Ronan wrapped his arms around her and held her close, dropping kisses on the top of her head. “You’ll never have to be afraid again. Never.”
“Ewww, do you have to do that? It’s ewww,” Matteo said as he entered the room.
Ronan and Giada both laughed, and Giada eased away from Ronan to brush her hand at her tear stained cheeks. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to run to the bathroom real quick,” Giada said, still chuckling as she hurried past her kids.
Ronan went to the pantry and started digging around. “Jackpot!” he shouted. “Look what I found.” He took five different boxes of highly processed, brightly colored cereals out of the pantry and carried them over to the table. “I’ll get the milk and some bowls, and y’all can dig in.”
“I want the loop ones!” Matteo said, as he climbed up in one of the dining chairs.
“We’re going to have sausage and eggs and toast, too.”
“Yeah, I want the loops,” Matteo insisted.
“Fine with me, if it’s okay with your mom,” Ronan said. “What about you, Leo? You want just cereal or you want some sausages, too?”
“Why was my momma crying?” Leo asked.
Matteo looked up from the box of cereal he’d opened and started eating by the handful. “Momma was crying?” he asked, his voice hushed and whispery.
“Because she’s remembering how it used to be before you came here. And she was telling me about it. It still makes her sad, and that’s okay. It’s alright to feel sad about things evenif they’ve changed. It helps you remember to appreciate when things are better.”
“Did you make her cry?”
“Not on purpose. I think her remembering is making her cry, because she wants only good things now, and sometimes it’s hard to believe good things when they are right in front of you because there was so much bad before.”
“That made her cry?”
“It did. And I think she’s afraid to believe everything is going to be good now. But it will be. I just promised her that she’d never have to be afraid again. That none of you would.”
“You said that before when we met you,” Leo said.
“I did.”
“Why’s she crying about it now?”
“Because I think maybe she’s finally starting to realize I’m telling her the truth.”
Leo watched Ronan for a few moments before he nodded, then walked over to the kitchen counter and chose the box with the bear on it. “I want this one.”
“Those are pretty good,” Ronan said.
Leo took his box of cereal over to the table and pulled out a chair before climbing up into it . He watched as Ronan went to the refrigerator and took out a gallon of milk, then took two bowls out of a cabinet and a couple of spoons out of a drawer. He walked over to the table and put a bowl and a spoon in front of each boy. He filled the bowls with the cereal they wanted, then poured milk over it. “There y’all go. Dig in.”
He turned his back on the boys to put the milk back in the refrigerator and take the makings of breakfast out, too. “Let me know if you need anything else, okay?” he asked, without looking up.
“Are you going to marry our momma?” Leo asked.
Ronan froze, not quite sure how to answer. Finally, he turned around and looked at both kids. “I’m not going to lie to you. I hope that she’ll marry me one day. I want that more than anything in the world. And I want to be your dad, too. I want to protect all of you make sure you’re all happy. But that all depends on your mother, because it’s her decision, not mine. All I can do is tell her what I want. And all she can do is tell me what she wants, and hopefully we’ll want the same things and be able to be a family.”
“What if she says no?” Leo asked.
“Then I’ll have to be okay with that. But I will also make sure that no matter where you guys are or what you’re doing, you’ll always be safe.”
Leo only looked at him for a few more seconds before he looked down at his cereal and shoveled another spoonful into his mouth.
Ronan went back to cooking breakfast, wondering what they’d think of all he’d tried to explain.
“I hope you’ll be our dad one day,” Leo said.
