Page 75 of Harbor

It was Lucia’s light laughter that made Renzo take his attention away from Diego and the sky for a brief second. Just long enough to see her face—shadowed by darkness and yet, her eyes were lit up by the colors—staring up at Diego with a wide smile. He’d been holding onto Diego with one hand, and the railing with the other. But he was quick to drop the railing just so that he could get ahold of Lucia’s hand with his own.

Their fingers intertwined tightly, and he squeezed his around hers. Her gaze drifted to him, and her smile softened instantly. Tugging on her hand, Lucia moved close enough to tuck against his side for the remainder of the fireworks show. Renzo liked her there with him better. Closer was always fucking better, as far as he was concerned.

He felt her lips press against his jawline as he looked back up at the sky to watch the last burst of fireworks hit the sky. All bright reds, and blues. Sparks that started out little, and then suddenly grew into large, reaching streaks of color across a black canvas. He saw those colors, felt her kiss, and heard her words all at the same time.

“Love you forever, Ren.”

Appropriate, he thought.

Those fireworks kind of felt like them, and his heart, in a way. At first, they had been nothing at all. And then something hit his fuse—her. She’d been the match against his fuse that set him on fire. Once they had started, there was no stopping them. They exploded in vibrant, vivid colors. She brought something amazing into his life—letting him see his world in something different than the normal shades he had been living with constantly. And he thought …. he had done the same for her.

They were not the same.

He was the blue, maybe.

She was the red, most definitely.

Fire and ice.

And still, they fit.

Renzo was so caught up in his thoughts, and staring at Lucia from the side as she talked to Diego like she didn’t realize he was looking at her that he didn’t even know the fireworks had stopped. At least, not until Diego started squirming on the railing and reached down to pat his brother’s arm with his fat palm.

“Can I get down, Ren?”

Renzo laughed, and easily pulled his brother to the ground. “There you go.”

Jumping on the spot, Diego looked back at the now inky sky. It was devoid of the colors, but that didn’t seem to matter to the kid. He was still just as excited now without the fireworks as he had been a few moments ago when they were coloring up the sky with all their vibrancy and noise.

Even Renzo, really. When he closed his eyes, he could see those colors.

“Can we get some?” his brother asked. “Can we, Ren?”

Renzo grinned. “Get some of what, buddy?”

“Fireworks!”

Lucia let out a small laugh. “I don’t think we can let off fireworks where we live, Diego.”

Suddenly, Diego’s face darkened with worry as he turned to Lucia. “Because they’ll make us leave?”

Yikes.

Renzo had to give it to Lucia, though. She was the one who—lately, anyway—spent the most time with Diego. When the kid was having issues with something, she was the first one to pick up on it. And she never fucking complained, either. She never said a bad word about his little brother, or the fact she was his primary caregiver at the moment. She just loved the kid—loved him because Renzo loved him, and because Diego loved her.

That was all.

So yeah, when she noticed something was wrong and brought it up to him a couple of days ago, he sat down and listened. She wasn’t wrong about Diego, either. His little brother needed stability, and he didn’t need to be scared anymore. Not that he was going to have to leave something—or someone—behind, and not that someone or something was going to be taken from him again.

Renzo was going to do his absolute best to make sure that didn’t happen, too. It was the least he could do for this kid. He’d been the one to take Diego away, after all. He was the one who gave Diego his safe harbor from the moment he was born. He needed to keep doing that, even if it seemed impossible to do.

“But maybe Uncle Micheal would let us pop some off in his backyard,” Renzo said, kneeling down to turn Diego around to face him. The boy smiled, and Renzo grinned back. “How does that sound? I’ll go see him in the morning, and ask, okay?”

Instantly, Diego’s happiness was back.

Renzo didn’t want it to keep leaving.

“Okay, Ren,” Diego said.