“You’re going to be fine,” Gio whispered in her ear.
“What if—”
He placed his fingertips to her lips. “We’ll deal with it.”
The hours ticked by.
Nicole was getting a tutorial on making ravioli.
Ryan was teaching Franny how to play poker.
Everyone seemed to be in some state of animation. All while Emma kept a fake smile on her face.
Sometime after three in the afternoon, Emma’s phone finally rang.
She pulled it out of her pocket.
Gio locked eyes with her.
Dr. Sandy.
No matter the news, Emma didn’t want to take it in front of everyone.
Emma grabbed Gio’s hand and ran to the hall toward their bedroom.
A hush fell over those who noticed their quick exit.
Once they were behind their bedroom door, Emma answered the call and put the phone to her ear. “Dr. Sandy?”
“Hi, Emma. I have your scan.”
“I’m listening.” Emma felt dizzy and sat on the bed.
“You don’t have cirrhosis.”
Emma took the deepest breath she’d ever taken in her life and leaned forward as relief filled every cell in her body.
Dr. Sandy continued. “The scan measures for scarring of your liver. You do have some, but it’s minimal. Not the kind of scarring we see in patients who have cirrhosis. So, when you see the numbers on the test results, don’t worry.”
“Cara?” Gio knelt down and looked up at her.
“I’m okay,” she whispered as a smile swept over her face.
“I expect your liver enzymes to return to normal as soon as we get some of the iron out of there. This is good news, Emma.”
Emma sobbed. “Thank you, Sandy.”
“I already talked to Dr. Chow and he said he’d talk to you tomorrow to go over any details and questions you have.”
“Okay . . . thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll see you in a few months.” Dr. Sandy ended the call.
Emma stared at her phone while Gio buried his head in her lap and held her.
“I don’t have cirrhosis. I’m not going to die.” Saying the words out loud made them real.
Gio squeezed her harder. When he looked up, he was crying.
Smiling, but crying.
He picked himself off his knees, sat beside her on the bed, and held her. Emma’s grip on his shoulders felt as if she were hanging on for dear life. “No more what-iffing.”
“I can’t lose you,” Gio told her.
“Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.”
He kissed her softly . . . briefly, then went back to holding on. “I love you so much.”
Emma used the edges of his shirt to wipe her eyes dry and let one last shaky breath free of her lungs. “We should tell the others,” she told him.
“They’re probably listening at the door.” Gio pulled her hair behind her ears and placed his palm on the side of her face. “We’re going to be okay.”
“We are. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“You don’t have to do anything without me.”
She blinked a couple of times. “I’m starting to figure that out.”
Gio stood and helped her to her feet. “C’mon. Let’s share the good news.”
They walked into the living room with their arms around each other.
“Oh no!” Beth saw them first.
Emma shook her head, pointed to her face. “Happy tears.”
Mari made the sign of the cross over her chest and Nicole, Chloe, and Brooke moved in to hug her.
“It’s time to celebrate!” Gio announced.
Nicole was first to the wine fridge, removing bottles.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Three weeks to the day from when Emma had her last scan, Mari called to tell them that Brooke was in labor. At two in the morning.
For the first time in close to two months, Emma sat beside Gio in a hospital waiting room for someone other than her.
Franny was curled up in a chair, fast asleep.
The rest of the D’Angelos filled the room.
“Hospital coffee is the worst,” Dante complained sometime around five in the morning.
“As soon as the sun comes up, I’m calling Salena to bring provisions,” Chloe told her husband.
“Calling Salena before ten in the morning is a waste of your time,” Gio said.
“I take it she’s not a morning person,” Emma said.
Dante, Chloe, and Gio all said no at the same time.
Emma had met the lifelong friend on one of their trips to San Diego. She was as beautiful in person as she was in the pictures Emma had seen.
“How are your treatments going, Emma?” Mari asked.
“I’ve only had four so far, but good.”
“No more passing out?” Chloe asked.
“No.”
“Thank God,” Gio added.
The door to the waiting room opened and Luca popped his head in. “Not yet,” he said immediately when the entire family leaned forward.
“How is she doing?” Mari asked.
“A champ. They just gave her the epidural and she’s feeling much better.” Luca lifted his hand in the air, Emma could see his red fingers. “I thought I was going to lose a limb for a while there.”
Chloe winced. “I’m going straight for the drugs when I have babies.”
“And when is that?” Mari asked.
“We practice all the time, Mrs. D’Angelo,” Dante said with a wink.
Mari waved his comment away while the rest of them laughed.
Luca nodded toward his sleeping daughter. “Has she been okay?”
“Not a peep,” Emma told him.
He rubbed his hands together and reached for the door. “I’ll keep you informed.”
Hours later Salena arrived with coffee and pastries.
Franny had finally stirred and was bouncing off the walls in a combination of boredom and excitement.
Every time the door opened, they jumped.
Gio had just gotten off the phone with someone at the restaurant with a request for lunch to be brought to the hospital for all of them when Luca opened the door one last time.
The expression on his face was a little shell-shocked, and a whole lot of happy. “It’s a boy!”
Mari was the first to jump to her feet and rush in for a hug.
“I have a baby brother?” Franny asked.
“Leonardo Paolo D’Angelo,” Luca told them with a nod.
Mari grasped her chest. “After your father.”
“Of course, Mama.”
Questions about how Brooke was doing were quickly followed with more congratulations.
Gio held Emma’s hand as they laid eyes on the newest D’Angelo through a glass window in the nursery.
“He’s beautiful,” Emma cooed.
Gio leaned his lips to her ears so only she could hear. “Don’t you want one of those?” he teased.
She bit her lip and for the first time since they met, she didn’t reply with a steadfast “No.”
For the first few weeks of Leonardo’s life, Gio and Emma drove back and forth to Little Italy.
Gio used the opportunity to pack more of his things until only a bare minimum was left behind.