Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

Simona had woken one more time, but Giulia insisted I stay in bed as she took
care of it.
Maybe that was why I felt more relaxed this morning than I’d felt in a long
time. Despite her lack of sleep, Giulia got up once I was done in the bathroom
and slipped in herself.
I went into Daniele’s room. He was awake, as usual at this time, already bent
over his tablet. In the beginning I’d hide it from him, but when he played with
that thing, it was the only time he looked even remotely happy, so I always gave
it back to him. He didn’t look up when I entered, but his little shoulders hunched.
I got down on my haunches beside his bed to be eye level with him. Still
nothing.
“Daniele, come on. Put that aside.” No reaction. I took it away, and he started
screaming, but I put it up on a shelf. I picked him up despite his struggling. His
refusal to be close to me cut worse than those whips had many years ago.
I swallowed and put him down on the changing table. It was our ritual that I
woke him. It had been like this since he was very small. He always loved our
morning time… not anymore.
His teary eyes slanted to something behind me. I turned, finding Giulia in the
doorway, her eyes full of emotion and the dog on her arm.
She came inside. “Loulou heard you crying and came up to check on you.”
Daniele quieted, regarding the dog with big eyes.
Giulia stopped beside the changing table so the dog could look down at
Daniele and Daniele up at it. I undressed him and for once he didn’t fight. His
wide eyes were fixated on the dog as I changed his diaper. Giulia took clothes
out of the wardrobe and put them down beside me. Jeans, socks that looked like
sneakers, and a sweater with the words “Big brother.”
“You get to wear your big brother shirt today,” she said, grinning.
Daniele’s mouth trembled into a small smile, and I had to look away for a
moment. Clearing my throat, I said, “You are a good big brother. Simona needs
you at her side.”
Daniele nodded slowly and let me put the clothes on. He could dress himself,
more or less, but as with so many other things, he refused to do it since his
mother’s death. I lifted him off the table but didn’t put him down so he could
walk as I usually would have done. I pressed him to my body. His eyes remained
on Loulou, but at least he didn’t try to squirm away from me.
“Let’s check on Simona,” I said.
We headed into Simona’s room together, and Giulia set Loulou down so she
could pick up Simona. The dog trotted out of the room to do whatever it had in
mind, probably pee on the expensive rugs. The moment it was out of sight,
Daniele became restless. I lowered him to the floor before he could start to cry.
He immediately walked away, probably to go in search of his tablet. Giulia held
Simona but looked at me. The compassion in her expression didn’t infuriate me
this morning. It only made me feel wistful. With Simona on her arm, she came
over to me and touched my chest. “He’ll come around. Give it time. It takes time