Bound By Blood Anthology

“What are you thinking?” Luca murmured. He turned the shower off but didn’t move away from me.

“That I love you.”

Luca raised an eyebrow. “That’s what you were thinking?”

“Not in those exact words, but it always comes down to it,” I whispered before I grasped Luca’s neck and pulled him down to me for another lingering kiss.AriaRomero, Lily, Gianna, Matteo, Luca, and I had gathered on the roof terrace to celebrate New Year’s Eve as a family. It was becoming a beautiful tradition.

“I love New York at night,” Lily said as she leaned back against Romero who had his arms wrapped around her waist, looking at her as if she was the center of his world. Those two were such a harmonic couple, I’d never seen them argue.

“It’s grown on me. I thought I’d hate it but I really don’t,” Gianna said, propping her elbows up on the railing. Matteo bent down and whispered something in her ear that made her slap his arm but she was obviously fighting a smile.

“New York is home,” I said quietly. Luca squeezed my hip and our eyes met. Because of him, this city had become a place of happiness and the home of our small family.

“Ten, nine,” Matteo began the countdown to midnight, quickly handing us glasses with champagne.

“Four, three, two, one,” we finished together, grinning.

We clinked glasses and toasted the New Year. I took a sip, loving the way the New York sky bloomed with fireworks. Luca pulled me in for a kiss and I relaxed against him, relishing in this moment. I had so much to be grateful for, not just Luca and Marcella, but also my sisters and their husbands. We’d all found love and happiness in a world that rarely granted either. Matteo grabbed Gianna, cupped her head, and kissed her passionately. At first she tried to push him back but then she returned the kiss with the same fervor. Those two… I shook my head with a laugh.

“Get a room,” Luca muttered.

They finally pulled apart, neither of them embarrassed. They were a match made in hell, is what Luca always said.

Gianna shrugged and pulled me into a hug before she moved on to Lily. Celebrating with them was the most wonderful gift I could imagine, even as my chest squeezed tightly when I thought of Fabiano. I hoped he’d find happiness too.

We watched the fireworks in silence, Luca’s arms creating a warm cocoon around me.

“I can’t believe the kid doesn’t wake with all the fireworks,” Matteo said, shaking his head.

“Marcella sleeps like a rock,” I said.

“Speaking of the devil.” Gianna nodded toward the living room. Marcella stood behind the window with her little palms pressed against the glass, staring up at the sky with big eyes.

Luca chuckled and went over to the terrace door, sliding it open before he scooped up our daughter. With her being two-and-a-half years old, she had no trouble climbing out of her bed and down the stairs. She wrapped her tiny arms around Luca’s neck and peered up at the fireworks in wonder. My heart squeezed with happiness seeing her and Luca. When I’d found out about my pregnancy, I’d harbored so many worries but luckily none of them had proven true. Luca was the best father for Marcella I could hope for, and he’d be a wonderful father to more kids, even a boy.

Lily immediately headed over to Luca and Marcella, tugging at my daughter’s tiny toes and smiling. The way Romero watched her, I knew kids would definitely be part of their future.

Marcella giggled as she pointed up at the sky then she looked at me with a wide grin. “Mom, look!”

I nodded and peered back up to the sky and the colorful explosions.

Gianna leaned beside me against the railing. “Planning on getting knocked up again?”

Taking another sip from my champagne, I gave a small shrug. In the last few weeks, I’d thought about a second child more and more, and now that Marcella wasn’t as dependent on me anymore, I felt like I could have another baby.

“Your expression says yes,” Gianna whispered. “I never thought Luca was a family man, but now I think the two of you will end up with five kids and still do fine.”

I laughed. “Definitely not five. I’m really not too excited about being pregnant that often, and even less about giving birth.”

Gianna considered that with a wrinkled nose. “Yeah. Squeezing a baby out of you that often… I can’t imagine doing it once.”

I regarded her, then Matteo who’d joined Luca and the others, doting on Marcella. “You don’t have to if you both don’t want kids.”

“We don’t. And if Matteo and I feel like spoiling a kid, we’ve got Marcella and soon more. You and Lily are going to pop out more babies soon enough.”

“Don’t spoil her too much. Luca’s already having a hard enough time trying not to spoil her rotten. She’s got him wrapped around her tiny finger.”