“Miss Ellie,” Marco said suddenly, jerking me from my observations. “Will you read me a bedtime story tonight? Papa always does the voices wrong.”
“I do not,” Dante protested mildly.
“You make all the T. rexes sound the same. Miss Ellie would do it better.”
Dante raised an eyebrow at me.
“Apparently, your dinosaur voice skills are being called upon.”
I could not help but smile.
“I’d be happy to read to Marco, if his father doesn’t mind.”
Marco turned pleading eyes toward his father.
“Please, Papa.”
Dante nodded, his expression unreadable.
“Of course.”
After dinner, Marco led me upstairs to his bedroom. It was a spacious room decorated with dinosaur posters, bookshelves overflowing with children’s books, and a large bed shaped like a triceratops.
He carefully selected 3 books, arranging them in the order he wanted them read.
“Papa always sits here.”
He patted the edge of his bed.
I took the indicated spot, and Marco snuggled beside me, mindful of his cast. I began reading the first book, doing my best to give each dinosaur a distinctive voice. Marco giggled at my attempts, occasionally correcting my pronunciation of the more complex dinosaur names.
Halfway through the second book, I glanced up to find Dante leaning against the doorframe, watching us with an expression I could not decipher.
It was something between longing and satisfaction.
Our eyes met briefly before he nodded and slipped away.
By the 3rd book, Marco’s eyelids were drooping. I finished the story softly, closing the book as his breathing deepened into sleep. Carefully, I tucked the blanket around him and tiptoed from the room.
Dante was waiting in the hallway.
