Fate had always been against Ashley. It seemed to hate her. They willed for her to be unhappy in every aspect of her life. They played a sick game in which she would experience a short time of happiness before it gets crashed by something called reality.

They allowed her to have her short fairytale where the prince came in and rescued the damsel in distress but then had the prince slip through her fingertips. They gave her a second chance of redemption with her family before deciding that she had enough time in this life.

But one thing they never took away from her was the love that beat so strongly in her chest. Love that started all from the bottom of her soul to the tip of her fingers. She loves her family and she loves all the sacrifices, pain, and happiness that they shared together.

They say that when a person is nearing their end, their life plays out before them like a movie. A movie that continues to grow even after their death.

Ashley believed she would live on. In her daughter.

Fate wouldn't be as cruel to give her daughter the same life as her.

They couldn't.

"Are you ready?"

Ashley opened her eyes and stared into Alessio's. She nodded her head at him and grabbed Dante's and Samuel's hand. She breathed out. "I'm ready."

Alessio nodded his head and went to the end of her bed. He nodded at the two nurses in the room, one who continuously glared at Dante. Alessio grabbed his gloves and placed them on. "Alright, on your next contraction, push."

She nodded her head again and waited. Her uneven pants and the sound of the heart monitor next to her filled the empty silence.

Her eyes rolled back in her head as the familiar contraction of her muscles came through again. She screamed and with all of her might, pushed.

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Four hours of pushing later, Ashley was close to giving up. Her breath had become more erratic than before and her eyes threatened to drop any seconds now. Her throat, dry with the lack of water, continued to let out painful screams.

A tear slipped down her face. She didn't know if she had to ability to continue on like this. She felt useless knowing that her baby is suffering inside of her. But she couldn't get her out. If she had been at the hospital, they would have been able to do an emergency cesarean section on her. But they weren't and they lacked the necessary equipments for such risks.

So her only option was to push until her baby was out safely.

"I can see the head." Alessio muttered.

Her eyes snapped open. He had slapped all of the fatigue away from her with those few words. She leaned forth, more determined than ever.

She looked over at Dante. "Are you ready to be a father?"

He looked at her and nodded his head. "I'm ready." He squeezed her hand.

She turned back to the end of her bed. Gulping, she closed her eyes and squeezed with all of her might as the next contraction came forth.

A screeching sound pierced through the room. A sound of new promises and a better future for everyone.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Ashley panted and she fell back against the bed. Her hair clung with her face with sweat dripping down. She let out a breath and smiled against the pillow. She reached her hand out. "Can I hold her?"

"We should clean her first—" one of the nurse started.

Alessio shook his head. He placed his hand on her shoulders and nodded his head.

The nurse sighed and handed Isabella over to him.

Alessio carefully took her into his arms and walked over to Ashley. He handed the baby to Ashley and watched as Samuel and Dante both leaned their heads over her. He nodded at the nurses, letting them know to start to regular procedure in order to secure Ashley's stability.

"She's beautiful." Dante whispered. He looked up at Ashley. "Can I?"

Ashley smiled at him and nodded her head. She kissed her daughter's forehead, not caring about the residues that rested on the body. She handed her over to Dante and looked at Alessio.

"Thank you." she whispered.

Alessio smiled at her and nodded his head. He took off his gloves and threw them in the trashcan. Fishing his phone out of his pockets, his expression darkened. He looked at Samuel and nudged his head.

Samuel looked at him and nodded before standing up. He looked down at Ashley and kissed her sweaty cheek. "You did an amazing job."

Samuel smiled and walked out of the door, following behind Alessio.

Ashley frowned at their sudden behaviors but one look at her daughter and it was as if everything disappeared.

"Everything seems good, Ms. Valldarri. The worst is over." the nurse told her. She looked at Dante and then scoffed.

Ashley looked between them. The atmosphere changed. There was something going on between them.

Ashley laughed her herself and handed her daughter to the nurse. "Here you go." she whispered.

The nurse smiled and grabbed Isabella. "I'll give her right back to you."

Both nurses walked to the other side of the room and began to clean off Isabella.

Ashley turned to Dante and laughed.

"What?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"I survived." she whispered.

"You're laughing because you survived?" Dante's face started to become red.

Ashley rolled her eyes and smacked him across his head. "Don't." she smiled and looked over at Isabella. "She's beautiful."

"She has your mouth. Loud and obnoxious." Dante scoffed.

Ashley turned and glared at him. "Well she has your nose."

"My nose is beautiful."

"So you think." Ashley grinned at him.

Dante chuckled. He leaned back against his chair and smiled. "Maybe we are better off as friends."

Ashley nodded her head. "Yeah but we're still a family. Nothing is going to change that."

The nurse walked back to Ashley and handed Isabella over. "What are you going to name her?" she asked with a grin.

Ashley smiled and looked down at her daughter's sleeping face. Her finger brushed against Isabella's cheek. "Isabella Alessa Hastings."

"It's beautiful." she whispered. She looked at Ashley and smiled. "We will get going now and give you some time to bond. My name is Dawn if you need anything."

Ashley nodded her head and smiled at her. "Can you bring the rest of my family in here? I'm sure they're dying to meet Isabella."

Dawn nodded her head. "Of course." she said before she and the other nurse walked out.

"I hate that woman." Dante muttered under his breath.

"Hate is a strong word Dante." Ashley muttered, cradling her daughter to her chest.

"She kicks me out of the hospital every time she sees me." Dante exclaimed, trying to defend himself.

"Your fault." Ashley grinned at him.

The door opened up and in walked in her father, Elena, Frankie, and Mayla. All had relieved smiles on their faces and happiness glints in their eyes.

"Is that?" her father choked.

Ashley nodded. She held her daughter up and smiled at her family. Those who continued to stay by her side. "Meet Isabella Alessa Hastings."

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Alessio stood at the door and watched Ashley as she placed her daughter down in the bassinet. He smiled at the sight and walked in, closely the door slightly behind him. "Hey." he whispered.

"Hey yourself." Ashley smiled at him and patted the chair next to her bed.

Alessio chuckled and walked over to it. He sat down and peered into the bassinet. His heart swelled with love at the sight of the sleeping baby. "She's beautiful."

"She is." Ashley muttered. She looked at him and waited for him to turn his head back to her.

When he did, he raised his eyebrows up at her. "What?"

Ashley threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. She felt him freezing under her but made no move to unravel her arms. She buried her head into his shoulders. "Thank you." she whispered.

Slowly but surely he wrapped his arm around her waist. "For what?"

She slowly pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. They said that the eyes were the windows to a person's soul. It couldn't be more right as she stared into the man that Alessio was. A man with a past that made him who he was yet he continued to care for everyone around him until his last breath.

"Everything."

Alessio smiled at her. His eyes darted down to her lips.

Ashley saw his eye drift. On instinct, her tongue reached out and licked her lips. She looked down.

Alessio placed his hand under her chin and pulled her face up. He leaned forward, forgetting everything he had told himself. "Stop me." he whispered.

"I won't."

With that being said, she closed the distance between them and placed her lips on his. She closed her eyes as her lips began to move against his. Euphoria coursed through her veins and she brought him closer to her. Her hands ran through his hair, tugging gently on them.

Alessio groaned against her. He grabbed her hips and pulled her impossibly closer. Their lips continued to move in synchronization.

Ashley never felt a kiss like that before.

She pulled away and slowly opened her eyes. "Wow."

Alessio chuckled and push a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Wow indeed."

Ashley blushed and turned her face away from him. "We just kissed."

She turned back to him. "We just kissed and I know nothing about you except your name and job."

Alessio raised his eyebrows up at her. "Well what do you want to know about me?"

Ashley shrugged her shoulders. "Everything?"

Alessio chuckled. "Ask away."

"Do you have any siblings?"

Alessio's smile went away and his usual blank look replaced it. "Straight to the hard ones?"

Ashley looked at him and shook her head. "You don't have to answer it if you don't want to."

Alessio shook his head. He grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. "I had a sister. Her name had been Sophia."

"Had?"

"She died a few years ago?" Alessio closed his eyes.

Ashley felt her heart break seeing the painful look in his eyes. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

Alessio opened his eyes and tried to smile at her.

"How did she die?"

"Her husband had been involved with the mafia. Their enemy came by and shot both of them. I was there." Alessio said bitterly. "They killed her knowing that she had been a mother to an innocent child."

Ashley felt her heart tug in her chest. "What happened to their baby?"

Alessio smiled at her. His eyes fogged over as if remembering something special. "We named her Sophie, after her mother. She lives with me now. I'm the only father figure she knows."

"Does she know about her parents?"

Alessio nodded his head. "I remind her every single day how her parents loved her and died to protect her."

"Did you ever find out who killed your sister?"

Alessio nodded his head at her. "We killed him." he said without any emotion.

Ashley gasped and pulled her hand away from him. "What?"

"He did too much damage to my family,"

Ashley's mind flooded with memories. Memories of the car ride she had on the way home with Samuel. "Rafael. He was the one who killed your sister?"

Alessio nodded his head.

Ashley gulped. "Samuel said something about how your mother killed your father and later committed suicide."

Alessio clenched his fist and nodded his head again. "Rafael's father had manipulated my mother into thinking that my father had been cheating on her. She killed him during one of their fights and—" a pained expression striked his face.

"And?"

"She tried to kill me also." he whispered.

"Alessio, I'm so sorry."

He looked at her and smiled. "It was a long time ago. I'm over it. Any other questions you have for me?"

"Earlier, you looked at your phone and then at Samuel. Then you both left. What happened?" Ashley reached out for his hand and began to play with his fingers.

"Do you really want to know?" Alessio asked.

Ashley nodded her head. "I do."

He sighed and looked towards the bassinet again. "I should start at the beginning then."

"Alright."

"When I was sixteen, Sophia and I left Italy and went to the states to live with our aunt. She had two sons, Marco and Xavier. Marco had been 18 and he enlisted in the army. I decided to fake my age to join with him and it wasn't hard with how old i had looked. We trained harder than everyone else and soon we got recruited to the special forces."

Alessio looked at her and smiled before continuing.

"I learned along the way how to be a doctor. Injuries had been common occurrence for many of us yet we lacked the skills to treat it. Four years passed, with many scars and experiences that I could never forget. I then decided to retire from the special forces and begin my work as a doctor."

"Continue." Ashley smiled at him to show him that she was still listening.

"I had been retired until recently."

"What happened?"

"Rafael happened. That text that i got earlier. It was from those that were in my station during my service. They had caught Rafael." he said with a soft smile.

"I agreed to let Samuel come with me. And there, we ended the reign of the De Luca family." Alessio grabbed Ashley's hand and smiled at her. "It's over."

Ashley looked at him and a smile came over her lips. One of content. "It's over."

They both turned and looked at Isabella who continued to sleep the night away. Everything is going to be okay now.

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