Pieces of Me by Pua Ramona (small books to read txt) 📕

open it to find out sweetheart.” They both open their boxes and Sina’s hand flies to her chest.

“Oh my God” she cries.

“Do you like them?” I ask her, worried I’ve totally fucked up and upset her more.

“Is this my baby brother’s fingerprint?” Emma asks. She is definitely a smart little girl.

“Yes. I wanted you to have a little bit of him, so I figured that if I gave you necklaces of his fingerprint, then he’ll always be close to your hearts.” I explain. Emma has tears running down her cheeks. Shit! Did I mess up? “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to wear it sweetheart. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

Emma loops her arms around me and says, “I love you Eli. I will wear this forever.”

This little girl owns every piece of my heart. I shouldn’t pick her up, and I know my wound will bite me for it later, but I needed to hold my little girl. I kiss her on the top of her forehead. “I love you more Emma,” I say as I put her back down.

“I just wanted to make sure that you had a piece of our son with you. I didn’t mean for it to make you cry babe.” I say to Sina as she wipes at her eyes with her sleeve.

Her arms wrap around my neck and she says, “This is the best gift I have ever been given, and I love it Eli.”

I hold her tighter. “You’re okay with it?” I ask.

She kisses me and says, “I am more than okay with it. I get to carry our son close to my heart everywhere I go.” She runs her finger over baby Elijah’s fingerprint. “I needed this so much, so thank you.”

I smile and wipe the tears off her face with my thumb. “You’re welcome Babe.” They both want to wear their necklaces, so I help them put them on.

Emma smiles then asks “Is it okay if I go inside and show Grandma and Mama Hunter?”

“Sure, just make sure not to run,” Sina says. She looks back at me and says “You’re something else, you know that? You keep pulling at my heartstrings like this and I may not be able to leave you Hunter.” She smiles and walks inside. Was she saying that she wanted to stay with me, or am I reading too much into it? Fuck, I sucked at this guessing shit.

“She looks happy.” A voice says from behind me.

I look over my shoulder and say, “I hope so, because she makes me more than happy.”

Marino chuckles, “You did good man. I was hoping you’d mess up, but you deserve each other”

I shake his hand and say, “You’ll find your Sina. It just won’t be mine.”

He laughs a little more and says, “If I can find something remotely close to what you have, shit, I’ll die a happy man” and I nod my head.

“Come on, I think everyone’s inside.” I say and as we walk in I notice the place is almost full. Damn, I know they’re a huge family, but I didn’t know a lot of them were going to show up.

I find Sina and take my place next to her. “How are you holding up?” I ask.

“I don’t see June-Bug anywhere,” she says and I know not being able to get a hold of him is hurting her, even though she tries not to show it. It’s hard to miss the disappointed look that she wears every time her calls and text messages are unanswered. But she doesn’t push either because we all know that what happened to Sina must have affected him in a huge way.

“He’ll find you when he’s ready.” I say and she wiped her tears away, weaving her fingers through mine. “Okay. Okay.” I kissed the inside of her wrist. “Don’t sit with your head down babe. You didn’t do anything wrong.” She squeezes my hand then slowly lifts her head up. “That’s my girl.”I whisper to her under my breath. I hate that she’s worried about what people are saying and thinking about her, but I don’t care either way because I’m going to make sure that Sina understands that it wasn’t her fault.

Luka had saved a pew for us, so we’re all seated together. Reese, Leila, Marino, Becca, Michael, and Annie are all sitting behind us. I look over my shoulder and they all wave. I smile. Who would’ve thought that we’d all be sitting here today together as one. What was broken eight years ago, is slowly rebuilding itself. It included our past, our today, and I’m hoping for the future as well. For whatever reason this all happened, I’m glad that it was with this group of people who I’ve grown to respect and love as my own family.

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Sina

“The service was beautiful Mama, and the flower arrangements were breathtaking. I’m sorry that I didn’t help much.” I tell Mama as we sit outside the house together. It really was a beautiful service.

“Oh sweetie, you have nothing to apologize for. I’m just glad that we stuck with a simple service.” She says.

I smile, “I’m so glad you didn’t let anyone from the outside help with the funeral arrangements.”

“Me too sweetie. After everything that our family’s been through, I wasn’t in the mood for anyone’s drama. What are your plans now? When are you and Emma flying back to New York?” Mama makes room for me to sit.

“I don’t know Mama. Our life is in New York and I don’t know if staying here would be a good idea.” I lay my head on her shoulder and hold her hand.

“If you had a choice, would you want to move back home? I’d love nothing more than having all my kids living close to me, but you have your own life now. Have you and Eli talked about you going back to New York?” She asks.

Inhale. Exhale. “We’ve just been