Their sunshine

Chapter 5

Vincenzo's POV

I woke up like every other day at six o'clock. When I came downstairs to prepare myself a coffee, I found dad sitting on the sofa spacing out.

"Dad are you ok?" I asked slightly worried for him.

"Yeah. Actually no. Can you stay at home today? I have something important to ask you and boys."

"Yeah, dad. Can I help with something now?"

"Could you make breakfast for everyone? So when the boys wake up, they have something to eat. I will call your uncle to ask him what he thinks about it, but the main word is yours."

And with that, he was gone. I am wondering what he wants to talk about. At seven o'clock I woke everyone up and got my father to join us at breakfast.

"Guys, I have to tell you something." Dad drew our attention to him. "Some time ago I met a little girl. I was being stupid and out of nowhere she appeared and saved my life."

"What? Dad, what happened? Why have you never told us?" asked startled Elijah.

"Hmm...I... I think that it's not good for me to tell you, but if you want to know, I assume that the three youngest go away. I don't want to tell you. Do you really want to know? Because I don't want you to be disappointed in me."

"Dad. It's not good to have secrets. Twins and Ryan go away. Now tell us. What it is." I said little angry at the fact dad does not believe in us.

"Ok. Now, when they are gone, I just want to say, that I was stupid and I am sorry. It was February. I was hurting. I thought you hate me, because I didn't save mum and that you don't need me, cause you have your uncle. I just wanted to be again with my love."

"Dad! How could you think about this?" Shouted Will. Normally I would tell him to apologize for shouting at our father, but not now, 'cause to be honest I also wanted to shout at him.

"Please don't interrupt me. Ok? So I wanted to kill myself. I didn't want any of you to find me dead so the bullet or pills wasn't an opinion. I could go to some enemy, but I knew, they wouldn't kill me only torture me for information. So I went to the bridge and wanted to jump, but this little girl took my hand and didn't want to let go. She looks like four so I asked where her parents are and she told me she would answer only if I answer. After some time she managed to find out my feelings. She helped me understand that you need me and that it's not my time yet. I know I was wrong. Please don't hate me for being helpless."

Elijah was the first one to pull him into a hug. "It's ok. Just ... Please don't do this."

After that Chris, Damien, and Will joined the hug. After they calmed down I walked to my father and slapped him. "This is for wanting to leave us. And this - " I hug him "- is to remind you that we need you." After I broke the hug I said: "I will beat you if you ever only think about leaving us like that. Now I will go for the guys."

When we returned to the dining room, dad continued: "Ok, so how I said, she saved me. I went four times to the orphanage to thank her, but the caregivers always told me she wasn't there. So I left my number. She told me they never let her know I was there. I brushed it off. But yesterday I found her in an alley crying. She refused to tell me what happened. After some convincing, she told me - using a nod or shake - that she is bullied in school and orphanage. From what I found out she could be abused there. I tried to find something about it and I found that she went to the police, because of it. They marked her as a liar. From what I read, all of the kids didn't know anything about punishments, and the caregivers were caring. She told me she had to do some things others don't and she has different rules than them. It was almost dark those two times I met her and every time she wasn't with anyone else and she is seven years old. She has some bruises on her. And she told me it was against rules to tell someone. For crying out loud she told me it was against the rules to have friends. I just want to help her and I talked about it with my lawyer and your uncle and we think it would be best to adopt her. I would love to have her next to me, so I can look after her, but I understand, if you don't want to. So now I am asking you what you think about adopting her. Of course, I can ask one of my friends, but I am afraid of her well being. So, what do you think?"

Elijah answered before I could even think about it: "Dad, you know I would love to have a sister, but we don't know her. What if she lied to you or is spoiled? You met her like what? Two times?"

"I actually met her 5 times and every time she is nice to everyone around her. And Ryan knows her. She helped him."

Ryan looked confused. "I know her? Wait. You mean Anna?"

Dad nodded and Ryan's face changed to red from anger. "You mean that Anna has bruises! She told me they only push her around and call her names! And how do you know she helped me! I've never told anyone about our talk. Did you tell her to go to me?"

Dad didn't seem bothered by Ryan's shouting. "No, Ryan. When we were in the park she came to me and asked what was wrong. I told her about you being sad and that I can't do anything about it and she ran off. And then you came with her as your new friend and happy."

I looked from dad to Ryan and told him: "Ryan, calm down and tell us everything you know about her. The more we know, the more we can help her."

Ryan took a second and after that started: "I know her for two maybe three weeks, but I already love her. She is nice and always wants to help everyone. If you talk bad about someone in front of her she is angry at you. She is really smart and wants to make everyone happy. She is really stubborn when it comes to helping someone who doesn't want any help. She told me one girl told lies to everyone and now they are mean to her. And that she doesn't have any friends. She likes to read and play games. She has a teddy bear from her dad who died in a car accident and she brings it with her almost everywhere in a small backpack. She always wants to be a good girl for her mum so she never lies. She just tells you she doesn't want to talk about it. I don't know why they would be mean to her."

Elijah pulled him to hug.

"I think we should adopt her. Ryan doesn't make friends easily. The people he is comfortable with are most loyal to us." said Xavier and Xander continued: "Yeah and he has the talent to judge people. I believe in him."

"I think it would be great to have a sister, but aren't you afraid of our enemies? It would be another person who we have to protect." objected Will and Lijah, Damien and twins nodded.

"Dad, did you do a background check? What if she is one of our enemies' daughters? If we bring her here she would know where our house is and the layout of our rooms." voiced his thoughts Chris.

"I've checked everything and it's just what she said. Her father, Joseph Smith, was a doctor, died in a car accident, her mother, Annabelle Smith, who worked in a restaurant as a chef, committed suicide because she couldn't take her husband's death. Anna saw her jumping off the bridge when she was five after that she lived in the orphanage. She is so small because she was born prematurely, but it could also be because of a bad nutrition plan. She hadn't an appointment with the doctor for two years. She is excellent in school. The teachers wanted her to skip grading 2 after the holidays, but caregivers didn't approve it. The teachers confirmed she is bullied in school and most of the time doesn't have money for lunch. If you want I can give you the report. It's on my desk in the office."

Dad started to be frustrated, so now it was my time to voice my thoughts. "No, dad. It's all good. I think we can make a decision. So boys. I think that we all agree that it would be great to have a little sister."

I paused and after everyone nodded. "I've already canceled all my meetings so I plan to go to the orphanage and make sure that everything is true. Now I want your decision. If I find out that she is really being abused and it's not safe for her there and if I won't find any hint of her being a threat for us and if I like her, would you want to take the risk of bringing her to our family? Would you promise to take care of her and protect her from our enemies?"

Everyone said yes.

"Ok, dad. I will call you once I am done." I stood up to take my plate to the dishwasher, but Ryan took it from me and said: "Could you please hurry up and go already to the orphanage. I promise you will like her. She is like an angel. Meanwhile, we could think about how to decorate her room." He said and continued about what he thinks she would like. I've never seen him care about someone this much. So I just stood there and watched him talk to the air.

When he found out I didn't move he shouted: "What are you doing here? Why aren't you on the way to your car?"

With a laugh, I walked away.