Chapter 248

"Daddy, could you stay home today?" Mia had asked him during breakfast, and sending a nervous glance towards me, he stayed quiet, thinking it through, munching slowly on a toast to give himself time.

Helping him out, I chastised, "Mia, your dad can't be home today."

"But why?" The question was directed to him.

But I answered, "Because he has a lot of things to do, adults get busy, and they can't stay around whenever they feel like Mia,"

Matteo, next to me, paused on his cereal, his attention fondly on his sister, "Don't worry, Mia, I'll stay with you when you are not asleep."

Nikolai looked up at the clock, then to Mia; he announced, "I'll be home, Mia," he smiled when her face lit up like the stars on a Malibu night, "Get your swim trunks; we'll be spending it outside."

They hadn't bothered to finish breakfast as they roared to their room.

Now I sat at the pool's edge, my legs in the water, watching Nikolai support Mia's back with his hands while