ARELLA (A Mafia Story)

Forty-One

Freya

My whole abdomen screams in pain as I struggle to sit up in bed. After almost two weeks in the hospital, I was declared well enough to go home.

Damon made me promise not to get up from bed unless I needed to use the bathroom. I was okay with that at first, until I realized how boring laying around is.

I miss playing with my daughter and cooking for my family. Arella doesn't understand that I can't play with her. She's been throwing tantrums and driving Damon crazy. He hates when she cries, always resorting to bribery to stop her tears.

That's exactly what he's doing now. "Do you want some candy? Papa will get you some chocolate if you stop crying."

Rolling my eyes, I finally manage to sit up with a grimace. Pressing my hand down to my stomach, I stand and hobble to Arella's room.

She's sat in the middle of her room, head tilted back, and crying towards the ceiling. Alessandro is sitting at the opposite end of the room with his sound-proof headphones on. I haven't seen him wearing those in a while.

He must've dug them out in order to deal with Arella's constant cries.

Damon's eyes snap to mine at the sound of my approach, and he crosses his tattooed arms over his chest.

"What are you doing out of bed?" He demands to know, eyes scanning up and down my body, looking for any sign of injury.

"Wondering why my daughter is crying like it's the end of the world and why you're bribing her? She's going to get spoiled at this rate."

I wobble slightly on my feet, listing to the side. Damon rushes to catch me before I fall and further injure myself.

Before I know what's happening, I'm scooped up gently into his strong arms as Damon marches me back to the bedroom.

"No, you lay back down and I'll bring Arella to you. You're going to hurt yourself if you keep getting up."

I'm deposited back onto the bed, Damon grumbling under his breath about women who don't listen.

"Says the man that got shot and kept picking up the baby against doctors orders!" I holler at his back when he goes to leave the room.

"Don't make me tie your sexy ass down to that bed!" He yells back without turning around.

"Dad! That's gross!" I hear Davide fake gag from somewhere down the hall.

I'm mad at him, but I can't help my smile. I probably look like death ran over. My hair is a tangled mess, I've been wearing the same clothes for two days, and I'm sure my breath is disgusting.

But he still thinks I'm sexy.

A few seconds later he comes back in, Arella held in his arms. She extends hers out to me with a whine.

"Come here, angel. Mama needs some cuddles." She's placed onto my lap and I breathe in her soft baby scent.

"Awe. I wanna cuddle with Mom too." Davide states from the doorway.

"Boy, you're too damn big to fit in this bed with all of us. Go cuddle with one of your brothers." Damon snaps playfully.

Well, somewhat playfully.