Page 67 of Inevitable

“I didn’t want you to worry. I am alright, if they got any closer together, I was going to call you. But then you came home, so problem solved. Besides they won’t admit us until the contractions are 5 minutes apart or closer.”

I walk over to her and lift her out of the tub before I begin to dry her off. Then I help her slip into a comfy pair of clothes before I am practically carrying her out the door. When we get to the car I think the pain is really setting in because she starts to groan and wince in pain. This is the same woman that has been shot, twice and each time handled it impressively well. The way she looks right now I would almost bet that she would rather take a gunshot right now.

When we get to the hospital me and several of my men burst through the doors, their priority being security, mine is Ashlynn. Sure enough the nurses try to send us home when Ashlynn told them how far apart her contractions are until I gave them a very intimidating look. Only a few minutes later and we are getting settled into our room where Ashlynn’s pain only seems to intensify. I just hope that this goes by quickly and smoothly, I can’t bear to watch her like this.

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My hand is in excruciating pain. I never knew something so simple could hurt so much. But when your pregnant wife has been in labor for 26 hours and insists on holding your hand through all of the contractions you may not leave with any bones intact.

“You are doing so well mi angelo. I am so proud of you,” I whisper to her.

She whimpers and nods her head that she hears me but the pain contorting her face tells me she doesn’t have the strength to answer me. She chose to give birth to our baby naturally and while I commend her for her bravery, I can’t help but think that she is a little crazy.

“Okay Ashlynn, we are almost there. One more big push,” her doctor says.

Ashlynn sucks in a deep breath and pushes harder than she has before. Her face is beet red and she shouts through gritted teeth before slumping back against the bed, panting hard. The next moment I hear a tiny scream and look to see the doctor is holding up our daughter, Seraphina Olivia Mariano. She is so perfect I fall to my knees and can’t stop the tears that stream down my face. Ashlynn is crying too as she cradles her to her chest.

I look to see my entire world in one bed. Now I know the kind of love my father had for my mother and I, how there is nothing that could compare. I will protect and love my family forever. Ashlynn’s shimmering eyes meet mine with disbelief at what she has just accomplished. I always try to tell her how amazing she is, but she never believes me. Now we have proof of what an incredible woman she is.

I come closer and see my princess peacefully content in her mother’s arms. She lifts her up for me and I scoop her up and wrap her in my arms tightly. I look down to see that Ashlynn has passed out from pure exhaustion and I smile at her before returning my gaze to Seraphina. I am not sure how long I stand there holding her, all I know is that it isn’t long enough. I memorize her perfect little nose and her tiny hands. Then she slowly opens her eyes and I am struck with 2 tiny pools of blue staring at me, just like her mother’s.

It is an incredible thing, to finally see your child after almost a year of anticipation. When I first saw her I thought to myself, of course she looks like that. How could she look any other way? She is more perfect than I could have imagine though.

Soon, the nurses take her from me to take down her measurements and clean her up, I watch them like a hawk the entire time. I know they are only doing their jobs but I will never let my guard down when it comes to my family. Ashlynn insisted on having Seraphina at the hospital and while it makes me a little jumpy being exposed in a public place like this, how could I deny her anything?

Ashlynn had a fairly easy pregnancy, thankfully. Morning sickness was only an issue for the first couple of months. I made sure to always be there at her side with ginger ale and blueberry muffins, her pregnancy craving. I was with her at every doctor appointment and ultrasound. If I did not know any better, I would have said that I was more excited about having our baby than she was.

I always wanted a big family and now that I have experienced having a child with Ashlynn, I am ready for more as soon as possible. I have come a long way from the cold and angry Mob Boss I was before Ashlynn came back into my life. The woman turns me in to a lovesick teenager, serenading her outside of her window. I would not have it any other way.

Once word got around about how we effectively annihilated the entire Farelli family in one night we have yet to have anyone challenge our authority, though I predict that will not last forever unfortunately. But now I have everything to live for, everything to protect. I made the promise for what seems like the millionth time that I would never let anyone hurt my family, and almost every time that promise was broken. I now know that I put too much blind faith in those around me. That ignorance is what almost cost me everything, I will never make that mistake again.

Thanks to my tip to the FBI, Ashlynn’s father was sentenced to 25 years in prison for 3 counts of embezzlement and 10 counts of corporate fraud. Unfortunately, he had only served 2 months when a random attack occurred in the jail yard and he did not survive. At least that is the version I told Ashlynn.

I knew I couldn’t get to him personally on the inside, but I had it taken care of by some of my men that unfortunately were there as well. I even paid off a guard to slip me the security footage. I can’t deny it gave me an immense amount of joy to watch William Adams be gutted like a pig in the middle of the yard.

It fucking destroyed me when I found out that if it wasn’t for that son of a bitch my parents would still be alive. Even more contradicting is that if it wasn’t for that man, I wouldn’t have Ashlynn and now Seraphina. So, I suppose William fulfilled enough purpose in life, though he was mostly poison to the world.

Two days later and Ashlynn’s phone has been ringing non-stop ever since we came to the hospital. I already told her that if she doesn’t turn it off I am going to smash it. I know that she is the CEO of a major fashion design company now but she just had our little bambina and she needs rest, not work.

One of the happiest days of her life was walking into the office and firing that bitch Camila, taking her rightful place at her mother’s company. I know she would be so proud of all that Ashlynn has accomplished.

Throughout our stay in the hospital all of our friends and many of my men came to visit us. Gio and Alessandro were the first to arrive. Alessandro insisted on holding Seraphina. When he did he watched her like he was seeing the most precious thing in the world. For a 3-year-old he is extremely smart, she is the most precious thing in the world.

When Gio told him it was time to go he began to cry and cradled her to his chest tighter, saying he didn’t want to let go of his baby. It was so heart-breakingly cute I promised he could have a sleepover soon, which pacified him enough to go home with his dad.

Not to my surprise, Kiki came to the hospital with Benjamin in tow. They will swear up and down that they are casual and that they are not together, but they do not see what we all do. The way they look at each other is like how Ashlynn and I look at each other. Benjamin came into the room holding Kiki’s fucking purse. I gave him a questioning glance and all he could do was shrug sheepishly before focusing his attention back on Kiki.

If I did not know how amazing it feels to be in love, I would give him endless shit for how whipped he has become. But for now, I leave him alone. I am sure it will not be long before they give in to each other and then they will be the ones tying the knot.

Gio has become my underboss now that Mario is gone. I took Benjamin and moved him up to be my new consigliere. Because of the betrayal Mario committed against the family Gio, Benjamin and I went through our entire ranks top to bottom investigating all of our men. I was quite relieved to only find 2 soldiers that had been pocketing some profits for themselves without their Capo’s knowledge. They were taken care of and replaced with new recruits that have vowed their loyalty to the family forever.

The doctors came to me and told me we can finally go home today which is a relief for me. I called the house to let my staff know we will be arriving in a couple of hours and to have the house ready. Ashlynn put her creative talents to work in Seraphina’s room. She designed the room to be mirrored after the night sky with dark blue walls and bright silver stars scattered all around. She also outfitted the room with white furniture all around including her crib, a rocking chair and a large dresser.

I hear stirring and look over to Ashlynn as she slowly wakes up, giving me a sleepy smile.

“Good morning my angel,” I say, placing a kiss on her forehead while still holding Seraphina in my arms. I think I have only set her down for 10 minutes total all night. I still cannot believe I had anything to do with something so pure and perfect. It is obvious that she is all Ashlynn.

“Buongiorno mio amore,” she replies.

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