𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 | GMW

ONE

"I'll get the forks!" Cady cheered, skipping over to the drawer full of cheap silverware.

AJ fully believed his little sister Cady (Cadence to the government) would go far in life. The brunette was already a con artist in the making, despite only being five. With a bat of her big brown eyes, and that toothless grin from her recent visit from the tooth fairy (as she puts it), she'll have you wrapped around her finger. She doesn't use these powers for evil necessarily, but she will use them to get as many sweets as possible.

"I can get the cups," Sophie hummed, grabbing a step stool on the way to the kitchen.

Sophie technically wasn't one of the siblings, but AJ had always thought of her as a sister. The nine-year-old had practically lived with them all her life- due to her father being incarcerated and her mom running off. AJ liked to chalk it up to a family curse- a long line of shitty parents. Sophie never seemed bothered by it, though she never really seemed bothered by anything. The blonde was a sweet, pure soul - much like how AJ remembered his uncle Gio. Both are such caring people, going out of their way for anyone who needed it. It had gotten to the point that AJ had had to step in on a few occasions to make sure she wasn't being taken advantage of.

"Where's the littles?" The older boy questioned, putting the bag of food onto the kitchen counter.

The 'littles' as they are titled, are expectedly the babies of the family. The older one, Eli, is three and an absolute sweetheart. He loves going to the park and picking flowers for his sisters or sharing his few toys with other kids - even his favorite stuffie. Which is certainly saying a lot as Eli carries that little possum everywhere.

Francesca, or Frankie as she's better known, hasn't really developed a personality yet. In her defense, she's only 10 months old. She's always been a rather easy baby, which AJ is eternally grateful for. He can still remember all the nights of taking care of a colicky Cady. Unfortunately, however, Frankie's not very fond of strangers. It took forever for her to finally warm up to the babysitter. She loves cuddles though, being happy to just lie in AJ or Vi's arms all day.

AJ could never understand how their mother could leave these precious babies.

"Eli's sleeping," Vi answered, "I fed him an early dinner and gave him some medicine so he can hopefully sleep through the night."

"And Frankie is right here," Dia announced, coming into the kitchen with the baby on her hip.

Claudia 'Dia' Navarro is their next-door neighbor, along with her twin brother Diego and their parents- who both work two or three jobs each, so they often leave the eleven-year-olds at the Toriello household. In exchange, their mother will drop off some enchiladas or tamales or something along those lines whenever she has the time. Dia herself is very bubbly and optimistic and is a stickler for the rules- almost to the point that many consider her a stick in the mud.

The blue-eyed boy nodded, now tasking himself to fix Cady's plate while Vi set the rest of the food out of the bag.

"Dia, Diego," He called out to the twins, "Do either of you want some?"

"No thanks, mama made us dinner before she dropped us off." Dia replied, lightly bouncing Frankie in her arms.

"Speak for yourself," Diego spoke, "Ya grab any bourbon chicken?"

Diego Navarro was the complete opposite of his twin sister. Where Dia was a teacher's pet, Diego was their worst nightmare. He was less of a rule follower and more of a rule breaker, much to Dia's dismay.  He labelled himself a class clown, but his jokes were rarely funny.

AJ quirked an eyebrow at the younger boy, "What do you think?"

The dark-haired boy excitedly jumped off the couch and ran over to the boxes of food.