Chapter 193 OUR LITTLE FAMILY.
\~~~RAINA.
“And if it is not the best sister-in-law in the world!” Alessia exclaimed as I entered her office with a cup of hot chocolate in my hand.
She leaned back in her chair, rubbing her belly absentmindedly.
I laughed, crossing the room with the steaming cup in my hand. “Oh, please,” I said, handing it over to her.
Alessia took it gratefully, inhaling the aroma before taking a small sip.
“I hope this is safe though? You have been taking it every day,” I said, shaking my head as I settled into the chair across from her desk. I crossed my legs and smoothed down my skirt.
She sniffed again, her eyes closing in bliss. “I'm sure the baby doesn't mind.”
“It's not what the baby wants, but what your body wants, you know?’' I teased gently, watching her enjoy it. Alessia had always been stubborn about her routines, pregnancy or not.
“Well, my body wants this too,” she shot back with a grin, taking another sip.
I shook my head and chuckled, the sound of light in my chest. It had been two weeks since I'd come back to the office, and things were going well. Smoothly, in fact.
The structure of meetings, and the buzz of the team had pulled me fully out of my head. Luciano had been supportive, of course, driving me and picking me up every day, and checking in with texts literally every hour.
Alessia, on the other hand, had refused to stay home despite her hormones being all over the place the past couple of weeks. Mornings with nausea, so she powered through it all, insisting the work kept her grounded. “I can't just sit around knitting booties,” she'd joked once, though I knew the fear of idleness scared her more than she'd admit.
“I will be picking up my dress on my way home,” she said now, setting the cup down and flipping through a calendar on her desk. Her wedding was so close, and the excitement in her voice was contagious.
“It is really happening,” I grinned, leaning forward. This coming Saturday, Viktor and she were going to tie the knot with just the family present. No big crowds, and no fuss as she had said. She wanted something very intimate, away from the chaos of New York.
Just us, Luciano, me, Gabriel, and a few close others. It sounded beautiful, and perfect for them. Alessia deserved that kind of quiet joy after all the years she'd spent building walls around her heart.
She nodded, her eyes softening. “Yes.”
“And if you need my help over at your place getting things ready, let me know, okay? You said you would be moving after the wedding, right?”
“Yes. Viktor has a new building, and we will be moving there, and… starting our little family there,” she said, her voice full of sentiment. She placed a hand on her belly again, and I could see the dreams flickering in her eyes.
My heart swelled with happiness for her. “I am so happy for you, Alessi.’' And I meant it, deeply. Watching her bloom like this, it chased away some of the shadows that still lingered from my own loss.
The baby we'd lost still hurt, a dull ache that came and went, but seeing Alessia carry life reminded me that hope wasn't gone. It just looked different now.
“Well, I feel weird,” she admitted, her grin fading into something more vulnerable.
“Come on, why?!” I asked, tilting my head.
“Raina, seriously? I am thirty-five. I feel old.”
I paused, searching her face. Alessia had always been the strong one, the one who held everything together, but pregnancy had cracked open her insecurities. I leaned in, my voice steady and warm.
“Old? Alessia, come on. You're not old.”
“I am, Raina.”
“No, you are timeless. At thirty-five, you're stepping into this with a wisdom and fire that a twenty-year-old could only dream of. You have built so so much for yourself. You have faced storms that would break most people, and now you're creating life with the man who sees every fierce, and every beautiful part of you.”
“Raina,” her eyes fluttered, and she sniffed.
“So, you call it old, I say it is legendary. You are going to be the mom who teaches her kid to conquer the world. So, age? It's just the seasoning that makes you the most incredible woman I know. Shine, sis, you're just getting started.”
Her eyes widened, then misted over. She reached across the desk, squeezing my hand. “God, Raina, where do you come up with that? You're going to make me cry.”
I squeezed back, smiling. “Just the truth. You've got this.”
“I bless the day my brother found you.”
I grinned so wide that my cheeks hurt and nodded in agreement.
She blinked away the tears, pulling her chair forward with a determined nod. “Now, enough of that. Who is the man you were talking about at the meeting yesterday? I wasn't really paying attention.”
I laughed, remembering the buzz around the conference room. “Oh, yeah! He's coming over today. Do you remember? It should be on your schedule. There's a meeting with him in…” I glanced at my wristwatch. “An hour.”
Alessia tapped her pen against the desk, her focus sharpening. “I went over his proposal again, and his project looks so promising. We should get him on board, what do you think?”
“Yes, I was going to say the same thing. His name is… Shane.”
“Shane Martinez,” I added, and watched as her brows lifted in interest.
“I guess we all look forward to having him around then. I haven't seen a proposal so good as his in a while,” Alessia grinned, taking another sip of her drink. The chocolate had cooled a bit, but she savored it anyway.
I nodded, excitement bubbling up. “Me too. And while we expect him, I'd go get some things in order before he arrives,” I said, standing up.
“That’s for the chocolate, Raina,” she waved her hands at me.
“And for the pep talk,” she added and we both laughed.