A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

Chapter Alena

38

| watched my marriage went from nothing to everything. The Italian leader was once ruthless and brutal, | didn't

even think he could love. Yet, he provedwrong by showingdifferent types of love-he never complained or

changed the way he loved. The butterflies never left ever since he said he loved me, and whenever we were

together, it was always us against the world.

I didn't expect myself to fall in love with someone like him, either. Someone who seemed to shut off every time

someone got too close. He provedwrong again and again, makingunderstand even a man like him, he

went through lengths.. My heart broke every t| accompanied him to therapy, but he never gave up. He

managed to complete his treatments in less than six months which surprised the doctors because they thought

he was going to take longer. Well, he proved them wrong in that one. | was proud of of my husband.

There wasn't anything | wanted to change about him. | felt blessed to have a husband like him, someone who

could be there forall the time, someone who understood me, someone who wasn't afraid to communicate

and show his true feelings. He was everything | ever asked for in a man. And | got it all from the sperson.

It was naive ofto think that | wanted to marry my ex-boyfriend, to have a future with him when he wasn't the

one for me. | was a fair believer of everything happened for a reason and if things weren't meant to be, they

weren't going to be ours anyway. If | ended

up with my ex-boyfriend, | was probably going to be miserable.

Endless tears every night.

He was good at being a narcissist, and it tooka while to see the truth. For all | knew, | was glad when | found

out about his acts-how he had cheated on me.

Tooka while to realize my worth, but it gotto be stronger. | was better in life, and | thrived to succeed

instead of always thinking about him. He never did prioritize me.

When it cto Matteo, he was the perfect package.

4-

4-

I didn't have to tell him what to do or what not to do, he just knew. Maybe, because he was older and more

mature, but | didn't think that was the point.

He went through a heartbreak of his own and it took him years to heal before he could accept someone new into

his life. He fixed his way of thinking, and he made himself a happy man before he could makehappy.

He knew not to depend on his partner because we were responsible for our own feelings. We couldn't be a sad

person and ended up dumping our traumas on our partner.

His good looks were a bonus to me. What mattered most was his personality and his attitude.

"Alena Orlov?"

| frowned at the familiar voice callingout before | turned around. It tookby surprise to find my ex-

boyfriend standing a few feet away from me. Well, he seemed surprised as well to seehere. 08:29 Tue, Oct

22

Chapter 38

"Nick, what are you doing here?"

"I had an appointment. Wait, you work here?" He glanced down at my scrubs, which could easily tell anyone |

was a doctor

here.

"Yeah, I'm almost finished with my residency."

"That's amazing. | can't believe how fast tflies since the last t| saw you,"

"That was years ago. A long, long, tago."

FD

Nick nodded, clearing his throat and | took a few seconds to glance down at his fingers, if he was wearing a

wedding band. If he was married to the woman he cheated with, but he wasn't wearing any rings.

All | could see was an expensive wristwatch.

"How are you, Alena?" He asked, a small smile plastered on his face..

"I'm doing fine. What about you?"

"I haven't been feeling fine in a while. | chere to look at my results."

| hope everything's okay with you."

Are you

| was hoping for that, too. | can't imagine being sick."

Yeah yek?" continued t | to look at me, hesitating on whether he was supposed to answer. It was obvious he

wasn't fine, but | didn't want to pry if he wasn't willing to tellanything. We haven't been in contact for years,

and we didn't even know if one of us was alive or not.

Nick con

"I'm not in perfect health," he replied slowly.

"I hope you'll I be okay, Nick. | really hope everything's okay with you,"

Suddenly, his eyes were a bit teary as he looked away. He managed to hide it away from me-then again, he was

good at not expressing his feelings. It wasn't hard for him to hide and ignore his true feelings. He did it all the

time.

"I heard you got married."

Just like that, he had shifted the conversation to a different direction. He was asking aboutinstead of going

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on with his condition-it didn't matter to me. | was fine with people knowing about my status because | was madly

in love with my husband. In a matter of nine months, we were still the perfect couple.

In the eyes of others.

We knew our struggles. We knew our

and downs.

ups

1 did.

"Yeah, I I'm

happy for you, Alena. I'm sure he treats you really well."

"He's everything | ever asked for, Nick. I'm grateful."

Before he could say anything else, a pair of hand cin to wrap around my waist and it didn't takelong to

know it was my husband. | didn't even have to turn around to look because just by the smell of his cologne, |

could tell it was him. 08:29 Tue, Oct 22 O Chapter 38

Just by a simple touch, could know it was him.

He was looki Nick, smiling as he gave his hand for a shake.

"Matteo, Ale Alena's husband. And you are?"

Nick returned the handshake, "Nicholas. Alena's old friend."

"It's nice to meet you, Nicholas."

"It's nice to meet you, too. Well, if you don't mind me, | have to go now." Nick cleared his throat, looking at me

and back at Matteo-things were never the same, it got awkward when we ended things in bad terms. "It was nice

running into you, Alena." | nodded, "Take care, Nick." You, too."

Then, he walked away, without sparing a second glance.

FD

FD

Knowing Nick, he tended to push people away whenever he wasn't feeling okay. | knew him that way because of

the years we were together. And just now, | knew he wasn't fine. There was a lot going on in his head, and he

just wanted to pretend he wasn't struggling. Matteo turned to look at me, slowly kissing my cheek. "The doctors

said I'm back to normal, baby."

"I'm proud of you, Matteo. You pushed through,"

My husband stopped using his crutches last month, and he was back to walking on his own. It was a progress for

him, but whenever he felt the pain, he kept pushing forward-he said he had been through worse. believed him.

Now, he couldn't run, but he was walking on his own again and it was enough.

Papa and Alexei were more accepting of Matteo. They cto visit multiple times when Matteo was always at

hduring his recovery, they talked business and about work mostly, but they were treating him like a family.

Matteo didn't tellanything, he tried to play it cool, but | knew he was happy.

Mama and Ana, they were their usual selves. Mama seemed to be getting close with Matteo, too-she kept

cooking for him whenever | was at work, and she seemed to be close with Maria as well. They met frequently

when Matteo was still struggling with crutches. Overall, my family and his family were getting along.

It took Papa a while to warm up with his son-in-law, but he saw the sacrifices Matteo made for me. He noticed

every single t| smiled when Matteo was around. He also toldthat the way my husband looked atwas

adoration. He knew because he was a man,

too.

So, he truly believed that what Matteo and | had were love.

I believed it, too.

When my shift ended and | was ready to go home, Matteo had waited at the lobby. We walked hand in hand to

his car before we got inside, and he drove home.

HE

Chapter 38

|

| smiled as soon as he placed his warm hand on my thigh.

had

It was a habit of his which I didn't mind because I loved it, whenever he had his hand on me. Whether it was a

soft touch or a sexual one, | never complained. taken a long bath when | got hwhile Matteo was cooking in

the kitchen. It felt nice to finally relax after a long day at work-he never botheredwhen | was taking a long

shower or a long bath after work because he knew, | needed the calm and peace. Once | was done rinsing my

body and wrapping a clean towel around me, | looked at myself in the mirror. | noticed just how different my

body looked for the past few weeks, yet | never got the chance to pay any attention to it. My lips were looking

plumper and pinker. My skin was softer and clearer, too.

| blinked a few times, trying to see if |

|

s hallucinating.

if | was Then, | reached out to open one of the drawers before grabbing a pregnancy test. | had bought it a

couple of months back in case | needed to use it in the nearest future-not that | was expecting anything, but it

felt right to take a test one right now. Matteo and | were sexually active, ever since | had taken my IUD out, we

never tried any other methods. We wanted children, we were just not planning when. gripped | onto the

pregnancy test, feeling a bit nervous.

However, | quickly went to the door to check if it was locked. Once | was sure it was locked, | quickly get the test

done. As | waited for a while, | kept pacing back and forth before deciding it was better to put on sclothes

first.

| cback into the bathroom, fully dressed in a a shirt and pants.

| closed my eyes as | grabbed to pick up the pregnancy test.

When

| opened my eyes, | saw the result and my eyes were bursting with tears. | slowly grabbed onto the counter

besideas | cried, not believing myself. My hand went down to feel my invisible bump as | smiled, a sense of

joy passing by. | wiped the tears away, grabbing the test to bring downstairs with me.

As

|

soon a

as | reached the kitchen, | saw Matteo serving dinner on the kitchen island. We were always eating in the kitchen

on the stools because it was easier. We rarely used the dining room.

wrapped my arms around his waist from behind, breathing in his scent.

"You're a

all | freshen up, baby?" He asked, smiling.

"Yeah, | feel better."

"Okay, let's eat dinner. You must be hungry,"

He turned around, cupping onto my face as he leaned in for a kiss.

We

were

both smiling at each other, but my smile was wider. | was trying hard not to burst out the happy news as | made

my way to sit down.

"You seem really happy... is there something you'd like to share with me?"

No.

| just think I should smile more. | look prettier."

"You always look pretty, Alena."

We sat down, eating our meal while | was thinking of ways to tell him. I could just show him the test and see his

reaction, or

Chapter 38

| could plan a surprise-l wasn't really preferring the latter, because | just wanted something intimate.

We were going to watch a movie later, and | think I could think of a plan.

©

71%1

Matteo was occasionally glancing at my direction, but he didn't bother to say a word. | was smiling as | took a

bite of my food, and | knew he was starting to find that odd. Once we were done with dinner, | made my way to

the sink to clean our plates. He was taking a sip of his drink from behind me, watching my every movement.

| was beginning to feel nervous. Could he easily read it on my face?

"Let's choose a movie," | said as | pulled his hand into the living room.

Once we were seated and laid back, he kept pressing onto the remote while his eyes were attached onto the

screen. My eyes were focusing onto him, and | was imagining how our baby would look like if he was a boy-

maybe, he had the sbrown eyes and beautiful thick hair or strong features, just like his Papa

"Is there something on my face?" He asked, glancing down at me.

| shook my head, "Why do you ask?"

"You

t stop staring at me. You're acting weird."

I won't I didn't notice."

You're the one doing it, baby."

| chuckled, looking away and pulling the blanket closer to my chest. Once we had chosen a movie, we continued

to watch it. Well, Matteo was continuing to watch it, the whole t| was just staring blankly at the screen.

I couldn't focus, at all. "Matteo," | called out.

"Mm?"

Mm?

"Here."

| placed the pregnancy test on his chest which caused him to frown as he looked down, his hand reaching out to

grab it. Then, when he realized what he was holding, he immediately sat up straight. He continued to stare at

the test for a few seconds before he looked at

me.

"You're... pregnant?" He asked, his eyes were getting teary.

My cheeks were starting to heat up as | nodded, smiling.

It didn't take him long to pullin for a hug, kissing my forehead and my cheeks. Tears were streaming down

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his cheeks and before we knew it, we were both crying. Matteo couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the test,

but he was thrilled with excitement.

ne

He

He couldn't stop kissing my hands, and my lips.

"We're going to have a baby." He kept repeating, huggingtight..

Then, he continued to kiss my lips. | couldn't explain the feeling, but it was pure enjoyment. | never felt this way

before, and | never expected | could feel this way. grabbedto sit on top of him as he kissed me, the soft

kisses turned to be passionate as he cupped my face. We

Matteo

Chapter 38

were drowning in ourselves when he slowly lifted my shirt, throwing it on the ground-l wasn't wearing anything

underneath and it gave him direct access.

He had pulled my pants away, throwing them on the ground too

Then, he ran his fingers across my stomach as he imagined our baby growing inside.

"Our baby is going to be beautiful like you."

"Or as handsas you."

71%

He chuckled, leaning in to kissagain. | was tugging onto his shirt because | wanted it off as well-when we

were both skin to skin, we couldn't wait any longer.

My eyes opened wide as he thrusted inside, fillingwith his length and size. Even though | knew the feeling of

him inside me, | could never get enough. He was good at makingfeel full. | loved the way he moved when he

was inside. Our bodies were one, and I couldn't resist him.

He was on top ofas | laid on the sofa, letting him spread my legs wide as he deepened himself inside me. |

gasped as soon as he leaned in, kissing and licking my neck.

The sex turned from hot to passionate, and | was begging for more.

"You're so deep. F****k." | breathed, grabbing onto his shoulders.

"You love it, baby?"

"I love it. Please, just keep f***g me."

11/

"Keep spreading your legs for me."

He raised my legs until they were resting on his shoulders which gave him a deeper access inside of me. The

feeling was intoxicating and withoutrealizing, my legs were beginning to shake in pleasure. My whole body

was screaming for his and | expressed it well through my moans. "Matteo!"

"Yeah, baby. Keep screaming my name."

|

| did. | kept screaming his nas he madecome.

Then, he turnedaround, so | was on all fours. He thrusted deep insideby surprise which causedto

yelp forward, gripping onto the blanket. My body was rocking back and forth with the pace he was going.

And | loved every moment of it.

| loved it when he filledin with every drop.

| loved it when he kissedendlessly.

| just knew | loved it when he whispered sweet things.

he was fully satisfied.

Once he was done and | thought it was over, he went down on me. | began to pull onto his hair as he pleased me

with his tongue. It didn't stop him when | came, legs shaking and body sweating. He kept wanting more and

more.

And

Until

08..

| he was kissing my lips, whispering how much he loved me.

08-20

29 Tue, Oct 22

Chapter

38

"I'm going to quit the mafia.

| raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Besides, | want to focus on our family."

"You meant it, Matteo?"

"Luca would be a better leader. We'd have the risks and dangers away from our family. I'll be able to focus on

you."

| wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him close.