CHASING ARIEON

43

Five years later...

"Daddy!", Alessa ran towards her father as he walked into the living room. Even though he was tired as hell, he crouched down to pick her up. He was thankful for Matteo that made him change out if his bloody shirt before coming home.

"Principessa, how are you?", He said as he went to sit on the couch with her on his lap. "I'm fine! I missed you", she said and hugged him again. Then she began to cry. Worry filled his senses as he made her look at me, "Baby, what happened?".

"Andrea and Antonio won't let me play with them", she sniffled. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth and he kissed her forehead. "It's okay, baby? Don't cry. Daddy doesn't like it when you cry", he told her. She nodded making her soft curls bounce along with her head. As he wiped her tears, he heard the tiny footsteps of the other two troublemakers.

"Daddy!". A smirk tugged on his lips as he watched the boys run into the living room. He helped them up to sit on the couch. Feeling protective, Alessa spread her small hands around her father trying to keep him away from them.

"What are you doing?", Antonio frowned at her funny movement. "Stay away from my daddy, go and play with your toys", she said to them. "He's our daddy!", Andrea said back. "No! He's my daddy!", She snapped. Enzo raised a brow as he watched the triplets argue.

"Why are we fighting. Alessa, sorry for not letting you play with our toys. You got hurt the last time, so we played", Antonio said. Alessa blinked in surprise at his apology. "We're sorry", Andrea added. "Where's Alexi?", Enzo asked them. "He's sleeping upstairs in his room. He has a headache and a high temperature", Andrea answered. Enzo frowned. "What happened?", He asked.

"He fell down from the tree this morning", Alessa blurted out. "Alessa!", The two boys said in panic. Her eyes widened as she realized she had snitched on them. 

"The tree in the garden?", Enzo asked them in a low voice that made the boys shiver in fear. "I think I remember telling you three boys not to play on the tree in the garden, didn't I?", He asked them slowly. Antonio and Andrea gulped as they nodded at once. They didn't like it when their father got angry at them. He rarely got angry. This was the second time he was getting angry. Daddy might punish them!, Alessa panicked.

"I'll deal with you boys when I come back, I'm going to check on Alexi", Enzo said as he dropped Alessa on the ground and stood up to leave. After their father left the living room, Antonio and Andrea turned to face their sister. She immediately stepped back in fear at their intense glare. "I'm sorry", she said in a small voice. "You're always sorry", Antonio said angrily as he glared at her the more. "You're the reason we always get in trouble. Now, daddy is angry at us!", Andrea yelled at her.

"I didn't mean to", she said as her voice began to shake. Her lower lip was quivering. "But you did. You don't get in trouble because you're Daddy's princess", Antonio said. "Let's go and think of how to beg daddy", Andrea told his brother. Antonio nodded and they ran out if the living room. A small sob left the little girl's mouth as she tried her best not to cry.

"I said I'm sorry", she sniffled as she sat criss legged on the floor. She kept staring at her little blue skirt as she tried not to cry. She heard footsteps but she didn't bother to know who it belonged to.

"Sweetie, why are you crying?". The familiar British accent made her look up to see the warm green eyes. Agatha and Enzo were standing beside her. "Auntie", she sniffled.

Enzo crouched down to her height, "What's wrong baby?". The question seemed to be the fuse to the fire that made her burst out crying. Inaudible noises left her mouth as she cried into her tiny hands. Enzo's eyes widened as he carried her up and stood on his feet.