"You can not do that!" Kendra’s scream reverberated through the wide hallway of the geriatric ward, probably waking up all the poor old people who were taking a nap after lunch “Your grandfather is still trying to recover from the onset of a heart attack and you’re going to stress him out with something like that?! Don’t pretend you can’t hear me, Alice…!”
“Uh… Mrs. Bianchi…” one of the hospital security guards, the same one who had volunteered to go with them after all the scandal that Kendra caused, cleared his throat.
"I already said." Alice replied, very politely as she continued to guide her husband and Micah towards Lucas's room “You're free to take her out of here if you want. I understand that a scene like this is unacceptable in a hospital.”
Hello, everyone! This is a very special thanks, because your support during this month has really been a wonderful surprise for me. This might be a bit long, but I can't help but thank you all ^^Continuing with daily updates, keeping my dream of being a writer alive and balancing a formal job with everyday life can be challenging most of the time, but seeing how much you're enjoying this story is what gives me the strength to keep facing the difficult days. So, thank you very much. I promise to keep doing my best to give you the good stories you deserve! Thank you all again for being amazing!Our schedule for August will be TWO chapters per day for 4 days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) and ONE chapter on the other days (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday). But don't worry, I'll try to make these chapters a little longer.About the STORY BEING LONG, don't worry. I realized that this is a concern for most of you, so you can be sure that we won't go past September. The story w
There should have been a limit to how many tears Alice could shed in the space of just three days. But apparently not.Sitting in one of the chairs in the visiting room closest to the operating room, Alice lost count of how long she had been curled up there, her tear-stained face hidden in her hands, as she waited for news of her grandfather’s surgery. Kendra and Amber had long since left, seeming more concerned about what would become of Micah than about Lucas’s condition, but still, their last words before leaving were still there, haunting Alice.If her grandfather died, it would be her fault.“Lucas will be fine…” Massimo murmured, sitting in his wheelchair across from her, though she didn’t have the strength to look at him “The defibrillator was not necessary and it's a cardiac pacemaker that’s going to take him, Alice.” “I… I shouldn’t have been so selfish…” she sobbed softly “I should have thought better about the stress it would cause him… Oh, God, how could
“There she is! Our brave little girl!” Thea cried, not even waiting for her husband to park the car completely before opening the door, her arms wide open and ready to welcome Millicent.“Thea!” Millie cheered along with her, jumping out of the seat to hug her “I miss you!”“Not as much as we miss you, honey…” the old lady whimpered, cradling Millicent in her arms as Alice and Massimo got out of the car, carrying all the things their daughter had brought from the hospital.“Look! Dr. Weston gave me this lollipop when I left! She said it’ll make my tongue blue!” she said happily, pulling the candy out of her coat pocket “Mommy said she’s going to be my new doctor! I wish she could take care of Grandpa Lucas too, because he started sleeping again and I didn’t get to play with him before I left.” Millie sighed, very serious “You know, the hospital is nice. There are toys and Mommy showed me what it’s like to work as a nurse, but the needles hurt and the food isn’t as good
And so, Pinocchio, now transformed into a real boy, finally went to school, where he told all his classmates about the traps the world held for those who chose to be bad boys. The end.” Massimo finished reading the picture book, but kept it open so the little girl and the puppy sitting on his lap could continue looking at the drawings.“Look, Lady, the dumb boys are still over there.” Millicent pointed to the animals huddled far away from Pinocchio, looking remorseful “They look like Dominic!” she stated, with the kind of harmless mischief only a child could muster.“Dominic Carnby? Vincent Carnby’s son?” Massimo asked, surprised. “I thought he was a good boy. He’s not trying to bully you like those other boys did, is he? Because, I know his father. I can talk to him, if that brat is bothering you…”“No. He’s not as mean as those big boys.” Millie sighed, stretching as if this were a subject that required much thought “But he’s so annoying! Mom always tel
“Daddy, this isn’t a new story.” Millicent laughed “This is Cinderella.”“Well, I can’t deny that there are some similarities.” He sighed, thinking about how much easier everything would have been if his Cinderella had left a shoe for him to find a little earlier than five years later “But, you’ll soon realize what makes them a little different. Especially because this story is more about the prince than it is about her. At least, that’s the side of the story I’m most familiar with.”“I’ve never seen a story about a prince before!” she said excitedly “Will he talk to his princess at the end? Will he fight a dragon?”“We’ll see…” Massimo laughed sadly, hoping she wouldn’t be too disappointed “For starters, this prince didn’t know he was born a prince until he was a little older. His mother was a kind seamstress who fell in love with the future king and, together, they ended up… Uh… Planting a seed that was watered with lots of love and grew into a baby.” He hoped that di
“And… Would the prince really hate the baby?” Millie murmured, her eyes filling with tears.“Of course not!” Massimo assured, leaning over the bed so he could get even closer to her “On the contrary, after the princess left, even though he didn’t know she had left with his child, he felt like his life only had one meaning: trying to become king. And not even that made him truly happy. Deep down, he always felt like there was a part of him that was missing. And then… He got really sick after… Falling off his horse. He needed a healer who could take care of him, but the prince didn’t want anyone. Until… The princess discovered he needed help and decided she would use her healing skills to make him feel better. And, when she came to his castle, she also brought their baby, although the prince didn’t know it. Hurt inside and out, he was even mean to them at first. But, you know what?”“What, Daddy?”“Very quickly, he discovered he loved that baby more than he had ever loved
Sleepless nights had become a constant for Alice lately. But tonight, especially, it felt like an invisible hand was squeezing her throat, stealing her breath and making her feel a despair that was hard to explain. Or, perhaps, too easy. She knew that Massimo must have told Millicent the truth by now, and it was killing Alice inside. God, she wished she could just be happy that she had been wrong about him all this time. Now, her baby would have a loving father, all the financial support in the world to make all her dreams come true, and a real home, much better and more welcoming than the Dawsey house would ever be. And, the truth is that a part of Alice was happy and relieved to finally have put an end to that lie that had been suffocating her for the past few months, every time she saw Massimo and Millie acting like the father and daughter they had no idea they really were…But, a much bigger and much more fragile part of her was in deep agony with the possibility that M
“He’s your father.”It had been so long since Alice needed to say those words. Hearing them hang in the air was both a relief and a pain, because, after everything she had been through when she discovered the truth about her birth, she knew very well the kind of anger and revolt that Millie must be feeling, even as a child. However, even so, Alice forced herself to smile, ignoring the tears that were starting to flow.“I… I’m so sorry for not telling you this before… I shouldn’t have hidden you from each other. I’m so, so sorry that you didn’t have a father since you were born, like you and Massimo deserved…”“Don’t cry, mommy!” Millie begged, alarmed “I’m not mad with you!”“How can you not be?” Alice sniffed, desolate “I shouldn’t have lied about that. I should have always protected you, but I ended up hurting you…”“Daddy told me that he lost his memory and you were afraid that he wouldn’t love me, so you hid me. Just like Sleeping Beauty’