Page 52 of Redemption
My mother.
Waiting for me.
And my family.
A dream come true.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lachlan
Keira squeezes my hand as Marco shuts down the engine, and two men appear to help guide us into the dock and secure the plane.
“Are you ready?” Marco asks before removing his headset. “Brace yourself.”
“More than ready,” I reply as my daughter’s tiny hands grasp my shirt and my hair. “Beyond ready.”
“Then, we shall go and not keep Mother waiting another moment. Please be careful as you exit. The dock floats, so it might shift as you step onto it.”
The door to the plane opens, and the Italian sunshine streams into the cabin. With one hand, I remove my headset and seat belt, shift Aurora, and rise from my seat, headed for a brand-new life I never anticipated having.
As soon as the dock shifts beneath my weight, I hear her gasp. My mother and I make eye contact in the next moment.
Beringed hands cover her mouth as she watches, with tears streaming down her face, as we walk toward her.
“Ahhh. My beautiful son. My beautiful granddaughter. Ahhh.” Her tears glisten in the sunlight, taking nothing away from her own beauty.
My heart expands beyond any size and shape it’s ever held. Like it’s too large for my chest, I feel like it could explode any moment from the emotions rioting through my body. Joy. Love. Awe. Wonder. Surprise. Amazement.
She rushes toward us, arms splaying wide. “My son! My son is home!” The words come out between sobs of pure happiness, and I close the distance between us with my free arm open.
It’s a moment I will never forget. As soon as her small frame collides with mine, I wrap my arm around her, pulling her against me.
Words I can’t understand fall from her lips in Italian, punctuated by cries and sobs. Tears soak through my shirt as her body shakes and trembles while her arms grip me tighter than I knew was possible.
“This day has finally come,” she says, switching to English, pulling away ever so slightly. One delicate hand rises to touch my cheek, and the other reaches out to Aurora. “My precious child. And your precious child. My heart. Oh, my heart.”
“This is Aurora. We call her Rory. She’s the most perfect, innocent child you could imagine.”
Tears tip off her lids as she stares into my daughter’s dark eyes.
“A princess. A princess who has come home to her kingdom.” My mother’s gaze, wet with tears, lifts to mine once more. “You have no idea how happy I am in this moment. It is almost more than I can bear.”
My heart jerks in my chest, and I swallow. “I can relate.” I hear footsteps behind us, and I shift, taking in my stunning wife as she steps forward. “And this is the love of my life, the other half of my soul, my reason for being—Keira. Keira, this is my mother.” The word comes out rough with emotion.
The tears shining in my wife’s beautiful eyes threaten to tip over the lids. “I’m so happy to meet you.”
My mother’s hand presses to her chest while her gaze shoots to the heavens for a beat before coming back to Keira once more. “A daughter too. It is more than I could have ever asked for. A son, a daughter, and a granddaughter. God is good. So very good. Please,” she says, opening her arms. “Please, may I hug you? I am called Francesca.”
“Of course,” Keira replies with a voice choked up by the glistening tears slipping down her cheeks.
She steps forward, and together, the three of us are enveloped by my mother’s thin but strong arms.
For several moments, no one speaks. I’m soaking up these emotions that I’ve never felt before. Fulfillment. Completion. Belonging.
The three most important women in my entire world are wrapped in my arms, and for once in my life, there is nothing else I could possibly want.
The missing piece of my existence has clicked into place, leaving me overwhelmed with the perfection of this moment and the perfection of life itself.
