1 only wake up five times during the night. Honestly, this shit is exhausting and by the time Mom and Dads amive in fe morning I’m more than thankful for the help.
I don’t know how you did this full time with three bables, Mom. This shit is not for the weak.”
She laughs, taking Luis from me while Kaiden’s Dad picks up the little girl from where I had her propped on the floor in a little pillow nest.
“I had a lot of help, darling. It does indeed take a village and I’m very thankful for mine.” She coos at Luis while my dad kisses her forehead, saying hello to the babies before getting started on breakfast for a literal village of children that are starting to emerge from their rooms. Breakfast goes by surprisingly easy with so many hands on deck, and I even manage to slip out for a shower and a change of clothes before Jose and Sofia arrive with a group of men in toe.
Sofia runs straight past Nico who had opened the door to greet them and I hear Jose apologize and Nico brush it off as Sofia runs towards me and I very carefully hold Luis out for her to take. It’s a very emotional scene. I find myself having to wipe away a few stray tears as she kisses Luis all over.
“Thank you very much, Isla.” Jose says as
comes to wrap his arms around his wife and look down at his son.
“Please. The children were innocent in all of this. Any person with a heart would have done the same thing.”
“I’d like to have a moment with your men, if that is okay. Apparently, there is a common interest we share, and I would very much like to be a part of bringing in some justice. Is it okay if my wife stays here with you and the children?”
“Of course, go go.” I wave him off as I show Sofia to the loungeroom where the kids are happily enjoying another movie. I make Luis another bottle and bring it to her which she happily takes and then I gather up all the things Nico has bought for the children so she can take them when she leaves. I’m definitely not planning on kids for a good while, now that I’ve learnt just how much work they are.
Nico.
I bring the men into my office where we promptly begin sharing and planning how to bring Pedro down from his self- proclaimed throne.
“Do we have any idea how many men he will bring?” Jose asks.
“No clue. We know he has guns, and a support group of around one hundred, but how many he will bring to the warehouse is unknown. He would need to be bringing a large bus to move the children in, and we’ve already intercepted the plane he uses, so if he does try to flee, at least we can put a stop to that plan.”
Jose offers to send twenty of his men with us, along with himself personally. We work together around the map on the table to organize positions of our men out of site, covering all the roads and exits. Matteo informs us of the information he’s gathered from the captive’s phones and we now have a time to go along with the date and place. Things seem to be going smoothly and I’m feeling secure in allowing Isla to participate knowing that we have everything in order.
Jose is going to take the children home, where his family will be helping reunite the children with their parents and then he’s due to arrive back here with his men, they’ll stay the night so tomorrow morning everyone is here and ready to go. I help him load the children into the bus, along with all of the things I bought for them, and I watch as Isla says goodbye to each and every one. She cuddles Luis one more time, with Sofia promising to visit often so Isla can watch him grow up and the women embrace each other before they all leave. Luciano and his family and men also leave for the day, coming back in the morning again and finally, fucking finally I’m able to take my girl into my arms and hold her for a moment.
1/2
apter 168
Things have been anything but normal lately and 1 long to just hold her and be at peace. We’re due for a holida this is all over right? She says tiredly
Anything you would like, amore. How about you take a nap? You’ll need some rest if you want to kick some aut
tomorrow.
She gasps, wriggling a little to make space to look up at me with surprise.
“You’re going to let me come?!”
“Of course. You said you didn’t want to be left out, so I won’t leave you out. That doesn’t mean I’ll let you go in wildly with no protection, but yes, you can come.”
“Thank you!” She squeezes her arms around me, burying her head into my chest and Mason gives me a look of awe over how happy that has made her. He literally lives to see her smile.
We
get Isla up to bed where she quickly falls asleep and I take the time to check in with Mason to see how he’s feeling with everything.
“I’m happy that she’s coming tomorrow, because that is what she wants, but what if something happens to her, Nico? I’m not sure I could live with myself if something happened to her.”
“Then we make sure nothing happens to her.”
“I want her to be beside you the whole time.”
“We can do that.” I nod, taking his hand in my own and giving it a squeeze. “How about we go put some of those plans into place for our proposal while we have a free minute?”
This perks his mood up instantly. I think he might be even more excited than I am to finally ask Isla for her hand.
