Forever family

Chapter 20

Emmalin P.O.V

"Dante!" I call, finally satisfied with my work.

"What's up, Emma?"

"I need you to check my email. I haven't spoken to a mafia leader before, so I want it to be perfect." I hand him the laptop.

"Hey, you know all five of your brothers are mafia leaders, right?" I shrug.

"But you guys ae my brothers, and it doesn't really count."

Without even glancing at, let alone reading my email, he clicks the send button, and closes my emails.

"There. All done." I gape at him.

"You didn't even check to make sure it's alright! What if I didn't do it right, and then he decides to send someone after me?! Then he could make it look as if I was abducted by aliens!" My brother bursts out laughing at my panicked state.

"Relax, I'm sure it's perfect. I can assure you, that Nick will not be sending men after you, and making it look like you were abducted by aliens over one email." He rolls his eyes.

"Now, let's watch a movie or something. I'm bored." I follow him into the home theatre after glancing at th laptop one last time.

I can't believe still haven't met the guy. After everything he's helped with, I've only been in the same room as him once, and I was unconscious at the time.

Halfway through 'The Avengers' I hear the laptop ping, and jump up to go get it. What? It's my first email.

Opening my emails, I read his reply.

From:

Subject: RE: Thank you

Dear Emmalin,

Firstly, I would like to say, that never in my life, have I had to look up so many words I didn't understand in an email. I must say, you are quite an intelligent girl.

With regards to you thanking me, as far as I'm concerned, I should be the one thanking you. At your age, I probably would have only thinking about what I want for dinner, not creating allies between powerful families.

What you did was extremely brave, and although you got hurt in the process, when you went to that warehouse, you had a goal, and you achieved it. So, a very well-done for that.

Once again, thank you for all you have done for me, and I look forward to meeting you in the future.

Nicholas Donatello.

P.S I saw the video of your performance, and it was simply breath-taking. Congratulations on winning first place!

"I told you to check the email." I scowl at Dante.

"Why? What happened?"

"He had to look up some of the words." I murmur. He takes the laptop from me, and scans my email.

"I'll start with this one. What is suspire?"

"It means breathe." I say in a tone that suggests everyone should know this.

"Right. What is cogitate?"

"Reflect."

"How about deglutition?"

"Swallowing. How do you not know this?" Dante looks at me like I'm crazy.

"You know what, Em? They kind of make the whole thing intimidating, so if you ever need to threaten someone while working, just use these fancy words. Just say you will deglutite them whole if they don't hand in their project before the deadline." I burst out laughing so hard, I have tears in my eyes.

"Dante, you mean deglutire, not deglutite." He rolls his eyes, but still laughs along with me.

Epilogue:

"Emmy, wake up, you sleepy head!" I slowly open my eyes, and find my little sister with a huge grin on her face. "It's Christmas! We gotta get downstairs!" I laugh at her enthusiasm, and get out of bed.

Once we get downstairs, everyone is already up. We put up a tree together, and it looks even better with all the presents placed underneath it.

"Oh my." Sofie gasps, covering her mouth with her hands, looking at the sight in awe. We all chuckle, and sit around the tree, opening presents, and laughing together, as one, happy family.

Ding dong.

"Emmalin, would you please go see who that is?" I nod my head, and skip to the door. Looking through the peephole, I giggle when I see Vlad dressed up as a Santa clause.

"There's my princess." He says when I open the door. He engulfs me in a hug, and I kiss his cheek. Over the last few months, Vlad has become like a father figure to me.

"Merry Christmas, Vlad!" I say, and do the same for Adam.

"Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!" Vlad shouts, as he enters the living room.

"Look Sofie, it's Santa Clause." Luca says, and Sofie bursts into a fit of giggles.

"That's not Santa Clause, silly. That's just Vlad. He's only pretending to be Santa. The real Santa only comes when you're asleep." She whispers the last part, and we all chuckle.

"Aw, you're right, little one. I was only hoping to get some cookies." Vlad says. Sofie beams at him, grabs his hand after hugging him, and drags him to the kitchen.

"Don't you worry, Vlad, we made the best cookies ever! We have all kinds of shapes and colours. I decorated them all by myself." She brags on her way out.

Every single person in this house is special to me, and I would die for any one of them. This past year has been full of ups and downs, but I finally have my family back, and I couldn't be happier about it.

I am Emmalin Folliero, and that was my story.

***The end!***