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MARIA

The following six months were tough.

The road to recovery was a lot more difficult than I had expected. There were tears, frustration, sadness, and trauma. I had a whirlwind of emotions during that time.

I wasn't used to being so idle. My feet were always moving before, whether I was working out or dancing—being in recovery meant I spent a lot of time indoors, and I hated it. I felt as though my independence had been stripped from me; I couldn't go to work or do anything by myself. I had taken for granted going up the stairs by myself, being able to grab things from a high shelf, putting on shoes, or bending down to pick something up. I was constantly in pain somewhere; the medication never quite removed it fully.

Leonardo was always watching and always being careful around me. Leonardo was there to support me every step of the way. That started with me moving back to his place. We slept apart—that was one thing I was going to maintain. Leonardo stubbornly insisted that I take the bed, which meant that I forced him to get a single bed and use the storage room for himself. There was no way I'd let him keep sleeping on the sofa. But either way, he didn't sleep as much. Leonardo spent so much time looking after me during the day that at night, he'd work and work until he'd pass out in the office. I often entered there to cover him with a blanket as he dozed off.

Our relationship was different, to say the least. We pretty much followed the same routine; Leonardo helped me out in the morning, made breakfast, then supported me with whatever I wanted to do with the day. He made sure I had my medication and supplements and ate three meals a day. He prepared healthy snacks and ensured I was always doing something different every day. Then he'd do whatever needed to be done when Amalia was over: cleaning and working. If Amalia went back to her grandmother's, Leonardo would fill in that empty gap in the house. Then he'd help me with my nighttime routine before working.

But at least Amalia was always around. Leonardo seemed to realise that she was the key to unlocking my happiness, which meant Amalia was over most days. Something about being around an innocent, happy child sparked joy in me. I finally felt as though I had something to do: keeping her cheery, drawing, singing songs, feeling alive again. Luna often came by too; spending time with my sister helped me feel a sense of normality and love. I was happy to develop my relationship with her.

Leonardo and I weren't the same; there was no affection, no deep conversations, and no emotions involved. As much as we were always together, we didn't have the same relationship before. There were times when we felt awkward together, which felt strange. I used to be able to tear off my top in front of him, but when needing help in the shower when washing my hair or to pick something up was awkward when asking for help. I always cringed before asking compared to before when I'd be able to confidently tell him to join me.

I wasn't used to it at first, but by the time six months had gone around, we were distant. It was almost as though we were ignoring the elephant in the room; Leonardo and I didn't talk about our relationship despite it being an important topic. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. At least with how we were in that period of time, we weren't arguing and reminded of what happened. It was a fake peacefulness that I would take over facing our problems.

"Like... this?"

Leonardo's hands were flimsier than I thought. I couldn't help but crack a smile as I stared at him through the mirror. "A little tighter—okay—not that tight!" Laughter left me as he let go of my hair entirely, letting out a heavy breath as if tying my hair into a ponytail was the hardest job he had ever done in his life.

I used to feel sore in my torso when I lifted my arms too high. I was getting better, but Leonardo still insisted on helping. "Don't you want a braid?" It was the only hairstyle he had managed to master after weeks of practice. He was still doing my hair even though my condition had improved. I shook my head in disagreement.

"It's hard to twist the tie; it's so elastic," he complained, which made me chuckle again. I turned my head to face him, the gap between us closing. My eyes dropped down to his lips for a split second before I met his eyes once more. "Is it that hard?" I teased; he seemed to catch my eyes, mimicking the same action.

He inhaled deeply, and I turned back to the mirror, saying, "It's okay. A plate is fine." Leonardo looked determined, and despite what I said, he continued to attempt to pursue with the ponytail. His fingers gently combed through my hair, softly pulling each strand into a clean ponytail. He followed my advice more closely as he tied my hair back, and I smiled when he finished, admitting, "You did a pretty good job."

I admired his work through the mirror before turning and facing him again. His mesmerising eyes gazed at me, firstly appreciating his hard effort before focusing on my face. I felt the heat rise to my cheeks very quickly. Slowly, he was studying my face, his lips parted as he intently gazed at me. "Your face completes it all," he murmured.

"You really need your eyes checked," I softly chuckled. I hadn't felt like I looked good in a long time. My bruises were gone, and my swelling had disappeared; however, my self-esteem had gone significantly down. At first, I struggled to even look into the mirror; the way I felt about myself had changed negatively.

His eyebrows ever so slightly lowered, "Ria, you're—"

The doorbell rang.

He was going to compliment me. I could feel it, and it would've been nice. It would've been touching to hear that from Leonardo.

I entered the living room and smiled to greet Vincenzo. "Vince!" He hugged me like he always did whenever he came around. Since what happened, Vincenzo always greeted me with a huge hug as though he was scared of me disappearing again.

I hugged him back, my nostrils attacked by his strong cologne. "You're looking cute today, Bella," Vincenzo had a natural charm to whatever he would say. I chuckled as I blushed, shaking my head. All I had on was simple black, loose trousers and a cami top; I was glad Leonardo turned on the air-con that hot day. He scanned me over before asking, "How's your ankle, polpetta? {meatball}."

Nodding a little, "doing okay," I answered truthfully. I was able to walk, though it was slightly slower than before, and I was continuing with my small exercises to improve. I asked back, "And your arm? I heard you got into a fun car chase last week."

Vincenzo smirked as he glanced at his arm, his usual playful and arrogant glint in his eyes. "Let's just say it's a reminder that I won."

"Ria, Ria!"

A pair of tiny hands clutched onto my leg, and I let out a laugh, going down to the floor and holding Amalia, kissing her cheek. "Hi, my little princess!" She squealed, already excited for the day ahead of us. I loved being with Amalia. Amalia had really grown; she was able to say a lot more words and use her own little initiative to do whatever her mind set her to do. It had gotten to the point that Amalia was greeting me first before her dad, which I personally found a huge accomplishment.

Leonardo shook his head at the sight of the two of us, with a small chuckle. Amalia hadn't even looked in his direction since she came. He focused his attention back onto his phone. He was clearly sorting something important out, barely focusing on us.

Amalia was already playing with my necklace the moment we hugged, then she quickly focused her attention towards her toy box not too far away, bringing out her favourite tea party set for us to play with. I had drunk one too many cups of pretend tea over the last week.

"You guys really click," Vincenzo admired in slight disbelief. He let out a breath before adding, "I don't know how you can sit and play for hours and hours with a toddler. Even after half an hour I feel like I've lost my sanity playing with her." I laughed, clinking my cup with Amalia's. She seemed to like the sound of the glass cups touching, repeating the action a few times as she laughed.

"You'd be surprised," I replied with a grin as I glanced up at him. "How drawn into it you get, and before you know it, hours really have flown by—oh! Thank you, Lia!" I took the piece of cake Amalia was practically forcing into my hand. A satisfied sound came from her as she continued to babble and smile.

Vincenzo seemed unconvinced. "One day you'll tell me about it," I joked as his face scrunched a little in disagreement.

He then commented, "You never struck me as someone who was super into kids." I was still pretending to eat the cake, earning a proud look from Amalia. My smile stretched as I gazed at her, "Well, neither did I for a while." My life was far too busy back then to care, but I neither hated nor loved children. I was never around them that much, and the ones I did know, like Eli, were cute. Then it crossed my mind for a split second: Leonardo and I having a child, how they would look, behave, and sound. I quickly removed the impossible thought out of my head, feeling my heart begin to quickly pound at the idea.

"Come on," Leonardo exhaled, placing his phone into his pocket as he looked at his brother with tired eyes. "We have a lot to discuss."

"Going to the office?" I asked, my head lifting further to look at the two of them from the ground. Leonardo's eyes met mine. "What about the soft play?" I booked a session, excited to see how Amalia would find the new one that had been built fairly close by to Dream. We only had an hour left before it, and it would take a while to get there. Leonardo had seemed to forget; he rubbed his forehead and thought for a second. He did look tired.

After mentally debating with himself, he settled on saying, "I'll book another. We can go to the park instead." I nodded, focusing on playing with Amalia. He seemed to stare for a few seconds to check my expression was okay before shifting his focus onto Vincenzo after recognising that I didn't mind.

"The contract?" Leonardo asked Vincenzo in a low voice. I never quite grasped what the two of them would talk about despite the numerous occasions of walking past his office and pretending to look for something in the cabinet outside it. There were times I was bored in the house. Leonardo wouldn't let me know what he was up to either.

"Marco's already on it; he sent me the details yesterday," Vincenzo replied.

Leonardo's eyebrows furrowed, and even I was surprised, looking up at the two of them. Leonardo questioned, "Marco? Isn't he still meant to be on leave? His mother only died two months ago." Vincenzo exhaled, shaking his head.

"You know Marc," Vincenzo said as he tucked his hands into his pockets. "His life is here."

I did feel for Marco. The day that Leonardo found out Marco's mother had died, he wasn't himself. He also mourned with Marco. The funeral went according to their wishes, and Leonardo put in all his effort to make sure it went well. Marco always held a strong face; despite what had happened, he smiled and laughed and appreciated his mother's life; that was his way of mourning.

Leonardo and Vincenzo eventually did leave. I played and played with Amalia until she was tired enough to sit and watch a movie, then doze off by my side. While she slept on my stomach, my left hand gently continued to pat her back whilst I was on my phone. Her small body against mine was warm; it was like having a hot water bottle all nestled up against me.

I was on Dream's social media page. I found myself biting the inside of my cheek as I scrolled, watching all the accomplishments the company had made. I was proud, of course, but I couldn't ignore the constant feeling of sadness whenever I thought about Dream. I missed it. Leonardo and I did have a conversation about going back to work in management; however, he thought it was too early. That was two months before, so I was ready to bring it up again.

My ankle was feeling a lot better; I didn't take as much medication, and I was able to walk for longer. But I knew Leonardo; he was worried about everything and anything; it would take a lot to convince him to let me go.

I was looking at the renovated cafe when I received that message.

A message from my father asking to meet up.

With that sentence I knew exactly what he wanted. Money.

He reached out to me a few times in the past, years ago. It was always messy, and no matter how many times I tried to avoid him, he somehow would find my contact details. I hated it, the constant thought that he was there somewhere and would pop up again every few years asking for the same thing every time. I was glad he never contacted Luna. I'd rather have myself than my sister. But if I did ignore him, he'd go for her too.

"Hey,"

Leonardo had pulled me out of my thoughts as he entered the room. He didn't take as long as I thought at work. My eyes took in his attractiveness as he walked, taking large strides across the room. He had that captivating aura about him that made it hard for me to tear my eyes away from. My hand quickly switched off my phone and let it slip to the side of the sofa before ripping my eyes away, back down to Amalia.

A small smile came onto my face as a response while Leonardo looked for something in the drawer. He glanced at us, his eyes on Amalia as he closed the drawer. "Do you still want to go to the park? She'll wake up on the way?"

I shook my head, rubbing her back slowly. "I tired her out," I said, in love at the sight of the little folds on Amalia's wrists. I felt a little tired myself. "She needs the sleep."

He smiled a little, "She likes being with you." I quietly exhaled, admiring the adorable child on me as I silently agreed. He was right; I was happy Amalia liked staying around me.

"You know..." I suddenly had a thought that was desperate to be let out and free myself from the burdens I was thinking about. "I think about my mom a lot lately. ." I even scoffed at myself for bringing her up. The message had been a reminder of the thoughts bombarding my mind all the time. Leonardo focused his attention on me, making my face heat up. I realised how silly I sounded mentioning her. My eyes stayed down on Amalia.

"She never would've imagined me like this." My head leaned to the side slightly as I pondered how to express my thoughts. "She'd be disappointed."

Leonardo steely gazed at me, leaning against the drawers. "She's not here, Ria," he reminded me in a low voice. "You don't have to worry about what she thinks anymore." I nodded as I let out a breath and tried to brush off my thoughts on her. She was no longer around to critique me.

Then Amalia uncurled herself from the position she was in and sat up on me, her fluffy hair all over the place. She yawned, her rosy cheeks expanding. Then her hazel eyes met mine, and she smiled.

I sat up and kissed her forehead. It was time for another few hours of games.

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~ Author's Note ~

I've been having lots of technical issues trying to sort out the layout of the chapters but I've decided to upload anyway!

Maria is on her recovery journey, with Leonardo (and Amalia) by her side.

The two of them are still not on the same terms as before. Will this change? Or are Maria and Leonardo starting to sail apart?

As for Maria's father, keep reading to see how that interaction goes.

Thanks for reading!

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