Page 177 of Unravel Me

This is amazing. Just awesome! My new life.

EPILOGUE

JARED

Eight monts later

My delivery is due when the trees are already beginning to paint themselves in thousands of colors. The weather is still sunny, but warm shades shimmer all around the estate, and I love standing by the window with one hand resting on my swollen belly, feeling the kicks.

My son is already hurrying into the world…

Mauro and I have talked about his name a few times, but my fated decided to leave that up to me, and I… I already have an idea of my own.

That morning, I simply know. Nobody has to tell me, and even though this is my first delivery since Tommy was born through surrogacy, I feel completely certain about what my body is doing.

Mauro and Renato are out in the field, overseeing the construction of one of the new vacation cabins, but I reach into Mauro’s mind.

Even from this distance, I can sometimes sense him, and I let him know that it’s starting.

We always communicate in this special way, but Mauro keeps his sign language to everyday conversations with the family. Tommy is already very good at it and loves signing with Mauro and the others.

Fifteen minutes later, a car driven by Mauro screeches to a stop, and he shoots out of it like he’s been fired from a cannon.

His footsteps thunder up the stairs, he rushes into the room and looks at me with wide eyes.

Tommy, who is playing with his new set of wooden figurines nearby—he has five by now, and it’s become a little hobby of his—looks up and raises his little fingers, making the sign in sign language that means, "My baby brother is coming."

I smile broadly.

Mauro comes over to me, places his hands on my belly, closes his eyes, and smiles.

"I already called Uncle Stefano," I send him.

Silvio's younger brother, Stefano, who lives on the other side of Rainbow Springs, promised to help us. Despite his age, he still comes to deliver babies for people he knows.

Everyone in the Silvio family knew that he had been a Forest Guardian before, and that this extraordinary power had come down through their bloodline.

Stefano is incredibly excited because he’s about to welcome his brother’s great-grandson into the world, the future protector of the forest. And maybe… also its healer. Who knows what our merged lineages will bring?

In Rainbow Springs, secrets like that don’t stay hidden for long because so many extraordinary beings live here. The news of my pregnancy has already spread far and wide, but the rumor that I’m in labor spreads even faster.

As my contractions begin to intensify, Stefano arrives, but he isn’t alone. A whole string of cars follows behind him, carrying his relatives and in-laws. I watch it all from the window, feeling a little self-conscious, yet overwhelmed with happiness.

Soon, the house is surrounded by a large group of people. Relatives from the Santoro family and other Sicilian families with ties to them arrive too, along with other people whose gifts are somehow connected to the forest.

I turn away from the window and return to my pouf. Between one contraction and the next, I’m gently rocking on it to loosen my tight pelvic bones.

"Quite a few of them have arrived," I murmur, feeling a little shy about it.

Stefano reassures me in his warm voice, which reminds me of Silvio. "Don’t worry, Jared. They’ve come to celebrate the birth of the new Guardian!"

"Am I imagining it, or is Mr. Davos among these people?"

Stefano checks the window and nods. "Apparently that gossipmonger decided he wasn’t going to miss the chance to be part of an event like this…" And he chuckles.

It’s a little overwhelming and deeply moving, but underneath it all, I also feel a strange, enormous happiness because I can almost physically feel myself becoming part of something greater.

Over the past few months, I’ve gradually grown into life in Rainbow Spring, meeting new people, forming tentative friendships, and finally allowing myself to believe that I have indeed found my safe place.