“Her vitals are dropping.” I faintly hear one nurse say as they scamper around me, fumbling with the wires connected to my arm and injecting fluids.
Fear claws my chest, colder than the pain I feel. Dominic rises with force and starts barking incoherent orders, then he’s at my side again, cooing and soothing both with hands and words.
“You’re almost there, Mrs. Moretti. I can see the head.”
Suddenly, a burst of strength wells up in my belly and I push with all I have. Once. Twice.
Exhaustion takes over. There’s silence as my vision blurs in and out. Doctors whimper, Dominic rasps, then a sharp cry that pierces through my exhaustion echoes through the room.
God!
I release a breath of relief just as Dominic kisses my temple. “You did it, Princess.”
“It’s a girl.” A nurse smiles as he hands the baby over to me.
I can’t hold back the tears when I cradle her in my arms. She’s so tiny…so perfect with her red hair and green eyes. Her skin warms against mine, her cries softening into little whimpers as I brush her chubby cheeks.
Dominic breathes beside me, stroking damp hairs away from my forehead. “She’s beautiful…just like you.”
My voice breaks, tears spilling uncontrollably. “She is.”
He reaches out his index finger to carefully brush her cheeks. I can’t help but notice how his hands tremble, eyes shining with an intensity so raw I could drown in it.
“Thank you,” Dominic whispers against my lips, “thank you for giving me a new world.”
Epilogue: Dominic
One and a Half Years Later
“…People will always have something to say about how you look. Too much makeup, not enough makeup. Too skinny, too curvy. Too loud, too reserved,” Bella says into her headset, tugging her laptop closer.
“I used to let their voices define mine. I used to think all there was to me was what people had to say. I used to think I was not enough. But now, when I look in the mirror, I don’t see someone trying to be enough. I see someone who alreadyis.”
She breathes, her hand catching the slip of her robe on her shoulders. “At the end of the day, all you have is you. When the curtains fall and lights fade out… all you have is you. So bekind to yourself. Cherish and embrace what makes you unique, because there’s only one ‘you’ in the whole world.”
As she continues her session, I lean against the doorway, our daughter, Aurora, cradled against my shoulder. I admire my wife, but there’s something about watching her in her element that tightens my chest until it almost hurts. Maybe it’s her tenacity, her passion, or her strength.
She didn’t let her past define her; rather, she let it forge a path for her. And not just any path—one where she shows people how to learn to heal and find inner strength.
Bella Moretti, CEO and founder of Bella’s Bloom, a non-profit organization geared toward helping people heal from domestic abuse.
The journey hasn’t been easy for her. I witnessed the sleepless nights, the tears, frustrations, and even her doubts, but each time I reminded her why she started it all in the first place.
Two years later, her zeal hasn’t wavered, and even now, while we’re on vacation at Lake Como, she still finds time to oversee a few things in the organization.
She closes the laptop with a soft click.
“I know you’re judging me,” she says without looking back. I push off against the door frame, walking toward her. She’s sitting in a lounge chair, back facing me, while her now closed laptop sits on a marble stool before her. Her hair falls in loosewaves as the evening sun gently illuminates her skin in a golden yellow hue.
“Hmm...” I rumble, fastening my hand around Aurora’s torso, leaning down to place a kiss on Bella’s temple.
Her fingers hold my face in place as she places a chaste kiss, and her gaze lands on Aurora, who’s fast asleep on my chest.
“Hmm,” she lowers her voice and I cock a brow at her, then slide my gaze to the laptop.
“I know we’re on vacation and I should be enjoying the moment, and I’m sorry, I swear,” she starts to say, rising from her seat. I can’t help the tug that pulls the corner of my lips when I catch sight of her white robe part for a split second, revealing her bare pussy.
Hmm. No panties.
