This will be a long car ride.
I turn the music down a little bit so it doesn't wake up my babies.
"Why does everyone hate you?" Romeo asks.
"I honestly don't know, It's not my fault Alessandro sold me off" I reply.
He gasps.
"They really haven't told you?" I ask him.
"I only became friends with Matteo a month ago" he tells me.
"Your already invited to a family dinner?" I ask genuinely surprised.
"Apparently" Is all he says back.
Huh.
"You have a nice car" He says obviously trying to change the subject.
"Thank you" I say.
My Russian accent booming as I said that.
He looks at me.
"Your Russian?" He asks.
"Was raised there" is all I reply.
2 can play this game.
He looks at me with a questioning gaze.
"You gonna keep staring or what?" I ask him.
He looks down and his cheeks flare of red.
I smirk and look at the road.
"How old are you?" I ask him.
"20" he replies.
"I'm 16" I tell him.
His mouth drops.
"Your 16 and you have 2 kids?!" He shouts.
I shush him because the kids are sleeping.
"Technically 3" I reply.
He sighs and puts in some headphones.
I rub my bump.
I'm scared to have these babies.
I can barely take care of Lev and Adelina, then you add a whole newborn into the mix of it.
Plus it's just me.
Nobody but me.
I have Daniella but their not her kids, she shouldn't have to take care of my children.
Sighing, I speed up.
About an hour later, Adelina starts crying.
She's probably hungry.
Everyone else jolts awake.
I pull into a rest stop and take Lev and Adelina out of the car.
I go into the restroom with the kids.
I quickly feed Adelina and have Lev move his tiny legs.
I put Adelina and Lev back.
Matteo is asleep again.
Romeo is awake.
I start the car and zoom off.
"What happened to their dad?" Romeo asks.
"Daddy's a bad man" Lev says from the back.
I chuckle.
"What he said." Is all I reply.
Romeo sighs.
"This is normally where we stop, huh?" He asks.
"Yep" I reply.
Looking in the back, I see Lev sleeping peacefully.
"Can we not stop?" He asks me.
I swallow the lump in my throat.
Nobody has gotten this far talking to me.
Not even Daniella.
"Who was their father?" Romeo asks me.
"I don't want to talk about this" I reply.
"Why?" He asks.
"I don't want to talk about this" I reply.
"How was he a bad man?" He asks.
"I don't want to talk about this" I reply, staring at the road.
"Did he hurt you?" He asks.
"I don't want to talk about this!" I shout.
Adelina and Lev both jolt awake and start screaming because of the loud noise.
I can feel the tears rolling down my cheeks.
I curse myself.
I can't keep freaking out because of my past, because of him.
I pull off into yet another rest stop and take my kids out of the car.
I go into the bathroom and cry.
I calm Adelina and Lev down.
Even myself for that matter too.
Once everyone is better, we go back into the car.
Matteo is complaining about all of the stops we're making.
While Romeo is looking out the window in thought.
I put Adelina and Lev into their car seats and get into the drivers seat.
I pull out and turn on some music.
Matteo continues complaining the entire hour we have left until we get there.
Romeo just stares out his window.
We finally get there and I see that we're the last ones here, I could've seen that coming.
I get out and get the kids out too.
Matteo runs into the house and Romeo follows close behind.
Lev stands beside me as I change Adelina's diaper in the very back of the car.
I put her shorts back on and pick her up.
I walk to what seems to be the front door.
I walk inside and hear a bunch of voices.
Alessandro and Andrea come to greet me.
They each hold a judgey look in their eyes.
"Why are you so late?" They ask at the same time.
"Adelina had a tough time in the car" I reply.
Sighing, they led me to everyone.
My brothers crowd 2 older people.
I'd have to say their in their early 80s.
They both pull me and my children into a hug.
My brothers look jealous.
Good.
They finally pull me out of their tight embrace.
"You've grown so big nipotina" the women speaks.
The man nods and stares at the details of my face.
"Thank you" I mutter.
"Who are these beautiful babies?" The women asks.
"My children" I reply.
I see guilt written on both of their faces.
"You should've never gone through that nipotina" The man says.
The women nods and pulls me into yet another embrace.
The man grabs hold of the woman's hand and leads her away.
I kiss Adelina's head as she is laying her head on my shoulder.
Lev outlines my Medusa tattoo with his hand.
(Her tattoo)
I get pulled into another room by Romeo.
Once we get to the room, Lev automatically sits on the floor.
I put Adelina down next to him, and they play together.
I sit down in a couch next to Romeo.
"I'm sorry" he says.
"About what?" I question even though I know the answer.
"I shouldn't have pushed you like that" he says.
"You shouldn't have" I reply not knowing what to say.
I would normally be angry but I just don't feel angry with him.
I do though, feel intruded and embarrassed.
Nobody except Daniella really knows about Bogdan.
Sure the bios know that he's Lev's father, but they don't know what he did to me, the fears he instilled into me.
He sighs.
"I'll wait for you to tel me when your ready" he says.
I simply nod because I don't know if I'll ever tell him.
"Just know I'm an impatient man" he replies and walks out the door.
Gulping, I look down at my babies.
Lev is tickling Adelina and all you can hear is Adelina's giggles.
Smiling, I pick up Adelina and hold Lev's hand.
"Let's get some food in you" I say to him.
He laughs.
I smile and walk out.
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