Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 73250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Right then, I looked at my sister and was surprised by what I discovered. Was this really the same person I was petrified of making upset? Why did I ever to go the lengths I did to keep her happy, at the sacrifice of my own?
A stunning realization came to front.
Mildly put, Vincenza wasn’t the center of my universe anymore. I didn’t care what she wanted. She was no longer my priority. And I wondered why that was.
Only one thing came to mind.
With Ettore, I didn’t feel alone anymore.
Standing a few feet away from her, I uttered evenly, “I need to start cooking. You’re welcome to stay for dinner.” And just to make myself abundantly clear, I added, “Meet the kids.”
She blinked at me a long moment before her stare turned cold and deadly. “No. I don’t think I will.” I followed my sister to the front door where I handed her back the coat I hadn’t relinquished. She looked at me then in a different way, as if noticing something she hadn’t seen before. The tension surrounding us built to force that threatened to crush me, and just before she left, her entire demeanor changed. My brow furrowed at how easily she transformed. Her easy smile came closer and then she was kissing my cheek. She then placed something in my hand and curled my fingers around it. “Look over these, will you?” As she walked out, she called back, “Oh, and I need it by morning.”
She got into her car and drove away with a pleasant wave, and I peered down at what she slid into my hand.
The USB carried an impossible weight and my shoulders drooped. She was so good at getting her way that she made it look like an artform. With a sighed, “Godammit,” I shut the door and got started on dinner knowing I wouldn’t be getting a wink of sleep tonight.
Ettore
Things didn’t always go to plan and sometimes, an hour of work turned into five hours, three lengthy phone calls and enough paperwork to flatten a fucking field.
Looking at what I had in front of me, I suppose I had neglected more than I originally thought.
When Vittoria knocked on my office door hours ago, I responded with a curt, “What?” but was immediately put in my place when she pushed open the door, standing by it with a small smile, as my two terrors ran in, already bathed and dressed in their pajamas, ready for bed.
I took a moment, hugging and kissing them both, making sure to give them enough of me that they never felt like a burden. And when I stood to walk them to bed, my heart both warmed and cooled at the sight of Vittoria moving forward and the boys taking her hands without hesitancy. “It’s okay. I’ll take them.”
“You don’t even know where their room is.”
Why was I fighting this? It was a good thing, wasn’t it?
Her easy, “They’ll show me,” had my lips thinning. And then it hit me why I was feeling so sore.
After their mom died, I took on the role of both mother and father. I fed them. I did the bathing. I dressed them and put them to bed. And now, I watched my boys hold the hand of a veritable stranger so comfortably. It was as if I wasn’t required anymore. Like I was utterly expendable.
Talk about a solid kick to the nuts.
But as I looked at my young wife, I had to remind myself that she was only trying to help. She had first hand experience on the single father gig. She knew how hard it was. After her mother died, her father had been her sole parent. Like me, I was sure he did the best he could to make sure his little girl never felt like she went without.
And as I glanced at my sons, my chest grew taut.
Her father was all she had, and I had taken that from her.
Immediately humbled, I moved, not stopping until I was directly in front of her. She looked up at me and when I peered down at her, I felt warmth spread around my middle. I leant down to press a chaste kiss to her forehead. “Thanks,” and was immediately rewarded with that honey sweet smile I loved so much and suddenly, those intrusive thoughts fled.
Now, as I hunched over my desk unable to see clearly anymore, a quick glance at my wristwatch told me why. It was past two in the morning. With a long, drawn-out breath, I got up, leaving my jacket and tie behind and decided to sneak into bed with my sleeping wife.
Only, my sleeping wife wasn’t there. And so began my search. It didn’t take long to find her. Vittoria sat upright on one sofa with the laptop I’d bought her resting on her thighs and she was typing a mile a minute. In fact, she hadn’t even noticed my approach. But what surprised me was that she wasn’t alone. Sleeping on the sofa across from her was Ella and it looked as though she’d been asleep for some time.