“I wouldn’t dream of it. Trust me.” I chuckled.
“And I promise this won’t become a habit. They’re just getting the company up and running and once they hire more people they trust, I won’t be rolling out as often as I have been.”
I set my other hand on top of his. “Hey, Isabella might have your six out there, but I have it here. And you do what you need to. Okay?”
“Mmmm.” He leaned in. “How do you make military talk so sexy?”
I laughed. “You’re crazy.”
He closed one eye. “Am I, though?”
“Yes, but I love you anyway,” I teased, and he set his mouth to mine for another hot kiss as his hand skated over my abdomen.
“You better,” he whispered against my lips, and sometimes it was hard for me to believe this was my life.
That he was my husband. And now Chiara’s father. On paper, too.
Thomas had allowed him to legally adopt her with the request that after his time in prison, he was allowed a few visits a month with Chiara. They’d be supervised, though. I wasn’t ready to leave him alone with her after what he’d done.
“This is happening, right?” I asked once he opened the door for me. “This is real? I’m not dreaming?” I also hadn’t had a nightmare in months, but I’d kept up with therapy to continue working on myself, because why not?
Enzo let go of the door and held my cheeks. “Yes, it is.” His brows slanted as he studied me.
I freed a deep breath from my lungs, which served as my own little pinch to let myself know I was awake. This was real. And then holding my hand again, he led me inside.
After checking in and going through the motions, I was finally about to hear our child’s heartbeat for the first time. Chiara would have a sibling.
“You two ready?” my obstetrician asked, and Enzo squeezed my hand, standing off to my side, and I knew his heart had to be racing as fast as mine right now.
“Yes,” I nearly choked out, and she began studying the screen, and my eyes were glued to it as well, not that I knew what I was looking at.
“Give me a second.” Why’d that not sound great from our doctor?
I shot Enzo a panicky look, and he set a hand to my shoulder and lightly squeezed, a promise everything would be okay.
I nodded and gulped, praying he was right, and then the doctor looked at me, then over at Enzo.
“Two heartbeats,” she shared after a dramatic pause of suspense, and little did she know we didn’t need more suspense in our lives; we’d had our fair share already. “Looks like you’re going to have twins, congratulations.”
“I thought twins had to run on the mother’s side,” Enzo said, his gaze narrowed. Disbelief in his dark eyes. A smile slipped to his lips when he added, “I may have done a little research.” He squeezed my hand, then pivoted back to the doctor, searching for confirmation we were truly pregnant with two babies.
“Having twins isn’t always hereditary. But for fraternal, usually that’s passed down through the gestational parent’s side, yes. I take it you’re a twin, though?”
Enzo nodded, and her smile broadened. “Well, looks like you’re both lucky, then, to be blessed with two babies.”
“Lucky,” he said, eyes on me. “I am definitely lucky,” he murmured, then kissed me.
And it wasn’t until our appointment ended and we were back in the SUV that it truly hit me I was pregnant with twins.
Enzo was quiet from behind the wheel, not yet starting the engine, and then he twisted in his seat and stared at me.
“Are you okay?” I reached for his hand, and he leaned in and brushed his lips across my knuckles.
“Maybe I really am crazy,” he softly said, meeting my eyes.
“Why?”
“Because I get the feeling she’s somehow here with us. Her energy, at least? I don’t know what you want to call it. But Bianca’s here with us.”
Chills peppered my skin, and now I was the one crying, and I knew it wasn’t just pregnancy hormones.
I leaned across the console, careful not to crush my stomach, not that I was really showing yet, but I needed to get closer to him. I set my free hand over his heart. “She’s been with you all this time. You’ve never been without her.”
His hold on my palm tightened, and he let go of a heavy breath as if whatever weight he’d still been carrying was now gone from his shoulders.
Enzo brought our linked palms back to his mouth and kissed the top of my hand. “We’re going to have three kids,” he said a moment later, shaking his head, and then he cracked a smile. “We didn’t plan for this. We can handle three, right?” Oh, my gruff alpha was now about to panic. Probably go overboard on babyproofing our house the way Ryan had before Dante was born. “And what if they’re girls? Three girls? How many dates will I have to fight off and . . .” He let go of his words, realizing he was about to go off the deep end with worry.