Beneath Her Bastard Boss

Chapter 145

Nick stood just outside the NICU, staring through the glass. Luca was beside him, one hand lightly resting on his father’s back.

Sutton watched from inside the room, already scrubbed, her gown tied behind her back. She’d been sitting beside Miles for nearly an hour, skin to skin, his impossibly small head tucked beneath her chin, listening to the slow, steady rhythm of his breath. Her son. Her sweet miracle.noveldrama

A nurse gave the signal and waved them in.

Luca pushed the door open, and Nick followed him in slowly, cautious courtesy in every footstep. His cane tapped lightly on the vinyl floor

The room was kept warm and dim for the babies. Monitors beeped softly, a mechanical heartbeat winding through wires and plastic tubing. Miles stirred gently in Sutton’s arms but didn’t wake.

Nick stopped a few feet away, clearly unsure of the space.

Sutton looked up and smiled. “He’s fragile,” she said quietly. “And he is small… But Luca will tell you he is a fighter.”

That made Nick smile faintly, eyes crinkling.

Luca crossed the room and gently helped him into a padded chair near Sutton’s. Not too close, but close enough.

For a moment, he just watched.

Miles’s face was still pink and a little wrinkled, like a face he hadn’t quite grown into. With his tiny fist resting against Sutton’s collarbone, he had the longest fingers. She adjusted the blanket around his back and murmured something to Miles. It was something she found she did a lot. Just talk to him. Her voice seemed to soothe him.

Then, she looked at Nick again.

“Want to say hello?”

Nick hesitated for a moment before he nodded.

Sutton adjusted Miles carefully and leaned toward him. Her arms moved gently until her hands brushed Nick’s, guiding them beneath the baby’s head, helping him cradle his grandson.

Nick’s eyes widened the second his hands accepted the bundle.

It wasn’t much. Miles barely weighed anything.

She could see he had practice with babies… but she doubted he’d held one this small.

Nick said nothing. He just looked at the boy in his arms.

Sutton brushed her fingers under Miles’s hat, her voice low. “This is your Nonno, sweetheart.”

Nick swallowed hard. “He’s so light.”

“He’ll grow,” Luca said softly behind them. “Like strong men do. He just got a head start. The doctors are not concerned about his ability to feed, and his lungs are still developing; that’s why he still has the tube.”

After a long moment, Nick glanced at Sutton. “You named him Miles.”

She nodded once before grinning. “At first it was a joke. But it felt right. To remind us this is a journey. Not a detour.”

Nick looked down again, his thumb brushing slowly over the edge of Miles’s fisted hand.

1/3

“He looks like Luca did, but smaller. With the size of Luca at birth, maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t go full term,” he murmured. “Except the mouth. That’s yours.”

Sutton blinked quickly.

Miles shifted in his arms, just slightly. Sutton guessed he was reacting to Nick’s deep voice.

After another moment, he glanced toward Sutton and said, “You two. When do you plan on getting married?”

She blinked, then gave a soft laugh. “Bold question from someone who didn’t want it to happen a few months ago.”

Nick arched a brow. “I’m old, I can be as bold as I like.”

Sutton smiled, but then her gaze dropped to her baby, still nestled against Nick. “After. After Miles comes home.”

Nick tilted his head. “Why wait?”

“Because he’s part of this,” she said simply. “I don’t want a ceremony where our son is still in the hospital. There’s time for a celebration when we’re all standing under the same roof, and I will not be getting married in a hospital.”

Nick nodded once… seeing that she would not change her mind.

A nurse checked her watch behind the curtain and leaned over to whisper. “We’ll need to return him to the isolette soon.”

Sutton understood. Miles tired quickly, even when he seemed peaceful and his feeding schedule was tight. With a gentle hand, she slid her arms beneath Nick’s palms and carefully lifted her son back into her chest.

As Sutton tucked Miles into the heated nest and double–checked his tubing, Nick grunted softly as he stood to watch. Luca stepped forward on cue, offering his arm without comment. Nick took it.

“I hate to be the one to ruin the moment,” Luca said quietly, “but you’re already pale and pretending you’re not exhausted. Don’t make me play nurse.”

Nick gave one last look toward the incubator before letting Luca guide him gently out.

“I will see you later, daughter.”

Sutton remained beside the bed for a while longer, stroking her son’s back through the incubator’s porthole, watching him drift into sleep. She whispered something only he could hear, kissed her palm, and held it above his blanket.

Then she joined Luca outside. He had come back for her after dropping off his father.

They walked the hallway in silence for a time, heading back toward her room.

Once they reached her room, Sutton sat on the edge of the bed. She was looking forward to getting out of the hospital but, on the other hand, hated the thought of leaving Miles.

She watched Luca as he made sure she had everything she needed on her bedside table. “Your dad seems to have come around.”

“It’s because of you,” Luca admitted. “Once he saw Miles, it was like… everything else didn’t matter. He would have wanted us married before Miles was born, but he had his own timetable.”

Sutton nodded slowly. “That’s what babies do. They make everything else small.”

Luca walked toward her slowly now, his expression gentler than usual.

He didn’t crowd her, just leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets.

I was going to wait,” he said.

09:22 Sat, 26 Jul G

Sutton tilted her head softly. “Wait for what?”

He took a breath.

“For you to come home,” he said simply. “With me.”

Her heart skipped.

Luca held her gaze. “I want you with me… not me under one roof and you under another. I want my home to be yours. Ours. You, me, and Miles. As soon as they clear you. And then when he’s ready, we’ll bring him into it.”

Sutton just watched him.

Emotions filled her – hope and relief… and the faintest undercurrent of fear, only because life had warned her to be cautious with good things. But after a moment, she batted it away. Luca had more than proved himself.

“Are you sure?” she asked quietly.

Luca moved toward her, placing his hands on either side of her thighs.

He looked at her.

“I’ve never been more sure. I want you to be with me. We’re only whole together.”

Her eyes burned. “I want that too.”