Page 18 of Dante

The doctor clears his throat at Dante’s side, letting us know he’s still in the room, but Dante ignores him completely. He finds his footing and rushes to the side of my hospital bed, dropping down to his knees in absolute astonishment.

“Hey, little man,” Dante addresses our baby in my arms. His tiny head nearly disappears completely at Dante’s gentle stroke across it.

“This is your daddy,” I whisper to our son. “He’s going to keep you safe.”

Our son coos at the sight of Dante, and part of me desperately wants to believe it’s because he understood what I said.

“God, you’ve never looked more beautiful,” Dante says out of nowhere.

“Out of surgery and in a sweaty mess?” I have to laugh at the compliment. I know he means it, too, but pretty isn’t how I’d describe myself.

I’d go for something more along the lines of immeasurably happy, if I had to say anything at all.

“A sweaty mess is what got you in here in the first place,” Dante snickers at his own dirty joke.

The doctor clears his throat again, and my cheeks turn a deep shade of red at how embarrassed he must feel.

“I only need a moment of your time, and I’ll leave you alone.” The doctor rushes the words out, wanting to escape. “Do you have a name for him?”

“Nathan,” Dante answers with finality, “after his mother.”

And yet again, he never ceases to amaze me with just how much he truly loves me.

It took a long time for me to come back down from the high of his love. Long nights of fear-laced doubts that this was all a dream. A fantasy constructed by me and Dante to get through his offer to my father. When they finally washed away, my eyes opened to just how serious Dante was in everything he said. Never once did he mention it again, nor did he try to make me feel bad for clearing my dad’s debt. He did it from the bottom of his heart and gave me a life I could only dream of.

“I love it,” I say, starting to get weepy at another grand show of his love and affection.

“And I love you,” Dante whispers, pressing a gentle kiss against my mottled hair. “And you, even if you’re going to steal some of your mother’s attention from me.” He teases our son, Nathan, and the baby coos yet again, as if chuckling at his daddy’s silliness.

It’s perfect. So perfect.

And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with my two boys.

The End

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