Russi

Ch. 36 • getting to know you

May
"So Enzo, tell us a bit about yourself?" I say once he has a plate full of food

"Well, I'm 14, I am a freshman at the high school, I am British, but was sent here with my brother 2 years ago for a missionary program"

"You have a brother?"

"Yah, he's 5"

"Oh, so the same as Roman and Zoe"

"Yah I guess, but he doesn't go to this school, he goes to a public one"

"Why do you two go to different school?" Ace asks

"I tested high, so I qualified, he didn't"

"None of our kids had to test, why did you have to?"

"I... get into some... trouble... only sometimes though. But because of my past grade records, the missionaries thought it would be best for me to go to a higher school, but since my brother has normal grades, he was kept at a normal school"

"And what's your brothers name?"

"Lorenzo, our parents named us the same thing, but his middle name is Gio, so he goes by that."

"Oh, where do you guys live? You said your part of a missionary program?"

"Our parents left when I was like... 9 I think, they weren't really big on kids, and when they had another, they decided to leave Gio and I at social serves', and then from there we went to foster homes, and eventually needed up in the hands of missionaries. So here we are, inItaly, I don't know why they sent us here, Gio and I don't even know Italian, we speak it really badly"

"You said you fight?" Silas asks

"Yah"

"How good?" Ace adds

"Good enough to earn money for it"

"Huh, I run a company, we like having fighters, you wanna come and check it out?"

"I know you run the mafia Mr. Russi, everyone does, you don't need to lie, and if the money pays well then I wouldn't mind coming around."

"Good, come home with us, I have had my own encounter with missionaries, their not fun people to hang out with."

"I can't, they have my brother there too"

"Bring him" I say "Roman is around his age, so Gio will have someone to play with. Only if you want to though, you have no obligation to any of this, remember that Enzo"

He think about it for a moment, and then looks at Ace, "can I get a tattoo?"

"Huh?" Ace says, since the question was directed towards him

"You have tattoos, I want one"

Ace looks at me and then at the kid, "you do good enough, you get one. How does that sound?"

"Like a fair trade, I have to call the missionaries and get Gio-"

"Don't" I say, "I will do it"

"Thank you ma'am- I mean May"

"No problem hunny, now eat, you better not put so much food to waist"

"Okay, I won't"

——time skip——-

After calling the missionaries, I got Gio and Enzo taken to our house for the night

"Well, here we are" I say to the two boys, they each have a small duffel bag, carrying only their necessities.

"Thank you Mrs.May, it was very nice of you to do this for us." Gio says, I swear this kid is a grandpa in a child's body, he speaks better than I do! He refuses to call me by my name- he says it's impolite, so we settled on Mrs. May.

"Your welcome Gio, and remember, you two can ask for anything, if not me, then ask one of the other boys, or house staff. Okay?"

"Okay, thank you again May" Enzo says

I help the two get settled in, "May?" Enzo says

"Yes?"

"When will I have to be up tomorrow to go with Ace?"

"I will come in and wake you up, don't worry, but if you must know, around 7"

"Okay, thank you, for everything"

"The pleasure is all mine, good night boys, call me if you two need anything, okay"

"Okay" they both say

And with that I walk out and go to my own bedroom, finding Ace already in bed.

"So, what are we gonna do with them" he asks, not even looking up from the phone in hand

"Well... they don't have a family.. and we have lots of room here..an-"

"May" Ace says, finally putting the phone down, "we can't adopt the first children we sense are in trouble"

"But Ace-"

"May, what do you think will happen, that the two will instantly think of you as their mother? Or that they will run into our arms with the hope of love?"

"We can give them love, we give it to our kids everyday, and if you'd just listen-"

"Because those are our children May! We love them because they are ours!"

"Theo and Roman aren't either of ours by blood, only the young ones are, and we still love them all equally, don't we?" I ask him

"Yes, bu-"

"No Ace, those kids need someone, I don't care if it takes us a week to adopt them or 5 years, but they need someone, and as much as anyone might say otherwise, everyone needs to be loved, so do those children. And you always want more kids, right? Well here are two more"

"May your pregnant, do you really think you can handle a newborn, and 2 new children all at once?"

I stay silent

"May, those boys seem alright, but we already have so much on our plate, and you said it yourself you want to space the children apart in age and stuff"

"I'm only 6 weeks, Manolo is 1 1/2, the twins are 3, Roman is 5. Which might I add is the same age as Gio, so they can possibly become closer, Theo is 7, and Enzo is 14, he's older, he will be easier!"

"May."

"Please Ace, I saw it in Gio's eyes when I said I was here to pick him and his brother up from the missionaries, he seemed happy, like he had hope again, I deal will low hope all the time in my field of work, I know what it looks like. And those kids need hope, they need to know that they have someone behind them, every step of the way. Please Ace, please"

"Sleep on it May, you might change your mind"

"Ace-"

"Sleep May, stress isn't good for the baby."

"But-"

"May."

And so I climbed into bed with a pis*y mood, who is he to tell me what I can and can not do?

He will see soon enough how good of an idea it is, he has to, right?

—————————————-
Well, May and Ace have different opinions, where do you stand?