Chapter 17 - ELENA CHOOSES THE NAMES AGAIN
Elena had trouble saying Matteo’s name for a while.
Not constantly.
Only when he cried at night.
She would pick him up and whisper:
“My baby.”
Not Matteo.
Dr. Owen noticed.
He asked gently.
She cried.
“What if we were wrong?”
“We verified parentage and identity.”
“I know.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“That she made me doubt the first thing I knew about him.”
There.
Vivienne had not stolen Matteo.
She had stolen certainty for a while.
Owen suggested Elena write the triplets’ birth facts herself.
Not as therapy theater.
As medical grounding.
Lucian:
Born 9:14.
Weight.
Blood type.
Delivery-room photo.
Matteo:
9:16.
Birthmark.
B positive.
Cord sample.
Serafina:
9:19.
A positive.
Then Elena stopped.
“I don’t want them to be evidence.”
Exactly.
So she put the paper away.
That night she held Matteo.
“Matteo.”
Once.
Then again.
“Matteo.”
No scanner.
No chart.
May you like
His name because we named him.
That was enough.
