Chapter Five
Sabrina
Sweet Puffs is open when I get there. I walk in, grab the boxes already waiting, and leave just as quickly. I adjust my grip and head towards the orphanage, my steps automatic as my mind runs through the rest of the morning.
Check on Dario. Make sure he's eaten. Make sure he's smiling. Make sure nothing's wrong.
The orphanage comes into view at the end of the street, the building just as worn and familiar as always. My pace slows before I even realise it, and my eyes lift towards the second-floor window.
There he is.
Dario presses his face against the glass, dark curls a mess, his eyes lighting up the moment he spots me. His whole face breaks into a grin as he lifts a hand and waves as though he's been waiting there the entire time.
I lift my free hand and wave back.
I step inside and leave the boxes where the children will find them before pulling two pastries aside and heading back outside.
Dario is already running towards me by the time I reach the garden.
I take him to the swings, settling onto the one beside his. The chains creak softly as we sway back and forth, the morning sun warming my skin.
“Did you miss me?” I ask, taking a bite of my pastry.
He grins, crumbs already covering his lips. “I missed you soooo much! Did you get me extra?”
“You always get extra,” I reply, holding my pastry out. “Want a bite?”
“Yes.”
He snatches it with a laugh, sending bits of pastry flying everywhere before offering me the tiniest piece in return.
I shake my head, smiling despite myself. “You're hopeless.”
“No, you're hopeless,” he fires back with a giggle before leaning closer to whisper. “I really missed you.”
I look across the playground for a moment before turning back to him.
“The world can pull me in a hundred different directions, Dario, but it could never keep me. I'll always find my way back to you.”
He beams and rests his head against my arm as we swing gently, talking about everything and nothing. For a while, the world falls away, leaving only the two of us and the quiet rhythm of the chains beneath the morning sun.
***
I wake to warmth.
Not sunlight or blankets, but the steady weight pressed against my chest.
For a second, I don’t move. I simply lie there, breathing quietly and letting the moment exist.
Dario is awake, his head resting against my shoulder, dark eyes fixed on my face. A slow smile spreads across his lips as though he's found something he'd been searching for.
I remember these mornings. Waking to find him already watching me, sometimes grinning the second our eyes met, sometimes whispering my name like it was a secret only we shared.
I miss that.
Last night, after eight, I was told to leave. So I did what I always do. I “left.”
I waited until the lights went out and the halls fell quiet before slipping back through the window. Dario stirred when I climbed into bed beside him but never fully woke. He simply turned towards me, wrapping his arms around me as though it were instinct.
I brush my thumb through his hair now. He giggles without making a sound, clamping a hand over his mouth to stop himself.
Then footsteps echo down the hallway.
My body goes rigid.
Slow and deliberate, accompanied by the faint jingle of keys.
Margaret.
I pull back just enough to meet Dario's eyes and silently mouth for him to stay still. He nods immediately, rolling onto his side and pulling the blanket over himself as though he's asleep.
I slip out of bed, bare feet meeting the cold floor, and weave silently between the rows of beds.
Children sleep everywhere, limbs tangled beneath blankets, soft breathing filling the room.
Keeping low, I avoid brushing against anyone before sliding beneath another child's bed near the far wall just as the footsteps stop outside the door.
Dust clings to my sleeves as I flatten myself against the floor, tucking my arms close and slowing my breathing.
The handle rattles.
Margaret's heels click sharply as she steps inside. From where I'm hidden, I can see only her shoes moving between the beds. She pauses every few steps, counting and checking that everything is exactly as it should be.
My heart pounds when she stops beside Dario's bed.
I hold my breath.
After a moment, she moves on. Her footsteps retreat down the hallway, and the door closes behind her.
I stay where I am until the sound disappears and silence settles over the room once more. Only then do I lift my head.
Dario is peeking over the edge of his blanket, searching the room. The moment he spots me, he smiles.
I know I'll keep doing this for as long as I have to.
***
The Donovan house has always felt like a pause in the world. It isn't safe enough to make me careless, but it's warm enough that my shoulders ease the moment I step inside.
Dario is already halfway to the couch, his shoes kicked off without permission as Lillian pretends to scold him. Asher and Mario are in the kitchen arguing about something pointless, their voices carrying through the house.
I watch them for a moment, letting the familiar noise settle around me. There are very few places where I can walk through a door and feel like I don't have to be anything other than myself. This is one of them.
“Are you coming?” Dario calls from the living room.
I smile and follow him.
For a few minutes, everything feels normal.
The peace lasts all of two minutes.
Asher is sprawled across the floor with a controller in his hands, staring at the television as though it has personally betrayed him.
“There is no possible way that a four-year-old just beat me at Mario Kart.”
Dario sits proudly beside me, his controller clutched in both hands.
“I won.”
Mario snorts from the other end of the couch. “You did. Fair and square.”
“That race was rigged,” Asher mutters. “You don't even know the buttons.”
Dario considers this seriously before holding up his controller.
“I know this one.”
Lillian doesn't even look up from her phone. “That explains everything.”
Asher turns towards me with an expression of betrayal.
“You raised him.”
I slip an arm around Dario and pull him a little closer. “You were the one yelling directions at him.”
Dario grins, leaning into my side.
“I'm fast.”
“You drove into a wall six times,” Asher says.
“But I still won.”
Mario laughs, shaking his head. “Can't argue with that logic.”
Asher drops backwards onto the carpet and stares at the ceiling as though he's questioning every decision he's ever made.
“I put my life on the line for this family, and I lose to someone who can't tie his shoes.”
Dario gasps and immediately looks at me.
“I can tie shoes.”
I tilt my head, fighting a smile. “Can you?”
He pauses to think before shrugging.
“I can when I know how.”
Lillian finally looks up, the corners of her mouth twitching.
“At least he's honest.”
Dario scoots closer, lowering his voice as though he's sharing the world's biggest secret.
“He's silly.”
“I know,” I whisper back.
I press a kiss to the top of his head, holding him there for a second longer than necessary.
“We'll play again later, okay?”
His face lights up. “I win again?”
Asher groans dramatically from the floor.
“Please don't encourage him.”
I laugh quietly. “I make no promises.”
Even Asher can't hide his smile.