Ten months later
I have scars to match Sophie’s now. My forearms got burnt the moment I pulled her out of the car, but I wasn’t going to let fire stop me. I’m glad I didn’t, because now, I have a beautiful family.
“They still look like potatoes to me,” Ella says, staring at the twins in their crib.
Both boys.
Angelo and Andre.
“They do not look like potatoes,” I scoff, tilting my head at my sons.
They do, but I won’t admit that. They have the chubbiest cheeks.
“Did you check everything off your list for today?” I ask her.
Ella rolls her eyes. “What is this, my first rodeo?” she lifts her arms in annoyance.
“Where do you learn these sayings?”
“That isn’t important. I called Grandma and Grandpa. They will be here soon for dinner. Gianni is watching security. Mommy is still sleeping.”
“She deserves all the rest after dealing with these two.” I lift Angelo into my arms, then Andre, taking a seat in the rocking chair. “It’s important that a man doesn’t see taking care of his children as a burden, but a gift. Sophie, or any woman for that matter, shouldn’t have to do all the work. You remember that, Ella Bella.”
“Boys are gross. I don’t want babies.” She sticks her tongue out. “Yucky.”
“That’s right. Keep that in mind.” I watch her as she goes back to ogling her little brothers when my phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket to read the exact name I’ve been waiting to see for months.
“Dovnic. How… are things?” I ask awkwardly. I’m working on my small talk, which Sophie claims is good for me.
“I know you asked about the O’Briens. Apologies for it taking so long. But, I wanted to personally announce the good news that they’ve been taken care of.”
I feel a grin grow on my face. “As in?”
“Don’t be disgusting, Milazzo. Just know that they’ll no longer be bothering your family.”
“Thank you, Dovnic. I hope your son is healing well,” I add, remembering the grim state that I last saw him in.
“He is.”
“Well, I guess this means we can go back to being enemies,” I smirk. He laughs and we say our goodbyes, on better terms than our families have been in ages. I look back to Ella, who is peering out the window at one of the younger sons of my staff running around in the yard, and I narrow my gaze. “What did we learn about boys, Ella Bella?”
The door opens a second later, and a sleepy Sophie is there, rubbing her eyes. “And what do you think you’re telling my daughter?”
Sophie has also adopted Ella, legally. She is officially Ella’s mom in the government’s eyes.
“That boys are gross.”
“Ugh, they are.”
Ella giggles. “But you love Daddy.”
“I do. Not all boys are gross, but those are hard to find. I got lucky.”
“I hope I get lucky one day, too,” Ella says, then crinkles her nose. “No, never mind. No, thanks.”
I chuckle at her indecision just as the doorbell rings.
“I got it!” she screams, running down the hall to let grandma and grandpa in.
Sophie’s mom likes me, but her dad is harder to win over. I don’t think he likes my profession very much, but he is a good father and grandparent. That’s all that matters to me.
“Are you ready to get married tonight, Sweet Sophie?”
She kisses the top of Andre’s head, then Angelo’s. “I’ve been ready. Finally make me yours, Matias.”
I look at her dead in the eyes while holding my sons. “Sophie, you’re already mine. You were made for me. Married or not, our souls are fated, and not even death could take that away, because in another life, the next life, you will be mine. For eternity. In all the lives.”
