The Confrontation

The Confrontation

AGE: 33

Riley had always been concerned with taking care of the people in her life.

When she’d been growing up, her parents used to joke that she’d come out of the womb cuddling her sister.

She hadn’t quite understood just how acute that facet of her personality would become when Gianna was pregnant with their baby until they were living it.

Starting from the very beginning, when Gianna had insisted that she’d wanted to use Riley’s egg –

“Are you against it?” Gianna had asked, concerned, when Riley had balked. She’d reached out so easily and twirled some of Riley’s hair around her finger. “If you’re nervous or you don’t want to undergo a procedure–”

Riley had quickly shaken her head to dispel that idea from her wife’s mind. “No, that’s not it; it’s not about me. I’m worried about you . And our potential baby. After all of our reading – isn’t it a little safer the less invasive we go?”

Gianna’s blue eyes had gone so soft as she’d used that same hand to gently swipe Riley’s hair behind her ear. “Yes,” she conceded before shaking her head. “But, Riley, carina… I want to have your baby .” Her eyes had searched Riley’s, only inches away, as her voice went so soft. “I want curly hair and hazel eyes. I want more of you in the world.” She’d made her eyes as big and wide as possible, as she’d implored, “You wouldn’t want to deny your soon-to-be-pregnant wife of her biggest desire, right?”

Riley’s mouth had fallen open in offense at the tactic, even as laughter had climbed out of her throat. “Oh my god , I can’t believe you would do that to me.” As she sobered seconds later, she’d wrapped her arms tightly around Gianna’s waist and – as she usually always did – succumbed.

– to when they’d found out that their first round of IVF had worked –

Riley had led Gianna out to their car, squeezing her hand as they went, feeling dazed.

They were pregnant .

Right then, at that very moment, Gianna M?kinen Beckett was pregnant with her baby. Their baby.

She’d quickly crossed in front of Gianna to open the passenger side door for her, helping her get in.

Gianna had taken her hand and situated herself in the seat, laughing up at Riley as she did so. “How chivalrous of you.”

Her expression was so warm as she smiled up at Riley, and Riley felt it echo throughout her. She’d slid her gaze down to Gianna’s abdomen before she’d reached out and placed her hand over it.

Of course, Gianna had been several months away from showing – they didn’t know it at the time, but Gianna wouldn’t even be visibly pregnant until nearly six months – but that hadn’t mattered to her.

Riley swore it at that moment and maintained to this very day, she felt it. As she’d stroked her thumb over Gianna’s abdomen, she’d stared at her wife and promised, “I’m going to take care of you. Both of you.”

“You already do,” Gianna murmured, covering Riley’s hand with her own. “You always have.”

Riley had driven them home ten miles under the speed limit –

– and that had extended throughout Gianna’s entire pregnancy.

Gianna had pointed out, “Riley, babe. You already do all of the cooking and most of the cleaning, other than the laundry. What, are you going to start taking over every responsibility here?” When Riley had insisted on carrying Gianna’s camera tripod up the stairs for her.

“Yes,” she’d answered point-blank. “Yes, I am.”

Gianna’s pregnancy with their daughter had passed both far too quickly and had seemed to take far too long at the same time. And though her labor had been considered short, at only five hours, Riley didn’t think she could have handled a longer labor.

She meaning herself , of course, because Gianna had handled the birthing process like a queen.

It did not come as a shock to Riley that Gianna had managed through her pain like a fucking professional birth-giver. If that was a thing. But Gianna had always been the strongest person she knew, mentally and physically, even if Gianna didn’t always recognize that in herself.

Riley had no idea how expectant parents managed long labors because she’d felt like if it had gone any longer, she may have had a heart attack.

They’d been surrounded by the best doctors and nurses in the state – scratch that; in the country, at Massachusetts Memorial Hospital. And Riley had still felt like she’d been ready to climb out of her skin.

“Babe,” Gianna had said to her when she’d been obsessively studying the oxygen/blood pressure monitor Gianna was hooked up to. “Riley Jane Beckett,” Gianna had used a sterner tone to get her attention.

Which had worked, and Riley had given Gianna her full focus. She worriedly ran her eyes over her wife as she sat in the hospital bed. A light sheen of sweat was on her brow, but other than that, she looked totally normal. Not like she’d been in labor for three hours.

“Are you okay? Do you want any more ice chips? What the hell are the ice chips supposed to do, anyway?” She muttered, casting the last cup of ice chips she’d fetched a dirty look. Only for a second, though, before she returned her gaze to Gianna, gently smoothing back her hair.

“I’m sure Ellie would be happy to tell us the reasoning behind the ice chips later,” Gianna had reasoned with a laugh. She’d shaken her head, though. “I’m totally fine. Honestly, I’m worried about you .”

“Me?” Riley reared back, staring at her wife, baffled.

“Yes, you.” Gianna had rested her head against the pillow of the hospital bed. The back of the bed was elevated, propping Gianna up in her sitting position, and she aimed a beseeching look at Riley. “Baby Girl and I are looking for the level-headed Riley right now. Okay?”

Riley had stared into Gianna’s eyes – deciding at that moment that though she knew Gianna was hoping their daughter would have her eyes, she hoped that their daughter would keep the blue eyes that belonged to the donor they’d picked; a tall, blonde man with blue eyes – trying to ground herself in them. “Okay.”

Anya M?kinen Beckett had come into the world shortly after, and Riley’s life had been fundamentally altered.

She knew she was biased, but she was pretty sure she and Gianna had created the most perfect small human in the world. Ellie and Mia frequently agreed, as well… then again, she felt they were both extremely biased as well.

For over a decade, Riley’s world had been centered around Gianna. She’d been her solid constant. And now, Riley had two.

She stared down at Anya as her daughter napped in the crib Riley had built.

She’d never been particularly into woodwork or furniture building, but she’d gotten very into it during Gianna’s pregnancy, much to her wife’s amusement. As Gianna had sat in the rocking chair Ellie and Mia had gifted them, she’d lovingly and laughingly watched Riley painstakingly put together Anya’s top-of-the-line crib. “We can pay someone to do that for us.”

Riley had huffed a breath out, blowing her hair away from where it fell into her eyes as she aimed a pouting look at her wife. “We absolutely will not be doing that.”

Her dad had built and assembled the cribs she and Ellie had slept in, as well as many other pieces of furniture around their childhood home. Riley remembered feeling so… safe, knowing that. Safe and loved. Her dad knew how to put furniture together and do all of their simple home repairs.

So, when Riley wasn’t running around trying to make sure Gianna didn’t need to lift a finger or wasn’t busy reading as many parenting books as she could – Ellie had given them a great selection, all of which she’d read and vetted, herself – she’d spent weeks upon weeks reading how-to manuals and watching YouTube videos about electricity and plumbing.

She appreciated Gianna watching her do so with only mild teasing. “I think this is your version of nesting,” she’d commented one day.

Riley didn’t disagree.

But… she lightly traced a finger of the dark stained wood of the crib. It made her feel proud to know that their daughter was sleeping safely and soundly in the bed she’d built.

“My maternity leave may be over in a few days, but I’ll always be taking care of you,” she promised in a whisper, though she knew she didn’t need to.

Anya slept deeply and soundly. So soundly, that they’d been concerned something was wrong and had her doctors run a plethora of tests.

Nothing, it seemed, was wrong with their girl. She was simply perfect.

The idea of her maternity leave coming to an end made everything inside of Riley want to rebel. She’d taken three months completely and totally off and then dipped her toes back into work by answering emails and giving feedback on content for the last eight weeks.

For as much as Riley did , in fact, love her job and occasionally had panic-stricken moments that everything was going to fall apart without her, she was now dreading every bit of news she’d be missing here at home.

Given her dual professions, Gianna’s maternity leave had been far less conventional. Content creation and president/founder of a lingerie line didn’t follow the same guidelines that Riley’s new station did. At this very moment, Gianna was at an in-person meeting with Cora for the first time since she’d given birth.

At the sound of their doorbell, Riley snapped her head to face the door, frowning.

Quickly, she darted her eyes back down at Anya. True to form, her daughter fussed around for only a moment at the loud, jarring sound before she settled right back into her nap.

Riley reached down and lightly ran her finger over her daughter’s nose before she grabbed the baby monitor and headed down the stairs.

As far as she knew, they weren’t expecting any deliveries. And other than delivery drop-offs, no one had rung their doorbell in months … because everyone they talked to and could potentially have invited over was well aware that they had a newborn in the house and took care not to ring the doorbell.

She hooked the top-of-the-line monitor into her belt loop with eased practice as she reached the bottom of the steps.

The doorbell rang again, and Riley sighed in irritated confusion, hurrying her pace. What in the world was so urgent someone needed to ring their doorbell multiple times when they had a sleeping baby?!

“I’m coming!” She called out as she jogged down the front hall, hoping to cut off whoever was out there before they decided to ring for a third time.

It had to be some sort of delivery or drop-off, she’d decided. She opened the door with that in mind, already speaking, “Sorry for shouting just there, but we have–” She abruptly cut herself off, blinking as she found herself face-to-face with, “Giulia?”

She voiced her name as if it were a question, but there was no denying who this woman was. She’d only met Giulia Gallo three times in the nearly fifteen years since she’d known Gianna – which was insane . Or, it should be insane, given how close she and Gianna had been for over a decade and: oh yeah, they were now married . With a child.

But that was Giulia.

Though Gianna’s blonde hair, blue eyes, and height had come from her father, there was still an undeniable resemblance to her mother. Their tan skin tones, high and sharp cheekbones, the literal shape of their bodies.

For the millionth time since knowing Gianna, Riley couldn’t help but marvel at the genetic lottery Gianna had won.

Unfortunately, that physical lottery had come at quite an emotional cost. And that reminder set Riley immediately on edge as she narrowed her eyes.

“Can I help you?”

“Raleigh?” Giulia asked, and it took Riley a moment to realize she was saying her name. And that, no, the pronunciation had absolutely nothing to do with Giulia’s slight-yet-present Italian accent.

Riley blinked at Giulia, a disbelieving laugh falling from her lips. “I – wow. It’s Riley , actually.”

Sometimes, when Riley thought about her own mother’s emotional detachment from her life, she would be confronted with thoughts about Gianna’s parents. At the very least, her mom undoubtedly knew Gianna’s fucking name.

“Perdonami, Riley ,” Giulia annunciated, very clearly not sorry.

She slid her sunglasses up to rest on the top of her head, pushing back her perfectly professionally dyed glossy dark curls. And then stared, expectantly, at Riley.

Who stared back, her arms crossed over her chest. “Can I help you?” She repeated slowly, punctuating every word.

“I’d like to speak to my daughter,” Giulia answered smartly, her own hand coming up to rest on her hip as she peered over Riley’s shoulder and into her house. As if she could summon Gianna’s presence and bypass Riley, as she so clearly wanted to.

“Well, Gianna isn’t home.” Riley was so glad that was the truth because she would have wanted to send Giulia packing even if Gianna was inside. “And, furthermore, I don’t think she knew you were coming. Does she?”

She deliberately framed it as a question because Riley knew damn well Gianna had no idea about this visit. If she had, she would have told Riley.

Giulia deciding to drop into Gianna’s life was never good, and an unexpected drop-in was even worse. Riley was both suspicious and defensive.

Giulia’s dark eyes narrowed at Riley, even though she kept an icy smile affixed to her mouth. “It was an unplanned visit. Since I’m in town, I thought I should stop by.”

“And… you didn’t think you should plan to stop by at any time during Gianna’s pregnancy? Or when she gave birth? Or in the months since?”

God, the reminder of Giulia’s negligence toward Gianna made Riley’s blood boil.

Though Gianna hadn’t expected anything from her parents – she’d voiced as much to Riley many times – Riley knew that it still upset her on a deep level that her parents hadn’t reached out to even congratulate her on their pregnancy or Anya’s birth.

It took everything she had not to slam the door in this woman’s fucking face right here and now.

Giulia’s smile slipped into a disdainful look as if Riley were echelons beneath her. “Gianna knows how busy I am. I suppose, since I’m here, I can meet the baby.”

Riley wouldn’t have stopped the incredulous scoff even if she’d been able to. “No, you won’t be meeting our baby.”

“Ah, yes. Your baby,” Giulia’s voice absolutely dripped with disdain. “Gianna chooses to have a baby with your genetics, she changes her name, and then gives the baby she birthed your name as well. Dio santo. We send her to one of the best schools in the world, and she continues to make these stupid choices.”

Riley didn’t know what shocked her more – the fact that Giulia knew and retained any of these facts or that she seemed to… care?

But she wasn’t shocked enough to miss, “Stupid choices? Excuse you?”

Gianna’s decision to take Riley’s last name several months post-marriage had been a surprise to her but a very welcome one. Of course she’d love to share her name with Gianna, but Riley would have never suggested it. Even when Riley believed she’d marry a man, she’d always imagined keeping her own last name. She, quite simply, was Riley Beckett. So, it would have felt very hypocritical if she’d ever expected Gianna to give up her own name.

But Gianna had – in true, perfect Gianna fashion – gone to city hall to file for a name change on her own accord, simply saying, “I want to be your family in every way.”

She’d also told Riley while she’d been pregnant, “I want us both to have the same last name as our children. And I’m not a monster; we would never saddle our children with a hyphenated last name that includes M?kinen.”

Riley had to agree that M?kinen-Beckett or Beckett-M?kinen would be the makings of a nightmare for any child.

She’d pushed for M?kinen to be their daughter’s middle name, though, always holding a deep affection for Gianna’s name.

“All of that was terrible enough. But now, today, I truly see her throwing her life away for…” she eyed Riley with open disdain. “ This . Enough is enough. Eventually, she will be in ruins, with no one to turn to.” She drew in a deep breath, aiming a glare at Riley. “When will she be home? I suppose, if it’s soon, I can move around my schedule.”

Riley didn’t know what it was exactly. Maybe it was because this was the only time she’d ever been with Giulia one-on-one – she’d never before had an opportunity to speak her honest mind.

Maybe it was because this was the first time she’d seen Gianna’s mother since they’d gotten together – Riley had always hated seeing Gianna upset, but after their relationship progressed, Riley felt all of Gianna’s feelings as if they were her own.

Maybe it was because Riley was now a parent, and she couldn’t imagine treating her daughter the way Giulia treated Gianna. Maybe it was because Giulia was Anya’s grandmother, and the thought of Giulia ever getting close enough to Anya to make her feel any of the pain she caused Gianna made Riley feel like she was prepared to commit homicide.

Most likely, it was a combination of all of those things.

And she found she could stop herself from saying, “I’m not telling you when Gianna’s going to be home, Giulia because you don’t deserve to even lay eyes on your daughter. And believe me, I say that with the loosest definition of that word.”

In Riley’s opinion, neither of Gianna’s parents should have the right to refer to themselves as her mom or dad. Not when they’d never done any of the work to raise her.

Giulia snapped back as if Riley had physically slapped her, her eyes narrowing to angry slits. “You have no right to speak to me that way–”

“Actually, I have every right. Because between the two of us, I actually love Gianna. I’m the one who celebrates all of her birthdays, holds her when she’s upset and cares about her triumphs and failures.” Riley gripped the doorknob tightly, keeping herself grounded – mostly keeping herself from shouting because Anya was still sleeping.

“Gianna is my best friend, my wife, and the mother of my child.” Riley couldn’t even tell which one of those things was the most important. Gianna was truly… everything to her. “I have spent over a decade watching you flit around, hurting her at every turn. I have no idea how you and Antero produced someone with such a big heart, but I’m so sick of seeing you bruise it constantly. Gianna is who she is despite you.”

Fucking hell, it felt good to unleash these words.

“If it were up to me, you wouldn’t be allowed to even have Gianna’s fucking phone number anymore. You wouldn’t be allowed to lay eyes on her, even from fifty feet away. You wouldn’t be able to follow her on social media.”

The reality was that if Riley had the power to put Gianna in a protective bubble, she absolutely would.

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes with it as she tried to cool the seething anger flowing through her. “Seeing as how it’s not up to me, though, I’ll simply tell you this: I won’t ever let you into our home unless Gianna expressly tells me to. And I won’t give you her schedule unless she informs me that she wants you to have it. Since that hasn’t happened today, all I can say to you is what I’ve already said: Gianna isn’t home, and you need to go.”

Without waiting for a response, she shut and locked the door.

By the time Gianna arrived home nearly two hours later, Riley had enough time to calm down. And in that time, also had enough time to feel slightly stressed.

Not about anything she’d said or how she’d said it, but sheerly about the fact that… well, Gianna had never said those things to her mother, though she’d had plenty of opportunities to. Though Riley truly didn’t believe Giulia’s neglect of Gianna could be worse, she’d worked herself up into a little bit of a stressful state, wondering – was she wrong? Could it be worse?

In Riley’s opinion, Giulia truly cutting ties with Gianna rather than continuing to reach out occasionally to remind Gianna that she was still around, even if she wasn’t around, would be a good thing.

She just hoped Gianna agreed.

She heard Gianna enter their house as she sat in the kitchen, bouncing Anya on her lap. Holding her child, Riley had discovered, was the best way to alleviate stress.

“Hello, my two perfect loves,” Gianna greeted as she came swooping in. She first ducked down to press a kiss to Anya’s chubby cheek before she cupped Riley’s jaw and tilted her head to press a sweet, brief kiss to her lips.

As always, Riley easily moved with the motion, humming softly against her wife’s mouth.

She watched as Gianna plunked her large designer purse down on the counter, stomach still twisting with nerves. If Gianna knew what had happened, she didn’t look mad.

Still…

Riley cleared her throat, leaning down to put Anya in her bouncer. “I need to tell you about something that happened today.”

Gianna turned to face her, silken blonde strands tossed over her shoulder as she aimed a look at Riley. “You know what I love about you? I was home for less than a minute, and a full confession was about to pop right out.”

Riley flushed, even as she furrowed her eyebrows. “So, you already know?”

“Do I know… that you told my mother off in a major kind of way this afternoon? Told her that she is a terrible person and an even worse parent and that you wanted to get a restraining order against her?” Gianna propped her hand on her hip, staring expectantly at Riley.

Who squirmed slightly in her chair, coughing as she answered, “I didn’t say those things… exactly.”

However, the sentiment was definitely there.

Riley stared earnestly up at Gianna, hoping she could see where Riley had been coming from. “I’m sorry if you felt like I was overstepping or–”

Anything else she was preparing to say fell right back down her throat as Gianna took two quick steps toward her before throwing one of her long legs over Riley’s lap. She gripped the back of the chair behind Riley’s head as she settled down, straddling her.

Surprised but very pleased, Riley’s eyebrows lifted even as she reached up to settle her hands on Gianna’s hips. “Huh. This seems like a good response?”

Any time where Riley could be surrounded by Gianna like this, her hair curtaining one side of their faces, her intoxicating scent all over her, Gianna pressed right against her – that was a good response.

“You are never overstepping, carina,” Gianna murmured, bringing one of her hands to Riley’s chin, tilting her head so she could look straight into Gianna’s eyes. “It would be impossible for you to overstep in my life because you are my life.”

Relief pushed through her, and with it, she tightened her grip on Gianna’s waist and pulled her in, their torsos pressing tightly against one another as she connected their lips.

“I feel the same way,” she breathed against Gianna.

She didn’t know why she’d been concerned, really. Gianna would absolutely tear someone to pieces if they treated Riley poorly, and she’d have no doubts about it afterward.

She felt Gianna sigh into her mouth before she pulled back, peppering Riley’s bottom lip with a few more short, sweet kisses.

Gianna settled back again, her weight on Riley’s thighs as she toyed with the ends of Riley’s hair. “I love that you said those things to her. The things I always think about, but never find the right way to say when we’re face-to-face. It doesn’t come as any sort of surprise to me that you, Riley Jane Beckett, were my defender.”

Riley shook her head slightly. “I just couldn’t help it. I couldn’t stand here, in our house, and let her say that you’re making mistakes and throwing your life away. Does she even know you? Everything you do is a success.”

Pausing, Riley’s memory of Giulia’s words snagged on one particular part. Something she hadn’t really given much attention to earlier because she’d been so worked up.

Forehead crinkling in confusion, Riley asked, “When she was here, she said that, especially today, you were making a mistake or something? What is that about?”

She knew the second she’d asked the question that there was something Gianna hadn’t yet told her. Just from the slight widening of her eyes.

“What’s going on?”

“Well…” Gianna slid her tongue over her bottom lip, before she cleared her throat and sat up straight. “My meeting with Cora today was to work out the next steps of quitting.”

“Quitting?” Riley echoed, feeling ridiculously slow but unable to connect with whatever Gianna was telling her. “Quitting what? A certain brand?”

“All of the brands,” Gianna succinctly told her, her voice falling soft. Earnest. “My reign as a social media titan is coming to an end, within the next six months.”

Riley’s hands went totally slack against Gianna as she stared, utterly dumbfounded. “You – what? What ? Why?”

“I started thinking about it a few months ago. Before Anya was born. And the why is… I don’t want it anymore,” she said, simply, quietly. “I built up my influencer profile when that was all I had. I had you as my best friend, and I had followers on the internet. But now we have Anya.”

She smiled, that luminous, perfect smile, as she looked down at their daughter in her bouncer next to them.

“And during my pregnancy, I received so many comments about becoming a mommy blogger ,” she shuddered.

Riley laughed, flexing her hands. “You don’t have to be a mommy blogger to still do what you do if that’s what you want. You haven’t even shown Anya’s face on your socials.”

It had been a quick and easy agreement between them – Anya and any future children would not be a part of Gianna’s online life.

“No, I know. But even without showing her on socials, I still get so many comments about followers excited to be going on this journey with us , and…” Gianna frowned deeply as she slowly shook her head. “I don’t want that. I don’t want to be one of those parents whose kids’ life was famous on socials, even if we don’t show her face. I want us to start to have privacy. To just be… us.”

Riley could only stare, trying to grasp all of the information thrown at her.

“So, you’re done on social media?”

“Well, my public ones, as soon as my current sponsorship contracts run out, which will be within three months. I posted a little video implying what’s coming… I’m sure that’s what my mother saw earlier.”

To neither of their surprise, Giulia would never want Gianna to stop something that gave her so much social clout. She’d made it no secret over the years that Gianna’s social media following was the aspect of Gianna she was most proud of.

“But the accounts I have that you follow, my real ones, I’ll still use,” Gianna continued. “Where else am I going to post my disgustingly sappy posts about you on our anniversary?”

Riley smiled back, though she still studied Gianna closely. “But – is that what you want?”

“The dream was never to be a social media queen forever, Riley. You know that,” Gianna gently reminded her.

And yes, Riley did know that. She’d been there for the creation of those accounts, for Gianna’s rise to superfame on the internet.

But over the years, as Gianna had grown more popular, gained more followers, made more money, garnered a bigger following and more sponsorship offers than she could agree to – well, Riley had assumed that would be the new plan, she supposed.

“You just never expressed that it wasn’t the long-term plan in the last few years, is all.”

“Worthy is the way forward,” Gianna informed her, re-situating herself in Riley’s lap. “I have a great deal now, and with my savings and investments from the last ten years, we wouldn’t have to work a day in our lives, even without Worthy’s success.”

“I’m not worried about the money,” Riley assured her, pinching Gianna’s hip lightly. “I just want to make sure you’re going to be happy.”

Gianna’s happiness had always been her primary concern, and that fact had only gotten more intense as the last few years had passed.

“Riley. I am married to my best friend, whom I have been in love with for my entire adult life. We have the first of hopefully many babies. And my lingerie line is officially carried nationwide,” Gianna deadpanned. “I’m fairly certain that life truly doesn’t get better than that.”

Riley was inclined to agree.