As soon as I was done with work, I went back to the hospital. I needed to see Marco. With my own eyes. Romeao had let me know with a text that he was alright, but it wasn’t enough. At the nurses’ station, I asked for Marco. The nurse looked at me strangely, but I was pretty sure that was because I was still in uniform.

“What relation are you to the patient, Mr Di Salvo?”

“I’m his partner. We are together.” I said, lying through my teeth, knowing this was the only way they were going to let me into the room. 

“Right, take this badge and he’s up on the second floor.”

I clipped the badge on my shirt and headed up. I was mildly regretting not changing out of my work pants and jacket. Getting out of the elevator on the second floor, I asked for Marco at the desk and pointed to a room just down the hall. Heading down the hall, I stopped in front of the door and knocked on the door softly before popping it open. 

It was a private room, not surprising though. I figured he would have that at the very least. Marco was up. Romeao was here with him, too. Wren was nowhere to be seen.

“Sorry, I’m not intruding, am I?”

“No, come in, close the door.” Marco said.

“I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“I told you he was alright.” Romeao said, politely. 

“I know, I got your message, but I needed to see with my own eyes, after how he was the last time I saw him.” 

“That’s completely understandable. I told Marco to expect you. He told me you might be in after you sleep, but based on your uniform, sleep isn’t something you’ve done.” Romeao said, looking at Marco. 

“Pardon me for asking, but where is the baby?”

“He’s at Marco’s with a henchman. He is perfectly safe there.”

I frowned. Romeao really must have trusted this person to leave Wren with him. 

“If you’re so worried about Wren, by all means, go to Marco’s and check on him.”

“Sleep while you’re there, too. Please.” Marco said, his eyes locked on mine. 

“How long do you have to stay in the hospital?” I asked, changing the subject. 

“Five to seven days, and they checked out my ribs while I was here, too. They aren’t too concerned with the ribs. They told me how lucky I was that vital organs were missed, but that I’m looking at upwards of six months of full recovery.”

“Three, and you will be back at work. You won’t sit idle that long, even if I demanded it.” Romeao sighed. 

“What will you do without Marco in the field?” I asked. 

“Those under Marco will pick up the slack, and I will handle Marco’s work.”

“I can watch Wren. I really don’t mind.” I said. 

“Then please, bring me your schedule for work, and we can work—--”

“Ambrose has a job and a life—--” 

“Hush Marco, I don’t mind helping.”

“Then stay at my house, so you don’t have to commute back and forth, and you can care for your cat. Bring him too.”

“I would hate for him to wreak something or—-”

“I don’t care, don’t fight me on this. Just do as I’ve asked. You can get proper sleep. Somewhere I know you're safe, and Wren will have you while I can’t be there, and Romeao can’t all the time.”

“Fine.” I groaned, realising that Marco would not give up on this matter, even in his condition. 

I stayed with Marco a little while longer, before he sent me away when I started yawning. Heading home, I sent Romeao a text, letting him know I was going to rest before taking myself and my things to Marco’s. We exchanged numbers to keep in contact with Marco. 

Crawling into bed after I showered, the apartment was quiet. When I closed my eyes, Marco’s pained face popped into my head. I inhaled and exhaled repeatedly until the thoughts about Marco that way disappeared and sleep flooded in. 

Mochi didn’t let me sleep very long. Just three hours later, according to the time on my phone, he was standing on me, kneading my back over and over until I got up. He wanted a snack. I understood that. 

“Let’s go. I know you’re waiting for your morning snack.”

In the kitchen, I poured him some food, and he screamed about it, until I set the dish down. 

“If you need anything else, you can find me back in bed for another hour.”

Laying face down in the bed, I passed out again pretty quickly. I heard nothing more until my alarm went off at two p.m. Mochi was going to be pretty salty about the car ride, but he was going to love all the extra space and things he could get into at Marco’s. I was still really worried about him wrecking something of Marco’s or hurting Wren. 

Mochi had never even seen a baby before. This was going to be an unfamiliar experience for him. I was just praying they got along. 

Packing up Mochi and a ton of other things, I got them into my vehicle, after a few trips, and locked up. Marco’s car was in his driveway now, having been returned, probably by Romeao. I was pretty excited to see Wren. 

I knocked on the door, and a man opened it.

“Your Ambrose right?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Good, good. Romeao said you would be over shortly. I have some things to take Marco at the hospital.”

“Then please, don’t let me keep you.”

“Wren is in the living room in the playpen, laying down. He was miserable this afternoon.”

“Alright, thanks for the heads up.”

The man left, and Wren didn’t wake up until after I got all my things inside and took mochi to Marco’s room. I let him out and closed the door, setting up the litter box I bought along the way. That way, it was new and clean for a few days. 

Wren cried from the playpen, and I washed my hands before going and picking him up. I checked his diaper, and it was still clean, so I walked around with him for a bit before taking him to the kitchen and finding something I knew he could eat. I watched him eat away until he wasn’t eating anymore. I warmed him a bottle and took him back to the living room and set him in the playpen. He cried when I did this. 

“Oh pumpkin, shhh. I just need to check on your bottle, then I will be back and I can hold you.”

With the bottle in hand, I returned to the living room and plucked him from the playpen and held him as I fed him with the bottle. His eyes drifted closed as he drank from the bottle. Carefully, with him in my arms, I set him back down in the playpen after he was done with the bottle and I hovered until I was sure he would not wake back up and start screaming again. 

I let Mochi out of Marco’s bedroom, and he looked around, heading to the kitchen. He stopped under the highchair and cleaned up the few bits of food that Wren dropped. When he was done with his stolen snack, he went around sniffing things. That all stopped when he found Wren. He got as close as he could to the side of the playpen and watched him. I played with a dry patch on my skin absentmindedly as I watched Mochi. I was worried that he might hurt Wren. 

He sat down and let out a meow. 

“Leave that baby alone, Mochi.”

I turned my back to make sure that I left nothing dirty in the kitchen and when I came back, Mochi was in the playpen with Wren. He wasn’t bothering Wren. He was laying down in the corner, minding his own business, his eyes closed. 

Deciding not to move him, I checked my watch and groaned; I had a few hours before I had to go back to work, but Romeao said he would have someone cover that for me. I still felt bad that I couldn’t take more work off Romeao’s shoulders. That way, Marco didn’t feel so guilty about missing so much work. 

Relaxing back on the couch, I watched Wren sleeping. My phone vibrated in my pocket. Pulling it out, Marco was calling. Pressing the answer button, Marco’s face popped up, and he smiled. 

“I see you’re lounging on my couch.” He chuckled. 

“Yes, it’s a comfortable couch, but I can also watch Wren while he sleeps in the playpen.” I whispered. 

“Can I see him?” Marco said. I could only imagine that he missed his son. 

“Sure, hold on, I can bring him to see you in a little while, too.”

“Would you?”

“Of course.”

I flicked the camera around and even in the dark, Marco had hawk eyes. 

“Is that your cat?”

“Haha, yeah. I tried to keep him from—-”

“I’m not worried. Well, maybe for your cat. Wren is going to smother him.” Marco said, laughing. 

“I was worried about Mochi hurting Wren, but he has made no attempts. He’s hurt no one before, and I’m hoping he won’t try with Wren. I would feel terrible.”

“If you think Mochi was it, is safe in there, and won’t hurt Wren, I trust your judgement. But if it happens, we can go from there.”

I nodded, realizing he could see me nod. I flipped the camera back around. 

“How are you feeling?”

“Eh, I feel like I’m sitting here doing nothing when I could hunt down the asshole who did this and make an example out of him.”

“Are the cops involved?”

“Yes, Sasha and another man were here earlier to take pictures and ask a bunch of questions.”

“Lukas, His name is Lukas Black. He is the Maddox’s underboss, Andrei Mihail’s partner.”

“How do you know so much, for someone who keeps so far away from all this?”

“I still listen. I just don’t get involved. Plus, I know some partners of Mafia members pretty well. Sasha and I really weren’t good friends until after his accident. We talked, but Ryer, his partner, really helped open him up to more than just his work husband, Lukas.”

“I think you would know plenty, Your job and who your father is. It must be hard to keep away from the Mafia.”

“Yeah, you’re not wrong.”

“Once I’m out of here, I’ll help you find somewhere else to live and I’ll find—--”

“Marco, I don’t want you to push me away.” I muttered. 

“What?”

“I don’t want you to push me away. Despite it all, I enjoy spending time with you and Wren, and Romeo ain’t so bad.”

“Are you saying that you don’t dislike all Mafia men? Is that what I actually hear you saying, Ambrose?”

“There are a few mafia men that I don’t see as all bad, and you make that list. So count yourself lucky, Marco Di Salvo.”