It was the footsteps of Mary and Anthony running around in the hallway of the Trapani compound in New York that woke Noelle Trapani up late on a Saturday night. The 15 year old stretched her arms over her head before rubbing her bluish grey eyes and brushing her raven hair out of her face, hearing Michael say "Mary, Anthony, let's keep the noise down a bit, okay?"
"Is Ellie asleep?" Mary asks.
"Yes, kiddo. Remember me saying what happens when you don't get enough sleep?" Michael says.
"You get overtired and irritable. Mommy used to say the same thing before she left." Mary says, the mention of Kay leaving leaving Noelle feeling like there was a knife in her heart. Mary and Anthony didn't even know why their mother had left.
'Forced out of their lives is more like it!' Noelle thought bitterly. Yeah, Kay could've chosen to not go through with the abortion but Michael could've reacted better when Kay told him the truth instead of slapping her.
Seeing Kay get slapped reminded Noelle of all the times Connie would end up on the wrong end of Carlo's fists and it pissed her off. Noelle pushed the thought of confronting Michael to the back of her mind for now as the kids walked to their rooms and the door to Noelle's room opened opened… Noelle a bit surprised when Michael walked in.
"Hey there, kiddo. Sorry that the noise woke you up." Michael says, sitting on the edge of the bed and lightly stroking her hair. Noelle flinched a bit, Michael noticing and becoming concerned. "What's wrong?" He asks.
"I saw you… hit her." Noelle manages to say, Michael realising what she meant by that.
"And now you're scared I'll hurt you… Noelle, I will never do that, sweetheart." Michael says, helping Noelle sit up. "I know seeing me hit your Aunt Kay made you think back to all the times you saw Aunt Connie flinch whenever anyone would touch her and I could've handled it in a different way instead of hitting her. No one deserves to be hurt, kiddo." He says, reaching over and lightly brushing Noelle's tears away, both of them hugging.
Noelle rested her head on Michael's right shoulder, no longer flinching or shaking… but Michael knew it would take some time to earn Noelle's trust back. Tears were still running down her face, Michael lightly rocking her back and forth.
"Shh… it's okay, it's okay, babydoll." Michael says softly, Noelle calming down after a while. Noelle eventually fell back asleep, Michael gently laying her down on the bed and lightly brushing her hair away from her face.
Michael quietly walked out of the room and closed the door, checking on Mary and Anthony, who were both asleep. He walked into their rooms, kissed their foreheads and quietly walked out of the rooms, closing the doors.
His next stop was the guest room, knowing it would take a while to wind down.
"Noelle tried to wait up for me again?" Michael heard, looked and saw Aldo in the doorway.
"Yeah... she just fell asleep a while ago." Michael says, Aldo nodding before going to check on Noelle, walking into her room and lightly kissing his daughter's forehead.
"Rest up, kiddo." Aldo says quietly before leaving the room, the long day also leaving him exhausted.