Morning light slipped quietly into the bedroom, chasing away the last traces of night.
Bella opened her eyes slowly. For a few seconds she simply lay there, enjoying the rare silence.
Rachel was still asleep beside her, one arm wrapped around Bella's waist as if she had claimed ownership sometime during the night.
Bella smiled faintly. The little girl had somehow managed to steal most of the blanket again. Some things never changed.
Carefully, Bella shifted and tucked the blanket back around Rachel.
"Mama..."
Bella looked down immediately.
"Good morning, munchkin."
Rachel yawned dramatically.
"Is it school?"
"Unfortunately."
Rachel groaned and buried her face into the pillow. Bella laughed softly before sitting up.
The cool morning air brushed against her skin. Instinctively, her gaze drifted toward the other side of the bed. Empty. For some reason, the room felt larger today.
"The bed feels bigger."
Bella froze.
Rachel was sitting up now, rubbing her eyes.
"Maybe because Dada isn't here."
Bella looked away almost immediately.
"Maybe."
Rachel accepted the answer without question. Children had a strange ability to notice everything and care about nothing.
"I'm still going to win."
Bella blinked, then laughed heartily. "Of course you are."
Rachel nodded seriously and walked toward the bathroom. Bella remained sitting on the bed for a moment longer. Her gaze drifted to the empty side again. Just for a second. Then she shook her head lightly and stood up.
Lucas was working. People traveled for work all the time. There was absolutely no reason she should notice his absence. None whatsoever.
"Come on, Rachel," she called. "We're going to be late."
____________
The house was unusually quiet that afternoon. Too quiet even when Rachel was already at home.
Bella finally understood why parents feared silence. Silence usually meant children were planning something. Or already doing it.
She had just finished putting away groceries when she heard it. Drip. She paused. Drip. Drip. She frowned. The sound was coming from the kitchen.
Walking over, she stared at the faucet. Water dripped steadily from the tap.
"Wonderful." Another thing to add to the list.
Bella twisted the handle. The dripping stopped. She nodded with satisfaction.
Then.... SPLOOSH. A jet of water shot sideways. Bella jumped backward.
"What the..."
Another splash hit her shirt. The faucet made a horrible rattling noise. Then water began spraying everywhere.
"Mama!"
Rachel appeared immediately. Of course she did. Children possessed a supernatural ability to locate chaos.
"It's broken!" Rachel announced happily.
"I can see that."
Bella grabbed a dish towel and wrapped it around the faucet. The water immediately soaked through. Useless. Another spray hit the counter. Then the floor. Then Bella.
Rachel giggled.
"This isn't funny."
"It is."
"It really isn't."
"It really is."
Bella sighed. At some point Rachel started "helping." Bella still wasn't entirely sure what helping actually involved.
Within minutes Rachel's sleeves were wet. Then her socks. Then somehow one side of her dress.
"Munchkin."
"I'm helping."
"You are creating additional work."
Rachel grinned. Bella pointed toward the living room.
"Retreat."
"I refuse."
"You are five."
"I refuse anyway."
Bella narrowed her eyes. Rachel narrowed hers right back. The tiny menace had definitely learned that from Lucas.
The realization appeared so suddenly that Bella almost laughed. Then another burst of water hit her shoulder. She groaned.
Her gaze landed on her phone. Call Lucas. The thought appeared naturally. Effortlessly. As if it were the most obvious solution in the world.
Bella stared at the phone. Then at the faucet. Then back at the phone.
Why would she call Lucas? He wasn't a plumber. He wasn't even in the city. He was probably doing something important right now.
She could practically hear his voice already.
"Bella, why are you trying to wrestle a faucet?"
Bella set the phone down.
"No."
She could handle a leaking sink. The sink apparently disagreed. The faucet chose that exact moment to spray water directly into her face. She pressed call.
"Fine. You win."
Rachel cheered. "Dada will save us!"
"He is not saving us."
The call connected almost immediately. "Bella?"
Lucas sounded distracted. Like he'd been in the middle of something.
"I have a question."
A pause. "Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Is Rachel hurt?"
"No."
Another pause. Then his voice relaxed. "All right. What's wrong?"
Bella looked at the sink. "The faucet is attacking me."
Silence. Then he asked. "The faucet is what?"
"It's leaking."
"Leaking?"
"Violently."
Three thousand miles away, twelve executives sat around a conference table. A presentation glowed on the screen. Acquisitions. Numbers worth millions.
Nobody spoke. Because Lucas Costanzo had suddenly stopped paying attention to all of them. His phone was pressed against his ear.
"The water shutoff valve should be under the sink."
Bella crouched down. "I see pipes."
"Good start."
Lucas heard Rachel giggling somewhere in the background.
"Dada! The sink is winning!"
Several executives exchanged confused glances. Lucas rubbed his forehead.
"No, sweetheart. The sink isn't winning."
"It absolutely is," Bella muttered.
One of the executives cautiously cleared his throat. Lucas raised one finger without looking away from the phone. The man immediately fell silent again.
"Turn the valve clockwise."
Bella struggled with it.
"It won't move."
"It will."
"It won't."
"It will."
Bella narrowed her eyes at absolutely nobody.
"You sound very confident for someone who isn't here."
"Of course I'm confident. My wife called me before calling a plumber."
Bella gasped. Lucas smiled.
"Okay, I got it."
The water immediately slowed. Then stopped. Bella blinked. The kitchen fell silent.
Rachel looked genuinely disappointed. "We won?" she asked.
"We won," Bella confirmed.
Rachel threw both arms into the air. "We defeated the sink!"
Lucas laughed quietly. A real laugh.
The kind he had reserved only for family.
"Thank you," Bella said. The words came out softer than she'd intended. Lucas heard it immediately. His expression gentled.
"Anytime." The answer was simple. Natural. As if there had never been another possible response.
"I'm sending a professional right now to fix that. Unless you are going outside." His voice was gentler than ever.
"I'm at home. You can send them," She replied just as softly.
For a moment neither spoke. Then Bella glanced at the mess covering half the kitchen.
"Now I have to clean this."
Lucas looked down at the reports spread across the conference table.
"Now I have to finish a meeting."
Bella blinked. "A meeting?"
"Yes."
"You were working?"
"Yes."
Bella stared. "Lucas."
"Hm?"
"You answered the phone."
Lucas sounded genuinely confused.
"Of course I answered the phone."
Something warm settled unexpectedly in Bella's chest. Before she could examine it, Rachel grabbed the phone.
"Dada! We beat the sink!"
Lucas smiled. "I never doubted you."
_______
That night, exhaustion settled heavily over the house. The faucet had eventually been repaired. The kitchen had survived. Barely.
Rachel had spent most of dinner proudly explaining how much she had contributed. Bella disagreed with almost every detail. Now the little girl was curled beneath the blanket beside her.
Unusually quiet. Bella frowned. Rachel was rarely this still.
"Munchkin?"
A sleepy mumble answered. Something felt wrong. Bella reached out and touched her forehead. Her heart immediately dropped. Warm. Far too warm.
"Rachel?"
The little girl shifted weakly. Bella sat upright. A familiar knot of worry tightened in her chest. No parent ever got used to this feeling.
The thermometer confirmed it. Fever. Not dangerously high. But high enough.
Bella brushed Rachel's hair back gently.
"It's okay, sweetheart."
Rachel barely opened her eyes. Bella swallowed. She hated this. Hated how helpless she always felt when Rachel was sick.
Guilt settled heavily in her chest. She should have made Rachel change immediately. She should have been more careful.
The medicine helped. The cool cloth helped. But the worry remained.
Hours later, Rachel finally drifted into a deeper sleep. Bella remained awake. Watching. Waiting.
The phone rang quietly beside her. Lucas. For some reason relief hit before she could stop it. She answered immediately.
"Hello?"
"Bella."
His voice was calm. Steady. Then there was a pause. A very short pause.
"What happened?"
Bella blinked. "What?"
"What happened?"
"Nothing happened."
"Bella."
She closed her eyes. She hated that tone. The one that somehow always knew when she wasn't telling the truth.
"I'm fine."
Another silence. Then his voice came.
"Rachel isn't."
Bella looked down at the sleeping child.
"How did you know?"
"I know you."
The simple answer shouldn't have affected her. Yet somehow it did. She wasn't sure when that had become true.
Bella rubbed her tired eyes. "She has a fever."
Lucas became completely serious.
"How high?"
And just like that, the conversation shifted. Questions. Medicine. Symptoms. When she had eaten. Whether Rachel was sleeping. Whether Bella had called the pediatrician. Practical things. Useful things. Things that made the burden feel lighter.
By the time the call ended, Bella felt slightly less alone. Which was ridiculous. Lucas was hundreds of miles away. He wasn't here. He couldn't actually help. Yet somehow... He had.
After hanging up, Bella looked at Rachel sleeping peacefully. Then at the empty side of the bed. A thought slipped into her mind before she could stop it.
Since when had Lucas become the person she wanted beside her when things went wrong?
Bella immediately frowned. That was easy. Because he was Rachel's father. Or at least trying very hard to be one. That had to be the reason. Obviously.
Bella ignored the tiny voice in her head that wasn't entirely convinced.
Then she switched off the lamp and settled beside Rachel. Outside, the house grew quiet again. For the first time that night, Bella finally managed to close her eyes.