I take a deep relaxing breath as he leans in and wipes my forehead with a wet cloth, cooling me instantly.
“You’re doing so well, my love.”
I smile weakly at him. “You’re a good liar, Tomas Novotny. I almost bought that. It’s too bad my vag is going to be so blown out after this that you’ll be able to drive a Mack truck through it.”
He shakes his head and leans in to kiss me when one of the fetal monitors starts beeping like crazy and alarms go off. We both look over at the screen and the steady number that was there before is now plummeting, the heart symbol next to it flashing over and over.
“Oh God, what’s happening?” I shout.
Within seconds, two nurses and my ob/gyn, Doctor Gretchen Avery, rush into my room. Gretchen is a petite brunette who’s always calm and collected, which is good for a drama queen like me. When she sees the heart rate on the monitor and then checks my belly, she starts ordering commands to the nurses to prep me and an OR for a C-section.
She turns to me. I know she can see the terror in my eyes and Tomas’s. “Luciana, one of the babies is in fetal distress and we need to get both of them out now. Everything will be okay. Let’s go!”
Before I know what’s happening, I’m being assisted onto a gurney and the locks are released as I’m wheeled away. “Tomas!” I call out for him.
“It’s okay, honey. They’re just getting him ready for the OR. You’ll see him before you know it,” one of the nurses at my side reassures me.
I’m pushed through a set of double doors, bright lights blinding me from overhead. Activity swirls around me. A drape is drawn across my chest, obscuring the view of my belly. I just want Tomas. I need to hear his smooth accent comforting me, telling me everything will be fine. I also need to tell him something.
Finally, he’s there, leaning over me. All I can see are his beautiful blue eyes because he’s wearing a surgical mask.
“I’m here, my love,” he says to comfort me, taking my hand.
I start to cry. “Tomas, I didn’t mean it. I was joking. I want our babies. I don’t care anymore. I just want them to be okay.”
He leans in closer to me, his forehead pressing mine. “I know you were joking. It’s going to be fine.”
“Okay, Luciana, here we go,” Dr. Avery announces from behind the drape.
Thanks to the epidural, I don’t feel any pain. Just something being dragged across my belly, then pulling. Lots of pulling.
“And here’s baby girl number one!” she shouts.
Then the loud cries of our baby fill the room, and Tomas and I start to cry with her.
“Let me see!” I shout.
Tomas is now standing. “She’s beautiful,” he whispers breathlessly, as if he’s never seen anything so beautiful in his life.
A nurse brings her over and gently places her on my chest. “Hi, gorgeous,” I cry, holding my head up so I can kiss her and Tomas can take a quick picture with his phone of baby and me and then the three of us.
Just as quickly as she’s taken away, Dr. Avery announces, “Okay, here’s baby number two! Another beauty!”
And another set of crying bounces off the tiled walls of the OR. “Another girl,” Tomas says as he kisses my forehead.
Our second daughter is placed into his arms. He eases closer to me so I can see her and kiss her again just like I did her sister. Tomas takes another round of photos, and Baby One is brought back over so Tomas can hold both, leaning into me with them so a nurse can take a picture of my new family altogether as one.
The nurse then puts down Tomas’s phone and carefully takes our daughters from his arms with another nurse’s help. “Let’s get them cleaned up. I promise you’ll see them very soon.”
“Everything looks good, Luciana,” Dr. Avery’s voice informs me. “I see lots of babies in your future.”
I know Tomas is smiling behind his mask, his eyes wet with emotion. “Do you hear that, darling? Lots of babies.”
Tears stream down my face with no signs of stopping. “I can’t wait.”
EPILOGUE
Northern Italy
Present day
Tomas looks into the rearview mirror. I know he’s looking at the twins. “And they really are okay.”
I smile, checking on them myself. “They’re perfect. Crazy but perfect.”
He takes my hand and kisses my knuckles. “Just like us.”
“It’s hereditary.”
My husband lets out a laugh when something catches his eye. “Holiday Inn in ten kilometers.”
I glance out the window and sure enough, there’s a sign for a Holiday Inn with its familiar logo. “Oh, thank God,” I exhale.
On the outskirts of Turin, we finally exit and pull up to the motel. Tomas pops out to ask about a vacancy. I keep my eyes on him, and when he finally turns around, he signals to me with a thumbs-up. “Yes!” I whisper triumphantly to myself, my tired head falling back onto the headrest.
I watch as he pulls out his wallet and passport, tucks everything into his back pocket, and comes back out with a key card, handing it to me. We drive the car to a space just outside our ground-floor room and carry the girls in, laying them down on one of the double beds. Tomas heads back out to collect our bags and lock the car.
I collapse onto the other bed, exhaling a deep breath. I hear the door open, glancing over as Tomas carries in our luggage. I give out a huge yawn. “I’m so exhausted.”
Tomas settles in next to me. “We should think about dinner,” my husband reminds me.
“Don’t worry. Allegra’s father loaded us up with leftovers before we left. We can heat them up in the microwave. Thank God these rooms have kitchenettes.” I take a whiff of my clothes. “Ugh. I need a shower.”
I grab my toiletries from my suitcase and head into the bathroom. I strip off my clothes and turn on the shower. The hot water cascades down my body, instantly relaxing me.
The sound of the shower curtain screeching against the metal rod startles me. Tomas stands on the bath mat totally naked. “Want some company?”
“What about the girls?”
“I locked the door with the deadbolt and they’re sound asleep.”
I grab him by the hand and pull him in. “Works for me.”
Our mouths slam together, tongues tangling. Tomas pushes me into the wall, our arms wrapping tightly around each other. I whimper helplessly as his grunts echo off the tiles.
“More,” I beg him when I pull away for a split second. “God, more, please.”
“Anything for you, my love,” Tomas replies roughly.
“The girls might wake up any minute,” I remind him, which really means Get your rock-hard cock into me tout de suite!
“I’m on it.”
I smile to myself at the sound of Tomas using a typical American idiom. He’s come so far, this amazing man of mine who I fall more in love with every day.
Without warning, my head snaps back when he thrusts himself inside me. He starts pumping me with such force that I have to hold my head carefully so it doesn’t bang into the tiled wall. But then, I start not caring about the pain because he shifts direction and his cock is now rubbing my clit.
I start moaning loudly. “That’s it, baby. Don’t stop. Fuck, don’t stop.”
I love this man so much. He owns my fucking heart. He owns my fucking soul. After all the shit I went through with my Loser List of guys, I finally found a man. A true man who worships me but doesn’t take my crap. Who knows every quirk of mine and doesn’t run away screaming from me. Who loves my curves and tells me I’m beautiful every day.
My inner muscles grab hold of his dick like a vise and I bear down, milking it. He grabs my shoulders and pushes me into the cool tiles.
“Look at me,” he commands.
I open my eyes and stare into his brilliant sapphire ones that are searing mine. We say nothing to each other because no words are necessary. I see his love for me, his hunger for me that I know are reciprocated in mine.