Epilogue

EPILOGUE

ALYSSA

A year later

W e stand around, all smiling, as the photographer tells us where to stand before taking a rapid succession of photos. Nico was christened today in the very church Brynne and Slate married in.

“Alright,” she says. “Maybe now some photos with Nico’s godparents?”

I smile brightly and tug Dante to the front of the group, opening my arms to Nico. He reaches for me, smiling as his pacifier falls out and hits the floor.

“Good, now burn the fucking thing,” Slate grumbles as Dante bends over to grab it off the ground.

I adjust Nico on my hip as he shoves his chubby little hand, his favorite pastime, in my hair. I think Dante was correct from the beginning; he’s a little brute like his father.

Brynne beams next to the photographer as she positions Dante and me for the photo.

As the photographer is counting down, Nico leans in, his forehead pressing into my cheek as he sighs. He’s getting tired, and it’s been a long day.

“Can you do one more photo for Auntie Lyss?” I ask him, turning his face toward the camera.

“Smile, bub,” I croon, and he laughs as Brynne covers her mouth at us, tears running down her cheeks.

The photographer shows her a few of the shots, and she wipes her eyes. “They’re perfect.”

Slate returns with the now-clean pacifier, handing it back to his son with an eye of skepticism that he should return it.

They’ve been trying to break him of it, but Nico is a stubborn Ricci and won’t give it up. Plus, Auntie Lyss sneaks him new ones all the time. This is my way of keeping him little for just a bit longer.

Nico snatches it, shoving it into his mouth as he leans beneath my chin and sighs.

“Nap time, huh, bub? I have to agree.”

There’s a dinner after this, but I’m not feeling too well.

I’ve been grappling with telling Brynne all day that I need to get home after this and skip the dinner, but I’m Nico’s godmom, and I know I need to be there.

I find the quiet room and sit on the bench with Nico, letting my head lean against the wall as I close my eyes.

His breathing is evening out as he drifts to sleep, making me even sleepier.

For a while, we stay like that.

The door squeaks open, and my eyes fly wide as Brynne winces.

“Sorry,” she whispers. “I didn’t realize you were nearly asleep, too.”

I smile. “I’m so exhausted today.”

“I noticed. You’ve looked off all week long.”

I started working for Brynne six months ago, and now that we’re in a rhythm and there’s not a Ricci Enforcer tailing me at every turn, the job is much easier.

It’s much more mundane.

If you can call being a mafia Don’s right-hand man mundane.

“Want me to take him?” she asks, sitting beside me.

I shake my head. “No. It’s the first time my stomach hasn’t hurt all day. Let him sleep.”

He’s resting his weight against my front, my arms wrapped around him as he snores softly.

I kiss his dark hair, which is beginning to lose that baby scent and close my eyes.

“I noticed you’ve been feeling sick lately. Have you missed your period?”

My eyes fly wide for the second time, and I turn to her, realization sinking through me as my heart races and Nico shifts under the distress.

“Oh, fuck,” I whisper.

She grins. “It happens that way. You get so sucked into living life you skip right past it, and then before you know it, you’re screaming as a baby rips its way out of your body. I didn’t realize that I was pregnant either.”

My breathing intensifies.

Of course, I knew this was a possibility. But I didn’t think it would happen so soon.

I stopped my birth control three months ago to get onto something different, but I wanted to get my system back to normal before I did so.

“Brynne, I only had one period since I stopped birth control.”

My brain works out how long that was ago.

She smiles. “Well, it seems you’ll need to see the doctor, hm? I’ll get you in with mine this week. She’ll move things around for me, don’t worry. Do you have any tests?”

I shake my head.

“Well, come over after dinner tonight?”

I spy Dante through the glass window in front of us, hands in his pockets, head thrown back in laughter with Slate and Lorenzo.

“I think I should do it with Dante.”

She squeezes my hand, which is over Nico’s bottom. “I think that would be nice. You’re going to text me to tell me the results, though, right?”

I chuckle softly, brushing Nico’s hair as he sweats against me. “Of course I will, B.”

She exhales and sits straight, leaning her head against the wall. “Fuck, it is nice in here, isn’t it?”

I close my eyes. “Yeah, it is.”

“Lyss?” Brynne says.

“Mm?”

“Are you afraid?”

I open my eyes and look at Dante, who’s staring right back at me with a smile. “No. I’m not.”

Later that night, after the dinner for Nico’s christening, I’m in the bathroom, alone, hovering over a Clear Blue and two First Response pregnancy tests I’ve peed on and lined up. I decided to do the tests alone because I wanted them to be positive.

I want to deal with my disappointment alone first if I'm not pregnant. It might be selfish, but I also know how I react to things and know I’ll need the moment.

“Alyssa?” Dante calls, a knock following his words.

I panic and swipe all the tests into my arms, hiding them against my body as he walks in.

I turn around, standing awkwardly so he doesn’t see the tests in my arms.

He arches a brow before laughing. “What the hell are you doing? Why do you look like you’ve been up to no good?”

“I—” I swallow as a test wiggles free from the bottom of the pile and hits the floor.

Dante bends to reach it for me and then stands straight as he reads the result.

Fuck. It’s the Clear Blue.

Brynne told me to get those because they give an estimation of gestation, not only the positive or negative.

“Alyssa,” he breathes, eyes pinned to the test, and I rush to his side, forgetting all about my moment and how I wanted it to happen.

I lean in, reading the pregnant result as I squeal.

Dropping the other tests to the ground, I snatch the Clear Blue out of his hands and lock my eyes on the 3+ to the right of the result as tears brim.

“I’m pregnant,” I breathe.

Dante takes the test from me and tosses it across the room, and I straighten as he lifts me into his arms and twirls me around the room. “We’re pregnant!”

His thrill and the way he said we had me bawling like a baby against his neck as he twirled me, causing a bit of nausea to rear its head.

He sets me down on the counter next to the sink, and I wipe his tears from his cheeks.

“How long have you known?” he asks.

I shake my head. “I didn’t. Brynne asked me today if I skipped my period because she noticed I’ve not been feeling well and I’ve been so tired and sick.”

“Why were you in here alone?”

I swallow, trying to choose the right words. “I didn’t want to be sad with you in the room if I wasn’t pregnant.”

“You wanted to be pregnant?”

I nod. “At first, I was scared as my initial reaction. Pregnancy isn’t a small thing. It’s life-changing. Then, I realized I wanted it so fucking badly that I didn’t want to see a negative result. I knew I would need a moment alone if it was.”

He smiles sweetly, brushing my hair back. “Understandable, tesoro.”

“We’re having a baby,” I sniffle.

He nods. “We are.”

“Are you going to be able to share?” I ask him jokingly.

He shrugs. “Guess we will find out. Are you happy?”

“So fucking happy,” I cry, fresh tears forming.

“Me too. I love you, tesoro.”

“I love you, baby.”

“No fucking way,” Dante says, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head at the technician.

“Check again.”

“Sir, I’ve checked five times.”

I am in stitches laughing because if not, I’ll cry.

“Well, I’m paying you, so check again.”

The tech opens her mouth to argue that he’s not, in fact, the one paying her, and I shake my head at her. One thing you don’t want to do is press a Ricci man when he’s already in a rage.

I reach for his hand as she turns back to the machine, and he gives it, squeezing me.

“We will go elsewhere, love. We’ll find someone more competent.”

The tech scowls at him but puts more jelly on my growing stomach.

“My love,” I start, but he shakes his head.

“No. I won’t listen to you take up for her. You and my baby will have the finest things; clearly, she’s not it.”

I can’t help but laugh when the ultrasound tech finds the babies again on the screen, and it’s clear to everyone but my brutish Dante that there are two babies instead of one.

“Like I said before, there are two babies, sir. I don’t know what else you want me to look for. Both have strong heartbeats, measuring twelve weeks and some change.”

I smile apologetically at her and nod, saying she can call it a day. She cleans off my belly, hands me the printed photos, and then excuses herself.

Dante helps me sit up and presses both hands on either side of my stomach. “We can always ask Slate who he used...”

“Dante, my love, there are two babies.”

I unfold the long string of picture evidence as he swallows.

“Two.”

“Two,” I repeat.

He breathes out in a huff.

“Are you scared?” I ask him.

“Blindsided, more like.”

“That’s normal, babe. This will be a huge adjustment, but we’ve got this.”

“We do,” he agrees.

“Two babies,” he says, leaning his forehead against mine.

I sniffle as I’m overcome with more fucking hormones and emotions than I can handle.

Later in the week, we tell the family at Sunday dinner, and the room erupts with joy and congratulations. The outpouring of love has us both feeling more at ease.

Twins will be challenging, but I know he and I can get through anything. And if he has the patience to deal with me, especially early on in our relationship, he has the patience of a monk. We’ll be fine.

After the celebration and dinner are nearing a close, Dante stands and clinks his glass, calling attention to the room.

He stands and thanks everyone for their love and support, then goes on and on about how happy he is and how in love he is, and then the unthinkable happens.

He drops down on one knee beside my chair.

I turn in my chair, heart beating so hard I can scarcely hear over it.

“Alyssa Roebach, I love you. I’ve loved you since I burst into Brynne’s office with a gun and nearly shot you.”

The table erupts into laughter, and I smirk.

“But there’s something I don’t love about us: that you call me your boyfriend.” He says it with such disdain that Slate chuckles.

“You’re the love of my life and the mother of my children, and I’d be honored if you’d allow me the honor of calling you my wife. Will you marry me, tesoro?”

He opens a box I hadn’t noticed before, and a princess-cut diamond glares back at me. My eyes glisten with tears.

I nod, not needing a second to think about it.

I close the box, and he captures my lips in his, and the table loses its shit all over again.

I’m thankful he chose to do it in front of the family . Their support and adoration are part of what I gain by being with him, and I don’t know what I’d do without them.

After he kisses me senselessly, he slides my ring onto my finger.

“It fits perfectly,” I say breathlessly, turning it to watch it sparkle in the chandelier’s light.

“It should. I had him fit your finger while you slept. Though you might swell during your pregnancy, we didn’t plan for that,” Brynne says, and my heart fills with an ache that he included my best friend in his proposal.

“You helped him?” I sniffle.

She smiles. “Girl, he asked my permission to ask you.”

I lose it again, turning to Dante and kissing him.

“I’m so happy for you both. To Dante and Alyssa!” Slate raises his glass in cheers, and the table follows.

Everyone drinks to our happiness as I lean my forehead against my fiancé’s and smile.

“I love you.”

He returns the sentiment, and I beam like the sun beneath his blanket of love.

I was a broken girl before him, before this family.

Yet, when he asked me to be his wife, there wasn’t an ounce of hesitation. I don’t want to say love fixed all my problems or make light of what I suffered in my childhood, but I think the right person can fill a void in you.

The right person can make you happy where you never thought it could be filled.

The right person will love you through everything and make the world a brighter place where you can’t see the darkest bits anymore.

And I’ve found mine.

Marriage and babies are going to be difficult and trying, but I wouldn’t want to go through them without him—I couldn’t, in fact.

“Let’s go home, Mrs. Ricci,” he says, and my body thrums.

“Let’s.”