Clover Undercover

WARM LIKE YOU

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Merry Christmas friends! Enjoy a quadruple update for the holidays! Stay warm and stay safe! xo Navy

*

As soon as Luca and I pull into the driveway, Bella comes running out the front door. Before I can even unbuckle and get out to tell her not to leave the house without an adult, a short, older woman comes running out after her. She quickly catches up and grips Bella by the hand, stopping her from stepping off the walkway.

"Che cazzo," Luca grumbles under his breath.

I raise an eyebrow as I unbuckle. "I think that's the first time I've heard you say a real cuss word."

He turns to me with surprise written all over his face. "You speak Italian?"

When I simply smile, he smirks and shakes his head. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"

I smile back and shrug. He doesn't need to know I'm fluent in four different languages.

We exit the car and Bella yanks her hand out of the woman's and runs down the driveway to me.

"CLOVER! CLOVER! GUESS WHAT!!"

I bend down and catch her as she launches herself into my arms. Opening my mouth to guess, I'm interrupted by Luca taking her from me.

"Running outside without a grown up, and furthermore, running away from one isn't safe, Bella Lucia."

His stern tone makes her pout. "But I run'ded to a grown up."

"You ran to your sister..." he pauses and looks her squarely in the eyes, "and we both know she's not a grown up.. don't we?"

Bella's mouth drops into an 'o' and her little hand comes up to point at me. "I told you!"

I chuckle and nod. She had told me time and time again that I wasn't a real grown up and I continued to lie, telling her otherwise in hopes that if I'd said it often enough, she'd come to believe it.

She never did.

"You're right, you did."

Her green eyes sparkle as she looks at her.. our.. father. "Does Clo get a spanking for telling you lies?"

My cheeks flame and Luca bites his lip to keep from laughing. He leans in and whispers, "Yes."

An evil grin pulls at her lips, and she nods, obviously satisfied by that notion.

"You're such a twerp," I sigh. "Now, what was it I'm supposed to be guessing, Bella?"

"Oh! You'll never believe it! We have a grandma! But we can call her Nonna a'cuz it means the same thing and Nonna makes her happier than Mee-Maw or Granny or Grammy or," she pauses and looks up for a second in thought before looking back and me and shrugging. "Or any other name. Nonna makes her the happiest so that's what we call her, okay?"

I look to the woman who is still standing where the walkway meets the driveway, and I can tell she's anxious about something. She's wringing her hands nervously and shifting slightly from foot to foot. I give her a smile and she gives me a reserved one back.

Luca and I close the distance between us and her, and the entire time we are walking toward her, her eyes are zeroed in on Luca as if I'm not even standing there.

I know exactly who she is and I thought meeting the woman I'm named after would be more... poetic.

"I'm sorry, she heard the car pulling in and she just took off," she says to Luca.