"Darling, how many kids do you plan to have in the future?"
At the Dali Tree Manor, in the living room, Lima, who had just returned from Salvador, was sitting on the couch hugging Luca's neck as she asked.
"Why are you asking? Are you pregnant?"
Luca put down his script, curiously touching her stomach.
"No!"
Lima rolled her eyes at him and said, "I've been spending time playing with the kids at the orphanage recently, and they're so cute. It made me wonder what it'd be like if we had our own children."
"Having a kid wouldn't be bad. You could hold them when you're bored, like a kitten," Luca said with a gentle smile.
"My child is not a kitten!"
Lima playfully hit him and continued, "Now, tell me, how many kids do you want?"
"Ten isn't too many, and eight isn't too few. As long as you're willing to have them, any number is fine."
Luca smiled while reading his script.
"Ten? Eight? What do you think I am, a pig?"
Lima angrily twisted his arm.
Luca gasped, "You asked me how many I wanted! Why are you mad at my answer? Alright, alright, eight is too many, so let's have two."
"Two is too few. If there are too few kids, they'll feel lonely. How about we have four?"
Lima leaned on his shoulder, smiling as she asked.
"OK, why don't we start making one now?"
Luca gave her a playful slap on the butt.
Lima thought about it for a second, "Too soon. I have a lot of work this year. I won't have time for a baby. How about we wait two years?"
"Alright, it's up to you," Luca said with a light chuckle.
Lima nodded slightly and casually flipped through a magazine.
"Huh, Britney's pregnant?"
"What?"
Luca glanced over and shook his head.
The headline read, "Rumors of Britney Pregnant, Luca Accompanies Her to Prenatal Check-up," and it came with pictures. The two were seen leaving a hospital together, wearing matching baseball caps and looking very close.
At that moment, he understood why Lima had brought up the subject of kids—it was all because of this!
"Darling, the news is nonsense. Britney was rehearsing a few days ago, and her old knee injury flared up. I went with her to the hospital for a check-up. See, I'm only holding her arm! Oh, and Kate and Miranda know about this too. They even visited her once. There's nothing to explain."
"Really?"
Lima pursed her lips and pointed to a picture. "What about this photo?"
"That's from earlier this year. Britney got lazy and didn't want to exercise. She let herself go a bit, but she's not pregnant."
Britney had a tendency to gain weight easily, and if she didn't stay on top of her fitness, she'd put on pounds quickly. Luca often had to take time to swim, dance, and travel with her to keep her active.
"What if she is pregnant? Would you marry her?"
"No, I'll only marry you."
On such a serious matter, he was confident he wouldn't make any mistakes.
But unexpectedly, he still did.
"You scumbag! She's pregnant with your baby, and you still won't marry her? You really are a scumbag!"
Lima twisted his ear, cursing him.
"Lima, who's pregnant with Luca's baby?"
Kate walked in curiously.
"Britney!"
Lima replied while hitting him.
"Really?"
Kate seemed almost excited.
"Fake news. The media's just making things up. You've seen this headline before,"
Luca pointed to the magazine on the table.
"Oh, that's what it is,"
Kate said disappointedly, pouring herself a glass of juice. She then smiled and said, "Lima, if you're worried, why not have a baby first?"
"I'm not worried. It's just that seeing this jerk's gossip makes me angry, and I want to beat him up! Kate, do you have time today? How about we team up and give him a lesson he'll never forget?"
Lima waved her fist.
"Sure!"
"Wait! Kate, you already beat me up two days ago. I'm still bruised! Now you two want to do it together? I won't survive that! Besides, I have to leave o UK soon. Woody Allen is very strict. Can't you spare me this time?"
Luca weakly protested.
"Kate, you beat him up two days ago?"
Lima asked in surprise.
Kate smiled and nodded, "Yeah, the weather was nice, and I happened to have some free time, so I gave him a beating."
"Alright, we'll let him off this time,"
Lima let go of his ear, "But we'll remember this for when you get back from the UK."
"Thank you, my queens, for your mercy!"
Luca sighed with relief, though the thought of getting beaten up when he returned from the UK troubled him. Being a superstar heartthrob who got abused at home—it was a miserable fate.
After spending two days in Los Angeles, Luca followed Ed's advice and appeared on two TV talk shows. He talked about his acting career, the struggles of fame, and took the chance to clear up rumors about his relationship with Aniston—stressing she was a mentor, senior colleague, idol, and good friend, and he sincerely thanked her for all her help.
After the show aired, the results were good, and the rumors between him and Aniston started to die down. Public attention shifted entirely to the love triangle between Aniston, Pitt, and Jolie, which was heating up.
Pitt and Jolie took turns appearing on shows to clarify their relationship.
Once, Jolie mentioned on a show that she currently had a steady lover, they were happy together, and she wasn't involved with Pitt, while steering the conversation toward her new movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Meanwhile, Pitt kept professing his love for Aniston in interviews, even publicly showing affection on TV. He sweetly reminisced about their relationship, fueling the rumor mill.
Speculation abounded that their gossip was likely a publicity stunt for the new movie, and that they weren't actually involved. Others said they were lying and teaming up to bully Aniston.
With all the speculation, Pitt's alleged affair was no longer as hot a topic.
At the airport, Luca folded his newspaper and shook his head. The love triangle was a year-long drama, dominating headlines from 2004 to 2005, and it wasn't going to end anytime soon. The current calm was only temporary.
"Luca, do you think the stuff about Jolie and Pitt is true?"
Tony asked from beside him.
"Probably."
"If you ask me, Pitt's an idiot. Aniston is so beautiful, so famous, and makes more money than him, yet he cheated with Jolie. Total scumbag,"
Tony scoffed, adding, "Scumbags should go to hell. Uh, Luca, I wasn't talking about you!"
Luca gave him a look, "Stop talking. The plane's about to board. Let's go."
"OK!"
The two of them headed toward the boarding gate.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please. Boarding is now open for the flight to London, UK. All passengers heading to London, please..."
Support me by leaving a comment, voting, and visiting myPatr-eon at belamy20
Check out another story about Hogwarts in my profile original works