One and the Same

52: FINALE

-'DON'T WORRY Y'ALL THE WINE I'VE BEEN DRINKING IS NON ALCOHOLIC', Maria walked quickly to Lukas who was sobbing, and her mother who was holding the mic. Maria snatched it from her hands, -'I was starting to wonder why her wine tasted like fucking apple juice', the crowd laughed and Maria gave the mic back. Gaga embraced her husband who cried on her shoulder, -'Do you like your wedding gift' she asked him, Lukas nodded and kissed her cheek, -'I love you so much, I can't believe it', Gaga smiled and cuddled him gently, -'We did it! It's happening! Part of our dream!'.

*2 days later*
Gaga kissed her daughter's cheek, -'We're gonna get going now' Gaga announced while rolling a huge LV suitcase onto the trunk of a car, Maria nodded, -'I hope y'all have a great two weeks' she hugged her mom tight and buried her face in her shoulder, -'Take care of that baby, mom', Gaga looked at her daughter in the eye and reassured her with a small grin, -'I will', Lukas came out of the masterbedroom looking handsome as fuck, -'OH NOOOO NOT THE MANBUN' Maria yelled with a laughter, Lukas smiled -'Yes the manbun, my hair is getting too long', -'I like it long!' His wife said, holding his hand tight and flashing him a huge smirk, Lukas kissed her cheek and then hugged Maria. Gaga went through her daughter's agenda -'So your flight to Melbourne is in three days so that's Thursday at 3pm', Maria nodded, -'Grandpa's driving me', Gaga looked into her phone, -'And you know who's receiving you there and everything. Oh did you pack already?', Maria nodded, -'I'm fine mom', Gaga chuckled -'I'm sure you are. I'm so proud of you, have fun, learn...this is what you love to do', Maria hugged her mother, -'Thanks for the chance mom', Gaga shook her head, -'You're my daughter, I only want the best for you'.
After saying their final
Goodbyes, Gaga and Lukas went onto their honeymoon and Maria left three days later to Australia to participate in a shark conservation program.

***3 MONTHS LATER***
Gaga was sitting beside Maria as the girl looked flabbergasted at her iPad screen. Robin really went into his mother's hospital room so Maria wouldn't miss the birth of her sibling, -'Where's Angelo' Gaga whispered, Maria shrugged but Robin heard, -'Dad says he doesn't like seeing blood', Gaga rolled her eyes.
-'Robin go film, for fuck's sake I can't see!' Maria told his brother, the camera was shaking, the young man was very nervous, -'Oh my God, OH LOOK', Robin pointed the camera at a crying little kid squirming on Crysta's arms, Gaga hugged Maria who was crying of joy on the other side of the Skype call, -'He's so cute' she sobbed, Robin smiled and nodded, -'What's his name mom?' Crysta said something Maria couldn't hear, -'His name's Anthony', -'Awww Tony! Look at him! He's so adorable, I love him so much' Gaga handed her daughter a tissue and chuckled, she was such a hidden softy.
The Skype call ended with Crysta saying goodbye and Maria being able to take one last glimpse at her baby brother.
Gaga rubbed her back to calm her down, -'Are you ok?', Maria nodded and hugged her mom, -'I'm so happy, I'm glad I got to see him as a baby, I never had that', -'You'll be with me in a few months, what are you talking about?', -'Don't even remind me mom, I'll be a damn mess' she chuckled and Gaga kissed her cheek.

*
The months came and went, Maria was completely comfortable in her new marine biology school, the best part of it all is that...-'I'm so glad I don't need a dorm, campus is just so close I can just drive...I don't wanna share my fucking room', Lukas nodded while he served her food, -'Yeah, I guess. What's that, homework?', he peeked into her laptop. Maria rolled her eyes and nodded, -'Sea floor topography, it's a fucking pain in the ass. But it has to be done, at least there's like a cool 3D interactive thingy, that way I don't get too suicidal about all this', Lukas choked in a laughter, -'Oh my God'.

~~~~~~
Maria peeked into the thick blanket for the thousandth time, the cute small little girl tried to open her eyes to look around but she was having a hard time doing so, Gaga looked up at her eldest daughter, -'You wanna hold her while I sleep? I feel like a fucking truck just squished me', Maria chuckled and nodded, -'Yeah, I'm scared, I don't wanna hurt her', baby Sophie moved her thin arms out of the blanket and started getting fuzzy, Gaga frowned, -'Oh my God not now I'm too tired', childbirth had gotten the best out of her and she felt too exhausted to function, -'Then what do I do?' Maria looked at the baby very unsure of what to do, -'Give her a paci, she'll calm down, she's just fuzzy because of all the noise her dad is doing' Gaga glanced at Lukas who was on the other side of the room talking to his parents almost too fucking loudly. Maria grabbed the small bundle and stared attentively, -'She has some...like, stuff stuck to her, is that normal?', -'Yeah, it'll go when the nurses clean her up better, just go sit with her I'm tired', Maria nodded and pinched her mom's hand to reassure her, -'Wake me up if you need me', Gaga coiled up into the thick woolen blanket and almost immediately fell asleep.
Maria Grazia stared down at her little sister, -'You're so pink what the fuck Soph?' She joked, pointing at the baby's skin tone, -'Also you got some weird liquid shit stuck to you...but even with all that, you're probably the cutest baby to have ever exist', she looked around a bag for the paci with one hand and sighed in relief as she found it. When she turned to face her sister, the baby was already asleep. So she just looked at her. For a good chunk of her life, Maria had felt like her family was permanently broken. He never had a stable father figure, she saw her mother suffer so much for men who weren't worthy and they all left. Maria thinks this is why she was so rebellious and sharp-mouthed. It was like a self protection system, be tough so you can't get hurt. Not even her relationship with Lopez could soften her. So then she started to secretly blame her mother for everything...which lead to too much fucking drama. At one point they thought they had left each other. But now things were finally coming full circle, and Sophie was about to be part of it as well. Sophie was all Maria ever wanted. A sibling she could be with at all times. Seeing the birth of her own sister made her appreciate her mother much more, like she had given her the gift of true happiness and a sense of belonging. She could start over, build a personal relationship with someone from the ground up, and teach her everything.
As minutes turned to hours, Maria found herself telling the baby all kinds of stories about her life, her father and her other siblings, turns out Sophie was a great listener, and sometimes that's all Maria needed.
Maria heard Gaga yawn and stretch, -'I needed that' she smiled and sat up, -'I definitely needed that', -'Feeling better?' The girl asked, Gaga nodded and rubbed her eyes, -'Where's Lukas?', -'He went home to get some things...to stay overnight I think', Maria gave Sophie to her mother and sat in front of them, watching Gaga's behaviour change instantly, -'Thanks mom', Gaga looked up from her newborn daughter, -'For what?', -'Her', -'...Why?', -'She's giving me a sense of belonging that I have never felt...so thank you for that', Gaga had never heard such words come out from her mouth, so honest and sensitive and less defiant, -'Come here. You do belong, come here', Maria hugged her mom carefully and laid her head on her lap, -'I love you mom I'm sorry for everything, I'm sorry I'm such a fucking bratty cunt', Gaga chuckled and shook her head, -'I love you even if you're a bratty cunt', Maria wiped thick tears off her eyes and held her mom's thigh gently, then caressing it lovingly, -'You two are my beating hearts' Gaga whispered, smoothening Maria's hair gently, -'Things are gonna change. I'm gonna change, for the sake of you and Sophie's. I wanna be the best for her', Gaga nodded and helped her wipe away the tears, -'Either way, you've always been perfect to me...always. And you'll always be', Maria turned her head to face up and kissed Sophie's very very tiny foot, -'She's so cute, oh my God', Gaga chuckled and nodded -'Totally', -'We really share the same heart, don't we?', their mother nodded again, -'That's exactly it'.

Hey guys! Finally finished this one, thanks for every single read and comment guys I hope you liked it. I'm gonna finish I WANT YOU TO STAY from now on and then I'll retire from writing stories, Thanks y'all for reading and I'm always avaible if you wanna talk! Tell me what you think about this FINALE in the comments! Xoxo