Remo Falcone

There was a gentle knock on the door. I knew instantly that it was my angel. No one else in this house had the courtesy to knock.

"Come in, Angel." Serafina peeked in slowly, then entered, closing the door behind her. She stood at a safe distance from me.

"I'm bedridden, Angel. I won't attack you," I said, a smirk on my face.

"As if those injuries would stop you. If you wanted to attack me, you would," Serafina replied with an eye roll. She walked toward me nonetheless. Once she was close enough, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her into bed next to me.

"I thought you'd want to see some pictures of the kids," Serafina said softly, waving her phone in front of me.

I nodded. She started showing me pictures. The first was of Nevio and Greta in bear outfits. Then there was one where Nevio was being fed by Fina, while Hope fed Greta.

When the picture of Fina in the hospital with both kids in her arms appeared, I knew I had missed out on so much of their childhood. Fina looked so tired in that picture.

"You look drained in that picture," I commented, placing my hand gently on her thigh.

"Yeah, twenty hours of labor does that to you," she said, looking down, trying to avoid my eyes. I lifted her chin, forcing her to look at me.

"I should've come back to Las Vegas. If I had known what I know now, I definitely would have come back. I convinced myself that you wouldn't want me because I wasn't good enough. I thought you threw me out like trash." Tears rolled down her cheek. I gently wiped them away. Before I could say anything, she continued.

"Hope told me a million times to go back to you and that you just set me free. But I thought that was just her eternal optimism speaking. So I made the children endure all those nasty comments about them."

"What would you have done if Adamo was never kidnapped?" I asked, genuinely curious if she would have ever told me about our children.

"I planned on going to Bleakstorm Island. The kids would be respected like royalty there. That is, until I found the courage to tell you so we could co-parent, if you wanted to."

I pulled her into my chest, comforting her, telling her that I was glad to have her and the kids here.

She continued showing me the pictures. In one of them, a man , muscular with red eyes, was carrying Nevio on his shoulders, Greta in one arm, and another blonde girl in the other.

"Who is that?" I asked, jealousy evident in my voice.

She laughed gently. "That's Hope's brother, Dean. He's like an older brother to me. That there is his little girl, Ava," she said, pointing at the little blonde girl, who looked about a year or two older than the twins.

I was relieved that she didn't find someone more deserving than me during the year we were apart. I kissed Serafina gently, which soon turned passionate.

"You know, as much as I still find Hope annoying, I'm glad she was there for you and the kids," I said, finally acknowledging that she was now part of this family.

"She never left my side. She was with me all the time from when she found out I was pregnant until a few days ago. She stayed up countless nights taking care of the twins so I could get some rest. She's like a doting aunt. She buys them all these cute clothes and shoes, like that bear outfit. I will forever be grateful for what she did for me and the kids. So please try not to kill her. I don't want to explain to our kids that their father killed their favorite aunt."

I laughed, even though I felt extremely grateful to Hope for taking care of our kids in my absence.