AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She called me honey.
I hadn’t heard that in so long.
“I’m not lying. You’ve never been more beautiful.”
She let out another laugh. “Well, then you’re going to think I’m gorgeous in a minute when the rest of this kid comes skidding through my vagina.”
I smiled and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “That is quite possible.”
Two seconds later, she had her eyes shut. She started pushing again.
And this time—with Vincenza’s help—the baby slipped out.
“Ah, Momma!” Vincenza said, flipping the baby over and sucking its mouth out with something. “Congratulations. It’s a boy!”
Giselle’s face crumpled, and she began sobbing. Her shoulders shook. Then her entire body shook.
She sobbed like I’d never heard her do before.
Vincenza handed her the slippery baby, laying him on her chest.
Giselle picked him up, lifting him into the air. “A boy,” she confirmed with a smile. “A boy.”
She leaned down and hugged the crying infant. Her lips touched his head. “I love you, my baby. I love you, so much. See? I told you Momma would get you out safely. I told you, honey.” Her voice suddenly began sounding—weak.
Not quite—right.
A blue baby blanket was thrown over him, and Vincenza said, “Take him, take him off her,” she ordered in an alarmed tone. I didn’t know what she was talking about, or why she asked me to take the baby.
But I assumed she knew more about this birthing business than I did. So, I wrangled the crying baby, and held him.
I smiled down at his annoyed face. Christ, he was small. But strong.
I vaguely heard Vincenza saying, “Too much blood. I can’t stop it.”
I gazed up to see her on the phone. Her hands were covered in blood up to her elbows. The T-shirt she wore was saturated.
With Giselle’s blood.
Giselle’s.
Blood.
And then Giselle turned her head to me. Me and the baby.
Her hand touched his back. “You finally have your son.” Her voice was so faint, and she breathed so heavily. “He’s yours, Carlo. You can do a DNA test to prove it. He’s yours. And his name is Marcello.”
My eyes began stinging like a motherfucker.
My son.
My.
Son.
My son, Marcello.
He was mine.
