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Inside, it was silent as a tomb.
Amelia stared at Leo without blinking or breathing for a long moment, processing what he was telling her.
Then she whispered, “They removed my womb?” His face contorted in pain and he nodded, gasping on a sob. “They took it out to stop me from bleeding to death.”
“Yes. Y-yes, Amelia.”
She continued to stare at him. “So our baby was taken from us and now I can never have children...is that what you’re saying, Leo? Is that what my mother did to me?”
He stood and bent over the bed to hold her head in his hands. “You survived, Amelia. You didn’t bleed to death. I didn’t lose you. I have what matters most and you’re going to heal. You’ll get strong again and you’re never going to be at that woman’s mercy again. Not ever. All that is in your past. Now, y-you can focus on your future...our future.”
Slowly, she wrapped her fingers around his wrist. “A future that no longer includes children?” She swallowed against the bile that burned her throat. “A future without the ability to give you a child, an heir, when I know how crucial that is to your family.”
“It doesn’t matter…”
“It does matter, Leo. I’ve visited your family and there are few children. Only two of your distant cousins are boys. You are an only child. Your mother told me that each generation has fewer offspring and the De La Cruz line is fading away. Don’t tell me that my inability to give you children doesn’t matter, Leo. Never lie to me.”
His fingers tightened on her head. “I will never, ever put the need or desire for a child above you, Amelia. It doesn’t matter because without you, nothing else matters. The name Leonardo comes before De La Cruz, Amelia. I may be the heir but I am your Leo first and always.”
Her tears were hot on her skin and he kissed them away, held her as close as he could, and tried to absorb her pain into his own body.
A feat not even he could accomplish.
“Losing…” She swallowed past the painful lump in her throat. “Losing the child we made together on our first day truly together is devastating, Leo. I feel broken for a tiny being I didn’t even get to acknowledge before he was taken from me.”
He leaned back to look at her, his face wet with tears.
“Losing the ability to ever try again, to ever hold another baby we made together, to place him in your arms, makes the grief more intense.” Her voice was too loud as she added, “I have dreamed of being a mother for two years. I wanted to have our first child when I was twenty-four, our second when I was twenty-six, and a third before I turned thirty. I wanted us to be young parents when our kids went off to college. For us to have the rest of our lives to enjoy the family we built while we traveled and soaked up life.”
“We can still do all those things, Amelia. All of them.” He smoothed her hair. “We can adopt when you’re ready. Bring a child who wouldn’t have much of a chance into our home, our family, and live the life you dreamed. You’ve talked about adopting...”
“Yes, after I secured the De La Cruz line by giving you several children of your own.” She slammed her fist into the bed. “She stole my future. Destroyed my dream. Had some animal willing to rip my child from my body while I was unconscious and almost killed me...and now, I’m empty. Hollowed out like a Halloween pumpkin. Useless.”
Leo shook her gently. “You aren’t useless, Amelia! You’re more than a womb to carry a child!” She dropped her head against the bed and wept. He scooted her over carefully and held as much of her as he could. “I love you. Yesterday, today, and a million tomorrows, Amelia.”
Amelia cried for hours and Leo held her through it, reassuring her, loving her. As she felt herself beginning to drift, she murmured, “I have nothing to offer now. I don’t even feel like a woman anymore.”
She felt weak and empty.
The last sound she registered was Leo’s voice. “You offer everything I’ve ever wanted, Amelia. Exactly as you are, I love you. I need you. Don’t give up on me.”
Not even Leo could understand.
