Page 107 of Bellini Born

Since this was a whole family affair, Bianca chimed in, “Look! Like this!” Getting down on her hands and knees, she demonstrated how to crawl.

The baby girl looked at the three of us like we were crazy, but just when I was about to give up hope that today might be the day—we’d been trying to get her to do this for nearly a week—she lifted her right palm and scooched forward a few inches before placing it down again.

Collectively, we held our breaths, waiting to see if it was a fluke or if she might do it again and actually crawl.

The silence stretched on for what felt like hours before she repeated the process with her left hand, inching forward even more. Like a lightbulb went off, she figured it out and worked her way across the six feet it took to reach Summer.

“You did it!” With a triumphant cry, Summer lifted Serafina over her head before drawing my youngest daughter into her chest and rocking her from side to side. “Look at you, big girl!”

Serafina reached both hands up, placing them on Summer’s face, babbling excitedly. But on the tail end of her baby talk, she said, clear as day, “Mama.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

Panicked, Summer’s eyes grew huge, and she quickly corrected the baby, “Oh no, sweetheart, I’m not—”

“Can I call you Mommy too?” This came from Bianca, and Summer whipped her head around, mouth hanging open.

“Uh . . .” Unsure how to respond, Summer looked to me for help.

With the weight of a two-ton elephant sitting on my chest, I asked Bianca. “Do you want to call Summer Mommy?”

Sensing the growing tension, Bianca drew in on herself, her voice coming out small. “I have a mamma in heaven, but I’d like to have a mommy. All the other girls at school do.”

My heart broke all over again, shattering into a million pieces, for the two little girls who’d lost their mother so young.

I swallowed around the lump formed in my throat, my words coming out thick with emotion. “If that’s all right with Summer.”

Eyes glassy, the woman I loved nodded. “Of course that’s all right. I would be honored to be your and your sister’s mommy.”

“Okay.” Bianca walked over to Summer, hugging her around the neck. “I love you, Mommy.”

It was almost enough to make a grown man cry. And I should probably check to see if Hell had frozen over, because I did tear up, for probably the first time in my entire life.

Shrieks and squeals echoed off the rock walls surrounding the little alcove. We’d braved the cold water enough to put our toes in, and Bianca loved it. Her favorite game was splashing me with her kicks, and even though my clothes were soaked through, my cheeks hurt from how wide I was smiling.

Summer and Serafina were seated a safe distance away on a blanket spread over the sandy shore. But even from this distance, I could see my baby girl was desperate to get in on the action. She was squirming, trying to escape Summer’s hold, and her whines of protest were loud enough to be heard over the crashing waves.

Unwilling to leave Bianca alone in the water while I went to retrieve her sister, I grabbed her hand, and together, we walked to where the other half of our little family sat.

I hefted Serafina into my arms and tickled her belly. “Were you feeling left out,topolina?”

She twisted like a contortionist so that she could spy the sea behind me, and I barely managed to keep from dropping her.

I chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Holding her out to Summer, I asked, “Can you help me roll up her pants?”

Concern filled Summer’s blue eyes as she granted my request. “Are you sure it’s not too cold? She just got over pneumonia not that long ago.”

“I’m just gonna dip her toes in,” I assured her. “Then we can call it a day and get both girls into a hot bath. How’s that sound?”

“The world’s quickest dip, you hear?” There was no mistaking the warning in her tone.

Even though I saw it in action every day, it would never get old witnessing how fiercely Summer loved my girls and the lengths she would go to protect them.

Bending at the waist, I brushed a kiss against her lips. “A millisecond, nothing more. I promise.” When I straightened, I pointed a finger at Bianca. “No more splashing.”

Bianca’s little lips pursed into a pout, but she nodded her agreement.

Approaching the water’s edge once more, I let Serafina’s bare toes dangle above the surf. She kicked wildly, trying to get closer.