Adrian’s father had died three years earlier, but men like Santino Moretti did not need to be alive to haunt a family. His lessons had been carved into Adrian so deeply that even love had entered our house wearing armor.
At Northwestern, I was placed in a private room because Dr. Patel requested quiet monitoring, not because Adrian threatened anyone. At least, that was what I chose to believe.
Mara arrived an hour later carrying my overnight bag, a paper sack of pastries, and the expression of a woman prepared to fight a war with her bare hands.
She froze when she saw Adrian by the window.
“Oh,” she said. “So the secret is out.”
“Mara,” I said.
Adrian stood. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
Mara’s eyes narrowed. “I took care of her because someone had to.”
He accepted that without flinching. “I know.”
She looked disappointed not to receive a worse answer.
While nurses adjusted monitors and checked my blood pressure, Mara unpacked my things with sharp little movements. She put my socks in the drawer, my charger beside the bed, and the pastries on the tray table like offerings to an anxious goddess.
When we were alone for a moment, she leaned close.
“Do you want him here?”
I watched Adrian through the glass wall, where he stood speaking quietly to Luca in the hallway. He looked older than he had that morning, as if fatherhood had descended on him all at once and found him unprepared.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
“That’s allowed.”
“He asked permission before touching my stomach.”
Mara blinked. “Adrian Moretti asked permission?”
“Twice.”
“Well.” She sat back. “That’s either growth or a head injury.”
A laugh escaped me, shaky and grateful.
Adrian looked through the glass at the sound, and something in his expression broke open. It was not possessiveness. Not victory. Relief, maybe, at hearing proof that I could still laugh.
By evening, the doctors decided to continue monitoring overnight. The baby’s heartbeat remained steady, but my blood pressure drifted higher than they liked. Dr. Sloan explained everything in calm, careful sentences. Steroid shots to help the baby’s lungs. Bloodwork. More scans in the morning.
Adrian listened to every word, then asked questions instead of issuing orders.