The Billionaire's Secret Child.

Chapter 19

Grace's POV

'Mama?'

Arloe is awake?!

I rush to his bedside and gently stroke his hair, tears begin falling from my eyes. Behind me Matteo hugs me from behind and places his right hand over mine, holding the bed rail and he puts his left hand gently on Arloe's knee.

'Mama, I'm hungwy! Can I have some fwied (fried) chicken?'

I choke out a laugh, this kid is too much!! He has just had open heart surgery and the first thing he asks for is fried chicken! Oh lord! What have we created?

'You can have as much fried chicken as you want when we leave the hospital, me, you, Weaver and papa will go get some of Gretta's homemade Fried Chicken!' I reply with a gentle laugh.

Arloe looks thoughtful before he suddenly adds 'papa! Papa! Can we go to the park and pway soccer?'

'Sure kiddo, but you have to get better first!' Says Matteo.

'Well hellllooooo Arlowwwwwww' Jackson breezes in through the door with his arms out like an aeroplane.

'Boeing flight 000, has one last heart to check over before take off!' Jackson says playfully. 'Mr. Arloe, this Boeing flight needs to check your heart is strong before it can take off, this aeroplane is really important so we need you to be a good patient today, ok?' He asks.

'Yeah!!!! We can all be aeroplanes!' Arloe says happily.

Jackson moves over to Arloe's bed and starts undoing the bandanging around his chest. Once the bandaging is removed it reveals a bright red incision on Arloe's chest that goes from the top of his sternum to the bottom of his ribs. It looks sore and the stitches holding it together seem painful. I gasp in shock and hold my tears in so that Arloe doesn't notice.

The scar is big, massive even.

'Wow, this incision is so straight we could use it as a ruler Arloe and is healing beautifully! After our flight attendant redresses your chest we will be ready for take off!'

Arloe smiles and chats away happily to the nurse as she redos his bandages.

'Ok, the incision is beautifully straight and clean, as he gets older it will become fainter and fainter until it is almost unnoticeable. Most importantly, it isn't infected. The dressings will be changed frequently, every 4 hours during the day to prevent any infection, and every 6 hours during the night. He will become increasingly frustrated over the next couple of hours because his chest will begin to hurt. I'm warning you now because all the aeroplanes in the world won't be enough for him to let the nurses change his bandages because of the pain he will experience. Stay strong, I'll be back in a couple hours' he turns towards Arloe who is talking the nurses ear off about fried chicken and soccer. 'Love You lil' man!'

'Wuv you too Jackson!'

Matteo smiles at me and I smile back weakly. I'm tired, scratch that, I'm exhausted, and Matteo seems to notice.

'Sleep Grace, there is a bed over there that the nurses will make up for you, hang on, I'll go get them.' He leaves me and Arloe to find a nurse,

'Mama?'

'Yeah Sweetie?'

'Can papa live with us when I'm all better?'

'Well Arloe, it depends on whether he wants too...' great! Explaining to a 3 year old mine and matteo's relationship is not how I planned this to go!!

'Why not? He loves me and Weaver right?' For a 3 year old he is too smart for his own good, tears well in his eyes.

'Of course he loves you sweetheart, it's just that he is an important person in America which is quite a long aeroplane flight away, I'm sure that he will visit you and Weaver all the time!'

Weaver... my beautiful little girl. I miss her so much. She is staying with my parents at the moment and still attending school and stuff. It's hard to be away from her for so long.

'You and your sister and cherished by me and your father! You are the best thing that ever happened to me and I love you more than life itself!'

'Do you love papa like that too?'

'Yes kiddo, I do.'

Who am I kidding, I will always love him, he has a place in my heart like my children so, albeit a slightly smaller piece but it still counts. He was the first guy that I felt so strongly for the moment I saw him, it wasn't like me and Jason.

I love Matteo.

I love Matteo as much as I love my kids.

More than life itself.