𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐈

~Epilogue~

-"We're not good people, but I think we deserve a soft epilogue, my love."-

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Luca's POV. 

Six years later.

I find myself in these moments quite often.

Just staring at all of us --at all of this and thinking, "how the fuck did I get here?"

Lately, it has been happening more and more and I think it's because I have reached a point in my life where I have never been more at peace. Everything is perfect. Everything.

My son stares at the oven patiently, as if it would make the cookies back faster. He's six now and I keep praying to whoever will listen to make him stop growing so fast. To make time slow down so I have a moment to process it.

Elio Cyrus Romano-Black may look like me but he is a clone of his mom. He has the same calculating, careful eyes and logical brain that is always so busy and occupied with something.

Speaking of his mom, my wife-

I love how I can say that.

My wife smiles at Elio, telling him that it will only be five more minutes but he remains determined and doesn't move from his stance. Sighing but not the least bit surprised, she sits down on the tile and pulls him into her lap, both of them watching the cookies back intently.

I look at them with an emotion I can't quite describe and that's when I hear my six-month-old daughter begin to coo and move in my arms, stretching her small arms and opening her breathtaking amber eyes.

She smiles and my heart skips a beat. Her eyes sparkle and her smile is gummy with a dimple poking through her right cheek. Her little hands reach out toward my face and I can't resist. I kiss her soft cheek and the sound of her baby laughter makes my heart grow ten times bigger.

Evelyn Kaia Romano-Black is all me. She may look like her mom, but she's all me. She has the color of my hair and makes the same face when she's happy. She came into this world on a journey more treacherous than most, but she's a fighter. She's my little fighter.

Evie was born with a lung malformation that she'll struggle with for the rest of her long life or until she gets a transplant. But with her mother's genes, she never gave up and survived her most critical days with ease, and luckily, her condition isn't life-threatening.

It won't hold her back though. It already doesn't.

I situate her in my arms to where she has her back to my chest and is looking at her brother and mom. She stretches her arms out as soon as she sees her mom and makes her incoherent baby babbles which I assume is supposed to mean something along the lines of "mom".

I walk towards where they sit on the floor and get down next to them, putting Eve in my lap and watching her crawl to her brother.

Elio grins, helping her and watching intently so she doesn't fall on her face. When Eve ventures too far around the island, Elio instantly follows and lurks protectively, making sure she doesn't run into anything. Crawling has only been a new ability for the past week and she wasn't a pro yet.

Shifting my eyes to the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, I scoot closer to her and put her where she leans against my chest. I put an arm around her waist, resting my chin on the top of her head. She shifts closer to me, sighing in contentment and lacing our hands together.

My heart has never beaten so contently.

"Happy Anniversary," I kiss the back of her head, speaking softly. I don't have to look at her to see the smile on her face.