Chapter 48: Chosen By A Sinner: Epilogue

Three months later…

Holy shit.

I blink at the monitor, not processing what the doctor said.

Luca is just as shocked as I am as he asks, “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Dr. Matthews points at the screen. “Those are two heartbeats.”

Twins.

We’re having twins.

“But…” I frown. “There’s no history of twins in our families.”

Not that I know of.

“You’re having identical twins. One egg split into two. The odds are one in two-hundred-and-fifty.”

Slowly I look at Luca. His eyes meet mine, and a second later, his hands frame my face, and he kisses the ever-loving shit out of me, not caring about the doctor.

When he lifts his head, he whispers, “Christ, two babies.”

“We wanted two kids,” I mention. Not at once, but what the hell, we’ll be fine.

He kisses me again, then peppers the doctor with questions.

We only stay a couple of minutes longer before we leave, both silent as we walk to the G-Wagon.

Once we’re seated in the vehicle and Luca drives us home, I mutter, “So much for taking turns getting up.”

“Right.” It looks like he’s still in shock.

“I’m hiring a nanny. If they start crying at the same time, I’ll have a panic attack. Who would I pick up first?”

“We’ll get a nanny. Let’s just process the news, then we’ll plan everything.”

Unlike me, Luca needs time to absorb our new reality.

“Okay,” I murmur, my right hand brushing over my baby bump.

I have two little beating hearts inside me.

My lips curve up. “If they’re both boys, we can call them Lucian and Alexei.”

“What if they’re girls?”

I think for a moment. “Alexis and … shit, what sounds like Lucian?”

“Lucinda?”

“Hell no,” I mutter.

“Lucy?”

“Nope.” Pulling out my phone, I start Googling names. “Oooh, Lucien is the female form of Lucian. It means light. Also, Lucienne.”

Luca doesn’t look impressed, then he asks, “What about Elena and Isabella? We name boys after our fathers and girls after our mothers.”

A smile splits over my face. “Yes! That will be perfect.”

“It’s a pity we couldn’t find out the sex today,” Luca mentions.

“I don’t mind. I’ll decorate the nursery in white and yellow. Neutral colors.”

Luca pulls the G-Wagon into the parking bay, then turns off the engine. A minute later, when we walk into our apartment, he asks, “What do you want for lunch, babe?”

“Stupid question,” I chuckle.

“Right. Vegetable bake it is.”

I can’t stomach meat at the moment and have been craving vegetables like crazy.

I take up my usual spot by the counter and watch my man prepare our food.

Watching him cook is one of my favorite things to do. And, of course, when he’s in action mode. All badass and ruthless.

Sigh.

“I need some tender, loving care.”

Luca drops the knife and hauls me off the stool. My butt hits the counter, and my legs are shoved open.

“What my wife wants, my wife gets.”

Luca

Six months later…

Mariya’s amazed me a lot over the past year we’ve been married, but fuck, having her carry our children and giving birth to them… I have no words.

We’re both staring at our baby boys. Lucian Viktor Cotroni and Alexei Demitri Cotroni. We obviously named them after the most important men in our lives.

Watching our boys sleep, I’m filled with emotions so powerful, all I can do is go with the wave constantly crashing in my chest.

Now I know how my father felt when he looked at me for the first time.

Unconditional love.

“I can’t tell them apart,” I mutter. “I’m going to keep confusing their names.”

Mariya points to the crib on the left. “Lucian, and that’s Alexei.”

“How do you know?”

“Lucian’s birthmark is rounder than Alexei’s.”

I stare at the feint brown mark on each of their forearms, and then I see the slight difference. “Thank fuck.”

The door to the private hospital room opens, and our parents come in. Our mothers head straight for the sleeping babies while my father comes to hug me.

Uncle Alexei wraps Mariya up in his arms.

“Congratulations, son,” Dad murmurs as he pulls away, looking at me with pride.

I rub a hand over my chest, the sharp ache of love hitting again as my eyes keep bouncing between my sons.

“It’s overwhelming at first,” Dad says.

“Yeah.”

“At first, you watch them so they won’t get hurt. Then you watch them in awe as they develop. Once their adults, you watch them with respect as they become the men they were meant to be.”

I lock eyes with Dad before yanking him into another hug.

“What did you name them?” My mother asks.

I move closer so I can see their birthmarks, then gesture at each of my sons. “This is Lucian, and that’s Alexei.”

Both men are instantly overcome with emotions, looking with pride at their grandsons.

We all dote over our newborns until it’s time for their first feed.

I clear the room out with a promise they can visit again later.

“Who do I feed first?” Mariya asks the nurse that came in to assist.

“You feed them both at once,” the nurse chuckles, picking up Lucian to place in Mariya’s right arm. When she has Alexei nestled against her, as well, the nurse helps the boys to latch onto their mother.

“There we go,” the nurse says before settling her gaze on me. “Make sure your wife drinks lots of fluids while breastfeeding. She’ll get very thirsty.”

I nod and step closer to the bedside table to pour a glass of water for Mariya. “Just say when you want a sip, baby.”

“Uh-huh.” She lets out a quivering breath, her eyes flitting between our sons as they drink from her.

“You okay?”

“Just emotional.”

Leaning over her, I press a kiss to her temple, then hold the glass in front of her lips. “Drink. I don’t want them sucking you dry.”

She lets out a soft chuckle. “Pretty sure that’s not possible.”

I watch as she drinks half the glass, then I place it down on the table. I brush my hand over my sons’ tiny heads, and sitting down on the side of the bed, I lock eyes with my wife.

“Thank you.”

“For?”

“Making all my dreams come true.” I push a couple of wild strands behind her ear. “For choosing me.”

“There wasn’t much of a choice to be made. You were it for me.”

Careful not to bump our babies, I lean closer and steal a tender kiss from Mariya. “Ti amo, mia moglie.”

“I love you too, mio marito.”

The End.

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