Epilogue - Part Two
Milo's P.O.V -
Two Years Later -
"How has work been?" I asked Roberto as he picked me up from the airport.
I was spending the week visiting Roberto and his family in Italy, my mum had planned to join me but apparently something happened at work which meant she had to stay at home.
My Nonno passed away a month after my eighteenth birthday, I flew to Italy and attended his funeral two weeks later. My mum returned home with me but when she arrived she noticed that I wanted to remain living with Lincoln, even though I had not expressed that out loud.
She insisted that I stayed at the pack house. I felt guilty at first especially since she decided to let Buddy stay with me instead of her but then she moved in with a friend and I've never seen her happier. She lives a two hour drive from me now but I take time to visit her at least once a month and I call her constantly.
She comes to visit me often, but I think that's so that she could see Jackson not because she wanted to visit me.
Roberto had started asking me to talk to him in English because when he came to visit us to meet Jackson he struggled to communicate with him because of the language barrier. Jackson knew a handful of words in Italian but it was difficult to teach him since everyone around him apart from me couldn't speak the language.
Lincoln had tried to learn Italian, and he knew some basics, although it seemed that languages weren't something that came easily to Lincoln. So he settled with the amount he had learnt.
"Good." He nodded. "Volevo adottare questo incredibile bambino di quattro anni, ma Zola ha detto che abbiamo già abbastanza bambini." (I wanted to adopt this incredible four year old but Zola said that we have enough children already.)
"You must've been disappointed." I replied.
"Disappointed." He nodded. "Can you?"
"Can I what?" I frowned in confusion. "Can I adopt the child?"
He nodded. "Please."
"I can't just adopt a child, Lincoln and I haven't even discussed the topic." He looked at me confused so I repeated the sentence in Italian.
"Almeno incontrala." He pleaded. (At least meet her.)
"Fine." I sighed. "But I'm not looking to adopt a child at the moment."
I had expected Roberto to drive me to his house but instead we pulled up at the orphanage he worked at.
"You want me to meet her now?" I spoke surprised.
He nodded and climbed out of the car. I quickly followed after him.
"I don't know if this is a good idea, I don't want to give any children false hope. It would be cruel." I told him but Roberto ignored me, possibly because he didn't understand what I was saying.
We entered the building and children were happily running around playing with each other, I smiled looking around.
"Here." Roberto gestured over to a group of children.
I looked between the children quietly wondering which one Roberto wanted me to meet.
"Florence." Roberto called.
A small girl's head turned towards us and she gave us a big smile with a few teeth missing. My heart warmed as my eyes landed on her, the happiness and glee on her face as she ran over mesmerized me.
"Questo è mio nipote Milo." Roberto introduced me. (This is my nephew Milo.)
"Ciao, è un piacere conoscerti." I smiled at her. (Hi, it's nice to meet you.)
Somebody called Roberto away leaving me alone with Florence. I looked at her somewhat awkwardly not knowing what to say to her.
"Sei qui per adottare?" She looked at me with hopeful eyes. (Are you here to adopt?)
I shook my head. "Temo di no, Roberto mi ha appena detto quanto sei grande e voleva che ti conoscessi." (I'm afraid not, Roberto just told me how great you are and wanted me to meet you.)
Her smile didn't falter. "Oh, è deludente. Ci sono molti ragazzi qui che vogliono davvero una famiglia." (Oh, that's disappointing. There are a lot of kids here who really want a family.)
I frowned at her words. "E tu? Vuoi una famiglia?" (What about you? Do you want a family?)
"Ovviamente tutti vogliono una famiglia." She giggled as if her words did not have sadness behind them. (Of course, everyone wants a family.)
My frown deepened and I tried to imagine what it would be like to grow up without a family who loved you unconditionally.
"Va bene, alla fine avrò una famiglia, ma se non lo faccio allora creerò la mia famiglia." She reassured me having obviously seen my frown. (It's okay, I'll get a family eventually but if I don't then I'll make my own family.)
I smiled at her. "Sei una ragazza molto intelligente." (You are a very smart girl.)
She just nodded. "Vuoi vedere i miei disegni?" (Do you want to see my drawings?)
I smiled and nodded. For the next hour Florence showed me around the orphanage and introduced me to her friends, we spent time playing and drawing together until eventually I was back with Roberto.
"I want her." I admitted.
Roberto smiled victoriously. "I know, talk to Lincoln."
"I'll be back in a bit." I told him as I walked out of the house and pulled out my phone.
I dialed Lincoln's number and he answered instantly.
"Hey Milo." Lincoln spoke happily. "Jackson come here, Papa's on the phone."
We had decided that Lincoln would be dad and that I would be Papa.
"Papa!" Jackson squealed into the phone.
"Hi baby boy, how are you?" I smiled into the phone.
"Sleepy." He giggled.
"You don't sound sleepy." I teased. "Isn't it your nap time?"
I checked the time and quickly worked out what time it was at home.
"No." He stretched out the word telling me that he was lying.
"I think it is." I told him. "Be a good boy and go take a nap."
"Okay." He spoke in a small voice before disappearing.
"I'm back." Lincoln announced.
"He listens to me on the phone better than in person." I commented.
"He does." Lincoln chuckled. "He's in bed now."
"Okay good because I need to talk to you about something." I told him.
"Oh?" He spoke curiously. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah." I answered. "But Roberto took me to the orphanage he worked at."
"And you met a kid?" Lincoln guessed.
"I did." I sighed. "She's incredible Lincoln, she's so smart and funny, she's the happiest kid I've ever met and she has such a positive outlook on everything."
"Are we ready for another kid?" Lincoln questioned.
"I am." I admitted. "Are you?"
"I think so." He replied before sighing. "But you can't just suddenly turn up to an orphanage and adopt a kid right? And besides I'd want to meet her first."
"Of course." I nodded suddenly excited.
For a few hours Lincoln and I spoke about whether we should have a second child or not and about how realistic it was that we would adopt her. I gave him more information about Florence and he seemed to like her already.
"I'll book a flight, Jackson and I will be there as soon as we can." He told me.
***
Two days later Lincoln and Jackson's plane landed and I was ready to pick them up from the airport and take them straight to the orphanage.
I had spent the past two days at the orphanage with Roberto spending as much time with Florence as I could without her gaining hope of me adopting her. As far as she's aware I have no intentions of adopting anyone and I was going home at the end of the week.
"Milo!" Lincoln grinned pulling me into a hug. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too." I smiled as I stepped out of the hug. "And I've missed you."
I lifted a tired Jackson from Lincoln's arms and held him tightly.
"Papa." He mumbled burying his head into my chest.
I smiled at him for a moment before kissing the top of his head. "I'm here."
He gripped onto my top tightly and I caught a glimpse of the smile that I had missed so much the past few days.
"Are we heading straight there?" Lincoln asked me as we climbed into the car which Roberto was waiting in.
I nodded at him and he gave me a smile in return. Soon we were pulling up in the orphanage's small car park.
I held Lincoln's hand as we walked in. Jackson had woken up fully by now and was looking around curiously, he was confused on why there were so many children in one place.
"Milo!" A familiar sweet voice exclaimed before the child wrapped her arms around me in a hug.
"Ciao Florence." I said her name so that Lincoln would understand that this was the girl I had been telling him about.
His eyes widened as he stared at her but a warm smile began to spread across his face. Florence looked at Lincoln and Jackson curiously before turning back to me.
"Sono tuo marito e tuo figlio?" She spoke curiously. (Is this your husband and son?)
I smiled and nodded. Florence turned to them excitedly.
"Hello, I am Florence." She introduced herself with the small amount of English she had proudly told me once she found out that I lived in America.
"Hi Florence, I am Lincoln. Che piacere incontrarla." Lincoln was hesitant at first once he realized that Florence wouldn't know how to speak English but he began to accept it once he remembered that I could translate for him. (It's nice to meet you.)
"Anche tu." Florence's face brightened once she heard Lincoln speak in Italian. (You too.)
We spent the entire day with Florence and I didn't even need to ask Lincoln to know that he wanted to adopt her too. Lincoln told me that Florence was a werewolf and shouldn't have been in a human orphanage to begin with.
"Who do we talk to?" Lincoln whispered so that Florence wouldn't hear.
"You don't have to whisper, she doesn't speak English." I laughed.
"Right." He chuckled with a nod.
"I'll go talk to Roberto." I told Lincoln who nodded before turning his attention back to Jackson and Florence who were playing tag. Florence was clearly faster but she slowed down to allow Jackson to catch her.
Lincoln and I extended the trip and spent the entire time filling out paperwork and spending time with Florence, until eventually she was officially our daughter.
"Florence." I caught her attention so that she looked up from her drawing.
"Sì?" She smiled at me.
"Devo chiederti una cosa." I told her. (I have to ask you something.)
"Va bene." She sat patiently waiting for me to continue. (Okay.)
I glanced at Lincoln who nodded and smiled. "Go ahead." He told me.
"Lincoln e io ci stavamo chiedendo come ti sentiresti se ti adottassimo?" I spoke softly. (Lincoln and I were wondering how you would feel if we adopted you?)
She froze as her eyes darted between Lincoln and I to see if we were joking. "Veramente?" Her voice wobbled as she looked at us in disbelief. (Really?)
We both nodded which made her eyes water before tears began to roll down her cheeks. She stood up suddenly and ran over pulling us both into a hug.
"Grazie, grazie, grazie!" She exclaimed before glancing at Jackson who was watching her confused. "Ho un fratello!" (I have a brother!)
She wrapped her arms gently around Jackson and pulled him into a hug. I watched with tears at the newest member of our family.
***
"Aspetta qui con Lincoln." I told Florence as I unbuckled Jackson from the car. (Wait here with Lincoln.)
I entered the house with Jackson and was greeted by everyone.
"How was Italy?" Lucy asked pulling me into a hug.
"It was great." I smiled at all of them.
Andrew walked over to me but his eyes were focused on Jackson. I smiled and placed down Jackson, Andrew grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the couch where Jackson's toys were waiting for him. They are such great friends. Austin was running around with Avery when I walked in but now they were walking over to Andrew and Jackson so that they could play with them.
"Where's Lincoln?" Bella asked confused.
"Right." I remembered that they were still in the car. "Actually we have a surprise for all of you."
"Is it to do with why Lincoln went to Italy and why you spent so long there?" Andrew, Lincoln's dad, asked intrigued.
"Yeah." I nodded with a smile.
I opened the front door and gestured for Lincoln to come in. I watched as he spoke to Florence and soon they were both climbing out of the car.
"Is it big news?" Cora questioned as she leant into Cole.
"The biggest." I smiled at her and stepped to the side as Lincoln walked in with Florence.
They all stared at Florence with wide eyes and Florence seemed slightly nervous with the amount of strangers and took a step back so she was slightly hidden behind Lincoln.
"Florence questa è la tua nuova famiglia." I told her watching her reaction cautiously. (Florence this is your new family.)
Lincoln glanced at me before turning to look at everyone's confused faces. "This is Florence, our daughter."
"No." Bella spoke in disbelief. "Really? Oh my."
Her smile grew as did everyone else's but no one moved to greet her because of how nervous she was.
"Flory!" Jackson exclaimed as he ran over to her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to where all the other children were. Florence seemed a lot more comfortable with the children than with the adults.
Lincoln and I watched her interact with them for a moment before we walked over to everyone.
"You have a daughter." Wyatt smiled. "When did that happen?"
"It wasn't planned, we just met her at the orphanage my uncle Roberto works at and we knew she was perfect for us." I explained.
"She's beautiful." Lucy smiled and Cora nodded in agreement.
"We can lend you some of Avery's clothes if you want." Wyatt offered. "Her suitcase looks pretty small."
"Thank you." Lincoln spoke gratefully.
I looked over to see Avery teaching Florence Pat-A-Cake, I felt warmth fill my chest knowing that she was already settling into the family.