Page 282 of Ricardo

“Thank you,” he says, his voice rough.

Mario’s mouth softens slightly. “You’re having a child.”

Ricardo looks at me then, and the expression on his face makes my chest ache.

“Yes,” he says. “We are.”

Victoria crosses the room and takes both my hands. “Congratulations,” she whispers.

I try to answer, but the tears come too fast.

She pulls me into a hug, and I let her. For a few seconds, I stand there with my face near her shoulder, breathing through the strange, impossible mix of fear and relief and something that feels dangerously close to happiness.

“I know the timing is…” I start.

Victoria draws back and shakes her head before I can finish. “The timing is exactly when it was meant to be. The baby is still good news.”

Diego exhales and drags one hand over his jaw, staring at Ricardo with a look that is almost disbelief.

“Congratulazioni, fratello,” he says, pulling Ricardo into a hug.

“Auguri, Zio,” Matteo says. “Congratulazioni a entrambi.”

He hugs me, a lot gentler than he does Ricardo.

Tomasso steps forward and pulls Ricardo into a brief, hard embrace. “Congratulations.”

Each one of them does the same, offering congratulations to both of us, despite everything else going on.

Ricardo’s arm slides more securely around my waist once everyone has had their turn, and I let myself lean into him.

Victoria wipes beneath her eyes, then gives me a small smile.

“A baby,” she says, almost to herself. “Another one.”

Diego looks between her and me, then toward Mario. “This family is becoming alarmingly domestic.”

Mario gives him a look. “Choose your next words carefully.”

“I said alarmingly. I did not say badly.”

While his family bickers around us, Ricardo bends his head, his mouth close to my temple.

“All right?” he asks softly.

I nod.

This time, I almost mean it.

Ricardo bends his head toward me. “Do you want to see him now?”

Dante.

The reason we are here.

The reason I forced myself through the test and the telling.

“Yes.”