Oaklyn.

Chapter 24.

As soon as I opened the front door silently, I heard the loud voices of my extremely dysfunctional family. I groaned internally, dumping my bags for future me, and walked closer toward the voices, seeming like they were coming from the living room. I glanced over the familiar dark grey and white walls, memories of my fairly unhappy childhood coming back to me as I ventured further and further inside. Nick and Evan split up when we arrived in Sicily, Nick going back to his dad and sister, Evan going to his uncle and aunt's house. 

As I grew nearer to the living room, I heard my father's strong voice booming down the halls.
Fucking hell, I hated being back here.

Without warning, a solid, warm, and furry thing jumped straight on me, knocking me to the floor with a grunt. Wet, sloppy kisses littered my face. I instantly began rubbing Mina's black, fury back, only increasing her tail speed. She let out soft whines as she smuggled me to death, forgetting her size, and climbed on top of me.

"Hey you," I greeted, finding the sweet spot right between her large ears and forcing her to flop down on top of me, her chin on mine as she let out a comfortable, soft sigh through her wet nose.

I stayed on the floor for a while, delaying my inevitable greeting of my family, and enjoyed seeing her furry face again. Mina was a German Shepherd, her fur made of black and light browns. Brown surrounded her not so little face, the fluff on her ears, down her chest, and onto her large paws.
Mina was definitely my favorite person in this household, well.. favorite family member in this house.

After giving Mina lots of kisses and butt scratches, I managed to wrestle her from me, only exciting her and thinking we were playing, to which she began to pounce on my chest and gnaw on my hands.

After many, many, scratches later, I managed to escape her trap and continue my venture through the halls, Mina trotting at my side, pink tongue out of her mouth and face tilted up to watch me.
I had my jeep transported over here and should be back tomorrow morning, so tonight, I was stuck here. It wasn't all bad, I could see Benjy and Isabelle, knowing she and Joseph decided to spend a bit of the summer back in the family home seen as they lived in Bagheria, an hour's drive from here. I hesitated before opening the door, trying to make out what the conversation was about. 
"I'm not listening to any more of this nonsense, what I say goes and that's final!" My father roared from the other side of the door, making me immediately open it and glare at his foul attitude. 

"And what nonsense is that exactly?" I questioned, raising a brow at him.

He looked quite shocked at my intrusion, his mouth opening and closing a few times before he just decided to stare at me, narrowing his eyes hatefully. We openly glared at each other, me daring him to start talking, him intimidating me to back down.

"Caiden, Mi amore! (My love)" My mother smiled happily, breaking the tension in the room quickly, and walked over to me. As she got nearer, I saw a tint of purple to her tanned cheek, narrowing my eyes at it before snapping my head back over at my father. 
"Come here, how was the flight?" She questioned, dragging my attention back to her. She quickly shook her head at me subtly, willing me not to comment on her bruised face. 

She pulled me into a tight hug, clinging to me as her life depended on it. 
"Please don't," She whispered into my ear, forcing me to wrap my arms around her tightly, placing an extremely careful kiss on her cheek. 

"It was fine Madre, (mother)," I answered back, pulling away from her and inspecting her cheek with narrowed eyes. 

"I know Benjy is looking forward to seeing you, he's out at the park with Joseph right now though," She explained with soft eyes, pleading me to stay silent about her cheek.