Francesco lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He had backed up all his belongings into a rutsack and lay down to sleep, but his mind refused to stop spinning. Lucia and Giovanna had ended up in their mother's bed. He wasn't surprised. She needed the physical comfort as much as they did. When she had gotten home that night and read the letter, she was almost as upset as they were, but had agreed there was nothing to do but comply with the archbishop's summons.
That left him alone in his room, unable to sleep. He felt a weight on the side of his bed as someone sat down. He didn't need to look to know who it was. After a few minutes Vincenza spoke, "Listen, what I said before, I didn't really mean it. I know you don't have a choice. I just…"
"Spoke without thinking," he supplied.
She sighed, "Exactly."
Any residual anger he felt toward her melted away then. He took her hand in his and squeezed it. She rubbed her thumb in a circle around his. Neither of them spoke for almost a minute. She said very suddenly, "I wish you didn't have to leave."
He replied, "Yeah, well, If wishes were horses…"
"I know," she cut him off. They lapsed into silence for a bit before she said, "We're going to miss you, you know."
He sighed, "I know."
She said, "I mean, you're the man of the house, for one thing. And our brother. I'll say, yeah I have four sisters, and my piccolo fratello too, even if he doesn't live with us. God, I'm going to miss you."
He said, "You shouldn't use the name of the Lord in vain."
She jerked her hand up and hissed, "Is that all you can think about at a time like this?"
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him calling softly, "Wait, 'Cenza." She stopped moving away and he said, "I just…who's going to remind you about stuff like that when I'm gone?"
She sighed and sank back onto the bed, putting her hand over his where it clasped her wrist. She put her other hand on his head saying, "It's going to be a long day tomorrow. You should get some sleep."
She gently removed his hand from his wrist. He took her hand and asked tentatively, "Stay?"
In answer she lay down beside him and pulled the blanket over both of them.