Third Time's The Charm

Chapter 24

Ezra's pout deepened. "Benny's not gross. He's my friend."

I moved to sit on the couch, pulling Ezra into my lap while he carefully held onto Benny. "You're lucky I love you both," Carina muttered, shaking her head. She cautiously sat beside us, making a visible effort not to look directly at the tiny reptile.

"Do you want to hold him?" Ezra asked hopefully.

Carina immediately recoiled. "No. Absolutely not."

"Maybe one day," I teased, nudging her side.

Ezra giggled, then carefully placed Benny back in his small enclosure on the coffee table. "Mamma, can we keep him?" he asked, as if the decision hadn't already been made.

Carina exhaled, rubbing her temples. "We already have a child, and now we have a lizard?"

"Yes," Ezra nodded, bouncing slightly. "He's part of the family now."

Carina looked between the two of us, then sighed in defeat. "Fine. But I'm not feeding him. And he stays in your room."

"Deal," Ezra grinned.

I reached over and laced my fingers with Carina's, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. She squeezed back, her silent way of saying, I love you, even when you drive me insane.

Ezra, having won his battle, quickly became distracted by the LEGO set he and I had promised to build. As he rushed off to retrieve the box, Carina turned to me, raising an eyebrow.

"A gecko, Maya? Really?"

I smirked. "He loves it."

She sighed, shaking her head with a small smile. "Of course he does."

I studied her face, the way exhaustion lined her features but didn't dull the warmth in her eyes. "How was work?" I asked.

Carina hesitated, a fleeting shadow passing over her face. "It was fine," she said, a little too quickly.

I tilted my head. "That's a lie."

She exhaled, leaning into my side. "It was... long."

"Want to talk about it?"

She was quiet for a moment before finally whispering, "Not yet."

I nodded, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Okay. When you're ready."

She closed her eyes, exhaling deeply, and for a moment, we just sat there—breathing together, grounding each other.

Then, as if sensing the moment was getting too heavy, Ezra came barreling into the room with the LEGO set, his face alight with excitement. "Mommy! Mamma! Let's build!"

Carina groaned playfully. "You know I'm terrible at these."

"You just have to practice," Ezra said earnestly, echoing the words he'd told me earlier at the pizza shop.

Carina laughed, ruffling his hair. "Alright, let's do it."

As we sat there, sifting through tiny plastic pieces, I couldn't help but think—this was it. The space between fear and love. Between holding back and letting go. Between uncertainty and something that felt a lot like home.

And maybe, just maybe, we were figuring it out.

---------------------

Later that night, after Ezra had fallen asleep, I found Carina sitting on the edge of our bed, her journal open in her lap, pen resting against a blank page. She hadn't written anything yet.

I leaned against the doorframe. "You thinking or avoiding?"

Her lips twitched slightly. "Both."

I stepped closer, kneeling in front of her, resting my hands on her thighs. "Tell me."