Sweet Hope (Sweet Home #4)(92)

As we broke away, I smiled. “Your show was a hit, baby. Vin’s already had offers for it to go on tour. Just think, your exhibition in the biggest art museums in the world… the entire world will stand witness to your genius.”

Axel glanced away, then looked back to me, a nervous expression on his face. “Axel? What is it?” I questioned, “Aren’t you happy? This is life changing. It’s a dream come true.”

“I don’t know,” he replied and I frowned. “My happiness all depends…”

Rearing back, I asked, “On what?”

Rolling his lips, wincing at the painful cuts, he said, “On whether you’re gonna be the official tour curator.”

I blinked, then blinked again, before a wide elated smile pulled on my lips. “Axel, are you asking me to go around the world with you?”

Axel smirked at me in that devastating way that only he had mastered and said, “I ain’t f*cking going nowhere without you, carina. I know what I want… and it’s you. You’re the only one who’s ever got me. Fuck, baby, you really have got me in every possible way.”

Feeling like I could die from happiness, I tilted my head and said, “Lo giuri?”

He huffed a laugh back and nodded his head. “I f*cking swear it on everything I am.”

“And where would we live?” I asked, the surreal turn of this conversation was becoming difficult to track.

“Wherever you want, but—”

“But what?”

“But I’d kinda like to be near my brothers here in Seattle. Weirdly, I'm getting used to the gray clouds and rain.”

I relaxed in relief. “Good, ‘cause I wanna be here too. I wanna be here when Molls has my nephew or niece in a few months’ time.”

“Then you’re gonna be living with me,” Axel firmly instructed.

Warmth flooded my body and I nodded my head. “Of course. Te amo,” I said in a state of perfect contentment, and curled into Axel’s arms.

Hearing a peaceful sigh from Axel too, he whispered back, “Ti amo, carina. You’ve got all the love I have.”

As I closed my eyes, safe with the man whose soul was forever fused to mine, I sent a silent prayer to Axel’s Mamma…

I have him now, Chiara. Your lost son is found. You can finally rest in peace.





Epilogue


Axel


Seattle, Washington



Three years later…



“It’s okay, carina, you can do it.”

“I’m so tired,” Ally whispered, her beautifully tanned face pale and her body exhausted.

I ran my hands down her cheek. “One more push, baby. One more push and she’ll be here.”

Love sparkled in Ally’s Spanish eyes. She nodded her head. The doctor looked up at my wife. “This is it, Ally, one more push and you’ll meet your daughter.”

Clutching her hand in mine, Ally squeezed my fingers tight and pushed as hard as she could. My heart beat so fast I thought it would burst from my chest. Ally gasped for breath, and the most amazing sound hit my ears—the sound of high-pitched crying.

My legs turned to jelly as I caught sight of the doctor holding a tiny baby. The nurses wiped her clean, just before they lifted her and placed her on Ally’s bare chest.

Ally’s face was streaming with tears as she looked down at our newborn daughter, a jet-black crop of hair already on her head. As I moved to the head of the bed, looking down at my two beautiful girls, I couldn’t describe the overwhelming sense of home that hit me with the force of a Mack truck.

Ally’s glowing face looked up at me and broke into a disbelieving smile. “Axel… we have a daughter,” she said, her voice hoarse from all the hours of labor.

Unable to speak, I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her head, then, nervously leaned down and kissed my daughter on her cheek. As I pulled away, she squirmed in Ally’s arms, and opened her eyes to stare straight up at me… her dark brown eyes meeting mine… and floored me where I stood.

Gasping, I stared down at her and a sudden fear rippled through me. Was I f*cking worthy of being her papa? Did I deserve something this good to happen to me?

“She’ll adore you, Axe,” Ally assured me, catching my eye, immediately stopping the crippling thoughts slamming into my mind. “She’ll adore you as much as I do.”

Swallowing back the lump in my throat, I made myself relax and sat down on the bed. I wrapped my arms around my two reasons for living.

“Ti amo, carina. Sempre,” I said brokenly and turned Ally’s head for a kiss.

“I love you too, querido,” she whispered back and ran her finger down our sleeping daughter's red face.

“She needs a name,” Ally said softly, but I kept quiet. There was only one name I wanted to call her. A tribute, an honor I wanted my daughter to own.

We sat there for an hour before Ally squeezed my hand. “You’d better go and tell everyone the good news, my mama and daddy will be climbing the walls.”

Smirking at the thought of Ally’s Spanish mother wreaking havoc on the ward, demanding to be let in here ran through my mind.

“Okay, baby,” I said, and kissing my wife and daughter one last time, I walked out of the room and into the wait area, where all our family was gathered.