*Giovani*
Olivia twirled into the open doorway of my office, without Elio for the first time since we woke up in bed with him yesterday morning. I smiled. Part of me was a little envious—I wanted to sit and stare at him until I could convince myself I hadn’t done the wrong thing by bringing a little life I loved so much into this world—but the rest of me was just so thrilled she got to be with him. I couldn’t stop thinking about how broken she’d looked when I first found her on the floor.
I didn’t want her to ever look like that again.
“He just went down.” She smiled. “I’m trying to be very brave and trust the three guards on him by not also watching him sleep today.”
I leaned back in my chair, happy to push away the piles of dull paperwork. “You look very brave to me. Why don’t you come here?”
She danced into the room, almost glowing with glee, and perched herself in my lap.
“He’s back.” She wrapped her arms around my neck.
