?Chapter 29: Breathe For Me

                                        

                                              

Dual POV – Aria & Dominic
⸻
Aria POV
She had no idea labor could feel like this.
Like her spine was splintering.
Like her body wasn't her own.
Like someone had set fire to her insides and dared her to scream.
But she didn't scream. Not yet.
Dominic was there. holding her hand, whispering things she couldn't hear through the haze of pain.
Her gown clung to her skin with sweat. The bright lights above her head blurred every time she blinked.
Dr. Kline's voice echoed through the room. "You're doing great, Aria. Contractions are progressing. Baby's heart rate looks strong."
"Strong?" she gasped. "Feels like a damn hurricane inside me."
A shadow of a smirk twitched on Dominic's face.
But she saw the tension in his jaw.
He was terrified.
She looked up at him. "Hey..."
He leaned closer.
"If anything happens—" she began.
"No," he cut her off, voice sharp. "Nothing is going to happen to you. To either of you."
"But if it does—"
"Aria, Baby... " His hand cradled the side of her face. "Stop. You're not dying today. You're giving birth to our child."
Ours.
He said ours.
Her vision blurred again but this time, it wasn't just the pain.
It was everything else breaking loose inside her.
⸻
Dominic POV
He'd faced death.
Led men into fire.
Taken bullets, spilled blood, ended lives with his bare hands.
But nothing. nothing had ever made him feel this useless.
Aria was writhing in pain beside him.
Fighting for breath.
Fighting for their baby.
And all he could do was hold her hand.
He'd never prayed in his life. Not really.
But in that moment, he did.
Please.
Take everything from me.
Just let her be okay.
The machines beeped steadily. The nurses moved like clockwork. Dr. Kline was calm.
But inside Dominic's chest?
A war.
Juliette's betrayal. Ivan's threats. Ezra's reappearance.
All of it faded the second Aria clutched his wrist and whispered, "Don't let go."
He leaned down, kissed her forehead. "I'm right here. Always."
"Promise?"
He nodded, fiercely. "I swear."
Then another contraction hit and her scream shattered him.
⸻
Aria POV
Everything hurt.
But more than the pain was the fear.
That something would go wrong.
That her body would betray her.
That this would be the beginning and the end.
But then she felt Dominic's hand on her stomach, grounding her, his voice low and shaking.
"Breathe for me, baby. Just breathe."
"I—I can't—"
"Yes, you can. You're the strongest woman I've ever known. You survived everything. You survived me."
A sob burst from her lips.
She clutched his hand harder.
And pushed.
⸻
Dominic POV
She was a warrior.
Stronger than any man he'd ever commanded.
He saw it in her eyes, even when they glistened with pain.
And then Dr. Kline said the words that would change everything.
"One more push, Aria. Just one."
Aria screamed.
Dominic held her.
Then —
A cry.
Not hers.
Theirs.
The baby's first breath filled the room like a song.
And Dominic — the man who didn't cry, who didn't bend, felt his knees buckle.
A nurse lifted the tiny, wailing body into the air. "You have a daughter."
Dominic didn't move.
He couldn't.
Not until Aria turned her tear-streaked face toward him and said, "We have a daughter."
Only then did he step forward.
Only then did he let the tears fall.
⸻
Aria POV 
The moment they laid her daughter on her chest, everything else melted away.
The pain. The fear. The storm.
She looked at the tiny, blinking eyes. The impossibly small hands. The soft, shuddering breaths.
She looked at Dominic. his face undone, raw, open in a way she'd never seen.
"Hi," Aria whispered to the baby. "I'm your mom. And that scary-looking man crying beside me is your dad."
Dominic barked a laugh through his tears.
The baby gripped Aria's finger.
And in that moment, Aria knew:
No matter what came next —
Ivan, Juliette, betrayal, war. 
This was her reason to fight.
Her anchor.
Her home.

THE END.