Stars Aligned

Insert 36

Narrated

A distraught Lisa rummaged through the cabinets. Her mind was all over the place. She knew, she had to keep calm at this situation, panicking would raise more problems than necessary. Finally getting ahold of the thermometer, she hurriedly went to the bed. Ronnie kept up close to her dad's chest so tightly. She was shivering, yet her body was hot as iron.

Lisa: Oh God, she hardly gets sick and when she does it's bad.
She sat on the bedside, etching closer to Snakes as he cradled Ronnie.
Lisa: Ronnie, open your mouth baby.
Ronnie shook her head. Lisa sighed, it had been one of Ronnie's traits to do the total opposite of what she's asked whenever she'd get extremely sick. More stubborn than she usually was in general.
Which had her mother grimly worried. Snakes nodded for Lisa to give him the stick.

Snakes: Princess, come on, won't you listen to mommy?
Ronnie: Daddy it hurts.
She barely whispered. Her words muffled on his t-shirt. Lisa's felt a twinge of pain in her heart at her little girl's condition. No mother wanted to see their child in pain. It was unbearably wounding knowing she can't do anything to take the pain for herself.
Snakes: Daddy will make it better once I get your temperature okay?

Ronnie reluctantly, lifted her head up from his chest. Lisa sighed in gratitude that she was at least cooperating. She watched as her husband put the stick under her tongue.
Snakes: Now what?
Lisa: Wait for a few minutes. I'll run her a bath. We gonna have to take her to the hospital, I have a feeling her temperature is sky rocketing.
She tried to explain it in a best calm way possible. She couldn't deny the faint tone in her voice and she knew he noticed.

Getting up she was about to go run that bath for Ronnie when Snakes held her hand. She glanced back at the retriction of his hand before sparing him a glance. Snakes held concern in his eyes which had her wanting to burst in tears. Not wanting to seem weak in front of him, she diverted her gaze to a falling asleep Ronnie.
Snakes: Hey, look at me.
Reluctantly, she did as he said. Snakes looked at Ronnie then her before kissing her hand in his clasp.

Snakes: It's okay, she'll be fine.
The small act made her feel a little better and not like a shit mother. She nodded with a tight lipped smile. It may have been a small gesture of a few words. But to her, those words were comforting. She trusted in her husband's words.
Lisa: Let me, run that bath.

***

Leo tugged on his black shirt. His eyes fell on the black blazer on the hanger before he tugged at it and threw it over his broad shoulders. The dimlit closet had a mirror wall on either sides of the room. The interior wasn't all that stuffed. It had a limited variety of things he only needed. His clothes stacked on one side and Elizabeth's clothes on the other side.

He smirked, thinking about how she had been riled up when he took all her stuff from the guest room, putting them in his room. She had protested and made a fuss about not wanting to share a room with him. But to his persuasive abilities, she had given up. The closet had a great space of shoes as well. Not that he needed that much space for shoes but now that he was sharing his room with the opposite sex, he admitted that the space was needed.

Finishing with his usual look of a black suit, dress shoes and intimidating look. Grabbing the expensive cologne that had many woman swooning from a mile away, he put a minimum of it before settling it back on it's original post. He walked out the closet, to his bedroom. Nothing had changed in his room, it was the same as before. The only thing he could say had changed was the smell of an evergreen aromatic shrub of mint.

He had gotten used to the smell of rosemary, that it had become his favorite fragrance. It didn't help that her scent reminded him of home. She smelt just home, the rosmarinus (rosemary) she possessed was alluring. He wanted nothing more than to sniff her the whole day. At first it had freaked him out, he thought he was losing his mind. That something had possessed him, but he accustomed himself unwillingly to the longing feeling. As creepy as it sounded.

Inwardly shaking his head, he made a beeline for the kitchen. The aroma of fresh baked cookies filled his nostrils as he strode down the stairways. Another thing he acquainted himself with, was being welcomed with different food essences whenever he woke up or came back from his long meetings of keeping up with the tails of the Russians. The same house he had bought just for the sake of having a simple roof over his head was being more of a home than his mansion had been back in Italy.

If he had to compare the two right now, this average mansion was no longer a mansion anymore. It was home and the feeling home was so foreign to him, that everytime he smiled it seemed surreal. Taking a seat in the dining room. He waited for her to bring his food, for his little brother to groggily make his way to the dining room. He as well couldn't resist Elizabeth's cooking, no one could. That had been his normal routine for the past weeks.

Just in time, Leone's walking dead like state blessed the room with it's presence. Leo could smell the stench of alcohol from across the table. He understood that Leone was quite young, lived a blissful life. But he was irresponsible and childish. Who even drank that much on a Sunday.
Leone: What, no lectures this morning?
Leo snapped his hard gaze from the phone to his brother.
Leo: I don't talk to children. I can't reprimand you over the same thing over and over again, grow up Leone.
Leo kept his gaze on Leone for longer, watching his face turn red with anger.

If anything, Leo knew that Leone hated being addressed as a child. But maybe if he acted like an adult, he would start treating him like one. Footsteps brought them back from their hard gazes. The air was so thick that someone could cut it with a blade. Leo had nothing against his brother other than for him to be responsible for his life. He was 26 for crying out loud, and the things he did were of a 16 year old.

***

Betty could feel the tension creeping in her body as soon as she stepped into the room. Placing the tray full of food, she decided to say nothing, in case she said the wrong thing and both men burst. She was about to leave for her room to freshen up when Leo's voice stopped her from moving any further.
Leo: Sit.
She knew she didn't have any other option than to oblige to his command. She sat at the first chair she saw which was next to Leo's chair.

She stared at her food in front of her. She wasn't really hungry. Or maybe her appetite wasn't functioning lately. Apparently Leo had other plans;
Leo: Eat.
She didn't have to look up to him to know he wasn't even looking at her. The clacking of utensils was enough proof for her to know  that Leo was focused on his plate but somehow like he always do, analyzed things.
Leone: Don't worry, do whatever Leo tells you and you'll stir out of his wrath. Surviving skills of living with him. Take note!

Betty looked up to Leone to see if he was maybe joking, but his face held an angered face directed to his big brother. Following his gaze, she wasn't shocked one bit to see that Leo wasn't affected by his brother's remark. She watched as Leo continued to eat his food as if nothing had been said against him. Didn't it faze at all to hear his brother talk like that about him, worse in front of him.
She had avoided causing herself a headache a long time ago, when Leo wasn't fazed the first time, then the next and the times after that.

The brothers bickered so much with each other that it was sometimes unbearable for her to be in the same house with them. But she was thankful to no violence as their bickering always ended in exchanging words.
Leone seemed to get pissed off easily and he would stomp off to God knows where. That was the only way their fights usually ended most of the time. With Leone walking out of his brother. Leo would get so angry that his whole face would heat up.