“Good, because I do love you, Marie. More than I could ever show you. If I prove it every day for the rest of my life, I still couldn’t show you how much I love you.”
“You do it every day, Matteo. Whether you know it or not, you do.” She sat up straight, took a deep breath, and spoke again. “Now, let’s go out and live the rest of our lives, shall we?”
“I’d love to, Marie, I’d love to.”
23
Two years later…
“We have to go, Matteo, now.” Marie shoved at her sleeping husband, excited and filled with wonder already. Her babies were on their way.
They’d found the perfect surrogate and she'd donated her eggs, used Matteo’s sperm, and now they had a daughter and a son on the way. The surrogate had called her - she was in active labor at the hospital.
It had been a long process; Marie had thought it over, talked it over with Matteo for a year. Research showed that pregnancy makes the Parkinson’s symptoms worse, and with her genetic mutations, they finally came to the agreement that they’d find a surrogate if they could. They’d been lucky with the woman they chose. She donated the eggs, and she looked similar to Marie so maybe the babies would look a little like her. Her name was Mariella too, so it almost seemed like fate when they found her.
Matteo finally woke up and blinked his way down to the stairs of their new home in a quiet neighborhood that didn’t constantly hum on the outskirts of New York City. There was a nursery and two rooms that would be theirs when they were old enough to have their own beds.
Trina met them at the hospital, her face as excited as Marie’s. “I’m here, oh my goodness, how is she doing?”
“I don’t know, we just got here too. Come on.”
They all marched down to the room Mariella was in and stood in the doorway. The young woman looked up at them, her face wreathed in pain, but happy. “Don’t just stand there, come hold my hand!”
Marie and Trina laughed and went in. Matteo hung out at the end of the room he was paying for, a private labor room, and put his head down, just like she used to see Anton doing. He was suddenly shy. She’d have laughed if Mariella hadn’t just squeezed her hand in a vice.
“Push, Mariella. Baby one is almost out,” the doctor peering between the surrogate’s thighs said.
Mariella pushed until she screamed, but their little boy slipped out of her body at 6:57 am, perfect and healthy. A half-hour later, their baby girl was born, with all her fingers and toes, a little sluggish, but she soon perked up.
“They’re perfect, Mariella. Oh my goodness. Thank you so much.” Marie rained kisses down on the young woman’s head.
“I don’t plan to have any of my own, as you know, but I wanted to have the experience. I could gift someone that experience, and I chose you. You two will be perfect for these two babies. I know it.”
“You don’t regret it?” Marie asked the hard question that had worried her so much.
“No, I don’t. I might later, I can’t swear I won’t, but you guys are going to keep in touch, right? You don’t plan to just disappear. And anyway, legally, they’re yours now. Even after this, I don’t think I’ll want to have children of my own, but you at least let me have the experience, so thank you.” Mariella, her face a little swollen, smiled, perfectly happy with the world.
She was right, though, the babies were legally theirs now. Marie would be listed as the mother, and Matteo was definitely the father. She saw his gray eyes when she looked at their daughter once the nurses handed her over. His chin was there on their son’s face when she took that baby too. Trina, almost more excited than the new parents, snapped a picture that would become all of their favorite because Marie was beaming so brightly it was almost goofy, but they didn’t care. She was happy and that’s all any of them wanted. To give Marie as much joy in life as she could get.
“Did you decide on their names?” Mariella asked.
“Well, if you don’t mind, I’d like to name her Mariella, after you. She’s going to know you as an aunt, and we can call her Ella for short. And he’s going to be Antonio, after Mommy’s favorite fella, after his daddy.”
“Those are wonderful names.” Mariella smiled tears of happiness in her eyes.
Marie had been impressed with her from the start. She was 25, completely healthy, and wanted to experience pregnancy and birth, but didn’t want to raise children. She’d had a rough childhood, something that she and Marie had bonded over. She’d become a friend, and when she met Trina, it was as if the trio was complete and she’d fit right in.
Marie worried that once her hormones settled and she spent some time with the babies, she’d change her mind. But at the same time, she’d come to know Mariella. That experience told her the woman wouldn’t change her mind. She knew these were Marie’s babies, she’d always said it. Legality aside, they’d been conceived for Marie, not Mariella, and Mariella was definite about that.
Matteo took his babies in his arms and instantly fell in love, just as much as their mother had. The second photo proved it when it was sent to the happy new parents. Mariella and Antonio, their children, their babies.
“Our family is complete now, Matteo,” she whispered as she stood over the chair where he sat as he held the babies. “We have it all, all we could ever want.”
“We have a healthy, stable you, two healthy babies, and each other. Yeah, you’re right. That’s all we need. And I will protect all three of you with every fiber of my being.”
“Oh my God, I’m going to die from the diabetes I catch from you two.” Trina pretended to gag as she walked over to Mariella. “Can you believe people go that gooey over babies?”
“Fuck off, Trina. I saw your face when Antonio was born! You were in love,” Matteo said quietly, with a hint of laughter.
“You’re all going to make me gag if you don’t stop.” Mariella laughed as she tried to move around. Trina was there instantly to help her. Mariella had needed stitches and had to be careful. Trina would be her support for the next few days, and Marie and Matteo would be on call too if she needed them. Trina, however, would be there for the surrogate mother when she went home, she would help her as she healed up and recovered.
“When can we take them home?” Matteo asked the nurse that came in.
“Well, if the doctor clears them, probably tonight. If not, a couple of days usually. They’re healthy and doing well, so I don’t see a problem.”
“Oh, really?” Matteo looked at Marie in panic. “We didn’t bring their car seats.”
They had a new SUV, just for the babies, and he’d not put their seats in yet. They were a week early, after all.
“We can get them, honey, don’t freak out.” Marie was busy giving her daughter a bottle when the nurse brought it in, and Trina was feeding Antonio.
A nanny would show up at the house when Marie called her, she’d been on standby for a week now, just in case. Marie had wanted the nanny just as a helper, not as the woman that would raise the babies, but she knew her mother had barely coped with her. Secretly, she had fears that she wouldn’t be a good mother, but from the moment she saw her children, it was obvious she wasn’t her mother at all. Plus, it would be nice to have someone to help her and Matteo with the babies.