grin.
“Yes, please, Matteo. Pleeaase,” Marcella said, batting those long dark lashes at her uncle.
Matteo sent Luca a tortured look. “Hurry up for my sake.”
“I’ll think of nothing else during labor,” I muttered as I clutched Luca’s arm in a death grip.
Luca jammed the button that would take us down and the doors closed to Gianna’s and Marcella’s smiling faces and Matteo’s resigned one. The moment we were hidden from view, I released a sharp gasp and bent forward, propping myself up on my thighs as I tried to breathe through the contraction.
Luca rubbed my back. When we arrived at the underground level, he gently steered me toward the car because I could hardly think straight from pain. “You’re doing great, Love.”
I couldn’t even put into words how grateful I was for the man at my side. Without his support, this would be twice as hard. With him at my side, I just knew everything was going to be all right.
Luca
Seeing Aria in pain was the fucking worst thing I could imagine, even if I knew it would be worth it in the end and that the pain would be forgotten once Aria held our son in her arms. Still I wished I could bear the pain in her stead.
We arrived at the hospital within fifteen minutes and were taken into the delivery room at once. Soon two doctors joined us and started checking the baby’s vital signs. One of them shook his head then turned to us. “We need to do a C-section. The heart rate and the oxygen level has gone down and your wife isn’t dilated enough.”
“Do what you have to do to guarantee my wife’s and our son’s safety,” I said quietly, giving them a warning look they couldn’t possibly misread. None of them would survive tonight if something happened to my family.
Aria’s eyes were wide as she breathed through another contraction. “I want a natural birth.”
“I know, Love, but this is for the best for you and the baby.”
It didn’t take long until everything was prepared for the operation. One of the doctors turned to me before they began. “Usually we warn the fathers that they shouldn’t look over the barrier unless they can stomach a lot of blood, but I don’t think that’s necessary with you.”
I didn’t like his tone one bit and gave him a cold smile. “I can handle blood, don’t worry.”
After that, I focused all my attention on Aria, cradling her head and whispering words of adoration in her ear. I could see the worry and fear in her eyes, probably not for herself but our unborn child. “Everything will be all right.”
I wasn’t sure how much time passed until the doctor finally lifted our son, all wrinkly and blue. For a moment, I thought he wasn’t breathing but then he let out a loud wail and the doctor turned to do checkups. He was much bigger than Marcella had been, definitely my son.
Aria released a harsh breath and I kissed her forehead, then her ear, whispering, “I love you more than life itself, principessa. You gave me the greatest gift of all, your love and our children.”
Tears filled Aria’s eyes and she put her hand over mine.
The doctor carried our son over to us and put him down on Aria’s chest. She stroked his back then looked up at me in wonder, and everything else seemed to fade to black, becoming irrelevant. “He looks like you.”
He did.
His hair was pitch black and his eyes gray, and he weighed at least nine pounds from the look of it.
I nodded. Like me, but innocent and tiny. I reached out and stroked his cheek. My finger appeared huge against it.
Aria looked exhausted and pale. “Would you like to hold him?”
“Yes,” I murmured, my voice strangely hoarse. I gently picked our baby boy up from Aria’s chest and held him in my arms. I’d forgotten how tiny and vulnerable babies were, how much they depended on our care. I wasn’t sure why I’d thought my feelings for my son would be different than for Marcella. In the few minutes that he was on earth, I already loved him with a fervor I only reserved for Aria and my daughter. He still needed my protection like they did, and I would keep him safe as much as I could.
“Amo,” I murmured as I put my finger into his small palm.
Aria watched us with tears in her eyes while I kept checking the doctors who stitched her