Leather Jacket

Chapter 37 Death

"So I still get to organize our son's first birthday right ?" I asked stitching Marco's wounds up.

"Of course." He said with the biggest smile as I wiped the last of the blood from his head. He was in pretty rough shape, though I knew he wouldn't admit it. He would never show weakness infront of anyone.

"Good. Cause I was thinking since it's a week away , I should get on that. We can have it in the garden. Wouldn't that be cute?" I said enthusiastic while I helped him up to our bedroom , running the bath for him.

"Sounds lovely. But don't over work yourself either." He said with a painful chuckle while he got into the hot water, wincing as he sat down.

"I won't. I promise. " I said with a smile , sitting outside of the tub as he lied back letting the warm water wash over his fresh wounds .

"We should talk." He said closing his eyes - probably out of pain though he would never admit it - as I sat closer to him , resting my arms on the rim of the tub.

"No , I think you should get better first. We don't know if you have a concussion." I said watching the water turn a faint crimson colour from the blood.

"I don't have a concussion. I'm sure of it." he said with a smile putting his hand over mine. " I want us to talk."

"Okay ," I said with great difficulty while he rubbed his thumb across my hand.

"When you think you're about to die , your life really does flash before your eyes. Mine wasn't all that good . Up until when I met you. I'm not going to lie to you Alice. When that bullet nicked my head by a hair , I thought I was going to die right there. But then I saw your face. And Dante. Him running around with his brothers. I thought about what your lives would be like if I had given up . If I had died... and I didn't like it. And then I saw us fighting at the foot of the stairs. And it made my heart ache even more that, that will be your last memory of me. It was like the thought of leaving you was a shock to my system as I gasped for air seeing one of my men shoot the last intruder before helping me to my feet. I had to see you. I knew I had to tell you that I still loved you . "

I listened to him explain his near death experience and it pained me to know I would've been his very last thought. Even in death he thought about me. There was no doubt in my mind that we couldn't work this out. We were destined to be together. And through the highs and the lows I knew we would get through anything. Cause not even death could keep us apart.

The next thing I knew , I leaned over and placed a kiss to his lips as he placed both of his hands at the side of my head.

"I love you too. I was going crazy at the thought that you might never come back to let me out of that damn room again. Even the boys missed you during all of this. Dante kept crying out to you all hours of the night while the twins kept kicking me so hard that I couldn't sleep a wink. I love you Marco. More than you'll ever realize and understand . And all of this , just reminded me how strong my feelings are for you. I don't think I'll ever stop loving you. And no silly fight would ever keep me from loving you, no matter what I say in the moment. I will always and FOREVER love you , Marco Romano." I said while the tears started streaming down my face. He sat up as he pulled me into his chest and I didn't even care that my hair was clinging to the water that driped from his chest. At that moment I just wanted to be held by him. For him to know how much he really meant to me. And I cherished every second of it.

"You're amazing. You know that ?" He said placing a kiss to the top of my head as I pulled back.

"And you're wonderful. " I said looking up " How did I get so lucky?"

"You ? What about me ? You've been more than understanding and accepting of my life. No one could ever take that from you. " he said as his eyes bounced between mine. "You have no idea how truly beautiful you are. " he said soft as my heart felt like it skipped a beat. It didn't even matter that he was wounded , sitting in crimson coloured water while we had this moment. It was a soul- seeking , eye opening moment that both of us had needed for the longest time now , and we didn't even realize it . In this moment, it was like time stood still. My breathing slowed down and my mind grew quiet. Words couldn't put it into the right perspective. It was indescribable and we've never been more open and close to eachother emotionally than we were right now.

"I uh , should probably go check on Dante." I said flustered -breaking our eye contact - as I tied my hair back.

"Yeah , I should probably start cleaning all of this up. I'll...see you down there?" He asked while I got up from my seating position.

"Sure." I said with a smile before closing the bathroom door behind me.

I think that both of us realized how deep and meaningful that talk was to both of us. It was like for the first time , only for a second we could SEE into eachother's soul. FEEL eachother's pain and UNDERSTAND eachother's thoughts. It was magnificent and I would kill to have another heart to heart with him like this. I couldn't believe how much I've needed this until I actually got it.

****
"This all looks beautiful. But don't you think it's a little too much?" Marco asked , coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Are you kidding me ?" I said with a smile putting the binder down "It's our son's first birthday. Our eldest and first born. He deserves to be spoiled . Not to mention that he's YOUR up and coming heir. So the people needs to see him as important. So a flimsy cake and streamers aren't going to cut it." I said turning around in his hold.

"You're right. He deserves the best. Absolutely the best." He said placing a quick peck to my lips before walking back to his office. But I meant every word I said. If I was going to do this , I was going to do this right. Dante deserved to be treated special atleast once before his brothers were born . I needed for him to be able to look back at the photo's of his first birthday and realize we spared no expense to make his day special. I want something good for him.

"Make that a three layer chocolate for us and a single tier confetti cake just for him. I want him to bite into the cake and see all of the colours." I said while one of the ladies wrote all of this down to take it to town later.

"What about snacks ?"

"Mini donuts - variety - red velvet cupcakes , ice cream bar and cotten candy booth. And that's just the sweet " I said laughing while she joined me. It was fun planning something. Marco usually took care of all of the events around here - not that there were many - but I think I wouldn't mind taking that responsibility over from him. It brought me so much joy putting something together like this. I just hope this would be something he would be able to look back on and love.

"Where have you been ? It's almost 11?" Marco asked from the bed , pulling the covers aside for me.

"I did some last minute planning for Dante's birthday. "

"How so ? " he asked , draping his arm around me as I cuddled into his side.

"It might just be two days away but I want everything to be perfect."

"And it will be." He said , placing a kiss to the top of my head.

"I know. It's just... I want something to be just his before his brother's are born. I don't want him to feel overlooked."

"And he won't be . You're an amazing mother Alice. And I'm sure he'll be able to see that someday. "

"Thanks. You're an amazing father too you know. " I said while he stroked his fingers through my hair mindlessly.

"Oh yeah ?"

"Yeah. You'll do anything to keep us safe. You almost died , twice for us. And even though that almost gave me a heart attack , I know someday they'll see how brave you are." I said in admiration as I felt the babies starting to kick by the sound of Marco's voice.

"Here ," I said guiding his hand to the spot. "Do you feel that?" I asked with a smile as I looked up at him.

"That's... incredible. " he said in awe as he rubbed his thumb across the spot making them kick at the spot. It was the little things like this , that made the fights and the tears all worth it. The lonely nights and the pain worth while when I got to see him so passionate about something. Aside from his courage, his passion was the thing I loved the most.

That's it ! Thank you so much for reading. Remember to leave your thoughts in the comment section below. Until next time keep howling my wolves 🐺❤