Then Nikos reappeared in the doorway, with a sleepy Daniel in his arms, his face wreathed in smiles.
Maggie sat back down, her legs failing her. Nikos came and sat down too. He held Daniel in one arm and put his other hand on Maggie’s belly.
‘See here, moro mou? This is your little sister or brother—right now, growing in Mama’s belly.’
Maggie was crying now...sobbing. Nikos reached for her and she wrapped her arms around her husband and her baby, a joy such as she’d never imagined possible filling every pore and cell of her body.
After a long moment she pulled back, wiping her eyes. ‘I thought you...’
Nikos was shaking his head, and his eyes were suspiciously shiny too. ‘This has been my dream all along too—I was just too scared to acknowledge it to myself. Too scared to believe I might deserve it.’
‘You do deserve it, my love.’
They kissed. Daniel gurgled. Maggie laughed through emotional tears.
Nikos said, ‘Marry me again? Here? I want to give you a proper wedding day—to show you and everyone how much I love you.’
Maggie wiped at her tears and nodded and smiled. ‘Yes, I’d like that.’
Seven months later. Spring. Ireland
Nikos and Maggie emerged from the small country church near Kildare House. Cherry blossoms had turned the ground pink and white. Nikos held his son Daniel high in one arm and his other arm was around his pregnant wife, stunning in a lace white dress, flowers in her long wavy hair.
Everyone cheered and clapped—and then started groaning when they kissed for an indecently long time.
When Nikos pulled back he looked down at his wife and said, ‘Any regrets, Mrs Marchetti?’
She grinned. ‘Never. Someone once told me that regrets were for losers.’
Two months later, in Paris, they welcomed their daughter Olympia—named after Nikos’s mother—into the world.
An emotional Nikos introduced his son to his little sister, and then he looked at Maggie on the bed, exhausted but happy. Never more beautiful.
She mouthed, I love you, and promptly fell asleep.
Nikos watched over his family as dawn broke outside on another beautiful day, and gave thanks for the woman who had opened his heart to love and shown him a world where not all sweetness was toxic.