Chapter 113
Luca
The silence is deafening, only shaken by the beeping of the two heart monitors in the room. I sit holding Ariana’s limp hand, not knowing what else to do. I need her, the boys need her, so many people need her and she’s laying here fighting the biggest battle of her life when she should be celebrating the birth of her children.
Luciano returned a while later with the two cots that holds the boys. We’ve convinced or more like paid the staff to allow us all to stay here, even though the boys have been dispatched and visiting hours are over. None of us want to leave, not until we all leave together.
Tony
It’s been two weeks. Two long, conflicting weeks. We’ve all practically moved into the hospital room. Our parents bring us things we need and proper food. We’ve worked out a good sleep schedule between the three of us so that we’re not constantly exhausting ourselves with the newborns. Isla is a very calm baby for all that she’s been through, she hardly cries, sleeps through the night and has the will of a warrior. While Hunter and Kaiden are restless, they only sleep for an hour or two at the most, their lungs must be made of something else because the screams on those two are excruciating. They demand when to be fed, when to be held and the only way to calm them is to place them on their mother’s chest, which we do quite regularly. It’s like they’re telling us that they need her just as much as we do.
Luciano
Isla has been doing well; she’s getting stronger every day. She’s just spent her first full day out of the incubator and the nurses have been weening her off the oxygen for a week now and today they’re taking out her feeding tube and I get to try feeding her with a bottle for the first time.
“Okay little one, we both have no clue what we’re doing here, but we will learn together okay? Just be patient with Daddy.” She coos up at me with her bright blue eyes, just like her mother’s. Her little hand wraps around my finger that holds the bottle, almost as if she’s trying to help me. “You’re such a good girl, look at you my little warrior.” I encourage her as she takes the nipple into her mouth. She dripples a lot and Luca helps to wipe her chin while we watch her drink. “Hey there you go, princess! Look at that, you’re a natural!”
These last few weeks have been a real bonding experience for us guys. We’ve been learning together our children, what they like, what they don’t and how to be parents, but my heart aches every time I look to where Ariana lays, missing all these firsts.
“Mommy is going to love you.” I whisper to her, my voice breaking a little.
“Hey can I get some help over here!?” Tony says frantically as he tries to balance the squirming boys on Ariana’s chest. They’re wiggling and screaming from him trying to remove them. I’ll give it to them; they’re putting up a good fight. Luca gets up and takes a few long strides to the bed, placing his hands around Kaiden’s little body. Just as he’s about to pull him away, her hand twitches…and we all freeze. The sound of the boys cries is echoing around the room, along with the increasing pace of her heart monitor. She doesn’t open her eyes, but her hands slowly come up to wrap around the boys on either side of her chest. I’m out of my chair with Isla as quick and as gentle as I can while she’s still suckling on the bottle.
“Angel?”
“Mmmmm” she moans and the boy’s cries begin to settle down a little. “My babies…”
Her hands tighten around the boys, and she slowly blinks her eyes a few times and looks down on them. “My boys…” she sighs, but then her eyes become frantically aware and they dart around the room until they land on the little pink blanket in my arms. “Is she?..” the words die in her throat.
I walk to her side next to Luca and move my arms so she can see her daughter.
“She’s okay, mi amore. Isla is strong like her Mom.”
“Isla. she breaths out with a weak smile.
Tony quickly pours her a glass of water and helps her take a sip to clear her throat. “We were so scared, honey. So fucking scared.” He chokes out.
“Hey, language in front of the kids.” She laughs but there’s a hint of strictness in her voice.
“You did so well, Princess. So well.”
“We thought we lost you.” I say through the falling tears.
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Chapter 113
“I won’t leave you, any of you.” She looks around the room and sighs as she takes in the boy’s features. “What are their names?” She asks not taking her eyes off the two now calm babies on her. Tony places his hand on top of her. “Hunter.” She smiles at him. “That’s very fitting for him, he radiates strength.” She looks at the other bundle and then at Luca, “and how about this handsome little boy?”
He smiles, a smile that hasn’t been full since the kids were born. “Kaiden.”
“Kaiden.” She repeats. “He’ll be a little heartbreaker with his features.”
Isla finished sucking and let out a little burp as I readjusted her in my arms. I move to place her in the middle of the boys and keep my hand on her back to steady her. Ariana looks over her features, taking in every line, every wrinkle like she’s committing to memory. “Isla, a name fit for a princess.” She smiles.
“A warrior, princess” I correct.
She sighs deeply and lets her eyes fall closed as she hold her babies. I take the moment to pull my phone out and snap a photo of the scene in front of me. One I never want to forget.
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