Of volume lineage

I stretched out like a cat full of cream. “I’ve got her, I’ve got her.” I let out a yawn but still managed to pull myself up into a sitting position.

“You got her last night,” he said, voice rough with exhaustion.

I slipped off the bed, shoving my feet into slippers despite the heat. “You’ve got an early meeting tomorrow. I’ve got her.”

Marzia let out another cry.

Giova

“You didn’t sleep at all last night.” He glanced at the clock. 4:06 am. “My meetings in a few hours. I can stay awake.”

I shook my head. Giova

“Go back to bed. I’m already up.”

He relented, collapsing back into the bed. “Bring her in here if you want. It’s the only way I’m going to be able to sleep.”

I nodded, stumbling out the door and into the hallway. The sudden light made my eyes warp and I groaned. I loved Marzia but sleep deprivation was no joke. I thought the benefit of having a stepchild who was older was that I got to skip the sleepless nights. Frankly, that was proving not to be true.

When I reached Marzia’s room, she was up in her bed, blanket pulled to her chin. Her eyes were as round as saucers, her lips quivering. My heart broke and I all but ran over to her.

“Isabella?” She whispered.

I turned on the lamp and sat beside her on the bed. She leaned into my chest, letting me stroke her hair and kiss her cheeks. “It’s me, baby.”

“I had another bad dream, Izzy.”

“Was it the same one as last time?”

Marzia nodded tearfully. “The man with the ski mask came for me and he–he–” She let out a choked noise.

The thieves who tried to rob the bank were currently in federal custody. However, I knew Giova

I rubbed her back, dropping another kiss on her head. “I know. It’s okay, baby. It was only a dream.”

Marzia nodded but cuddled me tighter.

Both of us needed to sleep so I grabbed her favorite book and stuffed dinosaur. Ines watched me from her frame, eyes judgey. I could only imagine what she was thinking. I had endangered her daughter and now Marzia wasn’t sleeping due to traumatic nightmares about the incident.

If I had been Ines, I would’ve come back from the dead and beaten me up with a baseball bat.

To Marzia, I said, “Come on, baby. You can sleep with your dad and I tonight.”

She leaped out of bed and scrambled to our room, spirits rising rapidly. There was a novelty to having a sleepover with us apparently. I had no idea why. I had never been allowed to sleep in my parent’s bed; I don’t think seven-year-old Isabella had even wanted to. She probably knew they would push her out.

When I arrived, Marzia had made herself comfortable in the middle of the bed, adjusting Giova

I climbed in beside her, reduced to a quarter of the space I had had before. I pretended to mind but I could care less. If it meant Marzia getting a goodnights sleep, I’d sleep on the floor.

It was too hot to cuddle but Marzia didn’t mind. She flushed herself against her dads back, poking her chin into his spine. He didn’t complain or tell her to move. Just murmured a goodnight. Only Marzia got Giova

“Good night, Daddy. Good night, Izzy.”

“Good night, Marzia.”

She woke up twice more during the night.

When the sun rose over the horizon, all three of us were already awake and camped out in the kitchen. I poured Giova

I rested my elbows on the bench, pressing my hands to my eyes. “Tell me you got more sleep than I did.”

“I did not.”

I sighed deeply.

Giova

“I’m awake now.” Even if my eyes did keep closing to catch seconds of sleep.

“We need to take her away,” he said. “Separate her from the city for a bit.”

“You would feel comfortable leaving your territory?”

He frowned. “Marzia comes first.”

Giova

The feeling in my chest bloomed at the words. Every day, I felt closer to him, felt…Every day, I felt something heavy and painful but also magnificent and beautiful when I looked at him. I had always seen this world in extremes, black or white, filled with dramatics and art and screams. But when I looked at my husband, a deep sense of peace spread throughout me.

I knew what it was, but I wasn’t going to admit it. I couldn’t admit it.

“Where’s her favorite place on Earth?” I asked. “I’ll take her there. Even if I have to build a time machine and take her back to the age of the dinosaurs.”

His lips twitched. “No. Her favorite place on Earth is a little easier to travel to.”