collateral chaos

Three

Bella wakes up to the sound of Giovanni in the middle of the night. She opens her eyes to the warm glow of Sadie's bedside lamp. The redhead holds Giovanni in her arms, softly bouncing the infant.

Bella would be lying if she said Sadie wasn't incredibly hot right now. She props herself up on one elbow, instantly awake from Sadie's appearance. No bra, just boxers.

The redhead looks up, "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, no, I just... You're so good with him already," Bella comments, "I know I kinda threw you into the roll of Mommy."

Sadie smiles at her as the boy quiets down, back into a deep, swaddled slumber, "I wanted this just as much as you did. You didn't throw me into anything."

Sadie carefully puts Giovanni back in his bassinet. She then climbs back into bed and Bella pulls her close. She can only lay on her back still, with the cast, so Sadie lies her head on Bella's chest.

"You're going to be the best Mommy," Bella whispers.

"And you're going to be the best Mama," Sadie whispers back. She sits up and kisses Bella on the lips before turning off the lamp.

***

When Bella wakes up, she takes Giovanni out of his bassinet and leaves Sadie to sleep in, since she was up all night with him.

She heads down to the main floor to hear the sounds of her children giggling. At least she can hear Matteo.

They sit at the kitchen table with Jenna, Sabrina, and Gianna.

"And then Auntie Emma dropped her whole slice of pizza!" Jenna exclaims. Thea and Matteo laugh while Luca cracks a small smile. At Bella's entrance, Matteo smiles and jumps up from his chair.

"Mama!" He runs over to hug her. He's definitely attached to them already. Carlo isn't a therapist but he thinks it's definitely because the children lost their parents so young. Matteo was only two when they died. Luca was eight.

"Good morning, my lovelies," Bella smiles. Matteo releases his mom and returns to his seat, where he eats pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries.

"Where's M-Mom?" Luca asks hesitantly. Even though he puts on a brave face, his fear of abandonment still shows through.

"Mom's still asleep. She was up with your brother all night," Bella answers as Felipé brings her a plate. He also brings out a bottle of formula, "Thank you."

"Here, I'll feed him, you eat," Gianna offers. Bella smiles and hands Giovanni off to her to be fed. He happily lays back in the girl's arm and takes the bottle.

"Can we call him Gio?" Thea asks, watching as Gianna feeds him.

"Of course," Bella answers.

"So, what are we gonna do today?" Luca asks. He seems a little nervous about his new surroundings but that's to be expected.

"Whatever you want to do," His mama replies.

"Go swimming?" Matteo asks.

"You don't know how to swim," Luca points out.

"That's okay," Jenna says, "We can get him a life jacket."

"Yeah, if you want to go swimming, we can go swimming," Bella adds.

"We don't have swim suits," Thea interjects.

"Right," Bella realizes they don't have a lot of things. They don't even have permanent rooms yet, "Maybe, today we do some shopping."