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Extended Epilogue
Clara
Five years later…
I always thought that when I graduated university, the moment I would remember most clearly would be shaking the dean's hand as they gave me my diploma. The truth is, though, as I walk across that stage, I only spare the dean a quick glance. I only have eyes for two people, and they are in the crowd. Cosimo, my adoring husband, and my son Alessandro.
The event can’t end soon enough. The moment everyone throws their caps in the air to celebrate, I sneak away, running across the bright green grass to meet the man waiting for me, holding the hand of our son. Cosimo is by far the tallest man here, so he’s easy to find, and the second I reach him he’s swept me up in his arms, Alessandro jumping up and down and clapping at his parents' antics.
“You did it Mom!” he yells happily.
“Yes, you did,” Cosimo rumbles into my ear, nipping it before sitting me back on my feet. His face glows with pride, and knowing it’s all for me is a heady feeling.
“I’m surprised you can still pick me up,” I gripe, straightening my graduation gown. I’ve never lost the extra weight from when I was pregnant with Alessandro, but Cosimo seems to enjoy my body even more now.
At my self-deprecating comment, he growls, and when Alessandro runs off to get a balloon being given out to the children by one of the administrators, Cosimo grabs my asscheek in a firm grip.
“Don’t you ever talk down to yourself,” he commands when I jump, brushing him off before anyone else sees his public displays of affection. “I like you even better this way. I can be less…careful with you in bed now,” He comes closer, tilting my chin up and talking low enough that only I can hear. “And your ass looks so good when I spank it.”
I squeal when he tries to grab me again, laughing and evading his grasp.
When Alessandro returns, and Cosimo behaves himself once more, I offer to show him my diploma. I pull the thick parchment out of its clear sleeve, slipping another, smaller piece of paper underneath it. I’d been hiding the paper, which is actually a printed photo, in my sleeve all afternoon. Knowing how much Cosimo likes my thicker figure makes me even more eager to reveal this second, secret document.
He reads the diploma, congratulating me once more with love written all over his face, but then he feels the photo behind it. Cosimo pulls the gray, black, and white photo out, and this he reads with a lot more gusto.
Ultrasound 1 for baby Giordadno, it reads, right above the first picture of our new baby, which I’m carrying inside me right now. Alessandro is desperate to see the picture, seeing Cosimo’s reaction of shock, and he hands it to his son.
“What is this supposed to be?” Alessandro asks.
“It’s a picture of your brother or sister, who is in my belly right now,” I tell him, tears filling my eyes as I watch the wonder on Cosimo’s face now reflected on his son’s, as well. “Our family is growing. Are you excited?”
Alessandro whoops for joy, grabbing me around the waist right before Cosimo embraces us both. When my husband’s lips meet mine, sparks fly, like they always have, and I’m reminded again how impossible our love story really is. The difficulties we faced, the obstacles we’ve overcome, have made this love all the sweeter, each and every year.
The End
