Burning Heart // CL16

Thirty Two

Thank you all so much for this journey - especially the last couple of chapters! I know I've driven people slightly insane but I hope you understand I just wanted to do something different with my writing and so I had to switch things up...

If you don't like the story anymore than yeah... I'm sorry but I hope you'll stick around to see what happens next for Charles and how he moves on and stuff and yeah 💔

Jk enjoy :)

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Alessia's POV
16th March 2023
Edinburgh

"You're good to go home, you're being discharged today!" Kiraz says as she marches into my room and I just grin at her, relief flooding over me at her words as I look to my right and see my daughter asleep, still so small but looking less wrinkled than she did the day of her birth. It had been a long, hard difficult last twelve days, I woke up the evening on the Sunday to a healthy and happy baby girl. There had been a fair amount of pain and rehab required of me following the c-section but I was recovering quickly, I had to because she needed me to. I was her mum. She was perfect, once I woke up and got checked out the nurses let me hold her and I cried my heart out because she was just the most gorgeous baby ever.

She was okay. Actually, she was perfect and she was mine. I had never loved anything or anyone as much as I loved her, I knew it the moment I laid my eyes on her and it was confirmed ten times over when she took my finger in her hand.

"For real?!" I ask quietly but excitedly as I look back to Kiraz who comes to sit on the edge of my bed and smile as she peers over at her goddaughter. She was an angel. She was the most gorgeous baby I'd seen in my entire life (not that I'm biased) but she was. Dark brown hair on top of her head and green eyes... she was truly magical and she had by some miracle managed to pass all the tests. She'd grown so much in the few days of life she had had so far which was good given she was on the small side as a premie but she was strong and even though she was early she could feed and breathe by herself from day one which was a relief. Watching her get stronger over the last week and a bit showed me that she was okay even though I had been terrified when I woke up after the surgery. Although she was recovering well, I'd had a couple of complications with my blood pressure during recovery but now everything was smoothed out and now that I was reassured that she was good, I just wanted to take her home and get out of this hospital.

"For real mama!" She promises me as she presses a kiss to my cheek and then one on my daughters head. "We explained that there are going to be plenty of people around to help you with her and your own recovery and so they relented, especially as this little gorgeous miracle was able to regulate her body temperature for a whole day all by herself! But they need you to keep going somewhat slowly... you have just had major surgery," she goes from using a baby voice when talking to Ruby to frowning when she looks at me, reminding me of something I was already painfully aware of. But I ignore her frown as I grin at the sleeping bundle of joy next to me, my heart leaping out of my chest at the thought of being able to take her home.

Now, I was settled in my choices. I had her and no Charles but that was okay, it was actually more than okay. Although my final thoughts before passing out had been his words in France, since I'd woken back up the ones from Singapore were what ran through my mind relentlessly. I'd ignored the pleas of Christian and Kiraz to call him after I woke up, even the ones from Isa and Carlos when I called to virtually introduce them to her a couple of days later when I was less wiped out. They tried to tell me that he was worried and stressed, concerned for me but they hadn't heard his words.

They didn't hear him call us sleeping together a mistake. How on earth would he take finding out he had a daughter from that mistake, a permanent although perfect reminder of what we had done? They didn't hear when he told me to leave and never come back, that he didn't want me. If he didn't want me, I was pretty damn sure he didn't want Ruby but the situation was done, I had my baby girl and I didn't want or need him. I didn't want to hear his rejection again. I didn't think I could take it, I'd already been let down and had my heart broken by him a handful of times, I wasn't prepared to put me or Ruby in a position for him to reject us.