Josephine
I knew the ride home would be unpleasant, before we even got to the car. Vito was visibly irritated and had already made it clear to Domenico that they would talk about it once we're home. Domenico didn't say anything about it, but briefly touched my hand as he walked past. 'I will take care of that.', it silently said. Without his insurance, I would definitely have confessed everything as soon as we left the parking garage. I didn't want them to fight because of me!
The only one who was confused but didn't want to be involved with the subject was Valentino. Although he was worried and asked if everything was okay and why I could leave, he didn't question the decision. Instead, he tried to cover up the oppressive silence in the car for the first few minutes and told me some things about my new home. My home. It felt strange to think that. My parents' house had always been my home. It felt like a betrayal to now call another house, and one that I had only seen once before, home. Even when I came to my foster family, I had always called it their home, never mine. But this time it felt different. Maybe because I had lived for so long without a place that came close to it. But for whatever reason it was, I hoped I had found a safe place this time. At least for this winter.
I looked at the others. Domenico drove with his left hand on the steering wheel and supported his head with his right. Valentino sat next to him and kept turning to me from time to time, smiling friendly. Vito sat on my left, which happened to be the furthest away from Domenico, and looked through the papers from the hospital. I wasn't sure if he could understand what was written there, but it was Vito I talked about so probably yes.
"Josi, what would you like to do later? Should we order something to eat, watch a movie or go swimming? The pool is heated," Valentino tried again. I blushed slightly when I heard his nickname. That's what my friends used to call me at school. It has been a longe time since I last heard it from anyone.
"Her name is Josephine," Vito corrected him without looking up. His voice still sounded strained, so I didn't dare say that I didn't mind being called that. "Besides, I have already sent Maria the diet plan and she will cook accordingly."
Valentino rolled his eyes and I couldn't help but smile."Of course, but she can still have fun, right?" He waited a moment for an answer, but when none came, he looked back at me. "So?"
"I don't care. Whatever you want to do," I said. To be honest, I didn't know what we could do just for fun.
"Tiny is afraid of water." Domenico looked at me through the rearview mirror and I could feel my face getting even redder. What would Valentino think of me? Who else was afraid of water at my age?
"Oh, I didn't know that. I'm sorry," Valentino apologized to me and looked at me with interest. "Can I ask why?" And then I was the center of attention, where I never liked to be. Even Vito looked at me expectantly. Couldn't they look somewhere else? I didn't like it when everyone stared at me. Hesitantly, I pulled the sweater over my hands and folded my arms in front of my body.
"It's stupid actually. When I was a little kid I fell into a pool and even though Dad was able to pull me out quickly, I still had this fear of drowning. It's totally ridiculous, I know. So after that I never wanted to go near any water."
"That's not stupid. Does that mean you can't swim either?" Vito asked in the softest voice I'd heard from him today. I shook my head. "Okay, that's good to know. We have a pool in the backyard at home and I don't want you to go there alone, understand?"
"I will not." That was easy to promise. I would never voluntarily go near deep water! Vito nodded and looked at the papers again.
Nobody said anything for a while, but then Valentino seemed to remember that an argument was brewing between his brothers and saw it as his duty to feed it. "And why is Domenico allowed to give Josephine a nickname?" His smug grin couldn't be ignored.
___________
Who would have thought four weeks ago that I would be happy to be standing in front of the Marinis' house. But I was fine with anything to escape the situation in the car and so I accepted Valentino's suggestion to show me everything without any hesitation. As soon as the car came to a stop in the carport, I literally jumped out and wanted to run to the passenger side when Vito grabbed my sweater from behind. "Wait, the guard dogs are running around here." Dogs? As in more than one? Immediately, I climbed back into the seat and quickly closed the door. Domenico chuckled as he got out and when he stood, he whistled briefly through his fingers. It didn't take ten seconds when I saw the 'dogs', if these three mountains could even be described as such. From the looks of these monsters, they were going to eat me for breakfast. Fearfully, I scooted closer to Vito. Why did it have to be dogs? Why no cats? Or at least small dogs, like Crazy Carl's had been. Dogs that I could throw if necessary if they attacked me.
"Come here Tiny, they won't hurt you," Domenico shouted while he scratched one of the three behind the ears. It didn't surprise me that Domenico seemed to like the dogs. "Now come on." He seemed annoyed, so I carefully opened the car door, ready to jump back at any moment. Domenico said something to the monsters and all three sat down. But that didn't make her look any less scary. Carefully to not to look any of them in the eye, I went Domenico. He grinned when he saw the expression on my face. "Just stand next to me. Right. Zeus!" The dog in the middle got to me too quickly for my liking, but contrary to my expectations, he didn't bite any of my limbs right off. Instead he sniffed my hand and then the rest of my body. I had to swallow when I saw how big they actually were. Zeus was up to my stomach and everything about him seemed massive. Domenico looked proudly at Zeus. "It's beautiful, isn't it? It's a mix between a Great Dane and a Rottweiler. 161 lbs (73 kg) of pure muscle power," he enthused and all I could think about was, that they were twice my own weight. If he had tried to calm me down, he definitely hadn't achieved his goal. "Ares! Hades!" The other two repeated what Zeus had already done, but were quickly distracted to greet the other humans. Zeus stayed in front of me and didn't take his eyes off me.
"Can-can we go in?" I asked Domenico. He nodded, shouted something I didn't understand and the three dogs ran off again. I let my shoulders slump in relief. "Thanks. Do they always run around freely?"
"During the day they are mostly in their own area, at night yes. Are you afraid of dogs?"
I shook my head. "No, but I don't like them either. I'm more of a cat fan."
"If it's any consolation, these beasts don't listen to Matteos, Riccardos or my command," said Valentino and came to my side. That didn't calm me down either. Valentino seemed to notice. "So they don't bite us, but that's all." He looked over his shoulder at the spot where they had disappeared and shook himself. "They're especially scary in the dark." I silently agreed with him. Apparently they had a lot in common with Domenico.
"Valentino, can you show Josephine around? I still have something to discuss with your brother," Vito interrupted us and he was really annoyed. Maybe I should say something, but Domenico had already moved forward and was making a kind of bow to Vito at the door.
"After you brother."
The two disappeared and Valentino gently touched my shoulder. "Don't worry, they'll get along soon. Plus, you'll find out how much better it is when they're mad at someone other than you." To be honest, I didn't want either of them to ever have a reason to be mad at me, but Valentino wouldn't be able to understand what it was like to be dependent so much on someone's liking. And that's what I was. I was dependent on both of them and it scared me. "Come on, let's start our tour. Here is the carport, but further over, where the lamp is shining, is the garage where the cars are usually parked."
Valentino pointed to a smaller building attached to the house. The last time I was brought here I was too scared to notice anything around me. I looked at the house and had to admit that it was beautiful. The outer wall was covered with large stones, making it look like an old town villa in Italy. Considering where the family came from, this wasn't a big surprise. The windows on both floors were almost floor-to-ceiling and there were lights on almost everywhere on the ground floor. The driveway we came from was not surrounded by trees, however, there was a fountain in the middle in front of the house, but it was probably switched off because of the weather. "In the spring there are still flower boxes hanging in front of the windows, but the gardener had already taken them since it started freezing. I'm happy to show you the rest outside tomorrow, but we should make sure we get somewhere warm." He went to the door and gallantly opened it for me. "This is also the entrance the employees use. We'd better take our shoes off, otherwise Regina will be very upset with me." I took off my shoes and placed them next to Valentino's. He looked at me, but said nothing about their condition for which I was very grateful to him.
"The floor is warm," I said, surprised.
"There's underfloor heating everywhere, but we also have slippers if you want them," Valentino offered, but I shook my head. It felt good to feel the solid ground beneath me. "Okay. So this corridor takes you to the function rooms and the kitchen. My tip would always be to go through the kitchen. The chances are good that Maria has prepared some kind of delicacy."
"Which entrance do you usually use?" I asked, because last time I came through the front door.
"All of them. But actually only guests use the front door. You can also come into the house through the garage or from the garden. I'll show you tomorrow," Valentino explained without stopping. He walked purposefully towards the door at the end of the hallway and revealed the kitchen behind it. "Maria?" he called.
An older woman appeared out of nowhere. She wore a cooking apron and had her gray hair tied in a low braid at the back of her neck. Her face showed that she had laughed a lot in her life and she gave me a genuine smile. "Passerotto, I'm pleased to meet you. Come here." She opened her arms and pulled me into a hug. A little overwhelmed, I took a moment to return the hug and it felt good. She was only half a head taller than me and I had never met my grandmothers, but that's how I would imagine her to be. "Stellina, are you thin. Don't worry, we'll manage that. Would you like to eat something? I didn't know when you would come so I'm still cooking dinner, but I can definitely conjure up a little something for you."
"Oh yes, I'd love to!" Valentino replied before I could open my mouth.
"Your bad I didn't ask you. And stay away from the pots! Have you even washed your hands?" she reprimanded him harshly and Valentino raised his hands ruefully. I had to smile, but tried to hide it by scanning the room. People lived here and you could see that. Pictures hung on the walls, a shelf with various herbs stood near the window and there was also a table with six chairs here. It smelled heavenly here. "Piccola?"
"No thanks, I'm not hun- although to be honest, I'm hungry. Would've been an inconvenient?"
"Not in the slightest. Sit at the table," Maria assured and went to one of the other doors which might lead to a pantry, before leaving us to ourselves.
Valentino had already sat down and watched me as I continued to look around."You'll get used to it," he said. I wasn't so sure about that.
"Why is everything so huge here? Isn't that..." I searched for a word that didn't sound too judgmental. "...too much?"
Valentino laughed and leaned back. "That's it. Our great-grandfather built the house in its original form after they had to flee Italy. My great-grandmother missed her homeland so much that he had her house rebuilt here and my Nonno lived here with his siblings and their families until they were able to return. Only my father stayed because he met my mother and they then restructured it. The service rooms in the attic were abolished and are actually no longer used. The same happened to the ballroom. Instead, the living room and dining room, the offices and a few guest rooms were created. You will find a fitness room and a wine cellar , which of course you are never allowed to enter, in the basement." He said with a wink and I nodded accordingly. "Very good. In Italy we grow our own wine, but the weather here isn't good enough for that. In the photo above on the left you can see my great-grandparents and the little boy next to them is our Nonno." I took a step closer to look at the picture.
"Your great-grandfather looks like Vito!"
Valentino laughed again. "Yes, that's right. Further to the right is a picture of Nonno with Nonna. Do you see it?" I stretched a little. It was a wedding picture and I would guess it was taken in the garden. The woman sat on a chair while her husband stood behind her with a hand on her shoulder.
"She still looks so young," I commented absentmindedly.
"That's what she was. She was 15 at the time and Nonno was 20. But they loved each other. Nonno had created the library especially for her just because she liked reading so much. Did you like reading Josi?"
I shrugged and turned away from the photos. I didn't want Valentino to think I was spying. "Probably not. It's been a while since I last read something. Do you like reading?" I asked him and sat down next to him.
"Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It changes every now and then. Matteo loves reading. Do you have anything else you like to do?" Even though I really thought about it, I couldn't find anything. Everything I once liked was with my parents and with her death I lost interest in it. After that I was too busy with other things to develop anything new. I shook my head and looked at my hands. Valentino scooted closer and put an arm around my shoulders. "That's okay. Then we'll just try everything until you find something you like."
Hello there!
I couldn't belive it when I saw it: WE HIT THE 1K MARK!!!!
Thank you so much!! Its incredible.
I'm not really good at descriping things, so sorry for that, but I hope you still like it. What do you think about the brief historie of the family?
See you soon :-)