CHAPTER 14: A STAR IS BORN
July–September 2000 – Manila & Tagaytay
The world held its breath.
Three months after the Rivera wedding stopped the nation, speculation turned toward the next big moment: the baby.
Tabloids had a field day. TV hosts speculated endlessly. Online forums buzzed with polls: "Team Boy or Team Girl?"
Fans debated names, created edits of what the child would look like, and posted throwback clips of Bella and Enzo's first on-screen kiss with captions like "Their love gave us life. Now they're giving us a baby!"
And yet, Bella and Enzo stayed quiet.
Not because they were hiding. But because they were savoring.
A Home Nesting
Their home in Quezon City, once modern and minimalist, now bloomed with pastel colors, baby books, and scattered shopping bags filled with onesies and feeding bottles. The nursery had taken over the guest room. Bella painted a mural on one wall: a tree, sky-blue with cotton clouds, and a paper airplane soaring between branches.
Enzo peeked in one morning while she was crouched with a paintbrush.
"I love seeing you like this," he said softly.
"Like what?" she asked, wiping a streak of white from her cheek.
"Peaceful. Like you're building the world you've always deserved."
She smiled. "We're building it together."
The Name Game
Naming their baby turned out to be harder than writing film dialogue.
Enzo wanted something meaningful. Bella wanted something lyrical.
"Luna," she said one night, flipping through a baby name book. "It means moon."
"And if it's a boy?" he asked.
"Luno," she teased. "The masculine moon?"
He laughed. "Sounds like a spell."
They made lists. Crumpled papers. Argued playfully.
"How about Isandro?" he offered one night. "Strong. And we can call him 'Sandro'."
"Mmm. I like it." She leaned into him. "What if it's a girl?"
He paused, then whispered, "Amara."
Bella blinked. "Where did that come from?"
"My dream. I saw you holding her. You called her Amara."
They sat in silence for a long time, letting the name settle between them.
The Gender Guessing Game
Every family gathering became a guessing match.
Elena Santiago swore it was a girl. "The way you're carrying the baby—so high! It's definitely a girl."
Vicente argued otherwise. "The baby's giving Bella that pregnancy glow. That's a boy's charm."
Enzo's mom brought a needle and thread, performing an old wives' test. "If it swings in circles, it's a girl."
It did.
Two minutes later, it swung back and forth.
They all laughed.
"I guess we'll wait for the truth," Bella said, her hand resting protectively over her belly.
Only Enzo knew they had secretly asked the doctor to write the gender on a card sealed in an envelope.
But they still hadn't opened it.
"We'll know when we meet them," Enzo said one night, staring at the envelope. "Some surprises deserve to stay magical."
Preparing for Birth
In August, they took prenatal classes at a private birthing center in Tagaytay, where they could stay out of the spotlight. There, they learned breathing techniques, how to change diapers, and what contractions felt like.
Bella practiced slow, rhythmic breaths while Enzo massaged her back with a tennis ball.
"You know," she groaned mid-practice, "this feels more intense than our training montage in Hearts on Fire."
He chuckled. "At least you didn't have to run uphill in a gown this time."
They stayed at a nearby resthouse for two weeks. It became their bubble.
They walked barefoot in the garden, picked fresh calamansi, and shared late-night tsokolate while counting baby kicks.
A Stormy Night
On September 11th, the rain poured nonstop over Manila.
Enzo and Bella had just gone to bed when she suddenly gripped his arm.
"Enzo," she whispered.
He was up in seconds. "What is it?"
She looked at him, wide-eyed. "My water just broke."
His brain short-circuited.
"No scripts. No fake contractions. This is real?"
She nodded, laughing through the nerves. "It's showtime."
They rushed to the birthing center—umbrellas, bags, baby carrier, the sealed gender envelope (just in case), and one very flustered soon-to-be father who left his shoes mismatched.
Labor and Love
Hours passed in a blur.
Enzo held her hand through every contraction, kissed her damp forehead, whispered encouragement.
"You're doing amazing, Bella. Just breathe. I'm here. I'm not leaving."
She gritted through the pain, every nerve alight, her strength pulled from places she didn't know existed.
When the baby finally arrived—pink, wailing, alive—there were no lights, no cameras.
Just the sound of new life.
"Congratulations," the doctor said gently. "It's a girl."
Enzo's knees buckled as he laughed and cried at once.
"A girl," he whispered. "Amara. Our Amara."
Introducing Amara Rivera
They kept the announcement private for three days.
Just them. Family. Friends. No press.
Bella sat in a rocking chair, baby Amara asleep against her chest. Enzo sat at her feet, holding their daughter's tiny foot between his fingers, in awe.
"She has your lips," Bella said.
"She has your stubbornness," Enzo teased.
They both laughed, exhausted but radiant.
"Do you realize?" Bella murmured. "Our love... made this."
Enzo leaned in, touching his forehead to hers. "And she's going to know what love looks like. Every single day."