Oh my God.
Then there’s another fire of a gun, a painful groan and everything simmers to silence before a crashing thud rumbles beneath our feet.
I hold my breath for a moment.
“Is Marcus…?”
“Yes, darling,” Giulio whispers, facing the commotion. “He’s gone.”
Gone.
Dead.
“Did they…kill him?”
“Yes.”
We simply hold each other. This right here is the strongest embrace of my life. Right here is a moment I will never forget. A deadly fate has met Marcus in the darkest of ways—the same fate as his father—Marcus Giannotti is dead.
“We made it, darling. Don’t let him win and get inside that beautiful mind of yours.”
I nod, unable to shed a tear. “It’s us.”
“It’s always been us. You’re my air.”
“And you’re mine. Always.”
My answer to crimes has always been via justice, but after being the one to pull the trigger on the man who taunted me to kill Giulio, I now see justice in a new light. Some people don’t deserve the jail sentence or to continue living. Truly vile people deserve to go out within a blink of an eye; and I’m convinced that Marcus meets that criteria. He threw away his entire life for envy, even when he had devoted people there for him.
I take Marcus’ good from his bad and as much as it’s shocking, a weight lifts from my shoulders.
It’s finally the end of his horrid story.
I feel free.
Safe.
Wherever Marcus Giannotti’s soul may be rising now, I sincerely hope he finally finds peace.
My attention snaps back to the house just as an officer comes out. He points at the surrounding guards and snipers to put down their guns.
I wonder why.
And then I see why.
The officer behind him points towards Giulio and me with a large grin.
Oh my…
A scream escapes me at who is safely wrapped in his arms.
Addilyn!
Her eyes are warm and twinkling. She has grown so much in the past seven months away from us. She’s over nine months old now and with that large smile on her lips, she has no idea what seeing her right now means to me—to us.
Giulio and I sprint hand in hand past the police cars and weave through the line of officers to reach her. This is it. This is where we are meant to be. Away from our past and right into our future.
Oh my god. Addilyn is here. Right here. And she is healthy. And she is ours.
The officer grins. “Here you are! Go to Mommy and Daddy!”
I am breathless and beaming all at once as Giulio and I hold her together.
“Addilyn, I love you! Mommy and Daddy love you so much!”
“And we’ll never let you go again. Never,” Giulio says with a kiss to her forehead. “We have missed you so much!”
Addilyn smiles between us with two cute little bottom teeth. Giulio stretches his arms over my shoulders and pulls the three of us even closer together. The adoration within my heart and those I see mirrored in his eyes makes me feel alive.
We’ve done it.
We made it.
I feel complete. I feel like myself. I feel alive again.
“You don’t know how much I love you, Lencia.”
“I think I have some idea. I love you with all my heart, Giulio Giannotti.”
His love sends me to a place of heaven. I never want to let go of this warm feeling across my entire body. I never want it to leave me again and what secures me is the reality that it never has to.
Addilyn’s presence has me smiling through the tears streaming down my cheeks. Happy tears. It’s my heart responding to all the joy. Our lives are full now. There have been tragedies along the way and lives lost…but this, right there, this is how it is supposed to be.
From this moment forward, we will be complete. Nothing will ever stop us again. We will take control of our lives, live them to their fullest, and never take another moment for granted.
I love every single part of the family we’ve created. I love Giulio Giannotti. Both his good and his bad. Both his flaws and his strengths. Both the pleasure and the secrets we exclusively share. This is what marriage is.
All the sacrifice, pain, and glory have been worth it. They’ve been worth it because it eventuated in this moment, getting our sweet Addilyn back and becoming whole again. I found a stronger version of myself along the way, while Giulio healed from his scars of the past to truly accept himself. We’ve become indestructible—Nobody will ever change us now.
Right here and right now, I’m clutching onto my greatest reassurance.
My greatest resolved hope.
My greatest truth among the lies.
And they smile back at me in lively colors.
Four Years Later
Christmas, 2020
Giulio
“I can totally see you!”
“Shhh.” I grin at Addilyn’s eagerness. “Come. They won’t find us here, carina.”
She’s addicted to this game of Tag, but also too cutely persuasive to get us to ever stop, even during this winter. We tuck back behind the wide tree stump, hoping to be concealed. Across our backyard, Oscar and Weston are hidden behind another tree and every two seconds my son pokes his head out to see if the coast is clear.
Daisy, Helena, Lance, Amanda, and my in-laws are all out in the yard joining us for Christmas, but it’s Valencia who finds our giggling ten-year-old Slonne first. Lencia starts a light jog, giving our daughter an advantage as they run around the green grass to pass the tag.
My eyes do not stray from their grins.
I love them so much.
At the point where Lencia closes in on our daughter, her strong arms lift her and they spin around in circles, laughing with pure joy.
A lot has changed since the fifteenth of October 2016—the day we found Addilyn.
Good changes. The ones all families wish to have.
As we mark over four years since our youngest daughter became ours again, I’m still in pure awe at our family’s bravery. We’ve bounced back to a healthy, perfectly normal family and it’s all I’ve ever
