It was too much, too much, but Rosa was chanting in her ear, reminding her of how strong she was, and she held her breath and pushed until she was dizzy. The pain grew and grew and then, in the space between one gasp and the next, it was gone and a baby began to cry. Her baby.

“It’s a girl,” Rosa wept, and for a moment Nina was certain that something was wrong. But Rosa was smiling beneath her tears, and her voice was joyful.

“She’s healthy and strong,” Romilda said. “I’ll weigh her in a bit but she looks to be a good size. Here she is, and while you’re busy admiring her I’ll help you pass the afterbirth.”

Romilda set the baby on Nina’s chest and covered them both with the neglected sheet, and in that moment, seeing her daughter’s face for the first time, Nina was transported. She was in love.

“See if you can get her to suckle,” the midwife suggested. “She’ll want to sleep soon—you both will—but it’ll do you both good if she can get some early milk from you.”

It was a challenge to get the baby to latch on, but with a little help from Romilda, and some frustration on the part of both mother and child, the baby began to nurse. Her greedy mouth was surprisingly painful, but it was nothing compared to what had gone before. No amount of pain mattered, not when she could hold Nico’s daughter in her arms.

“He wanted to call her Lucia,” she now told Rosa. “And I thought we could add Anna as a second name. For your mother.”

“What do you think?” she asked the baby. “Do you want to be called Lucia?”

But Lucia had fallen asleep, her mouth slack against Nina’s nipple, and Romilda now took her and washed her and wrapped her up in the same soft blanket that, Rosa now explained, had been used for all the Gerardi children. “There,” she said, returning Lucia to Nina’s waiting arms. “Now you both need to sleep.”

“Won’t the children wish to see her?”

Rosa was doubtful. “Aren’t you too tired?”

“I don’t mind staying awake a little longer. Especially if it will give them a happy memory to set against yesterday.”

Rosa nodded and slipped from the room, only to return moments later with Carlo, Angela, and Agnese. Their faces were wan and fearful and still stained with tears, but each of them managed a smile for Nina and the baby.

“I hope I didn’t frighten you,” Nina said as they gathered around her. “Did I make a lot of noise?”

“Hardly any,” Agnese said. “Papà told us you were being very brave.”

“I’m not so sure about that. I only did what Romilda and Rosa told me to do.”

“Can we see her?” Carlo asked.