*Giovani*
I couldn’t explain the unrest I felt, even as I held my wife and son in my arms, or the way the chill of the autumn air permeated so deeply down to the bone tonight. Maybe it still hadn’t sunk in that this wasn’t a dream.
The nightmare was finally over.
I gently threaded my fingers through the beautiful hair of my wife, pressing a lock to my lips as I breathed in the scent of her. She was sweet as always, a note of sugar in a world full of bitterness.
Normally, by now, I would’ve been soothed to sleep by her peaceful breaths as she dreamed away in my arms or by the feel of her soft, warm skin underneath my fingertips. Even just having Elio between us, safe as he gently snored on his tummy, curled into his mother’s arms like he would never let her go again.
I watched the sleeping faces of my family a little longer, my eyes unwilling to close as I kept watch over them through the night.
