She sat at the kitchen table. Hands wrapped around the mug. Not drinking. Just holding it for warmth.
"I need to tell you something. I've been afraid to say it out loud but you need to know."
Fear spiked in my chest. "Whatever it is, just tell me. We'll figure it out."
"I'm pregnant." The words came out rushed. Scared. "Over two months now. It's yours. Obviously. There's never been anyone else."
The world stopped.
Pregnant. She was pregnant. With my baby. I was going to be a father.
Joy exploded in my chest. So intense it actually hurt. I crossed to her. Pulled her up out of the chair. Held her face in my hands.
"Are you happy about it? Or scared? Tell me how you're feeling." I wanted to be sure because at this point she was who mattered to me the most and with everything we had been through, I wanted to know where her heart and mind was.
"Both. I'm terrified because I'm eighteen and barely keeping myself together. Terrified of bringing a baby into this world when everything is still so messed up." Tears gathered in her eyes. "But I'm also happy. So happy. Because it's ours. Something good that camefrom everything bad. A piece of you and me that's pure and innocent and untouched by all the darkness."
I couldn't stop smiling. Actually grinning like an idiot. "We're having a baby. We're actually having a baby."
"You're happy?" Her voice was small. Uncertain.
"Happy doesn't even begin to cover it. You're giving me a family. A real family. Something I never thought I'd have. Something I don't deserve but I'm selfish enough to take anyway."
I pulled her close. One hand cradling the back of her head. The other on her lower back. Brought my mouth to hers in a way that said everything words couldn't.
My lips moved against hers, slowly tasting and claiming it with the same passion that was swelling inside my heart.Her hands fisted in my shirt. Holding on. Kissing back with equal intensity.
When we finally broke apart, we were both breathing hard.
"I'm going to marry you." The words came out certain. Absolute. "Properly. No arrangement. No force. No business transaction. Just us choosing each other. Building a life together. Raising our baby together."
She laughed. Actually laughed. The sound so good after weeks of crying. "I don't marry stalkers, Kai. I have standards."
"We'll see about that." I lifted her. Carried her toward the stairs. "All this time and I didn't even know you were carrying my baby. Our baby. God, I love you so much. So fucking much it's actually painful."
"I love you too. More than I thought it was possible to love anyone."
Two months later,we stood in a small chapel by the ocean where we had decided to have our simple wedding. Tiny. Just the people who mattered.
Lia as maid of honor. Marco as best man. Mrs. Rossi crying in the front row. Father Benedetto officiating.
No grand estate. No hundreds of guests. No political maneuvering or family alliances.
Just us. Choosing each other. Making vows that actually meant something.
Aria walked down the aisle in a simple white dress. No veil. No train. Just her. Beautiful. Glowing. Slightly showing with our baby.
When she reached me, I took her hands. Couldn't stop staring at her.
Father Benedetto smiled. "We gather here today to witness the union of Kai Accardi and Aria Romano. They have chosen to write their own vows. Kai, you may begin."
I looked at Aria. Tried to find words adequate for what I felt.
"I spent most of my life convinced I was broken beyond repair. That my father had destroyed whatever capacity I had for love or kindness or anything good. I was a weapon. A tool. Something that existed to serve a purpose and nothing more. Then I met you in that club and everything changed. You looked at me like I was worth something. Like I could be more than what I'd been made into. You saw potential where everyone else saw a monster. You gave me hope when I'd stopped believing in it."
My voice cracked slightly. I pushed through.
"You healed me, Aria. In ways I didn't know I needed healing. You made me want to be better. To deserve you. To build something beautiful instead of just destroying what my father built. You gave me a family. A future. A reason to fight for something beyond revenge. You gave me everything. And I'm promising you right here, right now, that I will spend every day of my life proving I'm worthy of that gift. I will protect you. Cherish you. Love you with everything I have. I will be the father to our child that mine never was. I will build us a life free from violence and fear. I will give you the future you deserve."
