Resilience

64| I'd call him Daddy

I had been subjected to negligence and child abuse.

I'd been starved for days, but I was still older than Bryn, who was only a child.

He still doesn't know what is good or bad, and yet he has suffered through so much already.

My heart was breaking for him and Rhett.

I felt arms wrap around me as I instantly cling on to them, not even knowing who they belonged to. I sobbed in their arms as my face rested on their chest.

Dad's voice reached my ear as he tried to calm me down. My hand tightly fisted the material of the shirt on his body as everything was bringing back the painful memories that I had been trying to bury.

"Why them? Why the little boy Dad? He doesn't deserve this. Hell! Nobody does, why do people hurt the little children, why dad? Why?." I stuttered out in between my cries as dad remained silent. His hand rubbed soothing circles on my back as my cries seemed to intensify more.

"Come on princess, I know everything must be hard and I know it may bring back awful memories and pain. But your friend needs you right now. You have to be strong for him, for us, and for yourself." He said softly as my cries turned to sniffles.

I nodded my head at him as I stepped away from his embrace. My gaze was drawn to my family members who were staring at me, my brothers and cousins stood helpless as their eyes remained cold and sorrowful.

I gave them a soft smile, which I'm sure didn't meet my eyes, but no more words were exchanged and we all made our way to the kitchen.

As we entered the room, we saw grandma and my aunty Rosa filling up Rhett's plate as he sat on the chair hesitantly. He kept declining the food, but he's definitely not aware of my grandma's stubbornness, and the fact that she's Italian definitely wasn't going to help Rhett's case.

The only way he'll get out of this is with a stomach full of food. Trust me, I've been there. .

Aunty Isabella was feeding Bryn, who didn't mind eating whatever aunty brought to his mouth. He swallowed his food almost instantly, which only shows how hungry he must have been.

Not wanting Rhett to feel awkward, I gave a pleading look and a small nod to Noah and Giovanni who instantly understood what I wanted to say.

"Come on grandma, we are hungry too. The food smells good." Noah said immediately as he took a seat beside Rhett followed by Giovanni who sat across from them.

They sat down and turned their plates, bringing them forward to grandma, who happily filled them with food.

Once they placed their filled plates back on the table, both of them immediately started gulping the food down, eliciting a small chuckle out of Bryn who laughed at both my brothers causing them to grin back at the little boy.

After seeing Bryn this carefree, Rhett's worried and hesitant expressions were replaced by a small smile.

He kept staring at Bryn but still hadn't touched his food.

To ease him down, we all took our seats around the table one by one, talking and eating together.

I sat across from Rhett, who was staring at me, his eyes had followed my movements, since I came to sit on the table. I smiled softly as I motioned for him to eat while bringing my own food to my mouth.

He looked around the table as he observed my family eating and talking among themselves, which finally seems to make him take his guard down. And ever so slowly he brought his hand up towards his plate as his knife cut a small portion of an egg bringing it towards his mouth.