Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 824 : In the Morning

*Elio*

Getting off early was not something I was used to, and arriving home to an empty house, even less so. Luckily, however, I wasn’t entirely alone.

I checked my watch for the time. It was just past one o’clock, so I roughly guessed that it had only been around twenty or thirty minutes since Cat had left. She’d informed me she had an appointment for wedding preparations but didn’t tell me what they were.

So it was probably about the wedding dress.

Cat had gone to great lengths to keep anything about her wedding dress hidden from me. Though I normally wasn’t superstitious, if it kept Cat happy, then I was more willing to play along and not see the dress until our wedding day.

I kicked my shoes off and unbuttoned my shirt, glancing into the kitchen and then the living room. Both were empty so I frowned, heading straight upstairs to the nursery. The lights were all off and the door to the nursery was creaked open as I approached.

Emilia was napping, just like I thought she would be, and sitting in the rocking chair that Cat loved was one of the maids who’d volunteered to wait here with Emilia until I came home. Cat didn’t want to take Emilia this time around since it was her nap time.

The maid glanced up as I entered, jumping to her feet ready to explain herself, but I just signaled her to be quiet and nodded my head to the door. She understood immediately, fleeing back to work.

I, on the other hand, glanced over the crib where Emilia was sleeping away on her tummy, her blanket having been tangled around her feet and arms stretched up against bars like she had been holding them before falling asleep.

Her hair was still in the pigtails I had done for this morning so I gently detangled the hair ties, being careful not to wake her. Once her hair was free, I ran my hands through them once to free them of any tangles developing.

I grinned as I noticed her hair getting curlier the older she grew, not nearly up to my own but similar in texture.

Emilia didn’t stir once as I played with her hair, patting her back and just spending time with her. Eventually, I settled down into the rocking chair, finding it more comfortable than I thought I would as I got out my laptop and finished up some work Leo had sent over to me.

Emilia slept for another hour before waking up and she babbled happily once she saw me, reaching out her arms to be picked up. I chuckled, putting away my work so I could spend a few hours with just us.

It was daddy-daughter bonding time.

Hours passed by in a flash as I let out my childish spirit, remembering what it was like to play like no one was watching and there were no responsibilities on my shoulders. It was all too easy to put Emilia on my back, playing horsey with her or teach her peek-a-boo, and hear her giggles that brought warmth to my heart.

I even found the cartoon she watched all the time a little delightful to watch, as simple and colorful as it was. By the time it got late, though, both Emilia and I were tuckered out and we relaxed on the couch, absent-mindedly watching a random animated movie I’d put on.

I’d never actually seen this one, but I was probably more invested than Emilia was as I cheered for the characters’ triumphs and even cried at their failures.

“That’s right. Family will always be there for you,” I whispered to Emilia, sniffing as I stared at the group hug on the screen.

Emilia babbled something softly and I nodded in agreement as if I really understood what she had said.

I was lounging on the couch, from head to foot fully splayed out and Emilia lay in the crook of my arm, more preoccupied with the chain on my wallet she’d quickly swindled from me. Seeing that it wasn’t hurting anything, I let her have her way as she jingled it like one of her rattles.

It was once I heard a car pulling into the driveway that I jumped off the couch, holding Emilia in my arms as I headed for the door to greet Cat like she had done for me so many times.

As soon as she opened the door, a face-splitting grin spread across my face as I called out, “Hey. How was your day?”

Emilia wiggled in my arms, reaching her arms out for her mama as she babbled. Cat smiled, her exhausted look falling away from her as she fell for our daughter’s sweetness. I passed over Emilia, embracing them both in my arms.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” I told her with a small smile, relieved to have her back home.

I could see Cat’s fatigue, so I carried on the conversation as we settled down for dinner. I told her about how I decided to head home early, something that both Leo and Franky agreed with after I’d gone off on Franky this morning.

I’d been on edge lately, desperate to catch Junior before he did anything else, and I’d unfairly lashed out at Franky because of it. Luckily, he took it in stride, calming me down before sending me home.

It turned out to be the right call because I felt better after spending the afternoon with Emilia, just the two of us.

Cat confessed that her wedding dress was done and that was where she’d gone, but that Simona would be delivering it to the cathedral on the wedding day just so I wouldn’t see it. I felt that was a bit excessive but then again, with all the hype about this dress, I was eager to see how beautiful my soon-to-be wife was in it.

After dinner, Cat picked up Emilia into her arms, gently rocking her to sleep, and settled down on the couch while I found a nice bottle of wine and cracked it open for us. I settled down beside her, taking the moment to dim the lights and light a few candles with a sweet vanilla scent.

I poured her a glass and then myself, clinking them together with a smile that she returned. She laid her head on my shoulder and we just relaxed together as a family after a long day.

“So what about Junior?” Cat asked quietly. “Any news on him yet?”

“No,” I sighed, disappointedly. “We still haven’t located him yet. We’ve been tracking all of his buildings and the cars that go in and out religiously, but it’s like he’s not in the city at all anymore. Or he hasn’t left the safety of his safehouses since the last time we caught sight of him. Even with the tunnels, he’d need to show up somewhere eventually. He’s always been erratic, but I’m convinced someone is hiding him.”

I caught the worried frown on Cat’s face, clearly shaken by this news. I gently pressed a kiss to her forehead, trying to offer what little comfort I could.

“It’ll be okay, Cat. He can’t hide forever, and we’re doing everything we can to find him. We’ve got eyes all over the city, so the moment he shows his face, we’ll have him. Plus, Al will be coming soon and he’s got the best of the best ready to hunt him down,” I said to comfort her.

But Cat was still stiff as a board, only staring at Emilia, whose little eyes finally closed, her breath evened out as she fell into a deep sleep.

“Cat.” I frowned, reaching out to her, sensing that something was wrong like a disconnect between us that I couldn’t find the source of.

Cat dodged my touch, rising from her seat as she quietly said, “I need to put Emilia down.” She walked off, her head lowered like something was weighing on her mind.

I couldn’t help the little nervousness that made itself home in the pit of my stomach. I could tell Cat was ready to say whatever she’d been thinking about, and as much as I wanted her to be honest with me, I knew her.

The only reason she would’ve kept it a secret this long was because it was something she knew I wouldn’t like. Because she’d be afraid of starting a fight.

I took a deep breath, drinking my glass of wine in one gulp as I poured myself another one. Cat’s was practically untouched, which was another bad sign that I didn’t know what to do with.

Cat came back with that same nervous energy simply radiating off of her, only contrasted by the determined look in her eye. As stubborn as she was, there was no going back once she’d decided to spill what she’d been holding back.

Cat sat down next to me, grabbing her glass to take a huge gulp and then set it down before turning to me, her mouth pulled into a grim line.

“Elio, I’ve been... feeling really nervous lately. And I’ve been having nightmares again, and I’ve been thinking really hard about this, but I don’t want to keep it from you any longer.” She took a deep breath, wincing like she knew what would come after this would not be pleasant, and then she looked me straight in the eye as she blurted out. “I think it might be a good idea if we took a break from all of this for a while.”

I blinked in surprise and confusion, tilting my head curiously as I wondered what she was talking about. “Break from all of what?” My heart jolted as I sat up in fear, “The wedding? You don’t want to marry me?”

“No, no no!” Cat immediately rushed to cup my head in her hands, pulling me down to meet her with a sorrowful, hesitant look. “I love you. I want to marry you more than anything. That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what do you mean, Cat? You’ve gotta spell it out for me because I’m not getting it.” I frowned.

She looked physically pained, but she sighed, nodding to herself before she finally said what she needed to.

“I want us to take a break from the mafia, Elio, at least for a while... or maybe forever.”

I went incredibly still, staring into the pleading eyes of the love of my life as she asked me to give up the career I’d fought for, had chosen, and loved deeply because I was good at it.

I knew that in the morning I’d regret how I lost control for a moment, for losing my temper instead of trying to comfort the anxiety Cat clearly expressed to me. I knew I’d feel guilty for everything I said or did in the heat of anger, for the screams that were loud enough to wake up our daughter upstairs and the tears in Cat’s eyes as she stormed away from me.

I knew I’d be regretting my decision to sleep in my office, groaning at the ache in my back from laying slumped over my desk all night and the beating headache in my brain and cursing myself as I trip over the empty bottle of wine on the floor that I won’t remember I drank.

I’d feel ashamed of how I’d said to Cat’s face that I’d never give up being the Don, even for her.

But that wasn’t until morning.