Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“Almost,” Mom said and rolled her eyes. “I like the number four.”
“How many do you want?” Inessa asked me, nosy as always.
“Maybe four.”
“I thought a Trevisan trio was what we were going for?” Maximus exchanged an amused look with Dad, who shrugged.
“Cancio women get what they want.”
I smiled, content in the knowledge that Maximus wouldn’t mind four.
The next day, Isabella came over for a visit, which made me particularly happy since I worried that friendships would be harder to maintain now that I was a mom, especially since my friends didn’t have kids yet.
“And people call me dramatic,” Isa said with a smile as she entered our apartment. “But I would never give birth in a forest.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t plan for that to happen.”
“Well, it will be a story that’ll make the rounds.”
“Not the first time I get caught in the rumor mill,” I muttered. But I didn’t feel bitter anymore. Right at this moment, I saw things from a new perspective and my priorities had shifted.
Isa bent over Ambra and stroked her dark hair with a finger. “She’s really cute. Almost makes me want to have one of my own.” At my shocked expression, she added, “One day in the distant future.”
“Is there someone who might become the father?” I asked, not even trying not to be nosy. Maximus had gone into the kitchen to give Isa and me some time to talk. Her bodyguards waited in the hallway. There was nobody to overhear us, and Maximus wouldn’t care anyway.
Isa wasn’t promised, and she’d never shown any obvious interest in anyone. For a while, I’d been convinced that she was into girls, but she insisted that wasn’t the case. She was always very close-lipped when the topic came up.
Isa let out a sarcastic laugh. “Not even close. Maybe I’ll just rock the single mom gig. I’ll use a sperm donor, so Dad won’t have reason to kill anyone.”
“That would give you the prime spot in the rumor mill.”
“It’s what people expect from me, considering who’s my mom. So why should I disappoint them?”
“Do what makes you happy.”
She blew out a breath. “Happiness is overrated.”
Ambra let out a little mewl and smacked her lips, a clear sign. I pulled down my shirt, and she latched on.
“I’d never thought I’d see your boob, so maybe I should be willing to expect the unexpected. You never know.”
I giggled. If that was true for anyone, it was true for Isa.
I was familiar with sleepless nights. In my life before Sara because of parties or work, in the beginning of my life with Sara because of nightmares, hers and mine, and now?
A tiny human who ruled over our life with a minuscule iron fist.
I rocked Ambra in my arms so Sara could catch a few hours of sleep after having breastfed Ambra. Our little girl didn’t take a pacifier or the bottle, so most of the work rested on Sara, but I tried to give her small moments of rest like this. I loved holding Ambra in my arms, even if her crying tore at me, but now she was asleep against my chest, making small smacking sounds.
Bacon gave me a reproachful look from his dog bed in the living room because I’d woken him at three a.m.
“Sorry, bud. I’d rather be sleeping too.” Bacon had lived with us since he’d saved Sara from the Russian attackers. They had formed a special bond, so even though he wasn’t a city dog, he spent most of the time with us.
I had started looking for houses to buy. I wanted Ambra to have a yard to play, but the options were limited in our neighborhood.
I hummed a tune my mother had often sung for Primo and me as kids. I didn’t even remember the lyrics, just the soothing melody.
I didn’t notice Sara in the doorway until she began to sing softly. “Twinkle, twinkle, little star…”
Now I remembered the lyrics, but I still didn’t sing along.
Sara came toward me slowly.
“You should sleep.”
She shrugged as she stopped beside me and gazed lovingly from Ambra to me. “I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. It’s time for her next meal. My body can feel it.”
Outside, the sound of sirens made Bacon perk up. There was always a siren somewhere, and it made him nervous.
“I have been thinking…why don’t we build a house somewhere on your parents’ land? There’s enough room.”
Surprise filled me. “But what about your family? You’ll be farther away from them.” I knew how important her family was to Sara, and since giving birth, Liliana had helped Sara on a daily basis.
“Only forty minutes tops. You and Ambra are now my main focus, and it’s best for us as a family to move out of the city. Bacon will be happier there too. I won’t need as much support once Ambra is a bit older.”