Chapter 42 - Fabian and Flora

Ava

I came out of the emergency room after Fiona took her last breath. At least, she had someone by her side during that ending moment, even if it wasn't her family. But I was sure that she would now be reunited with her husband.

"Ava, are you okay?" I hadn't even noticed Ace standing in front of me, looking at me anxiously.

"I need to sit down for a minute," I said, and Ace took me over to the bench. "I'm just... shocked. She... died in front of my eyes."

Ace looked at me sympathetically. "I'm sure that must have been hard for you."

I nodded. "But..." A smile formed on my lips. "She seemed to be at peace... before she took her last breath."

"Why is that?" he asked curiously.

I looked into Ace's eyes and said, "She told me her last wish. It was... for me to take care of her baby."

Ace seemed momentarily surprised, then he smiled. "I'm sure I don't need to ask what you answered."

I nodded and hugged him. "Ace, her baby is ours from now on. We..."

"We are going to be her parents," he completed for me. I nodded against his chest. "We have to wait for a few months to take her home since she's a premature baby."

"Yeah, we have to be especially careful of her health all the time," I added.

"We will be. But before that, we have to do all the formalities and officially adopt the baby," he said.

I pulled away from his arms and smiled as I said excitedly, "I can't wait to bring our baby home, Ace."

"Me neither, Ava."

###

We were on our way home when Ace got a call from the adoption center we were going to visit.

I received the call since Ace was driving. "Hello?"

"Oh, Mrs. Valentino. Hello, I called to ask when you will be arriving," Mr. Gilbert asked.

"Uh, actually, we got caught up in something, so we won't be coming anymore," I answered.

"Really? That's a shame. We had a kid who I thought would be perfect for Mr. Valentino and you," he said.

"Why did you think that?" I asked curiously.

He chuckled and said, "I don't know. But when I talked to the two of you the other day over video conference, I just got that feeling. I have been quite eager to have you meet the kid. He totally seems like he was made for you guys."

I couldn't help but smile at that. "Alright, please wait for us. We will drop by soon."

"Fabian and I will be waiting eagerly. Have a nice evening, Mrs. Valentino." With that, he hung up.

"Huh? We are dropping by that adoption center?" Ace asked in confusion.

"Mr. Gilbert said there was a kid who resembled our personalities and that he would be perfect for us," I told him.

"So do you want to see him?" he asked with a gentle smile.

I nodded eagerly. "I'm excited to meet Fabian."

###

After half an hour, we entered the adoption center. Ace and I took a U-turn because we couldn't wait to meet Fabian.

When we reached the kid's room, from outside of the door, we saw a three-year-old boy sitting on the bunk bed with his head down. He seemed to be sulking. They must have told him that we were coming to see him, and he was probably afraid that we would be bad people.

"Can we come in?" I asked and politely knocked on the door, and the boy looked up with his green puppy eyes as if he was about to cry. But as I smiled at him and said hello, his crying look vanished.

He smiled back brightly and said, "Hello!"

I instantly felt that overwhelming connection, and I felt like crying out of joy. There was this strange surge of affection I felt for him. I just wanted to hug him tightly and cry as if he was my own lost child who I had been meeting after ages.

Ace leaned closed to my ear and said, "He's got a cute smile like his mother."

I couldn't help but grin ear to ear as I made a beeline for the kid and kneeled down in front of him. Even though I already knew, I asked, "What's your name, cute boy?"

"My name is Fabian. I'm three years old. It's nice to meet you," he spoke clearly and confidently, nothing like the sulking child sitting here a minute ago.

I couldn't help but be in awe. I looked up at Ace and said, "He's smart just like his father."

Ace grinned in response and kneeled down beside me. "Hello, Fabian. It's nice to meet you too. I'm Ace, and this is Ava," he introduced us, and Fabian nodded in response. "You're really smart."

Fabian looked from Ace to me and back again. "You guys seem nice."

Really, it was true that children could tell apart good and evil.

Ace took one of Fabian's small hands, and I took his other one as Ace asked gently, "So what do you think about having us as your mommy and daddy?"

Fabian grinned in response and it was enough for us to know what we had to do.

###

After three months, Ace and I went to the hospital where Fiona's daughter, now legally and by heart, our daughter, had been under intensive care.

Just a few days ago, Valentino Fashion released the Eleanor Collection, and it was a huge success. I was overjoyed at the response I got. At the same time, I was relieved that now I could have some more free time for my family. Also, we were going to bring our daughter home with us today.

Fabian was with us as we walked to the baby's chamber. He hadn't been able to calm down to meet his little sister ever since we told him about her. He fit in our family just perfectly, and everyone loved him. He was a friendly good-natured child, who wouldn't love him?

A nurse guided us to our daughter's crib.

My heart warmed at the sight of the beautiful baby girl, now seeming fully healthy. "She's so beautiful," I murmured in awe.

"She really is," Ace agreed with a fond smile.

"She is so cute," Fabian also said enthusiastically.

I took the baby in my arms and got that intense motherly feeling just like the times I picked Fabian in my arms.

I kissed her forehead and held her close to my chest for a minute. This was the first day I was holding her, and already she owned such a big part of my heart.

I passed her to Ace.

A beautiful smile formed on his face as he admired her adorable face with tears in his eyes, and I couldn't help the happy tears that were already cascading down my cheeks.

"Daddy, Daddy, I wanna hold my baby sister too!" Fabian urged, jumping up and down and tugging at Ace's suit. His eyes were practically sparkling as Ace kneeled down to support Fabian in holding the baby.

Right that moment, she opened her honey-colored eyes and stared into Fabian's green ones. She didn't cry, rather just stared, as if she was also in awe.

As Fabian stared back in amazement at the little thing in his hand, Ace murmured, "Fabian, meet your sister, Flora."

Watching my husband and two children in front of me—all of them happy and healthy—I started crying without any restraint. I had never felt more blissful than today in my entire life.

I couldn't believe that this... this was my happy family.

THE END

A/N: Hey, loves! So this was the last chapter and now, "Married To My Billionaire Bestfriend" has come to an end. If you enjoyed reading the novel, then please follow me, trimagical_, and make me happy. 😄

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