CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Where We Begin30Please respect copyright.PENANA8AuqUoHlPp
(Her POV)
It started at 3:17 a.m.
A sharp pain in her lower back.30Please respect copyright.PENANAxGwPe9u6KY
Then another.30Please respect copyright.PENANABgsTo7FJKJ
And another.30Please respect copyright.PENANALMt5DVuMfm
Until the bed sheet was soaked and her scream woke him up.
“It’s time,” she cried. “She’s coming.”
Matteo jumped from bed.30Please respect copyright.PENANAvOcngG4AuC
Pale. Barefoot.30Please respect copyright.PENANA4qeK0fjh6c
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.30Please respect copyright.PENANAqBsZ52rMSh
Prayed out loud.30Please respect copyright.PENANAnObYGKFOAp
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.30Please respect copyright.PENANA7oqsHk8HZL
Blinding.
She screamed.30Please respect copyright.PENANACzGRBGvcYR
Bit down on his shoulder.30Please respect copyright.PENANA6sQjg6Urkz
Cursed like a demon.
And then—
The doctor yelled.
“One more push!”
She used everything.30Please respect copyright.PENANAGEwTliOU0X
Every ounce of strength.30Please respect copyright.PENANArgfaEiMrWk
Every broken memory.30Please respect copyright.PENANAfgMUDQABoL
Every piece of her soul.
And then—
A cry.
High-pitched.30Please respect copyright.PENANAnkwyI6Yv3S
Wailing.30Please respect copyright.PENANARQbbNwhFvV
Angelic.
The sound of new life.
“It’s a girl!” the nurse said.
Matteo didn’t move.
He just stared.
Blood on his hands.30Please respect copyright.PENANACPfpR3Q6WO
Tears on his face.30Please respect copyright.PENANAG8ycdGXnpt
And light in his eyes.
They placed the baby on her chest.
Tiny.30Please respect copyright.PENANAR3y78nvwSZ
Red.30Please respect copyright.PENANANX720P8K2E
Wrinkled.30Please respect copyright.PENANA13xqUJofbx
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.30Please respect copyright.PENANAsGa3xSNLEG
“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.30Please respect copyright.PENANAOj3orLfn92
No sleep.30Please respect copyright.PENANAraEgvBVp38
No noise.30Please respect copyright.PENANAj00RxRQJGE
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 —30Please respect copyright.PENANAMgIImvlRZM
You were born from fire and ashes. But you are not the flame. You are the light.30Please respect copyright.PENANAcH9Eb5o0Vj
You are where everything finally begins.”
And that was it.
The doctor.30Please respect copyright.PENANAJ8jMCEIQAj
The storm.30Please respect copyright.PENANA13o8MbZWHq
The sinner.
Now a father.
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