XI

CHAPTER 11

"That's not her" she stated when she looked at the unconscious fragile body face to face. She ordered her men to send the found body to the nearest hospital, she thought it could be one of the survivors.

She came back to the speed boat and ordered Willam to drive them back to the yacht. "Where the hell are you my love?"

Julia and her aunt, Gretta finally left Italy to go back to L.A. They already bid their goodbyes to the four. The two are now back in L.A. and it is obvious on Gretta's face that she is definitely looking much better. Her hollow face is now back with a glow, staying and spending time with Samantha is like a therapy to her.

"How was your stay there?" Maximus asked her wife after they arrived at their home.

"It was great. Alexis' girl is stunningly beautiful" she told her husband.

She told her the things she did together with the girl, and also showed him the copy of an ultrasound. Maximus smiled seeing the image of the baby growing inside her daughter's girlfriend. To him, he also wants to protect that girl and his grandchild. He failed to protect his missing daughter, so he doesn't want to fail to protect her daughter's family.

He wishes to finally see her back with them and probably marry that woman. Maximus wants to see her daughter marry the mother of her child and have a family, that is his wish. He wishes to see her daughter before his birthday comes.

"What's with that frown?" Dina asked her twin sister who is frowning while signing some papers. They are at their research office, they have a few weeks left to stay there and to come back to the States.

"She obviously misses her fiancee" Rose teased the frowning woman. Donna sent her a dirty finger making everyone laugh at them.

Samantha is also with them, doing light work. She can't stay up late with them, so the three decided to stay by her side simultaneously.

"Stop frowning, you look ugly" Samantha complained while looking at her friend. It annoys her seeing her frowning, she doesn't understand why, "can you please move there" she suggested while pointing at the corner where she cant see her frowning.

The two laugh at Donna, who stomps her feet while walking to the corner side. They have been patient with the pregnant woman, small things annoy her and some smell makes her feel disgusted.

"Did you already call your parents?" Rose asked Samantha who was munching a pickle.

"No I haven't, but I told my aunt and she was happy to know that she will be a grandma. But when she learned that the father is missing, she was angry" Samantha explained with a sigh.

"Didn't you tell her about the accident?" Rose asked curiously which she whipped no.

She told her that she will see her the next afternoon to talk about her getting pregnant and what she is planning to do with the situation. Rose decided to come with her, it has been awhile since she saw Samantha's aunt. She is living in San Marino and that would take them a three hour drive and she couldn't let her pregnant friend travel alone. She had promised Alexis and her family that she would take care of her.

"Are you ready to leave?" Rose asked her while getting the keys. They are now preparing to leave Florence and going to San Marino.

"Yes, let's go" Samantha replied while picking up her phone, "...before I forget. You and you, no fighting while we are away, we will be staying the night there and will be back here tomorrow before lunch" she said while pointing at the twins.

She knows they will quarrel a lot while they are away. They always do that, that is why they always make them separate. One will be with Rose or one will be with her.

They both left and drove their way to San Marino. Samantha is looking out the window and thinking about Alexis once again. When Rose saw her that way she reached for her hand and gave it a soft squeeze. She knows what her friend is thinking about right now, they never left her all by herself for a long time because they worry that she will be sulking and crying so much and as much as they want to let her release her pain by crying they couldn't. It is bad for her and the baby, she can't be stressed or else there's a chance of losing it.

"My baby" a blonde woman hugs Samantha.

"Aunt Merida" Samantha greeted her with a smile.

"Rosalinda, I'm glad to see you too" Merida greeted Rose by her real name and gave her a hug.

She invited the two to get inside and settle their things. She told one of her servants to help them with their bags and guide the two to their room. Rose whispered to Merida to please make her and Samantha stay in the same room and told her the reasons which she agreed.

They left after lunch and arrived at four in the afternoon. When she heard her niece was coming over she made her servant prepare her favorites and some healthy foods for her pregnant niece.

"You shouldn't have prepared this much Auntie" Samantha complained to the food lining up the long table, she counted how many dishes she prepared and its six dishes plus the four sets of desserts and a bowl of fruits. She mentally smacks her forehead for her Auntie's behavior when it comes to food.

"Sammy, you know Aunt Merida when it comes to food" Rose stated making the older woman nod to agree with her.

She invited them to sit down and to eat. She also told her servant to get some for themselves. Samantha smiled at the gesture, she knew her aunt treated them like a family. That's why her servants and employees adore her so much, because of her being genuine and her kindness.

"How do you plan to take care of your baby if its father left you?" Merida curiously asks her niece who she loves dearly.

"Auntie, the father didn't leave Sammy" Rose answered it for her besty.

"Huh? I thought the father was missing just like Adelina said" she turned to look at her  niece who is enjoying the pesto pasta she prepared. "Adelina?" She called her out.

Samantha swallowed the remaining food inside her mouth before answering, "Alexis didn't leave us, she is missing because she was one of those passengers when that plane crashed" Merida's eyes turned soft when she heard it, but she was still confused when her niece said she was.

How can a girl impregnate her niece if they are both women. She looked at her niece looking so confused, "How can another woman impregnate you?"

"Alexis is a female born with a male genitals. The father of my baby is a woman." Samantha explained briefly, making Merida nod in understanding.

She has heard about people born with two sexes. She also has a friend whose child is like that. Speaking of that friend, she hasn't seen her for so long. She mentally reminded to plan a vacation and see her best friend.

The three talk about Samantha's pregnancy and how she is going to tell her family Merida told her that if she needed her to help tell her parents she will be there with her. Samantha appreciates it but declines the offer, she doesn't want to bother her aunt about her situation. Whether her parents agree to keep the baby or not is not up to them to decide, besides she knows Alexis' family is willing to take good care of them if her family is against it.

"I've heard Agatha met someone she likes," Merida asked while they were walking near the coast. Her and Samantha decided to enjoy the beach tonight.

Rose let them spend the time alone to talk privately, she also needed to check on the twins they left at Florence, if they decided to kill each other already or still alive.

"Yeah, she told me about it. She visited me before she came to see you" Samantha stated while looking up at the stars. She remembers her and Alexis stargazing while cuddling. She embraces herself, missing her touch.

Merida sees her niece looking sad, she can tell she misses the girl. "You miss her don't you?" Samantha nodded and sighs, she looked at her aunt with tears running down her cheeks. "Oh my baby" Merida approaches her with a hug, giving her niece a comfort.

She knows how hard it is for her to lose the person she loves and to be pregnant. Samantha cried to her aunt's shoulder releasing her pain and sorrows. Merida let her be, it will make her feel better. They came back almost midnight, Samantha doesn't want to come back to the house yet so they both stay sitting by the sand and enjoy watching and listening to the waves.

The next day Rose and Samantha left at nine in the morning, Samantha woke up late. Merida prepared three baskets full of fruits, vegetables, cheese, honey and jams. When she knew her niece enjoyed her cheese with honey, she made sure to pack a lot.

"Omg too much cheese, it stinks," Donna complained when she helped pick one of the baskets.

Rose gave a warning look.

"I'll shove those blocks of cheese down your throat if I hear more complaints about my cravings.'' Samantha said with a burning aura.

Dina laughing at her shivering sister, the last thing they want is to complain about the food the pregnant woman craved and liked to devour.

While in the Leone's mansion, the family are gathered together. It had been a devastating and tiring week of looking for Alexis' well-being. This time they gathered for good news.

"Everyone please be quiet" Alejandra called out getting everyone's attention.

"You are here today for I have an announcement" everyone listened carefully, once the master of the house talks they need to be attentive and respect her presence. "We will be welcoming one new family member" everyone looks at each other asking one another what does she mean by that.

Someone cleared her throat, "Alexis' is expecting an unborn child with her girlfriend" Alejandra stated making everyone wide eyed, some gasp but one clapping.

"I'm going to be an aunt, yay" Rachel happily exclaimed with happiness. She is glad to know her cousin Alexis will be having a baby. That only meant she needed to protect her child with her absence.

Gretta, Maximus and Julia walk to the front and show them the ultrasound taken when Samantha visited the OB. Everyone passed on the picture one by one, smiling at the little one in the picture.

"I will surely teach him how to pick up ladies" Glenn stated proudly

"How can you tell it's a boy? It's going to be a girl just like me, she will be wearing my dresses" Rachel argues to her older cousin, making everyone laugh at their banter.

Julia shakes her head at how childish her brother is. Suddenly her phone vibrated for a call. She excused herself and answered it.

"How's the investigation going, Paul?" She asked the other line.

"Ma'am there was a body found but it is unrecognizable. We would like to do a DNA test to verify if it is your cousin or not" Paul explained, making her worry and pray that it is not her cousin, Alexis but someone else.

She quickly came beside her uncle and whispered to him about some news. They quickly excuse themselves and get in the car to go where Paul and their other people are waiting.

They didn't tell them about it yet, so they wouldn't worry. Her and Maximus wanted to verify it first before telling them. Julia's phone received a call again, she answered it, "We'll be there in fifteen, uncle Max is here to verify if it's Alexis or not" someone from another line gasped.

"Verify? Alexis?" Samantha's voice asked in another line, Julia's eyes widened. She mentally smacks her face for not looking at the caller ID.

"Sam, please calm down" she tried to calm the crying woman on another line, she heard the others voices calming her and asking what's going on, "we are not sure if it is Alexis yet, so please calm down I will call you back as soon as I can after we verify it" Julia explained.

The trio comforted the pregnant woman, who was crying when she heard Alexis' name.

"You need to be strong Sammy for your baby. Let Julia find it out first, she will call back soon" Rose stated trying to make her friend think clearly not just for herself but for her baby too.

"We need to fly to L.A. asap" Samantha stated seriously. She doesn't care about work anymore. They need to go back to the states a week earlier.

The trio nodded agreeing to her, they also want to know if it is their friend Alexis or not. They are also worried, they hope it is not Alexis' unidentified body, because if it is, Samantha will be so devastated. It is better to know she is missing, but not dead.

Rose and Dina called the organizers about the emergency, they didn't state what is going on, they only explained there's an emergency going on in their hometown and they need to go back there quickly. They all canceled the appointment they have for a week. They also promised to compromise by paying whatever they needed to pay for not finishing their contract with them. Good thing the organizers were understanding that there's an emergency, and because of the four of them they earn tons of money so they let it slip.

The next morning the four left Italy. They waited for Julia to call back but she didn't, she and her uncle Maximus are still waiting for the results to come. They needed to wait for two days to know the results, that is the quickest time to wait, mostly it needed a week or two to get the results of DNA testing.

"We're back America" Donna shouted right after they walked out of the plane, some passengers looking at her strangely.

Dina elbowed her twin sister, embarrassed by her yelling.

"Let's go," Samantha stated, walking out of the place. She wanted to get home as soon as possible, contact Julia and figure out the update about the found body.

Samantha's driver picked them up and brought them to their house. The trio needed to report to Samantha's father, which is their boss. They work under Samantha's wing.

"Welcome back Miss Adelina" one of the maids announced her arrival. When her mother heard that from the living room, she hurriedly walked to the front to welcome her daughter and her friends back.

"Girls! My daughter" Her mother came to hug her daughter, who she misses. She has been away from home for three months. "How was your flight?" She asked the four of them while walking to the living room.

She asked the servant to bring them something to drink, a fine wine and a pitcher of orange juice. The servant handed them a glass of wine, Samantha declining and preferred the orange juice.

Her mom raised a brow, it is unusual for her daughter not to drink wine, it is one of her favorite bottles of wine. She looks at it curiously while she gulps the glass of orange juice.

"It's so unusual for you to decline a fine wine, Adelina," her mom said, still looking at her every move.

"I just don't want to drink it," she answered shortly.

"Anyway I thought you girls are coming back next week, you are a week earlier" she looked at the other girls waiting for them to answer.

"Auntie" Rose called out her attention, making her look at the girl, "...we will leave that for Sammy to answer. Please excuse us" Rose said and nodded at the twins to excuse themselves.

They left and went to the garden where different blossoms of flowers are radiating the area. It is Samantha's flowers, she loves to grow lovely flowers in their garden. Donna called out one of the servants and asked for them to bring lunch, because they are starving. She suggested having a medium rare steak and a mashed potato. It tastes better here in Samantha's place than any other restaurant. Dina and Rose asked to prepare them Mac and Cheese, and steak too.

"Do you think she will tell her mom now?" Dina asked, glancing at the window where they could see the two talking inside.

"For sure," Rose answered, also looking at them inside.

"Auntie will take it in well, I don't know about uncle though" Donna said with a sigh.

They are worried about Samantha's family's reaction when they know she is pregnant and there's no father, not until they find Alexis.

"Is there something wrong, Adelina?" Her mom asked Samantha who is now holding her stomach trying to grasp strength.

"I can't drink wine ma, because I'm pregnant" her mom gasped in shock. She did not expect that her daughter was carrying a human being inside her.

"You're pregnant?" they whipped their heads to where the voice came from.