“I think that it’s past time this little one meets her mother properly,” Theresa’s entire face lit up and her heart filled with overwhelming love as the nurse placed the beautiful infant into her arms. She finally took inventory… counting fingers and toes, stroking downy black hair, and velvety skin. She even enjoyed it when the little one opened her rosebud of a mouth and started to wail angrily.
“Hello there sweetheart,” she whispered. “You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” The nurse brusquely proceeded to give her a crash course in breast-feeding, ignoring the way Theresa’s face flamed when the older woman started talking about breast pumps and let-down reflexes. Her father shifted uncomfortably while Sandro sat down at her bedside, a mixture of smug amusement, overwhelming pride and bewildered love on his face. She had never seen him look more vulnerable, or more protective… he sent a glare of warning her father’s way, before his unsettling gaze shifted back to her. Theresa, in the meantime, was struggling to conceal her milk-swollen breast from them after the nurse unceremoniously yanked the bodice of her nightgown down. The woman obviously thought that Theresa had nothing to be embarrassed about in front of husband and father. She fumbled with a towel but it was Sandro who reached across and draped it over her shoulder to cover her breast and the baby’s head. The baby finally found her nipple and latched on with enough force to make her wince. He concealed her from her father but kept the towel up on his side so that he could watch, ignoring her flustered glare.
“She’s got a pretty healthy appetite, doesn’t she?” He muttered in fascination, his voice alive with adoration. “Does that hurt?” Theresa shook her head slightly in response and snuck a glance up at her father who was unused to being so completely ignored and clearly did not it.
“Jackson, we’ll discuss the details of the broken contract at a later date. You can have back the vineyard and you’re more than welcome to keep the damned money but your daughter’s mine, as is the beautiful baby she’s given me. Sue me for breach of contract if you must.”
“I don’t want that useless piece of land back, we could renegotiate the terms…” her father sounded almost desperate and Theresa suddenly lost patience with both men.
“Stop talking about me like I’m an expensive piece of meat,” she seethed. “Take your sordid business elsewhere. I want it nowhere near my baby. Father, I’ve given you my conditions.”
“You’re so brave now, aren’t you?” Her father sneered. “But if push came to shove, I wonder how strong you’d be?”
“I’m stronger than you’ll ever know, father,” she smiled serenely. “Years of constant rejection from the people you love can leave you with pretty tough skin. You can’t hurt me anymore. I don’t want nor need your version love. I find that I no longer want nor need you in my life…”
“Yes, so brave now that you have your loving husband’s support,” The man’s words were laced with bitterness. “But while he may love your baby, Theresa, he’ll never love you. He has Francesca Delvecchio and, yes, he’s Italian enough to want that baby of yours so it’s just a matter of time before he finds a way to get her away from you…” Theresa blinked, her sudden fear showing, as her father presented a scenario she had never once considered. She couldn’t prevent herself from glancing over at Sandro, whose face was dark with fury and his entire body coiled with tension, he looked like he was about to tear her father’s throat out.
“I think it’s time you left, father,” she whispered painfully and her father sneered one last time before he pivoted on his heel and strode from the room.
“Don’t you dare believe what he just said, Theresa,” Sandro whispered rawly, focusing his glare on her. “Don’t you bloody dare!”
“I know you love her, Sandro…” she whispered. Not sure if she meant the baby or Francesca and she could tell by the look of uncertainty on his face that he wasn’t sure who she meant either and so was at a loss as to how to respond. “Would you try to take her from me?”
“No!” He practically shouted and the baby started. Theresa soothed her with slight rocking motions until she started suckling again. He reined in his temper and gentled his voice with visible effort. “I wouldn’t do that to you. I’d never hurt you like that.”
“But you want her…” again the ambiguity and his frown deepened.
“If you mean the baby, then yes of course I want her. But it’s a package deal for me, I want both of you. You’re my family. I don’t want a life separate from yours. I want our life. The one we’ve been building together these last few months.”
“What do you mean? All we ever talked about was divorcing…” she asked in confusion.
“I’m referring to all those nights together… the movies, the games, the conversations… what the hell was that if not relationship-building? We know we’re great in bed together. But we’d never really tried all the other stuff that couples do. The last few of months, we did do those things. We may have done things a little backward, cara but that doesn’t mean that we can’t have a solid marriage like Rick and Lisa’s. The only one of us who’d ever mentioned divorce was you. I don’t bloody want a divorce. I want us. Together.”
“I think…”she whispered so softly he could barely hear her and had to lean in closer to make out her words. “I think that you’re a wonderful man, Sandro. A decent man and because of that… I know that you’d do anything to make things right. You’d make any sacrifice to give Lily and me a normal life. But I can’t let you do that. I can’t let you keep forfeiting the things you want just because you think it’s the right thing to do.”