ARABELLA'S POV
The atmosphere of the room remained tense even after the initial shock of Bryn's relation with Rhett came to light.
I wasn't sure for how long I stayed there gaping at Rhett feeling a numb kind of sensation in the pit of my stomach, my heart raced as my brain kept repeating the one question over and over again.
Was Rhett really Bryn's father?
I didn't know what to think or how to react anymore. My mouth kept opening and closing on its own accord as my eyes stared at the two boys, who were still holding onto each other silently.
I had no idea what to perceive any longer. At this point, I was speechless. My lips pursed together as my chest kept rising and falling with each breath.
I felt a hand holding mine, as I turned to face Lucca, who was already staring at me with pain and something resembling pity in his eyes.
The silence in the room was broken by a baby voice that came from the child in Rhett's arms.
My face jerked towards them swiftly and my hand instantly came to cup my mouth in fright, when I heard the words that came out of his mouth.
"Da-da, I'm hungry, I haven't eaten in two days. The bad man said no food, please don't leave me with him again." Bryn said with soft sniffles to Rhett in his innocent sweet voice.
And almost immediately Rhett's face contorted in shame and guilt.
He looked like every single word slashed right through his heart. He immediately brought the little guy back to his embrace as tears threatened to fall down from his eyes.
Rhett's teary eyes met mine as I read the pleading question behind them. My heart was breaking from the words of Bryn, and by the look of pain on Rhett's face.
I was still frozen in place, unable to react, my mouth stayed shut while my feet remained permanently glued to the floor.
"Could you please bring him some food? I will repay you back as soon as I have the money." Rhett asked, to nobody in particular.
His gaze was glaring down on the floor as he avoided making eye contact with any of us, but his voice sounded embarrassed.
An involuntary sob left my mouth which was gladly muffled by the hand that was still placed on my mouth.
"Come with me, I'll make you both something and you owe us nothing dear." Grandma said softly beckoning Rhett, who followed her to the kitchen with Bryn in his arms.
Aunty Rosa and Aunty Isabella also went after them as I stayed rooted at my place.
My eyes were staring in the distance with tears flowing down my eyes, as the gravity of the situation weighed down on me.
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.
His eyes instantly closed as he appeared to be savouring the taste of the food which brought a big smile on my face.
I looked at grandma and she was already smiling looking happily at Rhett.
Noah and Silvio struck up a casual conversation with Rhett about school, seemingly as the three of them were in the same class.
Rhett for once looked like he was a regular teenager, and even though he didn't talk much, he still gave his input once in a while.
What surprised me the most was that my usually brooding oldest brothers were conversing with Bryn who was laughing at something Elijah said, as Bryn sat in Vincenzo's lap.
They were all smiling, and I snapped a photo of them right away because it was a rare sight to see.
I was sitting between Kyson and Lucca, both of whom seemed to be observing everyone as I was.
The next thing that surprised me was that Mason who was seated next to Noah actually started a conversation with Rhett. Even my other teenage brothers appeared to be taken aback.
Rhett was still not saying much but he also didn't seem like he wanted to leave us right away. His normally tense shoulders relaxed as he laughed at something Gianni said.
His laugh is so precious....
The whole thing made me so glad as I can see my brothers genuinely trying to befriend Rhett.
I looked at Lucca with a huge grin on my face, and he returned the gesture, as he, too, seemed pleased by how our older brothers were reacting.
How did they get mature overnight?
"So how about we play video games after breakfast." Gianni asked the rest, more specifically to Rhett who remained silent as his gaze was drawn to Bryn.
"You guys can play later, after breakfast Rhett and I will be going to my office to complete our talk and then we'll be going to the hospital with Bryn." Dad said while looking at Rhett, who didn't protest but nodded his head in return heaving a sigh of defeat.
How did dad persuade him to agree when he appeared to be adamantly opposed to the idea of a hospital?
I might be looking at Rhett in confusion as he looked away from me after shrugging his shoulders.
A loud cry of 'No' resonated through the room as we all turned to look at Bryn, who was looking at my dad in fright.
He kept crying while Enzo tried to calm him down.
Rhett automatically got up from his seat, followed by the rest of us, as he rushed to take Bryn in his arms.
"Dadda the bad man said he'd hurt us even more if we went to the hospital." Bryn said to Rhett as the latter was rocking him to get him to stop crying.
This immediately angered me and I could see the reaction from my family who had their jaws and fists clenched in anger.
And at this moment I was glad that my family was in the Mafia, because I'm pretty sure the 'bad man' would soon be regretting hurting both the boys, especially Bryn, who seemed to have made a place in the hearts of my oldest brothers.
"I'm here, and I'm not going to let anybody hurt you ever again. Shush now, stop crying, dad's here." Rhett said to him who has now wrapped his small arms around Rhett's neck.
I'd call him daddy–
Okay, I need to shut up!
"Hey Bryn, look at me." Enzo said standing besides Rhett as we all turned to look at him questioningly.
"I'll be there with you, and we're not going to let the bad guy get to you or your Dadda. Okay?" Enzo said as Bryn extended his hand forward towards Enzo.
"Promise?" He asked with big doe eyes as he extended his pinky out for Enzo, who immediately locked his small finger with him.
"I promise." Enzo said with a smile, causing Bryn to relax in Rhett's arms, who was still glaring at the wall in anger and frustration.
Bryn turned to face my oldest brothers, who gave him a soft smile, which masked the sadness in their eyes that they felt for the little boy, and hidden rage at that asshole who had hurt this little bundle of joy.
"Will you come with us?" Bryn asked, moving his eyes between Alexander, Dante, Vincenzo and Elijah who all nodded in response.
"Now why don't you come with me, we'll go watch TV, while Rhett talks to my dad." Elijah asked Bryn who looked at Rhett for permission.
Rhett looked hesitant, but with a small nod, he helped Bryn to his feet and then kneeled himself to get to his level.
"Be good for me, okay?" Rhett asked Bryn who nodded his head earning a small kiss on his forehead from Rhett.
I'd call him daddy—
Shut up!!!!
After that Elijah and Bryn and the rest of my family went to the living room leaving Rhett and I alone with Dad.
Mason made a not-so-subtle 'I'm watching you' gesture with his fingers before exiting the room, causing me to roll my eyes at him.
Dipshit would never learn...
"I'll be in my office." Dad said as he came to kiss my forehead and give a nod of his head to Rhett, before leaving.
Did my family just leave me alone with a 'boy'!?
"Rhett—" I began to speak, but nothing came out of my mouth.
"Thanks for helping me, Arabella." Rhett said as his eyes locked on mine, making my mouth dry and my heart begin to beat erratically.
"I should go, your father's waiting—" He continued but still didn't make a move to leave.
I didn't want him to leave right now, I wanted to ask him questions, I wanted to get some answers but most of all, I just wanted him to stay by my side.
And instead of asking him to stay, I simply nodded my head in response.
He sighed softly as he made his way towards me.
He wrapped his arms around me slowly, and they lingered around me for a few seconds, as we stayed there taking in each other's warmth.
Slowly but painfully he stepped away from me, giving me one last look before he left me alone in the kitchen.
I shortly followed him outside, not before calming myself down. After reaching the living room, I saw my family except Dad, my grandpa, my uncles, Alexander and Dante— sitting together watching cartoons with Bryn who was laughing at Noah and Silvio as they were singing the 'SpongeBob SquarePants theme song'.
I just shook my head at them while taking my seat in between Gianni and Dominic.
My gaze was drawn to the empty staircase, knowing that Rhett had gone up to Dad's office, and I sighed, causing Gianni to wrap his arm around me, and smile at me in reassurance.
Instead of worrying, I smiled back at him, selfishly allowing myself to enjoy the small amount of peace that I seem to be getting less and less of lately.
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A/N- Hey guys, so I tried to write Bryn's dialogues in a child-like manner but couldn't, so I just keep them normal.
I am aware that a 3 year old kid don't speak in full sentences, but I'm not very good at writing the toddlers part, so please bear with me on this one 💖
✏️ Word Count: 2230
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