3
Brando
Iwoke up to find my wife gone.
In the short time I’d been in the hospital, this was the first time she left while I slept.
She refused to leave me at all.
During the day, her parents brought Mia and Matteo to spend time. My father-in-law was about the only other man (besides my father and my brothers) who I trusted to keep a firm hand on Mia around water.
Even more convincing was my mother-in-law. One look from her and the kids ceased to move. An encouraging trait when a child had no fear of water.
Before they had left earlier, Matteo asleep in my mother-in-law’s arms, Mia resting her head against Everett’s shoulder, Mia said something about the water, and Pnina had answered her in Slovenian. Mia said something back to her in the same language, then made a fierce face, showing all her teeth.
Judging by the surprised look my mother-in-law sent my wife, it was not what she’d expected Mia would say.
Scarlett spoke to Mia in Slovenian, blowing her kisses, and Mia did the same, answering whatever her mamma had said.
It was hell not knowing the same language as your kid. The only word I could understand out of a dozen was “mother.”
“What did you tell her?” I’d said after they left.
“I told her to make sure to brush, brush, brush her teeth, and that we’ll be home tomorrow.”
“No.” I sat forward, my head going a bit dizzy before it settled. From either the medicine or the wounds, I wasn’t sure. “The other thing. When she showed your mother her teeth.”
“Oh.” Scarlett waved a hand. “My mother told her that some water we cannot swim in because there are monsters too small for us to see. Referring to germs. When she wanted to scare us as kids, she always used monsters. Anyway, she told Mia that the water had itty bitty monsters, but these monsters have big teeth. That’s why we can’t swim in the water of Venice.”
I took her wrist, stopping her when she went to wipe the sweat from my brow. “What did Mia say?”
She searched my eyes before a sigh escaped her lips. “She basically said,I have big teeth too! See?Then she showed her teeth.”
I was in the right place if my heart decided to give out. My daughter had her mamma’s blood pumping through her veins. Always eager to empathize with the monsters and beasts of the world instead of running in the other direction—a normal reaction.
Instead, my girls went straight after the scary.They have big teeth? So do I. We’ll either connect over this, or I’ll bite you back.
Scarlett was right, though. Pnina used monsters quite a bit, for different reasons. She used to tell me that every boy needed to slay the monster known as sleep.
A memory came to me then—Pnina telling Scarlett that if she didn’t eat her vegetables, a bunch of monsters would poke her in the belly.
Scarlett, fascinated at the thought, started asking questions—Do they have names? What do they look like? Will they talk to me? Can I talk to them?
“Jesus,” I groaned, sitting back. “I need more strength than I have.”
A girl, I’d convinced myself, would be much easier than a boy. I never considered the fact that my daughter would be so much like her mamma.
After my mother-in-law called to say that they were home and that Mia was going for a bath while her brother continued to sleep, I took my son’s path and joined him in dreams.
When I woke up, I hoped his dreams were better than mine—I had dreamt of fragments of the fight, the feel of Livio’s hand in mine, Mia’s hand sliding from mine before she went under the water, my son looking at my brother with admiration in his eyes, my wife holding her belly, shaking her head,no, when I called the baby mine.
Fucking nightmares.
Then my mind slowly released the images, my eyes opening to reality.
Scarlett was missing from my side. The emptiness was as sharp as the removal of my rib, and as hollow as the space where the bone used to be.
I had a pretty good idea where she had gone.
