I noticed the glowing numbers on the digital clock embedded in my Audi’s dashboard and felt my chest tighten, not from traffic or heat but from something far deeper, something that resembled fear. It was only two forty in the afternoon. The streets of Milan shimmered under the summer sun, heat rising from the pavement in slow waves, yet my hands were cold against the leather steering wheel. I never left the office before nightfall. My life was engineered down to minutes and margins. Meetings stacked on meetings, quarterly forecasts, overseas calls, shareholders waiting on decisions. Control had always been my strongest currency. Today it had evaporated with one phone call.
“Mr. Bellini, I am so sorry. I cannot continue. I am quitting, effective immediately.”
The voice of the sixth caregiver in less than a year echoed inside my head long after the line went dead. Her words blended with the soft growl of the engine, creating a dull pressure behind my eyes. It was always the same conclusion. Carefully vetted professionals, glowing recommendations, advanced degrees in early childhood education, all of them leaving my house as if fleeing a disaster zone.
I clenched my jaw and pressed harder on the accelerator. I could not blame them. I could not even blame my former wife, Alessandra, who had walked out eight months earlier with hollow eyes and trembling hands, seeking refuge with her brother in Zurich.
“I am breaking, Marco,” she had whispered that morning, her voice frayed by exhaustion. “Three toddlers at once. The crying never stops. When they scream together I feel like my mind is tearing itself apart. I love them, I swear I do, but I am disappearing. I cannot be the mother they need. I cannot be your partner anymore.”
Then she was gone, leaving me in a glass and concrete villa on the outskirts of the city with a swelling bank account and a collapsing family. Luca, Tomaso, and Bianca. My triplets. Three storms wrapped in tiny bodies, each with a will strong enough to flatten an adult. Doctors had warned us about the strain of multiple births, about the need for patience and structure, but no one had prepared me for the reality of raising three three year olds alone while running a technology firm with hundreds of employees whose livelihoods depended on my focus.
The security gate slid open with its familiar mechanical hum. Once it had made me proud. Now it only fed my anxiety. The house stood pristine and modern, white stone and steel lines, everything expensive, everything flawless. Except the life inside it.
I parked in the underground garage and sat there longer than necessary, breathing slowly, preparing myself for chaos. The silence unsettled me. Normally there were screams, toys clattering, the sound of something being dropped or knocked over. Today there was nothing.
Silence with toddlers is never good. I hurried inside, fumbling with the keys, my pulse loud in my ears. The entry hall was empty. The television murmured with a cartoon, volume low. Blocks lay scattered across the rug. No children. No caregiver. Panic surged.
“Luca. Tomaso. Bianca.” My voice echoed, thin and strained.
No answer. Then I heard it. Soft laughter drifting from the kitchen, light and genuine, accompanied by a woman humming a tune I could not quite place. The air carried the scent of sugar and warm butter.
I walked toward the sound, my tie loosened without conscious thought, and froze at the doorway.
Clara, the woman who came twice a week to clean, stood at the counter with her sleeves rolled up and flour dusting her hair. She was young, maybe late twenties, usually quiet and efficient, someone I barely noticed beyond polite greetings. But this version of her was different. Relaxed. Alive.
Seated on tall stools were my children. Tomaso was elbow deep in sticky dough. Luca was proudly shaping something unrecognizable. Bianca laughed so hard she snorted, her cheeks streaked with flour.
They were calm. Happy. My knees weakened. This had to be a hallucination brought on by stress. Clara noticed me and froze, eyes wide. She lifted her hand to her mouth, smearing flour across her cheek.
“Oh. Mr. Bellini. I did not expect you home yet. I am so sorry.”
“Papa.” Bianca leapt down with reckless confidence and barreled into my legs, leaving handprints on my tailored trousers. “We are making cookies.”
Luca held up a misshapen lump. “It is a dragon.”
Tomaso waved without looking up. I stood there, stunned, stroking Bianca’s hair while my mind struggled to catch up.
“I can explain,” Clara said quickly. “The caregiver left earlier. The children were alone and very upset.”
“Where is she,” I asked, my voice rough.
“She left. She said she sent you a message.”
I nodded slowly. “So you decided to bake.”
Her spine straightened. She met my gaze with a quiet firmness. “I decided not to leave three frightened children alone.”
Silence settled between us. I looked at my children. Truly looked at them. No tears. No tension.
“How long were they crying,” I asked quietly.
“I am not sure. Tomaso was sick from panic. It took about twenty minutes.”
Twenty minutes. Professionals had failed for months.
I knelt beside Bianca. “Are you okay.”
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