Three Little Heartbeats

Chapter 29: Revelations

Sandro's flight to the U.S. was a blur. All he could think about was Alexia and the secrets she was hiding. Becca's cryptic words echoed in his mind, leaving him restless and uneasy the entire journey. He had to confront her. Whatever she was hiding, whatever had caused her to retreat from him so completely—it couldn't stay in the dark any longer.

When he finally landed, he didn't waste time. He took a cab straight to her apartment, his heart pounding in his chest. The door to her building felt heavier than usual, and the elevator ride to her floor seemed endless. When he reached her door, he hesitated for a brief moment, his hand hovering over the wood. Could he handle the truth? Could he handle whatever was waiting for him on the other side of this door?

Sandro knocked, the sound louder than he intended. A few seconds later, the door creaked open.

Alexia stood there, looking surprised and, more than anything, caught off guard. Her eyes widened when she saw him, and for a moment, they just stared at each other in silence.

"Sandro..." Her voice was barely above a whisper, and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. Her face was pale, her hair disheveled, and her eyes were filled with something he couldn't quite place—guilt? Fear?

He stepped inside without waiting for an invitation, unable to bear the distance between them any longer. "Alexia, what's going on? You've been ignoring me for weeks. What are you not telling me?"

She shut the door behind him and leaned against it, her hands trembling slightly. "I—I didn't know how to tell you."

His frustration flared. "Tell me what? What's so bad that you couldn't even answer my messages?"

Alexia looked away, her eyes filling with tears. Sandro's anger softened at the sight of her pain, but it only made his confusion worse. He took a step toward her, his voice quieter but still firm. "Please, Alexia. I need to know. Whatever it is, we can deal with it together, but I need you to tell me."

She wiped at her tears, her breath shaky. "Sandro, I—"

Before she could finish, the sound of a baby's cry echoed from the next room.

Sandro froze. His heart skipped a beat, and for a moment, he wasn't sure if he'd imagined it. He turned toward the noise, his eyes wide. "Was that...?"

Alexia's face paled further, and she took a step toward him, her voice breaking. "Sandro, please... let me explain."

But Sandro had already started moving. He pushed past her, his mind racing, and followed the sound into the next room. What he saw made his breath catch in his throat.

Two cribs sat side by side, and in one of them, a tiny baby boy lay kicking his feet, his face red from crying. In the other, a baby girl was stirring, her eyes just beginning to open.

Sandro stared at them in shock, his mind struggling to catch up with what he was seeing. "Twins...?" he whispered, his voice barely audible. He turned to Alexia, who was standing in the doorway, her face streaked with tears.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his voice filled with disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me I had children?"

Alexia's sobs grew louder, and she sank into a chair, covering her face with her hands. "I didn't know how to... I was scared, Sandro. Your career, your family... I thought if you knew, it would ruin everything for you."

Sandro's heart ached as he looked at his children, his hands trembling as he reached out to touch his son's tiny hand. The weight of what Alexia had kept from him crushed him, but more than anything, he felt an overwhelming sense of love for these two little lives. His children.

But before he could say anything else, he noticed something strange. There were only two cribs.

Something clicked in his mind. Something that didn't add up.

"Wait," Sandro said, his voice trembling. "There were supposed to be three, weren't there?" He turned to Alexia, his eyes wide with the realization. "Triplets."

The room went deathly quiet.

Alexia's sobs slowed, and she looked up at him with the deepest pain he had ever seen in her eyes. She nodded, her voice breaking. "There were."

Sandro's breath caught in his throat. "What happened?"

Alexia stood, wiping her face, and came to stand beside him, her eyes fixed on the two cribs. "It was a complication... during the pregnancy. One of the babies didn't make it."

Sandro felt as if the floor had been ripped out from under him. He swayed slightly, his knees weak as the weight of her words settled in. "One of our babies...?" His voice cracked, barely able to form the question. He looked down at his children, his heart breaking for the one he would never know.

Alexia nodded, tears streaming down her face again. "I'm so sorry, Sandro. I didn't want to tell you like this. I didn't want you to have to deal with it on top of everything else. I thought it would be easier if I just kept it to myself."

"Easier?" Sandro's voice was thick with emotion as he turned to face her, disbelief washing over him. "You thought it would be easier to hide the fact that we lost a child? That I wouldn't want to know?"

She covered her face again, her sobs wracking her body. "I was trying to protect you, Sandro. I didn't know how to deal with it myself. I thought if I told you, it would break you too."

Sandro shook his head, overwhelmed by grief, anger, and confusion all at once. He couldn't believe what he was hearing—that he had lost a child and hadn't even known about it. The weight of that loss hit him like a sledgehammer, and he sank down into a chair, his head in his hands.

For a few moments, neither of them spoke. The only sound in the room was the soft cooing of the twins in their cribs, oblivious to the storm of emotions swirling around them.

Finally, Sandro lifted his head, his voice hoarse. "You should have told me, Alexia. You should have trusted me."

She knelt beside him, her face tear-streaked and full of regret. "I know. I'm so sorry, Sandro. I was just so scared of losing you too."

He stared at her for a long moment, his emotions a tangled mess. He felt shattered, not just by the loss of their baby but by the fact that Alexia had gone through it alone. That she had borne the weight of that grief without him.

Slowly, he reached out and took her hand, his grip firm. "We lost a child," he said, his voice soft but full of emotion. "But we also have two. We can't keep hiding from each other, Alexia. Not anymore."

She nodded, fresh tears spilling from her eyes. "I know. I won't hide anything from you again. I promise."

Sandro squeezed her hand, his heart heavy but determined. There was so much they needed to work through, so much pain and loss to heal from. But as he looked at his two children—his son and his daughter—he knew one thing for certain:

They were still a family. And no secret could ever change that.