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“You’re doing amazing, sweetheart,” he told her. “Absolutely amazing.”

“Don’t talk,” Rose gasped out. Smiling, he went silent.

They’d been married for three months, after an intimate ceremony in the lush gardens of the Villa Amanti, and then a honeymoon in Capri, not wanting to go too far in case Junior decided to make an early appearance.

She was officially two weeks late; Junior hadn’t. But Junior, Rose thought, as she squeezed her husband’s hand tightly, was very much Christos’s child. She knew that even before he or she was born, and even more importantly, Christos knew it, too. Blood didn’t make a family.

Love did.

And while the estate and vineyards would likely be lost eventually to a cousin they were coming to know better—another unexpected blessing in this twisting and turning journey of theirs—their love would endure. Endure and grow, stronger than ever.

“Push,” the doctor said again. Spingi. Rose had learned a lot of Italian in the last three months. Both she and Christos wanted their child to be bilingual. But right now, Rose just wanted him or her to be born.

And then they were. With another push, a murmured encouragement from Christos who had forgotten she’d told him not to talk, their child—their child—slipped out into the world with a mottled red face and a bellow of outrage.

A boy. A beautiful baby boy. Their son.

“You hold him,” Rose said as she collapsed against the pillows. She watched with love as Christos cut the umbilical cord and then cradled the baby close to his chest, his face full of wonder. Their baby. Their son.

Rose smiled as she blinked back tears, overwhelmed with gratitude that they’d arrived at this moment.

“Welcome to the world, little Luca,” Christos whispered, the name they’d both agreed on if it was a boy, and then leaned over to kiss Rose on her lips. “Have I said you’re amazing?”

“Only about twenty times,” Rose teased, her eyes fluttering closed briefly as exhaustion crashed over her, along with happiness. She opened her eyes to smile at him. “And by the way, you can talk now.”

“Oh, phew.” With laughter in his eyes, he gently handed her their son. Rose gazed down at her baby’s tiny face and then up again at her husband’s loving one, overwhelmed with both joy and gratitude. They were a family, a loving family. As Christos gazed at her with tears of joy in his eyes, she knew she had everything she ever wanted…and so did her husband. Together, the three of them, they were more than enough.

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