Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
I wanted to say something, but my throat was too tight.
“I asked Father Mike here tonight to give our marriage a blessing,” he went on. “I didn’t want to do it before—neither of us did—because it would have felt wrong. And it would have been because our parents pressured us into it. This is just between us.”
“And God,” Father Mike reminded.
“Oh, right,” said Enzo. “Him too.”
I smiled through tears. “I love it. And I love you.”
“I love you too.” Leaning toward me, he pressed his lips to my forehead and rested them there for a moment. Then he straightened up and turned to Father Mike. “Okay, we’re ready.”
After we left the church, Enzo drove me by the Center Avenue house, as promised. Hand in hand, using the flashlights on our phones since many of the lights had been disconnected, we walked through the house. I was impressed with the progress that had been made in the last two weeks, but sad that I’d missed out on seeing it happen.
“Don’t worry,” Enzo said, squeezing my hand. “There’s a lot more work to do to get this place livable.”
In the middle of what would be—I hoped—a child’s bedroom, I turned to face him. “We’re really going to live here?”
“Of course we are.” His arms came around me.
“And have a family?”
“Of course we are. If biology isn’t on our side, we’ll adopt. I don’t care how we get our family, I just want to have one with you.”
Slipping my arms around his waist, I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes.
“We’re going to be happy here, Mrs. Moretti,” he said, rocking me side to side. “We’re going to fill this house with a bunch of noisy, messy kids who are going to drive us crazy, but we’re going to be happy. I can feel it.”
I held him tight, breathing deeply. “I feel it too.”
Walking into his house again—his hand on my lower back—felt like coming home. Falling into his bed again, feeling his skin on mine, watching him move above me, was like a dream. Taking him deep inside me, hearing his quickened breath and his low, thick growl, set my body on fire the way only he could. And when we came together, our bodies in perfect, blissful harmony, it was like recompense for everything I’d been through.
“God, I missed you,” he whispered in the dark, raining kisses over my face and neck and chest. “Don’t ever leave me again.”
“I won’t.” Laughing, I rubbed his back and wrapped my legs around him. “You’re stuck with me now. God says. And the state of Michigan.”
“Good.”
“Plus my ring says a hundred years. So I figure I should at least honor that promise.”
He picked up his head and looked down at me. “You better. I don’t want to be without you. I don’t even feel like me without you anymore.”
I smiled. “You couldn’t even smolder?”
“I couldn’t even fucking smolder.”
Laughing, I grabbed his face and kissed his lips. “That is a clear sign that we’d better stick together.”
“Damn right. After all, I need to pass that on to future generations of Morettis. Even if I don’t pass it through DNA, it can still be taught.”
“I have no doubt our boys will inherit the smolder.”
“And our girls will inherit the moxie. It’s what made me fall in love with you.”
A few minutes later, we were snuggled up just like we used to, my head on his chest, his arms wrapped around me.
“Did you mean what you said?” I asked softly, brushing my fingertips across his chest. “About adoption?”
“Of course I did.”
I tried to cuddle even closer. “I haven’t made up my mind yet about trying again with Clomid. I’m taking a little break.”
“Good,” he said. “You deserve some time to breathe. And whatever you decide—Clomid, turkey baster, adoption, kidnapping—I’m with you. We’re a family, no matter what, remember?”
“I remember.”
He kissed the top of my head. “Night, Lucy.”
I smiled. “Night, Ricky.”
Twenty-One
SIX MONTHS LATER
Enzo
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” I stared at the ultrasound tech, certain I’d misheard her.
She smiled, keeping her eyes on the screen. “There are two heartbeats here.”
“Oh my God,” whispered Bianca, squeezing my hand.
“What do you mean, two heartbeats? Why would the baby have two heartbeats?”
The tech laughed gently, glancing at me. “There are two babies.”
“But we only ordered one,” I said, my voice cracking.
“It happens,” said the tech. “See?” She gestured to the screen, where I saw what looked like two black balloons nestled in a sea of gray. Inside each balloon was a kidney-bean-shaped blob flickering in the center.
“Those flickering things,” I said, my throat tight and scratchy. “Those are hearts?”
“They sure are, Dad.”
My jaw dropped and I looked over at Bianca. Behind the lenses of her glasses, her blue eyes were wide and unblinking. “Two,” I croaked.
“Two,” she said, looking as shocked as I felt.