We've all been sitting in the living area waiting for Valentina to come down so we can give her our gifts, being a twin with Valentina has never been easy as she always stole everyone's attention. It's both our birthdays today but our family forgets about me a lot, which I've grown to be okay with.
When Valentina returned she always treated me like she always did when we were little, I use to always be jealous of her. We never really bonded as other twins would, we were just different people so people just treated us like we were different people, never like twins.
Rome and Dom are fraternal twins, they bonded together though as they have a lot in common. I use to be jealous of the bond and relationship they shared, I always believed I was a triplet with them especially after Valentina was taken away.
"HOLY GUACAMOLE! Who's Mustang is at the front?" Rome shouts, we all look at each other and bolt to the front door to get a better look.
"OH MY GOD! It's a 1965 Shelby Mustang GT-350, in my favorite color too — black." Someone squeals behind us, we turn and find Valentina standing there wide-eyed and jumping up and down. She shoves us out of the way and runs to it, gushing over it.
"You got her a mustang?" Luc asks Messiah, who nods and smiles at her.
"If I slept with you, would you get me a car too?" Rome jokes, well at least I think he's joking but he could be serious.
After we all look at her new car, we all head back inside into the living area. She walks in and sits next to Felix who I've only just noticed now looks like he's been crying. Paying it no mind, not bringing attention to it I stand up first and hand her my present.
"Happy birthday twinnie." I smile.
She grabs the box and gently opens it, "it's beautiful." She breathes out, she lifts the necklace out of the box showing it off to everyone.
"We all have one Bambina, now you have one too," I say, showing her mine around my neck and the rest of our siblings doing the same. It's a gold R pendant, representing the Rossi name.
"Can you help me with it Gio?" She asks, standing up and lifting her hair out of the way. I gently put it around her and clasp it together, she turns around and looks down at it smiling.
"My turn," Rome says, handing her an envelope.
She takes it and opens it, "sky diving?" She asks, looking at Rome skeptically. We all know he is afraid of heights for some reason, so it's strange for him to get her a gift like that.
"Yeah, I want to conquer my fear of heights and there's no better person than to do it with you." He chuckles.
"Good choice, I'll kick you out of the plane if you start to pussy out." She laughs.
Rome groans, "maybe this was a mistake." He mutters, sitting back down.
"Okay, my turn," Dom says, handing her a box. She opens it and screams, "you got me a Harley? Oh my god — I've always wanted to get a motorcycle but hadn't had time to look at one."
"You're welcome, as much as I enjoy you being on the back of mine flipping people off I thought it was time you had your own." He shrugs.
"Thank you guys, so much!" She says, walking over to hug each of us.
"Now it's my turn," Nic says, standing up and giving her the gift he got. Her eyes light up and she smiles, "my own guitar, we can play together now and you can teach me Nic."
"That was the idea Bambina." He grins.
"I guess I'm next," Vince says, handing her an envelope.
"Cooking classes?" She laughs, looking up at Vince who sheepishly smiles at her.
"Well as you know I can't cook for shit and you love cooking so I figured we could take classes together, spending time together in the process."
"I'd love that." She murmurs, tears are starting the build-up and I can tell she's trying not to cry.
"It's my turn now," Luc says, handing her his gift. She opens it and laughs, she holds up a teddy bear I recognize as the one Luc use to have when we were all little.
"Mr cuddles?" She asks.
"I wanted to give it to you when you were little, he got me through some tough times when I was little and I was hoping he would for you but seen as your eighteen now, I thought it would be perfect for you to give to your child one day." He smiles, lovingly at her.
"Thank you, all of you." She whispers, getting up and hugging our older brothers, tears now slightly falling.
"Our turn now Bambina," Dad says standing up with our grandfather and they both give her a box each. She opens them and she smiles sadly at whatever it is before she closes the boxes and stands up engulfing them both in hugs.
"What is it?" Rome asks, intrigued.
"Mum's charm bracelet and our grandmother's ring." She says.
Our mother use to wear a charm bracelet that had all these little charms on it relating to something in her life, for example when we went on a trip she bought a plane charm or when she was pregnant she'd get a baby foot charm.
"You can now add to it Bambina, things revolving around your life and one day you can pass it on to your child," Dad explains.
"And now you have something of your grandmothers, she would want you to have it tesoro." Our grandfather adds.
(Sweetheart)
"Thank you, I love everything." She says, wiping some of her fallen tears, "I love you all so much!"
"Gio, don't think we've forgotten about you," Dad says, gaining my attention.
I honestly thought they had forgotten about me, I'm genuinely shocked that they've even got me something. Valentina smiles at me before standing up and walking out of the room, she walks back in again holding a puppy in her arms.
"A puppy?" I ask, confused.
"I know you're not really a people person, I thought you could have your own companion especially when you leave for college and get your own apartment or house." She smiles, patting the puppy's head before handing it to me.
"It's a girl." She says, sitting back down.
"It's so fucking cute." I blurt out, holding it in my arms as it wiggles around, "I'll name her — Luna. What breed is she?" I ask.
"She's a dobber man, they great guard dogs if you train them well." She answers.
Dad stands up and walks over and hands me an envelope, "we know you've still been studying online and have taken early classes to get early admission into college. We know you got accepted to Harvard, we couldn't be any prouder than what we are." He says.
Opening the envelope there is papers to an apartment and keys, a letter stating I'm the new proud owner of it. More papers stating that my college tuition is all paid off in it as well.
I have been saving up to pay off my college tuition so this means a lot to me, I can't believe they all did this for me. All I wanted to do was get out of the business and study for my dream job, now they're helping me do that and believing in me.
Tears fall from my eyes and my vision blurs before I feel arms wrap around me, "I told you I would help you leave this life Gio, we all know that this life isn't for you and you have a life out there waiting for you." Valentina whispers in my ear.
"She's right little brother, we all knew but didn't know how we could help till Valentina told us how you wanted to go to college and experience a normal life so we thought we'd help you with that," Luc says, walking over and engulfing Val and me in a hug.
"You're a better person than all of us," Dad says, joining the hug.
"GROUP HUG!" Valentina shouts, causing laughs to sound around the room as everyone squishes us in a huge hug, making me choke out a laugh.
"Oh — sorry I'm late, I'm interrupting something aren't I?" A voice says from the entryway, we all pull apart and see Xavier standing there awkwardly, rocking back and forth on his heels.