Bound By Blood Anthology

Aria gave us another reassuring smile before she and Luca walked out, leaving us alone.

“I’m still scared,” Gianna admitted quietly.

“Me too.”

“You are?”

“Yeah. It’s a new experience.”

She huffed, then winced. “We’ll get through this, right?”

“Of course. We have each other. And we have our family.”GiannaWhen I’d thought I was scared in the hospital, it was nothing in comparison to the terror I felt when we headed home with Isabella two days after I’d given birth. Matteo drove while I sat with our daughter in the back. She wasn’t too fond of the motion and wailed as if someone was poking her with a hot knife. I tried to distract and soothe her but nothing worked and her face was turning increasingly red.

“Do you want me to pull over?” Matteo asked.

“No,” I said quickly. “Just get us home as quickly as possible.”

I waved a rattle in front of Isa’s face but she ignored it, her tiny face scrunched up. My stomach tied itself in knots and when we finally pulled into our underground garage, I was close to a nervous breakdown.

I got out of the car, taking a few deep breaths. Matteo joined me, touching my back with a concerned look.

“I’m fine,” I said quickly and walked around the car to get Isa out of her seat.

The moment I held her in my arms, she settled down, and the red color of her cheeks slowly vanished in favor of her usual rosy complexion. Matteo grabbed our bags from the trunk but he kept an eye on us.

We headed for the elevator and when the doors closed, and I stared at our reflections in the wall mirrors, it really sunk in. Matteo and I leaned against the wall as I cradled Isa in my arm. My hair was in a messy bun and I wasn’t wearing any makeup. In my yoga pants and sweater, I looked as if I were on my way to the gym but that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. Now, Isa would be constantly attached to me, a little shadow I carried more responsibility for than I ever wanted.

Matteo met my gaze in the mirror. “I like seeing you like this.”

“A mess?”

“With our daughter.”

“We’ll see how long that’ll last,” I muttered, my hormones wreaking havoc inside of me once more.

Matteo wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “I meant it when I said we’re in this together. Eventually that has to sink into your stubborn head as well.”

I shrugged, but leaned my head against Matteo’s shoulder. He had been my rock so far and I had absolutely no reason to complain.

The elevator stopped at our penthouse and we got out. Being back in our home, a place that still looked like it had before I’d given birth felt strange—like a relic from another time. There wasn’t any baby stuff anywhere. All of it was hidden in the nursery.

Every step hurt and it would take a while for me to heal. Carrying Isa wasn’t helping. Matteo gently pried her off me and held her in his arms. She was starting to wake, probably because she was hungry. I settled on the couch with a soft sigh. The way I felt one might think I’d never worked out in my life. When Isa began to wail, Matteo handed her to me for nursing while he took our bags upstairs.

I stroked Isa’s head and back as she drank. I was slowly falling in love with her, but the full-blown love some mothers described still wasn’t something I could understand.

Matteo sauntered down the staircase, looking relaxed and at ease, as if this, us being a family of three, was something he’d been born for. I’d probably always been the driving force behind not having kids, but Matteo had always only seen the fun aspects. Still, he seemed to enjoy the hard first days as well.

“How about I cook something for us?”

My eyebrows shot up. Matteo had many talents but cooking wasn’t one of them. “How about you order us something delicious?”

He touched his heart as if I’d wounded him deeply. “I’m trying to be a good supportive houseman and you shoot me down like that.”

“I’m very hungry and would rather not watch your three failed cooking attempts before you’ll order something. Let’s just skip ahead.” I gave him a tired smile, which probably looked more like a grimace than anything else but I was trying to soften my words.

“All right. What would my lady like to eat?” Matteo asked, grabbing the phone and heading toward me.

“Something with plenty of carbs.”

Matteo’s eyes crinkled with amusement. “Carbs it is, all right. I’d say we can’t go wrong with the classic choice.”

I raised my eyebrows. Isa made a gurgling sound.

“Is it bad that I’m a bit jealous of her for having your tits all for herself?”