"Stop." I pulled back enough to meet her eyes—the same warm green I'd inherited. "You did what you had to do. You survived. You built a case. None of this is your fault."
We talked for hours. About the years apart, the choices she'd made, the life I'd lived without her. She cried when I told her about the engagement to Richard, about discovering Marco's crimes, about running.
"I tried to warn you," she whispered. "Left messages with people I thought might reach you. But Marco was watching everything. I couldn't risk him finding me before I was ready."
"You're here now. That's what matters."
Then I told her about the babies.
Her good hand flew to her mouth, fresh tears spilling. "You're pregnant?"
"Twins. Eleven weeks now. We saw their heartbeats on the ultrasound two weeks ago."
She reached out slowly, reverently, and placed her palm against my stomach. The small bump was just starting to show—barely visible under loose clothing, but undeniable when you knew what you were looking for.
The gesture was so tender, so maternal, it broke something open in my chest.
"My baby is having babies," she whispered, voice thick with wonder and grief and joy all tangled together.
"Insane, right?"
"Beautiful," she corrected, looking up at me with shining eyes. "Complicated and terrifying and absolutely beautiful. You're going to be an amazing mother, Valentina. You already are."
The words settled over me like a blessing I hadn't known I needed.
We sat together for another hour, her hand never leaving my stomach, both of us crying and laughing and healing in ways I hadn't thought possible.
When I finally left, she gripped my hand tightly. "Come back soon. I want to be part of this. Part of their lives. If you'll let me."
"Of course I will. They need their grandmother."
"And I need my daughter." She squeezed harder. "I love you, Valentina. I never stopped loving you. Not for a single day."
"I love you too, Mom."
The word—Mom—felt strange on my tongue after so many years. But right. Finally right.
That night, unable to sleep despite exhaustion, I found Alessio on the safe house patio. Stars scattered across the Arizona sky, more than I'd ever seen growing up in the city.
He sensed my presence and pulled me down beside him. For a long moment, we just sat in silence, both processing everything.
"I keep thinking about them," I said finally. "Those two tiny heartbeats we saw on the screen."
"Me too."
"What if we can't protect them? What if Marco—" My voice cracked. I couldn't finish the thought.
Alessio's arm tightened around me. "We will. Whatever it takes."
"I want them to have normal," I whispered. "Boring, safe, normal. Everything we never had."
"Then that's what we'll give them." His hand found my stomach, protective and gentle. "Small town. Good schools. Backyard where they can play. Nobody trying to kill their parents."
I laughed despite the tears in my eyes. "Setting the bar pretty low there."
"Bar's been underground for months. I'm just trying to get it back to ground level."
"What would you tell them? About us? About how they came to be?"
