The Ones Who Saved Us

Chapter 6

Avalee's POV

I was dressed in my school uniform for my first day of school in over a year. The idea of being separated from my entire family except Teddy was making me sick to my stomach, and because I was grounded, I didn't even have my phone to call Papa in case I couldn't handle a whole school day without them. Of course I had Teddy in case things got bad, but I always felt guilty going to him for help nowadays. I was his big sister, and I should be the one protecting him, not the other way around.

Alessandro and Elijah had left for their business trip yesterday, but not before reminding me that I had to go to school today. They even reinserted the tracker in my shoes, and without my computer or phone, I couldn't tamper with it.

I tried convincing Papa to not make me go to school after they left, but I guess my brothers had convinced him that this would be good for me.

Teddy had gone downstairs for breakfast, which Papa and the twins had prepared. I was stuck in my room trying to detangle the largest knot in the world. I had spent twenty minutes in my bathroom trying to work it out, but my stupidly thick hair wasn't cooperating.

Slamming the brush on the bathroom counter, I stomped out of my room and down the stairs, my frustration growing. When I reached the kitchen, my brothers and Papa sent me looks of concern as I opened every kitchen drawer, looking for something to get this knot out.

"Aves, what are you looking for?" Emilio asked.

"Scissors," I muttered as I continued going through the drawers.

"Scissors?" Matteo asked as he walked towards me. Grasping my arm, Matteo stopped what I was doing and turned my face towards him. "For what?"

Glaring daggers at him, I pulled at my hair, showing him the tangled mess. "To get this big ass knot out. I can't brush it out, so I have to cut it."

Papa stood up and walked towards me, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Boys, can you take Teddy to school? You can stop off at Dunkin on the way." When Emilio and Matteo hesitated, Papa said, "I got this under control. I'll bring her to school once she eats breakfast."

Teddy walked over to me and squeezed my hand. "I'll see you at school. We don't have first or fifth period together, but we'll be together for the rest of the day. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Once Emilio, Matteo, and Teddy left, Papa sat me down at the kitchen counter and placed a bowl filled with fruit in front of me. "Eat up, bambina. I'll be back in two minutes."

Papa left the kitchen to go upstairs while I quickly finished my breakfast. I don't know why I'm getting so worked up about something as stupid as a knot in my hair. Lately, every small problem was causing me to react like this. The events of the past week had affected me more than I realized, and it was only a matter of time before my brothers realized all the secrets I had been keeping from them.

A few minutes passed before Papa returned with a brush and spray bottle in hand. Standing behind me, he placed the brush next to my empty plate and sprayed the liquid on my hair. "Let's get this knot out, Aves. Let me know if I'm hurting you."

Papa started gently detangling the knot, spraying more water onto my hair when needed. After only five minutes of working on it, he put the brush down and said, "It's all done. Do you want me to do your hair? Maybe braids or something?"

Looking down at my plate, I shook my head. "I don't want to bother you."

"I don't mind, honey," Papa smiled.

"Well, if you insist," I said, handing him the two hair bands that were on my wrist.

As Papa started separating and braiding my hair, I asked, "How did you know what to do?"