The birth of a daughter.
Twenty-four years ago
A young woman is in the hospital, and she is giving birth to her twins, number four and five. The woman breaks down in tears when the doctor puts both children in her arms.
“Mrs. Lamberti, what’s wrong?” the doctor asks. He has also brought her other three children into the world and is a good family friend.
“Rossi, you have to take the girl with you.” She cries to the doctor.
“What?” he asks, confused.
“You have to take her with you. She can’t stay here. I can’t have her.” The woman starts crying louder.
“Leonora, why not? Vito is pleased to know that you gave birth to a daughter. He always wanted one.”
“You have to tell him that you couldn’t save her and please take her away. I don’t want my daughter to have this life; she deserves a better life. I don’t want her to grow up in fear. Girls are so much more vulnerable.” She cries.
Doctor Rossi asks her again if she is sure, and the woman nods.
“What’s her name?” he asks, and she smiles at the girl as she hands her to Doctor Rossi.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, I’m so sorry, my little princess..” She says softly.
“Leonora, her name? Vito is on his way.” The doctor asks again. The woman looks up.
“Valentina.” She sighs
“Valentina Catharina Leonora.” She adds.
“I’ll take care of it if you ever...” the doctor starts, but the woman shakes her head,
“Go quickly before Vito is here,” she pleads, and crying, she hugs her newborn son Valerio, Valentina’s twin.
“I’m sorry you’re alone now, but she’s vulnerable. She deserves a better life than what I had. You are a strong boy,” she tells him.
“I’m sorry your dad isn’t here. He is fighting with some evil man.” Leonora hates their world and wishes she had never married Vito. But her dad and Vito’s dad made the deal. Her destiny is the same as that of all of her children. Vito will choose who the boys will marry, and she must agree.
The doctor walks with the newborn baby girl in his arms to the hospital exit, where he meets Mr. Ferrante.
“Ah, Doctor Rossi!” Roberto Ferrante speaks to him. That makes the doctor stop.
“I’ll look at your wife and your son in a moment. I have to bring this baby girl away first.” The doctor nods at Roberto, another very good family friend.
He has just become the father of a son for the fourth time, and he could not be prouder. Together with his three sons, he stops at the doctor.
“A girl?” he asks the doctor, who nods.
“Valentina.” Answers the doctor, and Roberto nods approvingly.
“Beautiful name. See you in a bit, doctor.” He feels his second-oldest son pulling on his leg.
“Come here, Christiano.” He says as he lifts his son.
“Come, son.” He tells his eldest son Riccardo, who is six and can walk well with his father, who lifts his two younger brothers.
When he walks with his three sons to his wife’s room, he hears another woman crying, and he hears the voice of someone who was once his friend, the man he was arguing with just a couple of hours ago. Vito Lamberti.
His brother Matteo is with Roberto, and he gives the two youngest children to Matteo.
“Here, tell her I’m coming.” Roberto talks sternly. Matteo takes the children and enters the room where Roberto’s wife is staying.
Roberto focuses on the voices and stands still when he hears the man’s voice again.
“AND WHERE THE HELL IS SHE NOW LEO?” Vito is angry with his wife. Leonora cries.
“She didn’t make it, Vito. I’m sorry,” she cries. Roberto carefully looks around and in the room.
“What do you mean she didn’t make it?”
“Like I said, Vito, she was too weak. She didn’t make it. Rossi tried, but she was too weak,” Leonora tells him again.
Vito shakes his head.
“It’s better this way.” the woman cries.
Huh? Roberto keeps listening, which is totally inappropriate. But curiosity wins.
“A girl doesn’t fit into your dangerous world.” She starts,
“Your constant fighting with Ferrante, the constant pressure, the fighting, the threats, it’s better this way.” Her voice is soft, and Roberto sees Vito hugging his wife.
“What was her name?” He hears Vito asking as Roberto turns away.
“Valentina.”
Roberto stops walking.
“Valentina..” Roberto repeats the name in a whisper. The girl in Rossi’s arms is also called Valentina… She did make it. He quickly texts one of his men to give him more information on that matter.
Shaking his head, he quickly walks into his own wife’s room.
“Bianca, Bella Bianca.” He says to her and kisses her.
Then, he admires his newborn son.
When they are finally allowed to go home that night, and his wife rests against him in bed, he hears her cry softly.
“What’s wrong, my Bella Bianca?” he asks, and the woman looks up guilty.
“Ow Roberto, I shouldn’t be so ungrateful, but I would have loved to have had a daughter.” Her voice is broken and sad, and Roberto thinks. Another pregnancy is no guarantee of a daughter. He sits up straight.
“What if I know a way for you to have a daughter?” he asks. Bianca’s eyes light up.
“How?” she asks.
“I saw Rossi leave the hospital today with a newly born girl. Her parents didn’t want her.”
Bianca hesitates but thinks out loud.
“If Rossi is their doctor, they must be good people.” She hesitates, but Roberto nods.
He won’t tell her it’s Vito and Leonora’s daughter. He knows that the women still speak to each other secretly.
They were best friends first, and everyone knew each other from the past. Now, everything is complicated, and contact is not allowed. They fight for power and rights.
This is his secret, and he plans to take it with him to his grave.
“But how does that work?” asks his wife.
The following day, Roberto and Bianca drive with Doctor Rossi to an address on the other side of town. A lovely older woman opens the door and welcomes the three of them.
The doctor walks with the woman in front of the room where the little girl sleeps in her crib.
The couple follows the two, and when Bianca takes the little girl in her arms, she is in love.
Roberto is still deciding whether to do this. At first, he only thought of revenge, but he now sees how happy his wife is. She could never harm the girl, so he couldn’t either.
On the other hand, Vito never knows that his wife has given up his only daughter, who was raised by his arch-enemy and will love the Ferrantes more than Lamberti.
Maybe that’s better revenge.
“Does she already have a name?” asks Bianca to the woman of the orphanage.
“Valentina.” answers the woman. Roberto nods to his wife.
Bianca looks in love with the little girl.
“Valentina,” she looks up at her husband, who puts an arm around her.
“Beautiful.” He tells his wife.
She nods.
The doctor fills in all the details with Roberto and examines the girl again before he finally puts her in Bianca’s arms to leave. Roberto helps Bianca in the car with the girl in her arms.
“Roberto!” The doctor stops him and gives him an envelope with several documents.
“She has a new birth certificate,” he says, and Roberto takes the two cards out of the envelope.
“She got the same date as Lorenzo. They are now registered as twins,” the doctor informs Roberto, and Roberto nods.
“Twins.”
“Her old documents are also in it, like her bracelet.” The doctor continues, and Roberto takes the small gold bracelet with the green heart, the family symbol of the Lamberti, out of the envelope to study it and puts it back in.
“When she’s old enough not to be able to wear this anymore, I’ll give her this one.” He tells the doctor, who nods.
“We have a deal?” asks Roberto Ferrante to Doctor Rossi, who nods.
Roberto hands him a large envelope. The doctor nods again while he takes his payment, and the two say their goodbyes.
At home, Bianca puts her girl in the same crib as Lorenzo, and Valentina immediately turns to Lorenzo, but he turns away from her. Bianca looks at Roberto, and he puts an arm around her.
“Valentina is one of the twins. Her brother didn’t make it.” He lies to her, and she nods.
“Il Nostro Tesoro (our treasure), look how sweet she is to Lorenzo,” Bianca says. She sees Valentina take Lorenzo’s finger and lie quietly.
“But mom? Why are there suddenly two?” Riccardo asks his mother while leaning over the crib.
“Mamma got twins,” Roberto tells his sons, and Riccardo, the oldest, frowns.
“I don’t want a sister.” He sighs and looks away from the crib.
His little brother Christiano can’t get away from the crib.
“I do.” He smiles at the newborn girl.
His mother, Bianca, couldn’t be more proud of her boys and her little girl.
The birth announcements are printed again. After several parties and several good conversations, everyone knows that Bianca and Roberto Ferrante have twins, Lorenzo and Valentina.
The news also reaches the Lamberti family, which causes Leonora to suffer from depression; Vito is furious that Roberto gives his daughter the same name as the daughter he lost, and again, the families no longer speak to each other.
