Page 74 of The Italian's Pregnant Enemy (A Diamond in the Rough)

Tears stung her eyes. “You do? That will not be too painful for you?”

“All of this is pain in the most beautiful way. Because it is real. Because this is all that was meant to be. Because this is love. At its deepest and most powerful. Because it is everything. And I aim to change the story. The story of Raphael. He will be a boy that is loved. Always. From beginning to end. From here to all of eternity. He will be smart and ingenious like his mother. And like his father. But he will not have to strive. And when there is hardship, we will be there for him. We will make mistakes, because love is never perfect. But there will be love.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “There will be. Always.”

And that much she knew was true. Because if there was one thing she had seen in her own life, through loss, and through mistakes and imperfections, it was that love, when given without fear, did in fact endure. It was in the memories of her mother, and the joy of her father. It was in the glow that existed between herself and Dario. It was in the deepest part of her soul.

And it shone so much brighter than fear ever could.

“Raphael Rivelli. I like it. And for his middle name?”

“Nathan,” Dario said.

She smiled. “Raphael Nathan Rivelli. A tribute. To the life you should have had, and the man who loves us both.”

“I am grateful for your father. I wonder if I could’ve found my way to this without him. Without his example.”

“I think you could have. Although I’m grateful that you had him.”

“Why is that?”

“Because true love always wins. And that’s what we have. True love.”

---