Chapter 9 - The Day Leo Finally Went HomeOne hundred and seventeen days after Leo Russo entered the world weighing one pound and six ounces, Elena removed the last monitoring lead from his chest.
He screamed.
It was magnificent.
“Strong lungs,” Elena said.
Isabella laughed through tears.
“He hates you.”
“All healthy babies eventually do.”
Leo now weighed six pounds, two ounces.
He breathed without supplemental oxygen.
He maintained his temperature.
He drank from a bottle.
He was finally ready to leave.
The entire neonatal staff gathered near the elevator.
Nurses who had cared for him during impossible nights cried openly.
Carmine arrived carrying a teddy bear approximately three times Leo's size.
Elena stared.
“Seriously?”
“I didn't know what size babies were.”
“Apparently.”
Gabriel stood behind him.
He carried nothing.
Elena raised an eyebrow.
“No ridiculous gift?”
“I purchased a house.”
She stared.
“For Leo?”
“For Isabella.”
Isabella looked at him.
“What?”
Gabriel handed her a key.
“A house in Lake Forest. Secure property. Garden. Five bedrooms.”
“Gabriel.”
“You said you wanted somewhere normal.”
Isabella began crying again.
Gabriel looked uncomfortable.
“Why is everyone constantly crying around this child?”
“Because we're emotionally healthy,” Elena said.
“That sounds exhausting.”
Isabella hugged him.
Gabriel froze for a moment.
Then hugged his sister back.
Elena watched them.
This was what the clinic had created.
Not just survival.
A second chance.
They walked toward the elevator.
Leo was strapped into his carrier.
Before Isabella stepped inside, she stopped.
“Elena.”
“Yes?”
“Would you?”
She handed Leo to her.
Elena accepted him carefully.
The baby looked up.
His eyes were dark.
Gabriel's family eyes.
Elena remembered the night she had first seen him.
Blue.
Tiny.
Dying.
She remembered the needle.
The shattered glass.
The gun against her head.
Now Leo yawned.
Elena laughed through tears.
“You caused a lot of trouble.”
Gabriel stood beside her.
“Runs in the family.”
Leo wrapped one tiny hand around Elena's finger.
She kissed his forehead.
“Go home, little man.”
Isabella took him back.
The elevator doors closed.
The unit became strangely quiet.
Elena wiped her face.
Gabriel handed her a handkerchief.
“Do people actually carry these?”
“I do.”
“Of course you do.”
He smiled.
“Come with me.”
“Where?”
“Upstairs.”
The rooftop had been transformed.
Small lights surrounded the terrace.
A table stood beneath a heated canopy.
Elena stopped.
“What is this?”
“Dinner.”
“You're getting suspiciously romantic.”
“I've hired consultants.”
She laughed.
Gabriel poured wine.
They ate while the Chicago skyline glittered around them.
Afterward, he stood near the railing.
“Elena.”
She looked at him.
Something in his tone made her nervous.
“No.”
He blinked.
“I haven't asked anything.”
“You have that face.”
“What face?”
“The expensive decision face.”
Gabriel laughed.
Then reached into his pocket.
Elena's eyes widened.
“Gabriel.”
He held a small box.
“I know this is fast.”
“Very.”
“I know my life is complicated.”
“Extremely.”
“I know loving me requires an unreasonable amount of patience.”
“Historically unreasonable.”
He smiled.
Then became serious.
“I am not asking you because you saved Leo.”
Elena's throat tightened.
“I am not asking because I owe you.”
He opened the box.
A simple diamond ring rested inside.
“I am asking because when everything I built around myself began falling apart, you were the first thing that made me want something different.”
Gabriel lowered himself onto one knee.
Elena covered her mouth.
“I don't need an answer tonight.”
“That's smart.”
“I can wait.”
“How long?”
“Possibly twelve hours.”
She laughed through tears.
“Elena Jenkins, will you marry me?”
She stared at him.
The answer frightened her.
Not because she didn't know it.
Because she did.
“Yes.”
Gabriel stood.
“Really?”
“You look surprised.”
“I prepared for resistance.”
“I can change my answer.”
“No.”
He immediately placed the ring on her finger.
Elena laughed.
“You're ridiculous.”
“You said yes.”
“I did.”
He kissed her.
Then the rooftop door opened.
Carmine, Isabella, and half the neonatal staff erupted into applause.
Elena pulled away.
“You told them?”
Gabriel looked offended.
“I told nobody.”
Carmine lifted his phone.
“Security cameras.”
“Carmine.”
“Congratulations, boss.”
Gabriel muttered something in Italian.
May you like
Elena laughed until she cried.
For once, the tears had nothing to do with fear.
