CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Where We Begin14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcT1MElFlud
(Her POV)
It started at 3:17 a.m.
A sharp pain in her lower back.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJKVyzq6FB
Then another.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXKowfWigAK
And another.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtu1lahugW
Until the bed sheet was soaked and her scream woke him up.
“It’s time,” she cried. “She’s coming.”
Matteo jumped from bed.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNLMMFvxPd
Pale. Barefoot.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7UXafmyDh
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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88ZS2GKqbz
Prayed out loud.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62Bt9kWhO9
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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTz9QBZs6Jm
Blinding.
She screamed.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiyRG2jwIQh
Bit down on his shoulder.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIyNvJAtwGZ
Cursed like a demon.
And then—
The doctor yelled.
“One more push!”
She used everything.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxsTUaPXUzJ
Every ounce of strength.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRAHOz56lG7
Every broken memory.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITBZ3OEmMm
Every piece of her soul.
And then—
A cry.
High-pitched.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOQNYm8BiK
Wailing.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRu6k2Q1yL
Angelic.
The sound of new life.
“It’s a girl!” the nurse said.
Matteo didn’t move.
He just stared.
Blood on his hands.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp05ad9hZSt
Tears on his face.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOYJHMMr6P
And light in his eyes.
They placed the baby on her chest.
Tiny.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypllQAMwqe
Red.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHou5hYABTI
Wrinkled.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc93aGOb53x
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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHzWdIpdMJ
“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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc31qiX8t8X
No sleep.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6f2Kvrchsg
No noise.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7URAmg0sk0
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 —14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡelsDrX2eD9
You were born from fire and ashes. But you are not the flame. You are the light.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoEbwvySwp
You are where everything finally begins.”
And that was it.
The doctor.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXChzDfa5Xg
The storm.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXrOOwvSA21
The sinner.
Now a father.
ns216.73.216.203da2
