For two days, I was Rocco's shadow. I couldn't even breathe without him being aware of it. Everything I did, he was right by my side. It wasn't bad at first, in fact I actually quite enjoyed it. But then it started to get annoying. Really annoying. I couldn't do anything by myself, not even use the bathroom. If I wanted to pee, he waited outside the bathroom door. If I wanted to shower, he gave me a time limit and threatened to barge into my bathroom if I went over it. It was easy for him; if he wanted space at any time, I had to shadow Jack or Nick or, once, even Logan. Then he could go and do whatever it was that he wanted to do without me clinging to him, and then come back and get me when he was ready. But I couldn't. I wasn't allowed to be by myself, ever. I couldn't even sleep in my own bed, but had to share with Rocco. Not that the whole sleeping arrangement thing was too bad, because I fell asleep snuggled against him while watching movies downstairs in the movie room, and he carried me up and tucked me up in bed next to him instead of putting me in my own bed like what normally happened. But all in all, it was a bit much. It started to drive me nuts. Sure, he played board games with me and stuff, but still, it was too much. He was really starting to get on my nerves. Actually that's an understatement. He was starting to drive me completely and utterly bonkers. I wasn't allowed even five minutes for myself.
I didn't know how much longer I'd be able to take this for. Especially when Jack took a phone call and left the room, but then called Rocco and Nick into his office and me and Logan had to stay outside. Or not come in, anyway. And listening at the door didn't help any, because of the sound proofed walls. We couldn't hear anything but silence on the other side of the door. We took turns pressing our ear against the wood, but we couldn't hear a sound. What did it mean? Was it good or bad? We had no way of knowing.
Neither Rocco nor Nick acted like anything was going on at all when they came out, but they did both look a lot more relaxed than they'd done since Damon and Alex left. Was the mafia war finally coming to an end? I hoped so. I crossed my fingers for luck. Surely, their relaxed demeanors had to be a good sign?
We were halfway through a game of Monopoly when the hallway door opening and heavy footsteps had me leaping up out of my chair in excitement.
"Damon! Alex!" I screamed, running towards the footsteps, not even checking to see if it actually was my brothers returning home, but somehow being certain that it was.
The second I reached him, Damon caught me up in his arms, lifted me up in the air and spun around with me, before hugging me close and kissing my hair in that protective way of his. His deep chuckle rumbled through me, making me giggle, and I tightened my arms around his neck, wanting to never let go.
Except there was Alex, right there, and his arms were around me and he was tugging me away from Damon so I let go of my oldest brother and wrapped my arms around Alex instead. His hug was every bit as good as Damon's, and I sank into his arms, never wanting my brothers to leave again.
"You're back!" I breathed, hardly daring to believe it was real, that they were really here. "Is the mafia war over?"
"Yes, sweet girl, it's all sorted, and we're back home," Damon reassured me, brushing my hair back off my face with his fingers.
"I don't want you to ever leave me again!"
Alex grinned. "Hopefully we won't ever have to. But come and sit down with us Carrie, it's been a long journey and we need to eat, drink and relax."
I kept on clinging to Alex, so he carried me into the living room and settled me on his lap while our brothers gathered round. Clearly, I was the only one who'd been kept out of the loop, because I was the only one who had any questions. My brothers all seemed to know exactly what was going on, and what had happened, and what the future held. But I didn't know a thing.
One of the kitchen staff brought out a tray of drinks - scotch whisky in a crystal decanter and glasses, and sprite for me with a little paper umbrella and a wedge of lemon - and a platter of fruit, cheese and crackers for us to nibble on while we all chatted.
It was so good to have the boys home again! I didn't even pay any attention to their conversation, I was just so happy that we were all together again. My running away and getting kidnapped wasn't mentioned, and nobody made me feel like I was a burden. I felt safe, happy, and like I belonged.
After a while, Damon turned to me. "It's your birthday next month, Carrie-girl. What would you like?"
I thought for a moment, truly not knowing what I wanted, because right now I had everything I needed: my brothers back home. Plus everything I wanted, I already had, anyway. So I was silent.
"How about a trip to Disneyland?" Damon asked.
"For real?" My voice was high-pitched with excitement and I leapt up off Alex's lap and threw my arms around Damon.
"Yes sweet girl, for real. You can even invite a couple of friends, if you want."
"Yes!!" I screamed, throwing my arms in the air and jumping all over the place, letting my brothers see just how excited I was. None of them told me to shush or stop, they just watched me, smiling indulgently. Maybe they had missed me as much as I had missed them?
"But there's one thing I want more than anything," I said.
"What's that?" Alex asked, sounding curious.
"I don't want you to go to any more Mafia wars. I don't want Jack - or anyone else - getting shot. I don't want to be kidnapped. I want to know that I'm safe, and my childhood is normal, and nobody is going to hurt my family. That's what I want."
Damon sighed, then he reached out and stroked my cheek. "We'll do our best, sweet girl. But for now, everything is under control and we won't be going anywhere. Okay? We're all going to stay right here with you."
"Thank you," I breathed, burying my face in his shirt, inhaling his familiar scent. "I hated you leaving me."
"We hated it too, Carrie. But we're home now, we're safe, and that's all that matters."