this one?” she asked

“Nope,” he shrugged “They just stitch us to get us back on the ice. Then we get better care after the game.” Her hand moved back to his jaw. She studied it. It only made his looks more interesting. Her green eyes locked on his “It’s not a big deal.” he replied.

“It is a big deal.” she replied. She was so deep in thought she didn’t hear the bell above the door jingle. In fact, she didn’t hear her brother Alessio and her son Niko. She heard Niko call out to her. She pulled her hand back again. Niko was running towards her as fast as his chubby legs would carry him.

“Mama, Mama!” called Niko as he clamored into her lap. Antigone hugged him tightly. She ruffled his dark curls “No work!”

“Yes, I have to work. In fact, I am working Niko you go with Alessio.” she instructed.

"No!" bellowed the little boy grabbing hold of her neck "I stay."

"Niko, Papa and Nona will miss you. Don't you want to help Papa make stuffed leaves?" she asked the toddler.

"No!" he cried "You."

Alessio walked over and grabbed a piece of the Milopita. He finally glanced at his sister’s table mate. “Fuck, you’re MDZ.” said Alessio with his mouth full. Michael nodded. “Mama didn’t mention your date was a Flyer.”

“It’s not a date!” called Antigone.

“What’s not a date?” asked Aniello coming through the door.

“Her having a late breakfast with MDZ.” called Alessio

“We are working!” yelled Antigone “Go away and take Niko. He needs a nap.”

“Didn’t look like work, Tig. Since when do you touch clients?” asked Alessio.

“Tig?” questioned MDZ

“Yes, my family and friends call me Tig” she answered “Out! Now! We need to get done before the lunch crowd.”

Antigone set Niko on his feet. Instead of following his uncles to the kitchen he immediately climbed on Michael. “Hi” he said as he stuck his thumb in his mouth. Alessio and Aniello both walked into the kitchen ignoring her child. She was going to castrate them both with a dull knife. She was about to yell for one of the boys when Niko leaned against Michael's wide chest. She stared for just a moment, she hadn't seen him do that with his own father. But he looked content with Del Zotto.

“What’s your name?” asked Michael looking at the small child in his lap.

"Ko" said the little boy patting his face.

"Ko?" asked Michael

“Niko” she replied attempting to pluck the boy out of Michael’s lap. Niko pushed his mom’s hands away. “Come on kiddo, you need to go to papa.”

“No, Mama!” he said squirming around.

“He can stay if he wants.” replied Michael.

“Remarkably Del Zotto, I’d prefer that he not learn about one night stands before preschool.”

“Fair enough.” said Michael handing her the little boy. He watched her carry her son across the restaurant. He could see she loved the child. He couldn’t help wonder which one of the guys was his dad. He could see either one of the guys with Antigone. Tig? He wasn’t sure he liked that as a nickname for her. More the biker from Sons of Anarchy than the beautiful girl coming out of the kitchen.

“Sorry,” said Antigone “I didn’t think they would bring him here. I figured they would go to the station or the gym. We can go back to the office where it’s quiet.”

“Which one of the guys is his dad?” asked Mike.

Antigone laughed. “Those idiots are my brothers. His father is a firefighter with Niel. It was a one night stand that went on 9.5 months. He’s a decent dad, but we can’t be together.” Michael gave her another lethal smile.”You look demented, why are you smiling about me getting knocked up?”

“Because it makes you human.” he replied.

"Human?" she asked.

"That came out wrong." said Michael "I didn't mean that in a bad way. I like this better than the lawyer armor you had on earlier. Knowing about Niko makes telling this story easier.”

“Yes, we’re soulmates. Now let me get some basic info.” laughed Antigone. “Now how about you tell me how you met Miss Echo?”

“I met her at the Zee Bar. I’m not sure of the date, but I can figure it out if I can look at the hockey schedule from last season. It was the spring game against Dallas.” he answered.

“You remember it was against Dallas, but not the date?” she asked

“I know that it was the Dallas game because Seguin was with me. He’s my off season roommate and he plays for the Dallas Stars.” he explained “During the season we're only together a few times a year. So when we are we tend to cut loose.”

“Define cut loose?” she asked scribbling on the notepad.

“Are you writing down everything I say?” he asked.

“Nope, only what I need to check out your story.” replied Antigone “Don’t let it make you nervous.”

“You make me nervous.” he blurted.

“Why do I make you nervous? You’ve already met Niko. I'm the last person who will judge you. I am just gathering information.”

“I don’t know. It just seems insane to have met you an hour ago, and to think I'm about to tell you about fucking some random in a VIP bathroom.”

“Agapi̱té Kýrie!” she exclaimed.

“Fuck” he replied “That sounds bad.” Antigone started laughing. His hand shot up to that mop of brown curls. Antigone glanced at him and realized he was debating bolting again. She put her hand over his that was resting on the table.

“Sorry” she replied “I guess I just wasn’t expecting this to be literally a 1 hour stand.”

“The rumors of my sex life a highly over exaggerated.” he deadpanned.

“I’ll be sure to write that down.” laughed Antigone.

Notes

Hope y'all are liking this. The titles are all Earth, Wind, and Fire songs. MDZ and his momma like them.