CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Where We Begin12Please respect copyright.PENANA0lzz25I5zk
(Her POV)
It started at 3:17 a.m.
A sharp pain in her lower back.12Please respect copyright.PENANA0c1aqigj6G
Then another.12Please respect copyright.PENANAIZpGDJMkax
And another.12Please respect copyright.PENANA1Qtfucx8bE
Until the bed sheet was soaked and her scream woke him up.
“It’s time,” she cried. “She’s coming.”
Matteo jumped from bed.12Please respect copyright.PENANAwuYNv3CxVK
Pale. Barefoot.12Please respect copyright.PENANAabzmHDoIIO
Fumbling for the bag they prepared days ago.
But his hands were shaking.
“Okay. Okay. Just breathe. We practiced this—”
“Matteo,” she grabbed his wrist, “we don’t have time.”
“We’ll make time.”
The clinic was an hour away.
They made it in thirty-eight minutes.
He ran red lights.12Please respect copyright.PENANAEBw8YqwzvQ
Prayed out loud.12Please respect copyright.PENANAyDEVMaFfHO
Held her hand the whole way.
“You’re doing so good, baby. Just hold on for me.”
“I think I might kill you after this.”
“That’s fair.”
The contractions came hard.
Fast.12Please respect copyright.PENANAlUaz0wUxxR
Blinding.
She screamed.12Please respect copyright.PENANABm7xy3dRFp
Bit down on his shoulder.12Please respect copyright.PENANA1BXDZlmEb8
Cursed like a demon.
And then—
The doctor yelled.
“One more push!”
She used everything.12Please respect copyright.PENANAxhkLCoPcTd
Every ounce of strength.12Please respect copyright.PENANAv7iy6TncFv
Every broken memory.12Please respect copyright.PENANAepz1QsfT2B
Every piece of her soul.
And then—
A cry.
High-pitched.12Please respect copyright.PENANAADpcwa5X3F
Wailing.12Please respect copyright.PENANARzvJVt0nIS
Angelic.
The sound of new life.
“It’s a girl!” the nurse said.
Matteo didn’t move.
He just stared.
Blood on his hands.12Please respect copyright.PENANAdPBGGZo8yi
Tears on his face.12Please respect copyright.PENANAZaKjfcqcR8
And light in his eyes.
They placed the baby on her chest.
Tiny.12Please respect copyright.PENANAUcwKn8DVsj
Red.12Please respect copyright.PENANApzMVDz2ine
Wrinkled.12Please respect copyright.PENANAgdIv7nwBD4
Perfect.
“Hi, Arielle,” she whispered. “Welcome to the world, baby.”
“She’s beautiful,” Matteo choked.
“She looks like you.”
“Poor girl,” he laughed, then sobered.12Please respect copyright.PENANAxdHvdjMhWr
“No. She’s lucky. Because she’ll grow up loved.”
He kissed her forehead.
Then their daughter’s.
“Thank you,” he whispered, “for surviving me.”
They stayed in that hospital room for hours.12Please respect copyright.PENANAmBxFVwTvBM
No sleep.12Please respect copyright.PENANAEQIlgN4qz1
No noise.12Please respect copyright.PENANAN2zIrkeBS2
Just their heartbeat, and hers.
Later that night, Matteo took out the same notebook he started months ago.
He added one last entry:
“To Arielle —12Please respect copyright.PENANAg53WO5xT6a
You were born from fire and ashes. But you are not the flame. You are the light.12Please respect copyright.PENANAuQRounrFVz
You are where everything finally begins.”
And that was it.
The doctor.12Please respect copyright.PENANAmoG6juErSr
The storm.12Please respect copyright.PENANAgpADOr5KpP
The sinner.
Now a father.
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