I stare at her. "You're embarrassed about me."
"No! I'm embarrassed about me. About what everyone must think of me."
"No one thinks anything."
"Vittoria definitely thinks something. Nora gave me this look at breakfast?—"
"Nora gives everyone looks. It's her thing."
"Nico." Kristen presses her fingers to her temples. "I just need some space to process everything. The visit with my mom was... a lot. And then there's the custody thing, and Jack, and?—"
"Mommy!" Lily's voice cuts through. "I found the pink cup!"
Kristen's shoulders drop. She moves toward her daughter, effectively ending our conversation.
Fine. She wants space? I'll give her exactly as much as she actually needs, which is none.
Vittoria appears in the kitchen doorway like she's been waiting for her cue. Probably has been—my sister has an uncanny ability to show up at strategic moments.
"There you are!" Vittoria beams at Kristen and Lily. "Perfect timing. There's something you need to see."
Kristen tenses. "What?"
"It's a surprise." Vittoria's grin is suspiciously wide. "But first, we need to go through the small garden. The one off the kitchen."
Lily perks up, chocolate milk mustache and all. "A surprise?"
"The best kind." Vittoria winks at me.
Kristen's eyes narrow. She turns to me, a silent question in her expression.
I keep my face completely blank. Shrug one shoulder.
"You don't know anything about this?" she asks.
"No idea."
I'm a decent liar. Comes with the territory. But Kristen's gaze lingers on me a beat too long, like she's trying to read the truth in my face.
"Come on, come on!" Lily abandons her chocolate milk and grabs Vittoria's hand. "I wanna see!"
Vittoria leads the way through the kitchen's back door, out into the small enclosed garden Giulia uses for herbs. It's warm out here, sunlight filtering through the lattice overhead, and there's a new addition in the corner—a wooden hutch I had delivered this morning while Kristen was out.
Lily sees it first.
Her scream could shatter glass. "BUNNIES!"
She breaks away from Vittoria and sprints across the garden, dropping to her knees in front of the hutch. Inside, two lop-eared rabbits—one grey, one white with brown patches—huddle together in the corner.
"Mommy! Mommy, there's two of them!" Lily's voice cracks with joy. "Look! Look!"
Kristen walks forward slowly, like she's in a dream. She stops next to her daughter and stares at the rabbits.
I hang back by the door. Watching.
Lily presses her face against the wire mesh. "They're so fluffy. They're so fluffy, Mommy!"
"I see them, baby."
