Octavius

Bonus #2

PAPI OCTAVIUS

A little body catapulted on the king-sized bed, undulating the mattress and waking me from the deep sleep I had been consumed with. Jesus fuckin' Christ.

I shook out of my sleep just as a sleepy Finley burrowed further beneath the rose-colored comforter in her deep sleep. I almost reached for her before Marcello jumped on the bed. Yet again but this time I caught the sight of the chandelier above.

I checked quickly if it swung before exhaling a heavy sigh. God. "Marcello."

"Papá! Wake up! Wake up!" Marcello sang jubilantly and then crawled towards me, dressed in SpongeBob pajamas.

        "It's Saturday which means pancake time, Mamma!" He continued singing but unknown to him, Finley was too deep in her slumber to notice anyone.

Crazy pregnancy brain, I swear.

Also unknown to Marcello, he didn't notice the giant lump of the twins under the comforter wrapped around Finley's body. I caught the sight of soft amber eyes filled with curiosity and a bit of nervousness.

I knew it would soon result in crying in less than five minutes if Marcello didn't stop, and instead he stood on wobbly legs on the mattress and started bouncing higher and higher.

Yeah, he's my child all right.

And then all hell broke loose. Caterina started sobbing. Hysterically. Caterina's crying especially in the morning always sounded like bloody murder.

        I was already off the bed, alarm rushing through me like fissured ice. Leona, who'd been quietly sleeping next to Finley suddenly awoke, and followed.

        He clung to an alert Finley and began wailing like the world was coming to a sudden end.

Caterina clung to my leg. "Papá," she sobbed. I squatted down lowly, picking her up and she suddenly flung her arms around my shoulders, blubbering into my chest. I tenderly clutched the back of her head. In one breath, I craved to comfort my daughter.

Caterina sobbed harder, her quiet voice turning hoarse. "Sh," I whispered in a soothing tone. "Piccolo amore."

(Little love)

With a heavy gruff, I reached for Marcello and tugged hard on his pajama shirt, and he fell to his butt. Finley rubbed her sleepy eyes with a fist while cradling a hysterical Leona.

        She shot me a look from the corner of her eyes quietly asking me to be calm. I always regarded Marcello with patience because he was a little daredevil but lately he had been testing that patience.

Sometimes it almost worried me how similar to me he was.

I held Caterina tighter, lifting her dark hair off her shoulder and gently pressing a hand on her neck and along her spine to calm her down. "Marcello." My voice was relatively calm with rough hilt to it.

The boy smiled. "Morning, Papá."

"Good morning." I responded. From the corner of my eyes, Finley was whispering soft things to Leona, wiping his tear-filled eyes. "Now. What'd we talk about yesterday, piccolo?"

"Umm.." His brows furrowed in contemplation. His hand reached into his long brown curls that stuck up on the side and was uneven. Something resembling Finley's bed head but worse.

        I watched him gawk until at the ceiling, searching for some words and then over at his mother who only smiled.

"Marcello. Knocking, remember?" Finley gave him a look that resembled something between stern and soft and almost made me smile. She wanted to be more assertive with the kids but that was almost impossible for Finley.