I woke up feeling sick. Suddenly, I felt wave of nausea wash over me and I dashed into the bathroom.

Oh God, what is happening to me? I thought as I threw up again. After flushing down my last night's dinner, I brushed my teeth and took a warm shower to soothe myself. Instantly, I felt better yet somewhat weak. When I came out of my bathroom, I realised that I was alone all the time. Leonardo had said something about leaving extremely early for work last night. He didn't disturb my sleep but I was sad that he left without saying bye.

I looked at my balcony and a beautiful sunny day. Winter season was officially over and long gone. A year has already passed since my first 'jumpy' encounter with Leonardo Agostini and how everything started between us. Funny about how I used to loathe him and wished him dead. Now, we both were madly, deeply in love with each other.

I applied a bit of foundation to cover the faint scar I had on my forehead due to my staircase incident all those weeks ago and went down to have my breakfast.

"Bon appetite." John smiled as he served pancakes and a glass of orange juice then went away to have his own breakfast. Rylie sat beside me with her own plate. She saw my pale face and touched my forehead to check my temperature. She frowned.

"I'm fine, Ry. Just a bit of weakness." I grumbled and took a bite. The taste turned into something raw... something weird and it almost made me gag on it. This isn't how a honey syrup pancake tastes like. I took a sip of orange juice, hoping it would make me feel better. Instead, it became worse and I felt sick all over again.

Moments later, I was puking my guts out in the kitchen sink while Rylie rubbed my back gently.

"What's wrong with me?" I cried as I emptied my stomach contents in the sink. By the time I finished hurling, my stomach was hurting and I wanted to pass out. I leaned on her shoulder for support as she made me get comfortable on the stool and handed me a glass of water with a straw.

"Are you alright?" Carina asked. Gia, John and a few others tagged along from behind. "You don't look alright though."

"It's almost nothing." I rasped. "Just a bad stomach. It must be the sushi I had last night."

"I don't remember making any sushi last night." John mumbled loud enough for all of us to hear.

"Oh no." I shook my head and it spinned slightly so I blinked rapidly. "It's not you. Capo... he, uh, he brought some sushi last night. We, um, stayed in and had that for dinner. I guess that Japanese food didn't work well with my stomach."

Rylie put a thermometer in my mouth then pulled it out after a few seconds and showed it to Carina. "Your temperature seems normal. You don't have a fever."

My breath smelled like vomit and I desperately wanted to brush my teeth again. "I don't think I'll be having my breakfast today. The sight itself makes me sick."

"Maybe you should go see the doctor upstairs." Gia suggested. "You look awfully pale."

I sighed tiredly and stood up. My mind spun in circles and I lost my balance. Everybody around me panicked and grabbed me before I kissed the floor.

"Gesu Christo, have you ever had such a bad case of stomach flu? Because this looks severe or even worse!" Carina exclaimed in horror. "You're worrying us all. Are you sure this is just a case of bad stomach?"

I laughed weakly as I sat on the stool again. "Of course. What else do you have in mind?"

"Umm..." She shifted uncomfortably and exchanged weird, knowing glances with everybody else. "I don't know all the symptoms..."

"... but?" I gestured her to continue speaking. Somehow I didn't like what she was hinting at.

"It does start with morning sickness and feeling tired all the time. I'm not so sure about dizzy spells and others. Amelia, what if... what if you are with child?"

With child? Wait. She doesn't mean... 

An uncomfortable and eerie feeling settled in my stomach as I started calculating the last time I had my monthly meeting with Mother Nature and when I am actually supposed to have my next meeting. I am only two days late. Two days don't mean anything, do they? Two days, three days delay happens at times. This doesn't mean anything. I'm not... pregnant. I can't be pregnant. I don't want to be pregnant.

Oh God. What if I am pregnant?

No! I don't remember a single time where Leonardo didn't use the rubber. Even in the heat of moment, he always had his mind straight. He used it last night. It was an unspoken thing between us that he was a firm believer of rubber protection. I remembered the good old days of my high school where I learnt very little of sex education class. The phrase 'Safe Sex. Good Sex' rang in my ears. Yeah, we have been doing it like rabbits for weeks and I loved every second of it but did we ever had a slip up?

"Ah... mie?"

I snapped out of my reverie when I heard Rylie call out my name. Her eyes were wide as saucers just like everybody else's and fixed on my flat stomach. They were all thinking the same thing.

Aw hell no!

"I. Am. Not. Pregnant." I hissed. "I'm just suffering from a bad case of stomach flu."

At least I hope so. I am not ready for parenting. Like ever. No kids for Amelia Jones. They are not a part of my plans, though nothing has gone according to my plans ever since I woke up in this mansion but it does not mean that I will push a baby out of downtown region. Kids require a lot of time, attention and patience. They are gross and really loud. I love my body and I can't give that up and raise a child. Call me selfish but I don't want a baby. I don't even know how to raise one. Heck, I still am one. Leonardo would... Oh, my God. I have no idea how he is going to react about this unwanted expectation.

"I know I am not pregnant. So end of discussion." I declared coldly.

"Er, just a quick question." John raised his hand like an obedient student. "If you say that you are not then why are stroking your stomach like that? That action is giving us some vibes which are totally opposite to what you just said."

I looked down and quickly removed my hand from it. I cleared my throat awkwardly and stood up straight. Why was I doing that? I was not stroking my flat stomach as if something precious is growing inside it. I was not! I am not pregnant. I don't want to be pregnant. I just have a bad stomach.

"I..." I clicked my tongue and rubbed my arms, suddenly feeling upset to lose the touch—No. I just feel cold in a sick way. "I'll just pay a visit to the doctor now."

Then I ran out of the kitchen.

I was nervously tapping my feet, patiently watching the doctor, whose name I have finally learnt as Dr Costello, read the forms I had filled about my personal health information. He had done some basic blood pressure, heartbeat and a normal routine checkup of my forehead wound by applying an ointment to reduce the scar.

"Hmm..."

"And?" I enquired.

He looked at me. "Oh no. I'm not done yet, signorina Jones. Is there anything else apart from this?"

"My burp tastes weird."

Behind his glasses, Dr Costello gave me weird look. "That's just gas."

"So that's it, right? Gas, vomiting and fatigue. A bad stomach flu."

"Hm. I would say so but then you added a lot of details regarding your menstrual cycle which also includes the beginning of your first cycle in a trial room of a shopping mall in Los Angeles and you ended your form by writing in huge capital letters at the bottom. 'I AM NOT PREGNANT'. Will I get an explanation about that?"

"I'm not, right? Because you are denying it too. Just like me. Yaay! "

The poor doctor must surely think that I have gone mad.

"I must say that first trimester includes symptoms of morning sickness, fatigue, heartburn, certain food cravings, mood swings and sensitive smell. You got sick... in the morning and you have written that you are two days late in your cycle. I am going to be honest with you about this, signorina Jones." I nodded in response. "I treat bullet wounds, knife stabs and only earlier this morning I performed a minor surgery on a dislocated shoulder because this family mostly has severe cases of physical and internal injuries. Then comes regular illness like cough, common cold and fevers."

"So what are you trying to say?"

"Female gestation, menstrual cycles, pregnancy.... they are not my area of expertise. There hasn't been a case like this in my ten years of practice and stay in this mansion. Now, I can prescribe you some antacids for your stomach and let you go, but I can also tell that you have some doubts regarding your monthly cycle. I would advise you to take a pregnancy test to confirm your suspicions. If the results come negative, come back here and I'll prescribe proper medicines for your stomach, but if anything happens..." He opened a drawer and searched for something. He took out a business card and gave it to me. "Here. She's an OB/GYN. A former colleague of mine. Take someone to drive you to the hospital clinic."

If anything happens? Nothing will happen.

I strolled in the corridor, the card giving me strange chills in my palm and my eyes wandering everywhere. What do I do now? I have to buy a pregnancy test to confirm that I'm not pregnant. I know where to get one but I don't know how to. I can't lie and go out to a medical store alone. I have to take someone with me. Talking to Louisa about this is out of the question. That woman will only get her hopes incredibly high and I don't want that. There aren't many people in the mansion. Mostly guards on duty which I don't want to disturb and a few faces I recognised but felt too embarrassed and shy to talk and ask to accompany. They might not question anything but I wasn't comfortable as a woman.

I caught the sight of a familiar man coming out of an office and a few certain events which happened months ago instantly clicked in my mind.

"Piero! My favorite Pie!" I smiled brightly as I quickened my steps towards him. "How are you? Are you free?"

He saw me and smiled which again didn't reach his eyes. Ha. Still has a huge attachment with his name. "Buongiorno, signorina Jones. I am fine and I just came here to get some files and leave for work. Is there something you want?"

"Actually, erm, yes. It's personal. So can you delay your job for me a bit?"

His lips pursued. "Okay... Is everything alright, signorina?"

"No." I answered honestly. A father of five kids with enough proper experience on parenting and handling 'expecting' situations with his wife should let him understand what I am going through right now. I took the files from his grasp and kept it on a table nearby then looked around to make sure our privacy is between and whispered. "I'm sick."

His eyes widened. "What... how?"

I shushed him. "Keep this between us and here's what I want you to do..."

*****

Twenty minutes later, I was leaning by my bedroom door, eagerly waiting for Piero to come back from a little trip to the medical store. I chose not to go with him to avoid any questions or saying lies to the guards. Rylie stopped by to check up on me and I felt bad to tell her to leave. I knew she had her hopes high for God knows why and was excited. As much as I didn't wanted to wipe off that hidden excitement in her eyes, I had to do it. It's just not right.

My back straightened when I saw Piero climb up the stairs with a paper bag.

"You got it?"

He nodded and handed me the bag. "And I also got off the phone with my wife again. Brought two of them to be sure."

I smiled. "Thank you. She sounded really sweet when I talked to her. Minus the constant, loud baby crying and TV on the background. How the hell did you end up with a woman so sweet?"

He shrugged. "Childhood sweetheart. I asked her to marry me when I was only seven. Who knew that after thirteen years of waiting she would say yes, right?"

"Right." I managed a chuckle and forced a smile. "I'll just... just get this done with."

"I'll be downstairs if you need a ride after..." He cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. "I'll just be downstairs."

Quickly, I went inside my bedroom and closed the bathroom door. Read the instructions very carefully and properly, checked out the packaging, roamed around the bathroom in nervousness and anxiety, then I finally did my business in a cup and followed the instructions. I set a timer of three minutes and walked out of the bathroom, leaving the tests in there. I began to pace everywhere.

I don't want this. An actual little Leonardo or Amelia growing in me. No. My life will change forever. Our lives will be changed forever. I know it will be negative, it has to be negative but what if... I can't. I shouldn't think of things which are not going to happen. It will be negative.

I jumped in shock when I heard the timer go off from my phone.

Shit. Three minutes over already?

My bathroom door creaked open like the ones in horror movies and very slowly, I tiptoed my way to the sink where I had kept the sticks and saw the first one.

One line. Negative.

Ha. See? I was worrying myself for no reason.

I saw the second stick.

Two lines. Positive.

Air knocked out of my lungs as I covered my mouth in shock. I felt dizzy. I grabbed the second stick and shook it vigorously, hoping it would change to a single blue line. Instead, those two lines turned darker and more clear.

"No. No. No. Oh God. No."

How is this possible? One positive and one negative. Something isn't right here and that something is me having a positive pregnancy test in hand. I read the box again and again. Both the tests are of same brand but two different results?

Oh, my God. What am I going to do now? How am I going to tell Leonardo about this? None of us is a parent material. He has his entire family business to look after. A child will only add a burden to him... to both of us. What if it will set us apart and create a lot of differences between us? I can never live with that. He's all I have.

I ruffled my hair in frustration and threw away everything on the floor. I was shaking in fear now. My mind was spinning again and I felt breathless. I washed my face and arms, then with trembling legs I got out of the bathroom and changed my clothes to visit the OB/GYN. I was only counting the hours before Leonardo comes back from work and asks me about my day. Everything will turn into chaos after that.

I was about to wear my shirt when my gaze went on the mirror, to my flat stomach to be exact. I poked a finger on it.

"Hello? Is anybody in there?"

Strangely enough, my stomach growled. I scoffed to myself. Of course. I threw up everything I ate. What did I expect?

"Are you really growing in there?" I asked. Out of curiosity, I grabbed a small pillow and kept it on my stomach then wore my shirt over it. It was a bit tight but I managed it. The pillow was about to slip down so I held it gently from below and finally took a look at the mirror again.

Tears of mixed emotions pooled in my eyes. My reflection was smiling at me and stroking her full stomach affectionately. From behind, a man came up and stood beside her. He looked awfully familiar and shared the same happiness with her. He placed a soft kiss on her neck then bent down and kissed her belly. When I looked behind, there was no one in the room and when I saw myself in the mirror again, I was seeing a scared, weak and pale faced girl with dark bags under her eyes and a poorly adjusted pillow on her stomach.

Great. First I puke, then I almost pass out, find out that I'm pregnant and now I am hallucinating some weird shit.

Finally, I got ready to visit the OB/GYN and went downstairs where Piero was already waiting for me.

"And...?" He trailed off as soon as he saw me.

I took a deep breath. "Let's go."

******

"Just fill up this form then head over to third door to your right. We'll take a few blood samples and urine for test."

I nodded in understanding and took the form from the receptionist then took a seat on the farthest corner to fill my form.

Piero gave some lame ass excuse to the guards like an expert about me liking a scarf I saw in the magazine and how I wished to buy along with some surprise for their boss. I couldn't speak up for myself. I was too distraught with everything that has happened. He gave me a ride to the hospital.

My lips twisted when I read that the form asked for my parents and guardian details. Too bad that they aren't here. I simply put a cross mark over there, wrote my phone number, email address, name, put another cross mark on my address then moved on to other details.

Spouse or Partner details.

I hesitated. Hell, what do I put in this? Leonardo's name and number? Won't that be something... somewhat related to violation of his privacy? Putting his information on a form without his acknowledgement. He is a very private man indeed. Whether this is concerning my health or not, I shouldn't do something like this.

So I put a cross mark on partner details too. I answered the remaining questions about my health history, signed it off and returned the form to the receptionist. I did notice the weird look she gave me when she saw my form, but didn't question anything and simply directed me to go to a room where a nurse will collect my samples.

I came out of the room, looking down as I adjusted the sleeves of my shirt. When I looked ahead, I froze.

"Amelia."

Shit, shit, shit.

"Capo..." I murmured nervously, avoiding his brooding eyes on me. My heart was beating like crazy and I wanted to hide away in a corner. How is he here? And if he's here then he knows things. Many, many things. "H-How... what..."

"I got a call from my family doctor earlier this morning regarding your health." He said smoothly which made my knees turn into jelly. "When I came back, you weren't there in your bedroom, resting as I had originally expected. So I went into your bathroom to find you but found something else instead."

I breathed shakily. He saw the tests.

"I asked your friend about it and she wrote that you have been feeling sick since you woke up. Why am I the last one to know about this?"

"I..." He sounded so mad. God, I felt like crying. "I-It is just a b-bad stomach. Nothing else."

How long am I going to say this to myself and hide from the truth?

"So you decided not to pick up my calls and go to a hospital alone?" He hissed.

I looked away from him and silently took a seat. I was feeling a lot more weaker than before and had no energy to answer anything to him anymore. I didn't like his attitude towards me, scratch that, I don't like him for now so I chose to ignore him. I heard him heave a loud sigh and sit beside me while I kept staring into empty space.

He has no idea what I am going through right now, how scared I am yet he behaves like a jerk in the middle of a hospital corridor. Yeah, I didn't tell him because I wanted to confirm it myself but it wasn't like I was never planning on telling him. One negative, one positive... it doesn't make any sense.

"Jones... Amelia?" A lady in white coat called out.

Wordlessly, we both got up and followed her to a room.

The doctor walked over her desk and typed something in her laptop. "First scan, I suppose."

"Er... yes." I answered, confused. She looked somewhere in her mid thirties or early forties, red hair and brown eyes. There was a name tag on her coat which I couldn't make it out.

She smiled. "My name is Dr Vasquez. You must be Amelia Jones, right? The patient."

"Yeah." I answered again, still confused about what she said before.

Recognition danced in her eyes when she saw Leonardo. "And you are?"

His eyes narrowed to slits. "Agostini. The partner."

"Right. Okay." She typed more then finally got up and walked around her desk. She opened a drawer and wore gloves. "Why don't you change into a gown and then we'll get this started, hmm? They are kept on the table to your left and you can change in the bathroom."

After wearing the hospital gown, Dr Vasquez told me to lie down on a bed which were having machines and a screen beside it. Leonardo was sitting beside me with a blank look on his face, his eyes fixed on the screen.

"So you had any morning sickness yet? Nausea, soreness, mood swings, any food cravings, anything?"

"Nausea. Nothing else." I mumbled.

"Okay. So this might feel a bit cold..." She rubbed a gel on a small tube and I yelped when she put it right inside me. "Relax..."

I took a deep breath, slowly getting adjusted to the unfamiliar feeling down there and made myself comfortable on the bed again.

"Very good. Now just give me a second and I'll..." She stopped mid sentence as her eyes roamed on the screen and she pressed a few buttons. Her lips pursued in a strange manner and brows furrowed as she pressed a few more buttons and adjusted the tube in me. Those lines on her forehead became more deeper and she asked. "Do tell me, miss Jones. When was the last time you had your cycle?"

"A month ago." I answered honestly. "I am two days late this month."

"I see. And have you been sexually active after that?"

Embarrassed, I nodded. A lot, I wanted to say.

"Did you take any home tests to see the results yourself?"

I supported my upper body on my elbows, worried. "Y-Yeah. I did. I took two of them. One result came as negative and the other came as positive. Why? Is everything alright?"

She took a deep breath and showed me the screen. I couldn't see much. It was all black and white and blurry.

"Um, what am I looking at?"

"Nothing." The doctor answered. "There is no fetus here. I'm sorry to say this but you are not pregnant, miss Jones."

I blinked and blinked again. I waited for any remorse to hit me straight onto my chest but nothing like that happened. I felt numb in heart.

What is wrong with you, Amy? You should be celebrating. Rejoice for fuck's sake!

"O-okay..." Was all I could say.

She turned off the machine and kept everything away. Her eyes shifted between the two of us. The silence between us hadn't gone unnoticed by her. "I'll give you two a minute. You can change back to your clothes and meet me outside."

The moment the doctor was out of my sight, I got up from the bed and simply went into the bathroom to get rid of the hospital gown and wear my old clothes back. I didn't bother to glance a look at my so called partner. I didn't want to. When I came back, Leonardo was sitting in front of the OB/GYN, awkwardly staring at the uterus and baby models, mothers and babies photographs, and doctor's medical degrees while the OB/GYN was typing on her laptop, easily ignoring the man in front of her.

Silently, I took a seat beside him and avoided his eyes on me.

"Alright. So here's what has happened." The doctor began. "Home tests are ninety nine percent accurate, miss Jones. For the remaining one percent, it can give a false result and in your case, it was a false positive. It is rare but it happens. And for your delayed cycle, I would say give it a few more days, it will arrive. It must have been delayed due to stress or change of diet or some other hormonal factor."

I didn't know how to react though. I just kept listening to her with my mind zoned out of this world.

"You're still young, miss Jones, and healthy too. You can try again someday later and if not, you can start taking morning after pills to be on the safe side." She took a paper out of her printer and folded it in an envelope then handed it over to me. "Medical store is right down this floor. Take some medicines I have prescribed in this to stop your nausea. It must have occured due to something you ate and your stomach couldn't support it."

My head jerked a nod. "Okay. Thank you, doctor."

*****

The ride back home was filled with silence. Leonardo kept his eyes fixed on the road. His grip was firm around the steering wheel and knuckles were turning white. Our eyes met for a second and I looked away from him instantly. The moment I entered the mansion, I ran straight to my room and locked myself away from everybody. I didn't hear capo calling out my name from behind. I know he didn't pull any effort to stop me. I wasn't even expecting too.

Took a long cold shower to remove that hospital stench from my body, mentally hoping for today's event to wash away too then got out of the bathroom. I saw the time.

Shit! I'm late for my language class.

Quickly, I wore my clothes, grabbed my notebook, pens, a newspaper and a couple of business magazines then sprang out of my bedroom, absolutely ignoring my partner who was standing right outside with, not surprisingly, my ex-roommate.

"Ahmie?" She gasped in surprise.

I chose to ignore her too and climbed up the stairs to the top floor.

"So sorry, Papa! I know I'm late. I swear I won't be late next time ever again." I said as I entered his office without knocking.

Papa saw me as if he was seeing some weird three headed creature with nine eyes. "What are you talking about, donna?"

Things have been normal between us even after my little slip on the stairs weeks ago. Papa's attitude towards me is pathetic as it has always been and he hasn't apologised for anything. Ha, as if he will ever do anything like that. Both of his sons were very reluctant about me continuing my classes with him on afternoons. Obviously, I won the upper hand after too much argument. Adrian won't tell me how he took care of Papa after I had my accident. At least I know it wasn't some physical violence or else I would have gone batshit crazy on all three of them.

My nose scrunched up. "What? I said I'm sorry for being late. Don't look at me like that."

He closed the file he was reading and slid it inside a drawer then took a seat on his chair. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here?"

I rolled my eyes. The last thing I want is him to lose his memory despite his healthy age of being in his mid fifties. "For my language class. Did you forget already?"

"You are sick, donna. No class today."

"Since when did you start caring?" I snapped. "I'm fine. My stomach is absolutely empty so don't expect me to puke all over you."

"Consider today as a day off. Go back to your room and don't show me your face till you are back in shape."

"I feel fine right now so why don't we start the class, hmm? I finished the essay you told me to write."

"No. I will not be used as some distraction to divert your mind and attention away from something else. Stop saying that you feel fine because we both know you have been ill since this morning."

My nose flared in anger. "Stop saying things which don't make any sense, Papa. I was not well in the morning and it's afternoon now. I feel well now."

"Leave, donna." He said coldly.

"No."

"You need to rest. I am not a deaf man, donna. I know everything which happens under this roof. You are excused for today."

"Why?" I asked. "Are you going out right now?"

"No." He answered with a shake of his head. "You are going out of my office this instant."

"No. I am not. I'll double your fees for today but you have to take a class right now."

"This is not about money, donna. I do not want it anymore. I have enough to last till my death. I will not let you jeopardize your health for the sake of learning. I'm not a fool. I said leave!"

I flinched at his words. His harsh words almost made it sound that he actually cared. I scoffed at myself for even thinking like that.

Being a stubborn bitch like I always have been, I strode ahead confidently and sat in front of him then arranged my things on his desk. I stared at him with a blank look on my face.

"Like I've said before, I finished the essay. You can check for mistakes." I said flatly and slid the paper forward to his side. We had a staring competition for some time till Papa finally closed his eyes and sighed. He took the paper and without sparing any glance at it, he folded it neatly and kept it aside.

"Fine. I'll see to it later." He gritted. "I am in no mood for teaching something new today since you have already broken my patience of getting rid of you. I have taught you enough to introduce yourself in Italian so do that."

That should be easy for me now. I know how to introduce myself.

"Mi c-chiamo Ame—" My voice broke and I felt my heart grow heavy. Papa silently leaned back on his chair. "Scusa." I mumbled. "I'll start again."

"Hmm."

"M-Mi chiamo Amelia Jon—" I'm sorry to say this but you are not pregnant, miss Jones. "—grzzp!" I choked on a throaty sob. My heart grew more heavy till I felt it was squeezing the living daylights out of me. Dammit, Amy. Get over it already. Like it never happened. "S-Sorry abou-about that, Papa."

He hummed again and twirled a paper weight with his fingers. His eyes were narrowed infinitesimally and head tilted to a milimeter on his right. The strange aura around him and the way he was looking at me was making me nervous enough to doubt my own sanity.

I cleared my throat and took a shaky deep breath. "Mi chiamo Amelia Jones e s-sono nat-nata—" A lump formed in my throat and my lips began to quiver.

It is rare but it happens.

My vision became blur with unshed tears as slowly and slowly this morning's events settled in. Another sob escaped from my lips and I covered my mouth.

"Go on." He motioned me to continue. "Tell me where were you born."

And I started crying for a life which never happened.

My wails became louder as tears split over and flowed down my face like a river escaping a dam. I gasped for air and suppressed a hiccup in vain. I felt thousand knives stabbing in my heart, giving me so much pain that I couldn't bear it anymore. And I had no idea how... but I found myself clutching a strong arm and pour all my sadness and frustration on a shoulder while its owner simply sat beside me with a stoic expression.

"I-It was so wro-wrong... Papa... so wrong." I cried and buried my face on his arm. "Why did it feel so right to me? I-I don't... I d-didn't want to... God, why did I wanted to... s-so badly..."

"Your essay has mistakes, donna." The man said coolly. He looked like Papa and sounded like him too but something was off about him. "I have not taught you past tense yet you wrote some of it here and it is wrong too. You were supposed to write it in present tense."

My cries didn't stop.

"Fine." He muttered. "I'll correct it after you stop staining my shirt with useless fluids."

"Everything hurts..." I mumbled hoarsely, resting my head on his shoulder and hiccuped. My throat felt scratchy and was aching very bad. I was tried from crying. My eyes were slowly drooping down in tiredness and I yawned like a cat. Mm. Sleeping sounds like the best option.

Suddenly, my head shifted from a shoulder to another man's chest and my feet was off the ground. He smelled really good and familiar. I didn't need to look up and see who it was.

"Get her something to eat." Papa said in Italian. That is not past tense, is it? "Then make sure she takes her medicines."

"I will." His son replied. "Father." He added at last.

"And you owe me a shirt, son."

*****

Leonardo closed the door and turned around with a soup bowl in his hands.

"Here. Your friend made it."

I sat up straight on the bed and looked away from him, straight outside my balcony. "Just keep it on the nightstand." I mumbled dryly.

Wordlessly, he did what I told him to do and I felt a dip in front of me. "Amelia, look at me. I really don't understand why you are behaving like this. I find it very confusing."

I answered him with silence.

I heard him sigh. "Amelia, we really need to talk about today."

I picked up my soup bowl, stirred it with a spoon and blew air on it. "There's nothing to talk about today."

"We both know there is a lot to talk about." He retorted.

I gritted my teeth in frustration. "Fine. You wanna talk about today so let's talk. I got the biggest scare of my life today and my health deteriorated at a very unexpected rate. Anything else?"

"Did you want the bambino?"

My eyes narrowed. "Just because I have started learning your language doesn't mean that I have become an expert in a span of only two months. There are still a few words and grammar lessons left."

"Did you want the baby or not?" He asked carefully.

I bit my lower lip. "I... I don't know... I mean, one moment I was hating myself for ruining my life and the next I was envisioning us both happy and pregnant. I was scared, Leonardo. I was not ready to give up everything and raise a child. It was never a part of the plan."

"Okay then. Would you like to have babies with me?"

I choked on my soup. Jesus Christ, this conversation has taken a quick one eighty degree turn.

"W-What?"

"You heard me. Want to have a football team of babies with me?"

I burst out laughing. "Haha! Are you crazy? A football team? That's like... eleven babies! I'm a woman, capo. Not a gumball machine!"

He shook his head in amusement, finally succeeded in making me smile. "Why not? I have already asked you to marry me, so why not ask you to have lots of babies with me?"

My laughter died in my throat. "Wait, what?"

"Stop acting so surprised, Amelia, or did you forget already? That would be somehow upsetting and heartbreaking for me. I already have the perfect ring for you in my locker right now, right in this room, but then thought about putting everything on hold because we had too many problems in our lives. Now, we don't have anything so we can finally talk about this."

I couldn't believe my ears. He was actually talking about getting hitched and having babies as if it were a Sunday grocery shopping list.

"Leo..." I put my bowl aside and crawled to him. I grabbed his face gently and looked straight into his eyes. "Are you serious?"

His brows furrowed. "I fail to understand why you would think that I am not serious. And get back to bed. You are not well."

"You... You'd have babies with me?" I asked in disbelief. "Plural?"

"Ah, yes. Lots of them. I had never thought about it before but today was an eye opener. When I saw that empty screen back in the hospital, it was then I knew that the next time I see a screen like that, I'd see a baby or two or three in it or maybe four at a time."

And here I was thinking he was mad at me. Stupid me.

"So you want to marry me and have babies with me? Start a... family?" The words sounded so strange yet so amazing to hear. It gave me hope to a perfect, new plan for the future. I want all that with him.

He shrugged. "I don't see myself doing that with anybody else except you."

I threw a pillow at him. He didn't see it coming and it got hit straight on his face. "You don't say things like these so casually. This is serious!"

He groaned and rubbed his nose. "And when will you stop thinking that I am joking with you? Because I am not."

I chuckled, tears of joy pooling in my eyes. "We'd be horrible parents. The worst."

"As long as we are better than mine, I don't mind."

"What about your family business?" I asked. "This entire empire you handle? I don't think that kind of exposure is good for a child."

"Correction. Children. And that you don't have to worry about. I'll handle that."

I heaved a sigh. "You know a lot of things are going to change when all this happens. For starters, you have to baby proof the entire mansion and celebrate holidays."

He snorted. "You're thinking a little bit too ahead of future. First, we have to say 'I do' to each other and I happen to know an officiant who can help us. So what do you say, signora Agostini?"

My mind was chanting 'yes, yes, yes!' while my heart was still hesitating. "I... I... That does sound very amazing."

His lips suppressed into a thin line. "I sense a but in this."

"Yeah, there is." I meekly whispered. "It all sounds wonderful and I want that with you. I really do. But what if after everything... we end up like your parents? Living under one roof but filled hatred for each other to their core. I can't live like that if anything happens."

His jaw clenched. "You said it yourself many a time; I am not my father. I will never humiliate you in that way ever again. Besides, my father was a fool all those years ago who didn't know how to look after his woman and his only child. That is not me."

"That's a relief to hear." I smiled softly. "Since we are being honest now, I want more time with you, Leo. Before jumping into any sort of commitment. I just want you and how we are right now. We have the rest of our lives now."

"I think I was ready for that big, fat commitment the moment she landed on my back and tried to run away from me." He laughed. "So it is a yes and a no. What an answer."

I scowled. "Did you just call me fat?"

He stopped laughing. "Er, yes."

I finished drinking my soup and took my meds. "Consider yourself lucky, August-mini. For me being sick right now or else I would have kicked you out of my room."

"Thank fuck." He grinned. "And speaking of fuck, you better hang on to that pill real tight because next time we do our regular tumble on any flat surface, I will take you raw."

After an emotionally exhausting day, Leonardo Agostini managed to make me blush profusely.

"S-Shut up! You only think of doing tumble these days."

He smirked and licked his lips. "I am not the only one here, am I?"

I chose to ignore his comment and made myself comfortable on the bed.

"Sleep with me, Leo. It has been a long day for both of us." My voice was barely a whisper. He pulled the curtains and laid down beside me after removing his clothes till he was only in his boxer briefs. Like a loving girlfriend I am, I shared my blanket with him. Then suddenly, I remembered something. "Um, Leonardo?"

"Si, Amy?" He yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Remember that someday we talked about all those weeks ago? About me moving in with you?"

He lifted his head to meet my eye. "Uh huh. I do."

"You think we can have that someday tomorrow? I mean... we almost already share a closet, I don't mind sharing a room too. I just want you."

His fingers brushed my hair. "I'd like that."

"So what now?"

"We'll wait."

••••••

The (kind of sappy ha-ha high) ending.

Author's note:

This is how Amelia's story actually ends but my super stubborn brain will obviously not let her story finish like this no matter how long it will take (put it days or weeks. Ugh).

There is still an epilogue and a couple of bonus chapters left (I'd say three or four) which will including a little glimpse of her life after this along with a little trip to the past and present of my different complex characters written.

Feel free to drop your questions in the comments or anywhere or whatever. I don't bite.

Apart from everything...

We are reaching 70k reads!

This has to be the longest chapter I have ever written in my history of writing (7000+ words!) Woohoo! 🎉

If I missed any other point, I will surely add it in the next few chapters.

Vote and comment. 😁