Under Her Wing

Chapter 41

Danielle POV

I stared across the room at Amalia who was lay on the sofa snuggled up with Jeff.
It had almost been a week since her mom had passed and she was putting on a pretty good act of appearing okay. Although, I think she's forgotten I can see straight through her.

Stefania and I both knew she wasn't sleeping or eating properly. She wasn't sharing her true feelings or letting her emotion out but we knew with time that she would. All Stefania and I could do was wait and keep reminding her that we were there for her.

Covid restrictions seemed to be relaxing slightly, meaning soon we wouldn't have to be cooped up in the house all day every day. I glanced at Stefania who was typing away on her laptop, frowning at the screen before sitting back and running a hand through her hair.

Getting up, I made my way over to her. I stood behind her and leant forward, wrapping my arms around her neck and putting my mouth close to her ear.

"Everything alright beautiful?" I whispered.

She sighed and leant back into my body.

"Just some writers block," she said softly.

"Why don't you take a break, you've been working all morning," I suggested, moving my hands to massage her shoulders.

"Mmm I could do with a break," she agreed, relaxing to my touch.

"Why don't we go out? Mali needs to get out of here, she's not been out since she went to her mom's," I pointed out.

"The beach is back open?" Stef said, spinning around to face me.

"Go get ready, I'll make snacks," I smiled, kissing her quickly.

She closed her laptop and got up, happily skipping off to our bedroom.

"Mali sweetheart?" I said calmly, crouching down beside the sofa.

Still stroking Jeff, she turned her attention to me.

"We're going to go to the beach, do you want to go get ready?" I said gently, stroking my hand up and down her arm.

"You and Stefania go. I can stay here," she said blankly.

"No sunshine, I want you to get some fresh air. It will do you some good," I said, smiling sadly.

She nodded and pulled the blanket off her, silently heading to her room. I watched her, feeling completely helpless. I needed to get some love of life back into that girl.

When the three of us were ready, Stefania clipped Jeff onto her lead before handing it to Amalia.
Jeff was currently the only thing that could bring any sort of smile to her face.

"What beach are we going?" Stefania asked as we climbed into my car.

"It's a surprise," I winked, turning on the engine.

Stefania and I spent the journey attempting to include Amalia in any conversation we could. I caught her smile a little when Stef told her that Jeff could go in the sea.

"I hope it's not too busy," Stefania said, furrowing her brow as we got closer to coast.

"You won't need to worry about that," I smiled secretly.

"Won't everyone be wanting to come to the beach now?" Mali asked nervously.

"Sweetheart I promise, it won't be overcrowded where we're going," I assured her, indicating and turning left down a smaller road.

"How did you know about this place?" Stefania asked in surprise as I parked the car.

"My sister and our friends used to come all the time when we were younger. I still can't believe it's not more popular," I said, getting out the car and grabbing some of the bags.