They reached the hospital minutes later, Lisa breathing heavily on the gurney. The EMTs took her straight to the delivery floor, where a doctor and several nurses began to check her vital signs and assess how advanced her labor was. Lisa’s eyes were panicked, filling with tears at every surge of pain, and she squeezed onto Francesco’s hand for dear life—scarcely able to believe that he was there, beside her.

“It hurts so much,” she whispered, as a nurse rushed from the room, on the hunt for a specialist. “It feels like something’s a little off. I don’t know. I feel like such a wimp.” She laughed weakly, but soon devolved to tears. “Damn. I used to be such a strong woman, when you met me. Now, I’m a sweating, weepy ball of sadness.”

“Shh,” Francesco said, trying to hide the fear in his eyes. “Don’t talk like that. These babies are going to grow up knowing that you’re the strongest, most wonderful woman in the world—and that even me, a prince, couldn’t hide my love for you.”

“Now you’re getting cocky, Prince Charming,” Lisa teased, still clenching her teeth. “I don’t know how much longer I can stand it,” she muttered.

Another specialist raced in, then. He knelt down, speaking to Lisa in soft tones. “Hi, Lisa. I wanted to tell you that I’ve consulted with the other doctors, and we’ve decided to perform a C-section to get these babies out in the fastest, safest way possible. We’re going to move you to surgery immediately and get this rolling. You’re about to be a mother.”

Lisa’s eyes grew wide, but she nodded calmly, knowing that this was the path to healthy babies, and that she had to be brave. She felt the bed wheel down the hallway, then. And soon, as the anesthetic took effect, she allowed herself to devolve from consciousness.

* * *

Before she knew it, Lisa was back, blinking awake in a brightly-lit room, a massive weight lifted from her stomach, a seemingly unending amount of fatigue in her arms, legs, and heart.

Then, she saw the babies, all tucked away in white blankets in three cradles beside the bed, sleeping. Two of them wore blue bonnets, and one wore pink, and the sight of their olive skin, perfect eyes and tiny fingers nearly broke her in two.

Francesco appeared, then, wearing scrubs. A nurse was with him, smiling brightly. “Hello, Lisa,” she said. “Do you want to meet your babies?”

Lisa nodded, tears leaking from her eyes. She felt sheer delight at being handed two babies, a boy and a girl, as Francesco accepted the second boy. The nurse bowed her head, sensing that they needed some space. “I’ll leave you two alone. And know that the paparazzi downstairs don’t have a chance of getting up here. Our security guards are top-notch.” She winked, and then spun around, her sneakers squeaking as she marched down the hallway.

Lisa and Francesco shared an intimate look with each other before allowing their eyes to dive back down to their babies. The babies slept calmly, making contented breathing noises.

“I can’t believe they’re all okay,” Lisa whispered. “I was so panicked on the way here. I thought maybe all the stress, and the moving around I did had hurt them. I felt like the worst mother in the world.”

“I knew you’d pull through, Lisa,” Francesco breathed. “It seems like you always do. No matter what.”

Lisa eyed him tentatively, then, noting the way he tapped his finger ever-so-slightly against his son’s nose. This must have been an endless whirlwind for him. Just the previous day, he’d been enduring the rehearsal of his wedding to a princess. He’d thought that the map of his life had been plotted.

Now, the questions came swiftly to Lisa’s mind, bringing with them fresh fears for the future. She cleared her throat, knowing she couldn’t remain in the dark for long. There, holding their three children between them, she knew the rest of her life hinged upon the next few moments.

“Francesco. I need to ask you something,” she whispered.

“What is it?”

“I wondered if—if we have a future together, the five of us?” Her eyelashes fluttered. She shifted the babies slightly, her shoulder blades pushing into the pillow behind her. “I need to know, because, if not, I need to go back to Detroit. Don’t feel any pressure. I know it’s been a strange time for you. And I’ve had eight months to prepare for this conversation.” She swallowed, sensing they were dipping into awkward territory.

Francesco didn’t speak for a long time. He slid his hand over the baby boy’s head, gazing at the softness of his features. “We have a future together, Lisa,” he murmured, finally. “I can’t imagine any other future right now, now that I hold our son in my arms. And I know that the five of us will stay together, forever.”

Lisa grinned brightly, relief washing over her. She hesitated, sensing he had more to say.

“I’m so, so sorry, Lisa,” Francesco said, his voice cracking slightly. “You must have felt so alone, so frightened, all these months. It can’t have been easy.”

“It wasn’t,” Lisa whispered. “When I found out I was pregnant, I wanted you to be there, every step of the way. But when I couldn’t speak to you, when I thought you knew about the baby but were ignoring me, my sadness was eclipsed by anger.”

“Of course,” Francesco agreed, placing a tender kiss upon her forehead. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. But now that I am, I’ll spend the rest of my days trying to make it up to you, and to our children. The three of them.”

Lisa leaned toward him, then. Francesco’s eyes filled with emotion, and he placed his lips on hers in a long overdue, passionate kiss, that seemed to throttle through her, filling her with intense love, and resolution.

The moment the kiss broke, one of the boy babies’ eyes opened wide, showing bright blues, like Lisa’s.

Lisa’s smile stretched wide. “What should we name them?”

“We haven’t had time to think about it, have we?” Francesco laughed. “We haven’t had time to talk about anything.”

“But we can’t let them live without names for so long,” Lisa said, sighing. “They need identities in this mad world.”

“But good identities,” he affirmed. “Identities that will stand up in the Kingdom of Aluzzi, which also link to your world, back in Detroit.”

The couple thought for a moment. Lisa eyed the baby whose bright blues scanned the room’s horizon, searching for some sign of the world, but finding nothing but plastic and plaster.

“Oscar,” she said then, nodding her head toward him. “I think he looks like an Oscar.”

“Prince Oscar,” Francesco said, tilting his head toward the cooing baby. “I think that has a ring to it. Don’t you?”

“Of course,” Lisa said, smiling. “The world is his, now.”

“And it’s also Fiona’s world,” Francesco said, nodding toward the little girl.

“Fiona?” Lisa breathed. “I love that. I can’t tell you how much I do.”

“And what about this little guy?” Francesco asked, looking stumped. A small wrinkle formed between his eyebrows. “Something of the caliber of Fiona and Oscar. Wouldn’t you say?”

“Something from your world,” Lisa said, her eyelashes fluttering. “Something Aluzzian. Something strong.”

Francesco nodded, pausing for several long moments, during which he seemed to race through every name he’d ever known, growing up.

“Something with a bit of personality from both of us,” he decided, then. “Eduardo. It was my uncle’s name—a man with incredible bravery, who died in battle. And we can call him Eddie. Which suits your world rather well, now, doesn’t it?”

Lisa agreed, beaming. She slipped her fingers across her babies’ cheeks, inhaling their warm smells, and then kissed them all goodnight as they drifted back to sleep. “Fiona. Oscar. And Eduardo,” she said, scarcely able to believe it. “Two princes, and a princess. They’re already spoiled.”

“Don’t forget about yourself,” the Prince said then, his eyebrows high.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll be a princess, too, you know.”

“How’s that?” Lisa asked, wanting to laugh at the absurdity of it all. “I’m no princess. I’m from blue-collar Detroit.”

“And you will be my wife,” Francesco said, his gaze intense. “If you’ll have me.”

Lisa’s breath caught in her throat. She nodded quickly, tears forming in her eyes, until he kissed her, sealing her yes. She leaned heavily into the pillow, watching as Francesco planted each baby into his or her cradle, before joining beside her on the white sheets and cuddling her until she fell asleep.

The world was a raucous, strange place. But there, tucked away in the Upper West Side hospital, surrounded by her new family, Lisa felt utterly serene. For the first time in her entire life, she felt peace.