Forever family

Chapter 2

Dante P.O.V

As soon as I enter the house after getting back from a meeting with Nicholas Donatello, I hear the twins playing video games in the gaming room.

"Ha! I win again! You could learn a thing or two from your big bro." Enzo says, making Luca scowl back at him. Honestly, at sixteen years old, they act more like 5-year-olds.

"You're literally older than me by three minutes, and besides, I could totally beat your ass at any other game." Luca's response is nothing new, considering he says the same thing every time he loses a game. A shoe comes flying at their heads as they dodge it just before it hits either of them.

"Knock it off, I'm working." Gio's voice is stern as he keeps his eyes focused on the screen of the laptop sitting on his lap. He's a year younger than me, but in mental age, we're just about the same.

"Shut up Gio, you have your own office, so go there. As you can see, we're-"

"They found them," Antonio's voice booms, making us all jump. He's standing at the threshold with his phone gripped tightly in his right hand. For once, there is an actual emotion visible on his usually stoic face.

"Found who, exactly?" Gio questions slowly, not wanting to poke the bear, but also wanting some answers.

"Emmalin. They found Emmalin and Sofia." The room is silent for a whole minute as we all process what our oldest brother just said. Emmalin is our younger and only sister. She was the light of our family and the apple of our eyes. I like to believe our mother, although not as caring as most, was happy with us. But apparently this wasn't the case, because while we were enjoying our childhood, she was caught up doing meth. The first time my father found out, he sent her to rehab for six months, where she got over the addiction and life went back to normal. The second time, however, was the day we found out she was pregnant again. My father was furious, but told her she was going back to rehab because there was no way he would have his child affected by her decisions.

Dad had told her to pack a bag and they were to leave the next day. Agatha, our mother, was too early in her pregnancy to know the sex of the baby, but unfortunately, we never got to know. The next morning, I woke up to play with Emma, but she was gone, and so was our mother. Our father was broken after that, but he never stopped looking for her and once he passed away, Antonio took over that role.

"W-who is Sofia?" Enzo stutters out, asking the same question I had in mind. Antonio takes a moment before softly whispering, "Our youngest sister. She's only five-years-old."

The entire plane ride over to Philadelphia is tense. We're all anxious to see Emmalin again, but equally anxious to meet Sofia for the first time. Dad always thought our youngest sibling would be a girl, but my biggest regret is that he'll never get to meet her. It seems odd that we haven't met her yet, considering she's our sister. I wonder if Emma remembers us, but I know I can't expect too much.

As soon as we exit the plane, I see a woman in a suit, waiting right outside. My brows furrow together, trying to figure out who she is. Looking closer, I can see a small figure standing behind her, holding hands with an even smaller one.

My heart-rate increases as excitement fills my body at the thought of finally being able to meet my sisters.

"Emmalin, these are your brothers." The woman, who I assume is a social worker says softly, turning around to face Emma. From where we're standing, none of us can see her face yet.

A small, chubby face pops out from behind the social worker and grins widely. Sofia Folliero is absolutely beautiful. Her big teal eyes stare at us in wonder and the mass of mocha curls on her head bounce each time she turns her head to study each of us closely. Her grin grows wider and she begins to sprint towards us, but two arms shoot out to catch her and we finally see Emmalin. She is even more beautiful than I remember. Her hair is the same color as Sofia's and reaches around her waist. The first expression I see on her face is a wince as she picks Sofia up, but it's gone as soon as I see it, replaced my apprehension and she slowly looks up through her lashes, teal eyes, identical to mine meet mine and I take a sharp intake of breath. She's absolutely stunning, except for what I can see behind her eyes, they tell a story of horror. A look I never expected to see on her.

"H-hello." Emmalin seems scared of us as she holds Sofia tighter against her and again, I see her slight wince. It hurts to know she doesn't recognize us, and I am slightly confused about that since she was nine when mom took her away from us.

"Hello, Bambina.," I murmur softly, daring to take a step closer. "I'm Dante, your second oldest brother... Do you remember me?" When she gives a slight shake of her head, a wave of hurt flows through me, but I shake it off. "That's alright. Antonio, your oldest brother, wanted to be here too, but he had some business to attend to." If only she knew exactly what business it was that he needed to take care of.

"It's nice to meet you Dante, I'm Emma." Her fragile voice brings a smile to my face as she gives me a small one in return.

"I'm Giovanni, but you can call me Gio. I'm your third-oldest brother." She also gives Gio a smile in response.

"I'm Lorezo, but call me Enzo. I'm the older twin."

"Yeah, only by three minutes." Luca scoffs, earning a giggle from Emmalin. The sound is beautiful, almost like a bell. "I'm Luca. I may not be the older twin, but I'm definitely the cooler one." Emmalin takes another step towards us, making me believe that she's slightly less frightened. The look I send Luca is one that says well done.

"I'n Sofia!" Sofia says loudly, without a fear in the world, probably feeling a little left out of all the introductions. Her m comes out as n, making us all chuckle.

"It's very nice to meet you, Sofia," I say as she beams at me.

"Call me Sofie." The amount of cuteness in this child scares me a little about the future and how many boys we'll need to get rid of. The same goes for Emmalin, both of them are stunning and I don't enjoy the idea of any boys sniffing around them.

Gio attempts to touch Sofia, but Emmalin's face transforms into one of complete horror, as she shields Sofie with her body and begins to breathe heavily. Gio immediately freezes and raises his arms in surrender.

"Hey, I'm not going to hurt either of you, Tesoro. I just want to hold her if that's alright with you?" (sweetheart) Gio's voice is soft. Softer than I have ever heard it, but it seems to slightly relax Emma, as she reluctantly releases Sofie, who jumps into Gio's arms and touches hi hair like it's the most fascinating thing she has ever witnessed.

After signing a few papers from the social worker, Emma and Sofie are officially in the care of Antonio and I.

Emmalin takes a seat beside Sofie and buckles her sister in before taking care of herself. She is still a bit jittery around us, but seemed to be warming up to us until she boarded the plane.

"Sembra spaventata." (She seems scared) I say to my brothers, who all nod in agreement.

"è la mia prima volta in volo." (It's my first time flying) Emmalin's voice is small when she speaks with a slight shrug of her right shoulder. My eyes fly up to meet hers. My father was the one who taught her Italian, so she must remember him.

"You speak Italian?" Enzo asks, most likely having the same train of thought as I am.

"Umm... Yeah. I-I'm fluent in a few languages." She mumbles, blushing slightly with all the attention on her.

"Where did you learn to speak this one?" Enzo prompts, earning another shrug of her shoulder.

"I don't really know. I've just always known how to speak Italian." There is a sad frown on her face for a second before she masks it with a slight smile.

Something happened to our baby sister while she was gone and I fully intend to find out what that something is.