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M y heart has never been so full as it is at this moment. I never thought this day would come. I’d completely given up hope that I’d get this chance, and frankly, once Gia had embedded herself into my very being, that didn’t bother me quite as much.

I love her as if she were my own flesh and blood because, as far as I’m concerned, she may as well be.

That kid has brightened even the worst days for me, just like her daddy. I guess it runs in the family.

And right now, as my back aches from this blow-up mattress that Luca demanded we bring to the hospital, saying, “My wife isn’t sleeping on one of those glorified plastic tables the hospitals call a pull-out bed,” I couldn’t care less. My cheeks ache from smiling so much, and even though I know last night will have been the last full night of sleep I’ll be getting for a while, this is more than I could’ve ever hoped for.

Arielle is fast asleep, snoring loudly in the postpartum hospital bed they swapped her to after cleaning her up. Dante’s squished in beside her with an arm slung over her deflating belly.

Luca is sprawled out on the tiny pull-out seat, his long limbs spilling over the edge and his cheek pressed into the dark-blue plastic, his mouth hanging open and drool pooling out.

Ajani and Chiara are swaddled in their bassinets just feet from me.

And tomorrow morning, Cici and Paul will bring Gia to meet her siblings, and Gloria, Angelo, and my parents will get to meet their newest grandchildren.

I know without a shadow of a doubt that there’s no better feeling than this.

This is where I’m meant to be.

I couldn’t have dreamed of a better life, and I just know, deep in my soul, that Cora’s here somehow, acting to stabilize me. I can feel her presence like a familiar squeeze of my hand or a hug when I’ve had a rough day. She’s ever-present, and more than anything, she’s proud.

And so am I.

The end.