Top Dog

I pulled Matteo close to me as my eyes fluttered down to the top of his head.

“Have you ever scraped your knee before?” Romeo asked.

“Yeah. On the concrete.”

“Even though it’s only a scrape, doesn’t it leave some blood behind?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“That’s all that happened. Just a scrape.”

“What happened?” I asked.

Romeo’s eyes panned up to me before he leaned back in his chair.

“A burglary,” he said.

“What was taken?”

But he didn’t respond, and I shook my head.

“No, you know what, never mind. It’s none of my business,” I huffed, my adrenaline spike finally starting to ebb.

“Mommy? Why are you mad?” Matteo asked.

“I’m not mad, sweetie,” I said. “Just worried.”

“You sound mad.”

“I’m not mad,” I said.

“Your eye is dancing. It does that when you’re mad.”

Romeo chuckled, and I closed my eyes and groaned.

“A trait I’m familiar with,” he said.

“Your eyes dances, too?” Matteo asked.

“No. But I’ve known your mother long enough to know what you’re talking about,” Romeo said.

“It looks like this when she’s really angry.”

Matteo started twitching his eyes at a rapid speed, and I giggled. A smile crossed Romeo’s face. I watched as that same smile bloomed on my son’s cheeks. Holy hell, the two of them were carbon copies of one another. Cut from the same cloth. They even smiled the same, and I paused to take it all in.

It was the first time we were standing together as a family, and I couldn’t help but feel it was special.

Maybe a little too much.

“Mr. Martine?”

A man with a notepad in his hand walked up beside us, ruining the familial moment.

“Yes?” Romeo asked.

“I’m Detective Bradshaw. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions now that the paramedics have stabilized you.”

“Stabilized you?” I asked.