Brave In Violence ( A Mafia Romance Book Three)

Chapter Fourteen

          I think I wished for you all my life.

                    ~Cecelia Ahern~

                             Ele

Over the next couple of weeks, Luca and Lia became so tight that they cried at night when it was time for both of them to go to their separate bedrooms, so Soph and I decided to choose one room out of the house to make it theirs. We had so much fun redecorating the space we chose, painting it, and having them draw whatever they wanted while adding drawings of our own.

This gave me another perspective on how enjoyable life could be.

"Not pink, " Soph laughed, "Lia hates pink!" she added dramatically, turning the color portfolio a decorating consultant had given us. "Really, why?" I couldn't believe there was a little girl out there who hated pink.

"I have no idea, but she hated it when I dressed her in pink when she was younger."

"I always assumed pink was the predisposed colour for girls while blue was for boys?" I said; both of our heads leaned over the portfolio as we took a longer time looking at the baby purple colour. "Apparently not for Lia, Soph murmured, " this is beautiful, " we exclaimed at the same time.

Watching Luca emerge from his sorrowful protective nature was like watching a butterfly emerging from a cacoon; beautiful, strong, and free. He had so much energy and playfulness I loved watching it every day that sometimes I found myself getting a little bit jealous. It was how he took the blame for Lia and how she took responsibility for him too; it was how I was no longer the most important person in his life. I now shared that position with Lia, but I would never have wished it any other way. My baby was flourishing away from Freddie; it's what I had always wanted for him since he was born. I was just sorry that it had taken this long to get him here.

The room was ready by the second week; the paint had dried, the beds selected, and the Persian carpet soft beneath our feet. It looked like a bedroom every child would want. Huge wardrobe complete with shoe racks.

Luca and Mia squealed happily the first night they were to spend the night in the same room.

"Why do I have a premonition that Zion and Serena might want the same thing?" Mia shook her head unenthusiastically with Serena hanged on her waist, her head resting on her breast, and a thumb in her mouth. She was the epitome of peace; no one would have guessed from looking at her that she had the perfect vocal cords when she decided to cry.

I felt as if we created a tradition that day. I also remembered what Bruno had told me when we were on the plane, " Luca will always belong to Lia first" looking at them that night, I believed it. They couldn't fall asleep immediately over the excitement of having to sleep in the same room; we could hear them laughing and speaking in whispers until they slept, which was way long after their usual bedtime.

"I hope you know what you're doing, " Bruno said, jumping and lying on his back on the couch next to mine. What do you mean?" I could feel the flutters in my stomach running wild when I looked at him, making sure to keep my eyes from expressing the joy of seeing him again.

Draped across the couch with one hand beneath his head, while one leg was over the couch arm, he threw a scathing look at me, his lips spread into a smile before looking at Raph as if he might know what he wanted to say. I moved my eyes to brush off imaginary crumbs from my jeans to hide my blush.

"I think he's asking whether you have a contingency plan, " Raph said, his eyes softening when he looked at Sophie. I could see how much he loved her.