Family Means Everything (Book 3)

Chapter 2

Bella's POV

"Your parents were in a car crash," the police officer says. I suddenly feel dizzy and I sit down on my parent's bed.

"Are- are they okay?" I ask. I'm so scared.

"I am so so sorry Bella but they didn't make it. They both died upon impact."

Oh my god. They're dead. Mom and Dad are dead. No!!! This can't be happening.

"Are you okay?" he quietly asks.

"No but I'm gonna have to be for my sibling's sake," I honestly tell him.

"I hate to ask this but we need someone to come and identify them just to make sure we have the right people," he says in a sad voice.

"Where is it? I'll come," I say. He gives the address.

"You should bring someone else for support," he suggests.

"No, I don't want to put my family through any more than they have to. I can drive, I'll be there soon."

We hang up and I hold back my tears. I quickly get jeans and a hoodie and change.

I look at the sleeping faces of my sisters and know that soon enough their happiness will disappear and I'll be the one that breaks it to them. I feel sick about all this. My stomach is twisting.

I look at Christina and realize she will be mad when she finds out I went alone. I refuse to have her cry more than she already will though.

Grabbing the car keys, I leave the house and get into the Escalade. This is so far from a good day.

I drive in silence until I reach the accident site. I pull up and an officer walks over. I figure it's Officer Gale. I step out of the car and look at him.

"Are you Bella Cimorelli? I'm Officer Gale," he says. I simply nod and he looks at me with sad eyes.

"Follow me," he says and I do. He leads me to two tarps on the side of the road. I suddenly realize what's under them and a wave of dizziness overcomes me. I manage to hold myself steady.

"Show me," I say gulping. He lifts the tarp up over the head of a man. It's Dad although hard to recognize. He was so badly hurt. Officer Gale looks at me and I nod.

"Dad," I whisper. He puts the tarp back on and lifts up the other one. The sight makes me gasp. She looks so peaceful but how can she be dead?! Neither one of them should be!

I say nothing as I stand there in shock.

"Is that your mom?" Officer Gale asks quietly.

"Yes," I say as I kneel down. I kiss her on the cheek.

"I'll take care of all of them I promise," I whisper. Suddenly the tarp gets put back over her face and I see the officer looking down at me. I stand up and look back at him.

"How many siblings do you have?" he asks.

"Eleven. All ranging in age from 25 to 9. We'll help each other, we'll be okay. I'm going to make sure of it," I say.

"Okay, can you sign this paper?" I nod and sign. Then he says I can go and I get into the Escalade. I drive to the beach by our house where I watch the sunset and burst into tears. I can no longer hold them back.

The two people who chose to love me for me, the ones who welcomed me into their home and their family, the ones who didn't ask for anything in exchange. They're gone. My parents are dead. I lay down in the backseat and cry for a long time. I hold my knees and shake.

Then I sit up. I wipe my tears away as much as I can and I get back in the driver's seat. I'm not ready to tell my siblings, I'll never be ready but I have to. Time to change our lives forever.

I walk into the house and notice everyone's still asleep. Checking the clock, it's only 6:20 am which then makes sense. I go upstairs and nudge Christina awake.

She wakes up slowly and opens one eye.

"What time is it?" she groans.

"Close to 6:30," I respond and she shuts her eye and tries to push me off her bed. I stay put.

"Christina I need to call a family meeting. Right now," I say in a hurried tone. She notices the sound of my voice and sits up.

"What's going on?" she asks with a worried look.

"Just help me wake everyone up. The boys too," I tell her and she leaves the room. I wake up Katherine and Amy telling them to meet in the living room for a family meeting.

I continue to the other room and wake up Lauren, Dani, and Lisa. None of them seem to be happy about being woken up and I don't blame them. But this can't wait.

I hear the boys downstairs as well so I slowly descend the stairs. Everyone is sitting in the living room and stare at me as I come down.

"I have some horrible news," I say. Eyes widen and stare intently at me.

I continue, "This morning at around 4:30 I heard the house phone ringing. I picked it up and was told something." I'm just barely holding back tears as I say this.

"What is it?" Mike asks. He looks scared. All my siblings do.

"Mom and Dad were in a car crash. I went to make sure it was really them..." I tell them.

"Wait why did you have to go..." Dani slowly asks until Lisa interrupts her.

"Oh god please no," she screams and looks straight at me. The others catch on.

I nod and whisper, "They died."