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The bathrooms at the country estate Matty hired for his big day are bloody over the top. Everything is big and shiny and ostentatious.

Francesca leads me into a spacious full-enclosed bathroom and the minute the door is shut behind us her mouth is on mine.

“Baby please, I’m aching,” she whines adorably against my lips.

“What’s aching, little darlin’?” I run my hands all over her, savouring every curve.

“What do you need?”

“I need you to fuck me, babe!” She cries desperately and I burst out laughing.

“Ohhhhhh,” I can’t stop laughing. “You’re horny, baby. I thought your back was hurting or something.”

“Stop laughing, this is serious, Giovanna! I’ve been aching for you all day.”

“Oh baby, let me look after you.” I look around. It isn’t the most comfortable of places for fucking when one of you is pregnant with twins. “Do you want me to find somewhere more comfortable?”

“No! Just do it here.’ She starts hitching up her tight dress until it is sitting above her bump. “I know this is seriously unattractive, but my body just needs some bloody relief, babe.”

There is nothing unattractive about this woman. I sit on the closed toilet lid and have Francesca sit on my knee, her back to my chest. Spreading my legs wide, I hook each of her legs over mine to keep them open.

We share an awkward kiss over her shoulder and I slide a finger into her lacy underwear.

“Jesus Christ. You’re soaking wet!”

“I told you,” she groans and I get to work making my wife come twice in the bathroom at my brother’s wedding.

She leans back into me afterward, her chest heaving and I kiss her behind her ear. We sit for a few minutes and I just listen to her thundering heartbeat returning to a normal beat.

Reluctantly, she stands on shaky legs and rolls her dress back down over her bump with some difficulty. She looks so adorably comical that I can’t help laughing again.

“Feeling better?” I tease her.

She gives me a cheeky smile, but it almost immediately drops from her face. “I feel funny,” she frowns and rubs her enormous belly.

“Funny how?” I stop laughing.

She freezes, her eyes locked on mine, and her pillowy lips drop open. She flattens a palm at the base of her abdomen and gasps as a small gush of water hits the bathroom floor.

“Best get you to the hospital,” I kiss her on the forehead.

Several hours later, I am hit with a case ofdeja vuas I watch Francesca sweat, scream, and squeeze our second and third children out into the world.

She goes into total primal mother mode and I have never in my life seen anything as powerful and as incredible as my fearless wife giving birth. She always wanted this. Motherhood. And I have never seen anyone do it as fucking perfect as she does.

I count each of the fingers and toes on Celeste and Violet Marino’s bodies and kiss each of their heads as they greedily latch onto a boob each. With her hair slick with sweat and not a lick of makeup on her face, Francesca’s look of pure elation as she feeds our girls is the most exquisite thing I have ever seen.

Naturally, our peaceful moment lasts all of a few minutes as Massimo rushes into the room carrying a wild-eyed Xavier followed by a crying Sammy.

I hold Xavier over the bed so he can see his baby sisters suckling. He is in awe and uncharacteristically quiet. “Mine?” he asks looking from his sisters to me.

“Yes, son. Yours,” I murmur to him. Francesca spots the tears rolling down my cheeks and blows me a hands-free kiss.

Matty and his bride arrive next and they have a good cry as they cuddle the girls too. The looks they exchange with each other make me think we should start a family sweepstake on how quickly there’ll be another Marino on the way.

The room is packed. As full as my heart. We are all quietly gazing at the newest Marinos and there is a peacefulness despite our chaotic family.

“Look, not that childbirth isn’t like a miracle or anything,” Massimo breaks the silence. “But an actual miracle happened today…”

We all look at him wondering what on earth he could be about to say.

“Elio said he’s fallen in love.”