Don't Leave Me

Epilogue

One year later

I was standing in our room looking outside the window at the sea and the beautifully decorated garden. There were a lot of lights, tables and chairs placed in front of the sea. Along with that a couple of flower petals were placed on the ground. Everyone that I love dearly is waiting there for us.

Exactly four months ago we married. It was truly magical. Matteo had the idea to have a small ceremony and party at one of our favourite places, the lake in the forest. Of course I said yes to that. Who would want a big wedding and a bunch of guests you don't actually care about? Right, nobody.

His parents were so glad for Matteo and me choosing that place. After all it was their favourite spot as well. They are still living with us in the villa but from time to time they go away and travel the world. Matteo and his dads relationship improved even more. As Giorgia would say: the four of us are an extraordinarily happy family now.

Amy and Cristian are engaged and will marry soon. Nothing changed between the two. They are very much in love with each other and are spending every free minute together. Amy secretly told me that they are even planning on starting a family as soon as they are married.

Sofie gave birth to a healthy little baby girl. Pietro and Lukas can't stop gushing over how sweet she is and they are right. Lukas is an amazing big brother and is already showing her a lot of pictures of his favourite butterflies. His love for them never vanished.

Raffael improved his skills drastically. He turned out to be an excellent cook and made it his passion. We made jokes about him leaving the mafia when he's old and opening a restaurant. Although he laughed at that thought I think it'll happen one day. Despite that he hasn't changed at all. He's still the most cocky and hilarious person I know. To him there's never a bad time to make a joke. I'm wondering if someday he will find a girlfriend....

Seeing everyone chasing their dreams and doing what they love made me happy. And it motivated me to follow my own passion. Matteo encouraged me to publish my drawings. Being the good wife that I am I listened and published a lot of drawings the past year. However my drawings of him or us together will remain private. Nobody has the right to lay their eyes on my handsome husband.

Never have I ever thought that someone other than me or Matteo would like them but I was proven wrong. Last month some of the drawings were displayed in a well known gallery here in Italy. Others were brought at high prices.

Matteo and I are still madly in love with each other. I could stare at him for hours and he could do the same. A week after his proposal he finally saw that I was doing better and finally being able to celebrate our engagement in the right way, we had the most amazing and most satisfactory sex ever. And we repeated that for the last year a lot of times. Of course he never stopped being the dominant one in bed and I freaking love it.

Luckily no one has tried to hurt any of us so far. And if anyone ever tries they will regret it deeply. Well, if they even get the chance. The alliance with the Russian and Spanish mafia turned out to be the best and most strategic move. Matteos mafia gang gained a lot more money, supplies and power. Anyone starting a fight with him would be more than naive and stupid.

As I was staring out of the window my gaze fell on my family. The people that brought me back to life. Those who support me and make me feel loved.

And right behind me was the man I love the most. His arms wrapped around my stomach. His chest pressed against my back and his chin resting on my shoulder while he's staring outside as well.

"Let's go there and announce it.", Matteo whispered in my ear.
"I need a minute."
"Ok wifey.", he said while placing a kiss on my cheek and putting his head back on my shoulder.
"I know a name.", I whispered softly.
"Tell me.", he said while stroking my stomach gently.
"Hope."

"Nothing fits better than that. I love it. Do you plan on telling them the name too? Or should we follow our plan with just revealing the gender?", Matteo asked.
"I don't care you can decide. Your mom will already freak out once we tell her we're expecting a girl.", I stated.
"Yeah because that means everyone owes her ten euros. She won the bet.", Matteo chuckled and I laughed along with him.

"Our little Hope will be here in five months. Are you ready to be the most amazing farther?"
"Of course. I know I have the strongest wife by my side. You'll be the best mother to our little baby girl. Soon a second angel will be in my life.", Matteo whispered happily.
"I love you Matteo."
"And I love you Emily."

We stood in the same position for a couple of minutes and stared outside. The sun was already going down in an incredible colourful sunset.

Right in this moment I knew I did it. My mother told me to hold on. To hope for a better life. A life that will eventually will come for me and it did.

I have a family. A lot of friends and the most amazing husband. None of them ever left me. Matteo will always uphold his promise and I will keep mine as well. The sentence 'Don't leave me' completely vanished from our lives because we know nothing on this planet could make us leave. We found what we were searching for and won't turn and walk away from it.

Soon we will have a little daughter. A daughter that will be my footstep on this earth. It'll be a sign that holding on and hoping leads to a new life. A life that consist of good and bad sides. Because bad sides will always be there. But with all of the love and care that exits the bad times will be overcome with ease.

Matteo once asked me if I would go back and change something. If I would go back and tell the police what my father did. My answer was simply: No.

Every decision I made and every step I took led me to this very moment. To this second. And I wouldn't change anything. If I would have done anything different back then there's a high chance I wouldn't stand here right now. I wouldn't live this life. Everything that has happened shaped me. That's just how life works. Mistakes are there to keep us moving forward and developing our mind and soul.

Over the last years I learned and changed a lot. My scars are now symbolising how strong I am. They are not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength. Back then I used to hate them because I thought people would see me as weak and broken or damaged. Now, after all that has happened, I learned to love them. After all they are my warrior wounds.

But one thing never changed, which I'm proud of: my heart.
I haven been mistreated by some people and have been through things nobody should go through. However in the end I never stopped caring for others. I have never stopped loving others. Just because I have received hate doesn't mean I should treat others full of hatred. Because the thing that kept me going was love and hope.
I want to give others hope. By loving them. By being there for them and listening to them. Or through my art. Whatever way is possible.

What comes next will always be uncertain. It's the future after all. But I'm certain that whatever is coming for me I can handle it. Good or bad. I'm ready. And I'm still full of hope.

THE END

.........

This is it guys. Don't mind me shedding a few tears.

I hope you liked this epilogue. It was more of Emilys thoughts than interactions which might be a little weird to you but I thought let's finish this story by showing how far she came.

I'll add an authors note to tell you some other things I don't want to squeeze in here. Hopefully, you'll read it.
As always, I love you 🖤