There was a small deafening silence before it happened. The soft cries of a newborn baby lit up the room and caused everyone to sigh in relief. It was loud but soft, with the promise of a good future for the couple.

Antonio leaned his forehead against his wife and kissed her cheek.

"You did well, my dear." he whispered lovingly into her ear. He took her hand and brushed his wife's hair back and smiled. "She's finally here."

A sigh of relief and happiness left his wife's mouth. She tried to sit up and laid down again, pain clear in her eyes.

"Antonio I want to see her." she whispered. She squeezed his hand and smiled up at him. "I want to see our baby. Our dear little Ashley."

"Here she is." The doctor handed a cleaned Ashley to Antonio and smiled down. "She's perfectly healthy. Ten fingers and ten toes."

Antonio took the baby into his arms carefully, cradling her head on the side of his elbow. Her small body fit so perfectly in his arms and he smiled down at her. Tears of happiness flooded into his eyes and his heart opened even wider. "Hello there little Ashley. I'm your papi."

The small girl looked up at him and gurgled. Her hands reached up slowly and she touched his chin. A hint of a smile came onto her lips. Her eyes closed and she fell into a slumber. Her chest moved up and down and she rested comfortably on her father's arm.

"Isabella look at her my dear. She's resting so well." Antonio looked down at his wife. His smiled instantly left his face when he saw her, eyes opened but chest not moving. "Isabella? Darling?" He whispered.

She didn't move. Her eyes were empty and lifeless while her body remained still and pale.

As if sensing something wrong, Ashley instantly woke up and began crying.

"Doctor!" Antonio shouted. He held his daughter closer to his body, shielding her eyes to protect her.

Though she would have no memory of this, Antonio already felt as if he had to protect Ashley from all horrible images that might taint her mind.

"Nurses get Dr. Serins." Dr. Carson turned to Antonio and gave him a stern look. "Antonio you have to get out of here now."

"No! I have to stay here! She's my wife!" Antonio shouted. His ears failed to hear the soft cries of his daughter, yearning for the touch of her mother.

"Antonio, please!" The doctor shouted. He gave Antonio a sympathetic look. "Give Ashleh to one of the nurses and leave. We can't save her if you're here. I promise we'll try our best."

Antonio faintly remember the nurse taking Ashley away. The next thing he remembers is standing outside of the emergency room, waiting for the doctor to come out and give him the news that he knew was true.

He had seen her. He had seen her pale and lifeless face. He had seen her whole body slumped against the bed with no movement in her chest. He knew that he had lost her. He knew that she had left him, had left their child motherless.

Antonio's body slumped against the wall. He pulled his knees to his chest and buried his head in it. The fingers on his hands tugged on his hair tightly but he did not feel the pain.

The only pain he felt was the one in his heart, knowing that the only woman he has ever loved is now gone forever.

He didn't know what to do now. Before Isabella had passed, Antonio had his whole life planned out. They would have Ashley, move to a bigger house, have another baby, and raise both of them together.

But now that she's gone, all his plans are dead.

Just like she is.

He didn't how to be a father. He was going to learn as he went but he knew he would have made a good father.

Now he also had to be a father and a mother. He didn't know if he would be able to do such a thing. Being a father will be difficult but it was nothing compared to being a mother.

There are things that a girl needs in her life and one of the main one is her mother.

A girl relies on her mother to teach her about compassion, true beauty, relationships, and the importance of life. Some things that a father can also teach but never nearly as well as a mother.

But Ashley's mother is dead.

Antonio heard footsteps approaching him. He slowly looked up and saw Dr. Carson.

Antonio stood up.

There was a little spark of hope inside of him that hoped Isabella was able to be saved but his hopes soon diminished when he saw the regretful and remorseful look on Dr. Carson's face.

"I'm sorry Antonio. We tried our best to revive her but she's gone." his voice was soft. It was if he was scared that he spoke in any other tone, Antonio would break down.

"I see." Antonio replied. His voice was void of any emotions. He turned around and started walking away. His feet dragged him towards the infirmary and he stared through the glass window.

His eyes quickly met with that of his daughter and a soft smile came onto his lips. Her eyes reminded him so much of her mother's and he knew right then and there that he would do anything to protect his little girl.

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"Antonio. Here are the files that you have asked for." Antonio's secretary handed him a file and sat down on the sat across from him. She smiled warmly as he took the files out of her hands. "I heard that Ashley is back in town."

Antonio nodded his head and smiled back at her.

"She's been back for the three days now. I haven't seen her in over a decade. It feels so refreshing to have her back with me again." He opened up the files and looked down at it. A frown came onto his lips. "Elena, who signed this contract?"

Elena stood up and walked behind him. Her eyes peered down and her eyebrows furrowed. "I think Rafael did."

"Can you have Martha send Rafael in to meet me later today? These files seem odd." He muttered. His eyes skimmed through the file again. "Who is Dante Hastings?" the name seemed familiar to him but his mind couldn't formulate on who that was.

"He's the owner of Brigsons Law Firm. They never lost a case before. He's known to be an excellent judge of character. If we can get him to become our lawyer, the company would be strongly protected." Elena recited as if it was implanted in her memory for ages.

"Get me an appointment with him as soon as possible. I want to make a deal with him." Antonio closed up the files and handed it back to Elena. He stood up and straightened up his tie. "Thank you Elena."

Elena nodded her head and smiled at him. "It's my job to know these things." she grabbed the files, ignoring the small spark that she received when her hand touched the tip of his finger.

Antonio chuckled. "I didn't mean that." He smiled at her. "I meant thank you for being so loyal to me all of these years. I'm lucky to have you Elena."

Elena nodded her head, a small blush appearing on her face, "Of course." she said softly. "Do you mind if I come over later? I want to see Ashley again. I haven't seen her ever since she was a small child."

Antonio nodded his head. "Why of course you may. You're always welcome."

"Thank you." Elena smiled at him and walked out the door.

Antonio sighed and sat back down on his seat. His eyes wandered to the picture that sat on his desk.

The last picture that he had with Ashley before he had allowed her to go live with her grandparents in the states.

His eyes glossed over with tears as he remembered the many years he lost with her because of his selfish actions.

There's still time left for him to make it up to her. He thought to himself.

He stood up quickly and grabbed all of his documents, putting them into his briefcase. He pressed on the intercom.

"How may I help you Mr. Valldarri?" a voice quickly responded.

"Change my appointment with Rafael to tomorrow and every other ones to next week. I'm heading out for the day." He ordered quickly. He grabbed his coat and put it on, looking at the time.

"Of course Mr. Valldarri. Anything else?"

"Have everyone leave at three today. Spend the day with your family." he smiled and turned off the intercom.

Walking out of the office, he was greeted with shock faces from the whole staff. He nodded his head at them and walked out of the building.

He knew what he had to do.

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Ashley walked into the kitchen and sat down on the stool. Her belly made it hard for her to reach the seat but she somehow managed. She took her phone out of her pocket and sighed when she saw the dozen of emails from her friends and co-workers asking where she was.

Only a few people knew that she moved and she knew that she could trust them to keep things silent. She didn't want word to get out that she was in Italy and especially didn't want others to know that she was Antonio Valldarri's daughter.

That would only create trouble for her seeing that he was father owned one of the biggest business in the whole entire world.

She would never be able to get any privacy if word was able to get out. She had already had enough with the public announcement of her and Dante's divorce and she didn't need the paparazzi prying into her life even more.

She didn't want that kind of life for her babies.

A life in which every little thing they did was exposed to the world.

She didn't want them to always be in the center of things. She wanted them to be as safe as they could be. She wanted their lives to remain as private as they would want it too.

Ashley heard the front door opening. She turned her head to the entrance of the kitchen. "Ashley, are you home?"

"Yes Papi. I'm in the kitchen." She replied softly.

Her father's head popped into the kitchen and he smiled softly at her. "How has your day been going figlia?" He walked up and sat down on the stool next to her.

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Same as yesterday."

Antonio chuckled and motioned towards her stomach. "And how are those baminos?"

Ashley placed her hand on her stomach and smiled down at it. "Same as yesterday. Giving their mama a hard time."

He chuckled again. "Just like you did when your mama was this pregnant with you." he said softly. His eyes glossed over with tears and he put his hand on her cheek. "You look so much like her. You have her eyes you know."

Ashley smiled sadly at him. "I know Papi. You told me a million times before."

"I have something for you." He got off the chair. Grabbing her hand, he helped her down and smiled softly. "Come with me."

Ashley furrowed her eyebrows but followed him nonetheless.

"Ah here it is." They stopped at the closet behind the stairs and her eyebrows furrowed even more.

"The closet? You wanted to give me the closet." She asked incredulously.

A chuckle left his mouth and he shook his head. "No bambina. It's what is inside this closet." he took his keys out of his pocket and inserted one of it into the lock. Smiling he opened the door and turned on the light. "Stay here while I find it."

Ashley nodded her head. She leaned her body against the wall and rubbed her belly. "Your nonno is a little crazy isn't he?" she whispered softly to them.

"I heard that young lady!" Antonio shouted from inside the closet. Soon, he came out, holding a black journal in his hand. It was small. About the size of his hands and old with some of the pages ripped. "This was your mother's journal." he whispered.

Ashley took the journal gingerly, afraid of damaging it even further. She felt her eyes watering up and looked up at him. "This was mama's?"

Antonio nodded his head and smiled sadly at her.

"She wrote that while she was pregnant with you. I found it hidden under her pillow after her death. I found it once and asked to read it but she didn't let me. She hid it in a new place every single week. Sometimes in the most obvious place but I could never find it."

Ashley opened the book up slowly and looked down at it. Her eyes met the nice writing of her mother who had dated the first entry. "Thank you papi." she whispered, not looking up from the journal.

"You're welcome figlia." He kissed the top of her head. "Your mother would have been so proud of you." he whispered.

"Papi, I'm a divorced mother. She would never be proud of that." Ashley whispered.

Using his index finger, he pulled her chin up and smiled softly at her. "Your mother will be very proud of you no matter what happens. Just like I am proud of you." he whispered. "I'll leave you to read it now." He turned around and started walking away.

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