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“Of course.” The doctor stood up and quickly rolled the sonogram machine away. “I’ll send someone along to check on you in a few minutes, all right? Take your time.”
He left the room, and the two of them were on their own.
“Four,” Amy breathed. “Four? How can we—we can’t—Adriano?”
He moved to her side and wrapped his arms around her.
“We can,” he told her firmly. “We absolutely can, Amy. This doesn’t change anything, okay? This is still just us, dealing with the situation. Okay, so it’s four babies instead of one. We’ll still figure it out. Everything will be all right. I promise you that. Do you trust me?”
She looked up at him.
“I do,” she told him softly. “I trust you. I know this is what you want, and I know you’re going to find a way to make it work. I just…” She closed her eyes. “This wasn’t how I planned it. Nothing about this was the way I planned it.”
“Do you regret getting pregnant?”
“No,” she said firmly. “No, I don’t.”
“Even now that we know it’s four?” His mind reeled as he said the word aloud.Four. He was about to become a father to not one, butfourchildren. Amy was right, this hadn’t been in the plan. It was so far outside the plan that it terrified him.
But he knew that he needed to be strong for her. This was happening now, and there was no going back. All they could do was move forward and try to make it work as best they could.
“I don’t regret it either,” he told her. “I’m happy about this, Amy. This is still the best thing that could have happened to me. You know how badly I wanted a child.”
She nodded.
“I know it’s overwhelming, having to carry four,” he told her quietly. “But you know I can provide for them. And for you. All your expenses for the rest of your life—”
“I’m not asking you for that,” she said quickly.
“And it’s not a negotiation. You’re the mother of my children. Your home will be their home. Your life will be their life. Of course I’m going to do everything I can to make that the best life I possibly can.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know what I would do without you,” she admitted. “I really don’t.”
“You’re not going to have to find out,” he assured her. “We’re in this together from now on, I promise.”
But he knew as he said it that no matter how devoted he felt, there was still one thing that could stand in the way.
He still had Barks-Howard’s disease. He was still at risk of a shortened life. If the treatment he was undertaking didn’t work, he’d die young, and his children would be left without their father.
And Amy would be left alone, the single mother of four young children she had never intended to have.
The thought terrified him.
CHAPTER20
AMY
EIGHT MONTHS LATER
“Ihave Mr. Canali’s latest medical scans,” Tony said.
Amy didn’t look away from the TV. “You can leave them on the counter,” she said. “I’ll review them in a little while.”
Tony put the scans down and came over to the sofa. “More reality TV?”
“I think they’re going to kick the old guy off today,” she said, pointing. “He’s had it coming for ages. He keeps pestering the young women. I’m glad they’re doing it.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be getting out of the house from time to time?” Tony asked gently.
