The Lost Twins

Chapter sixteen

Giovanni's pov

After everything that's happened recently, I've been thinking a lot about the past, about what Ali and I have been through. From the way, they look at us, with sympathy and concern in their eyes. I don't think I can keep it from them anymore. With all the time I've been spending in bed, my thoughts have turned more and more to the past. The more I think about it, the heavier I feel. The weight of the world get's harder and harder to shoulder. I just can't do it anymore, I need help and I know I do. I need someone to help me shoulder this weight. I can't keep going like this forever. I need to tell Pietro, I need him to help me, I can't do this by myself anymore.

I know I'm not by myself because I have Ali but she's just as broken as me, if not more. Ali can't shoulder the weight with me because it's too much for us. If we're not careful, we'll be crushed under it. Ali knew this long before I did. She believed that we could trust our brothers early on while I was more hesitant. I didn't believe there was anyone out there who could help us. I thought we'd be walking through this storm on our own. But, we've been with our brothers for a few months now and I think it's time to tell them. I just hope they won't kick us to the curb when they find our whole story. I just need Ali to agree with me.

"Ali, I think it's time to tell them," I said, 

"Tell them? Are you sure?" Ali asked, 

"Yeah, I've had a lot of time to figure this out and I can't bear this burden anymore," I said, 

"I can't either," Ali said, 

"So, we tell them?" I asked,

"We tell them," Ali answered.

Now, it was time to find a good time to tell them. I guess there's never a good time to relay this kind of news to anyone. But, we need a time when we're all together so we just have to tell it once. I need them to not interrupt until we've told the whole story because if I stop, I might not say anything else. 

Later, Ali and I went downstairs for dinner and we agreed that dinner wouldn't be a good time so we'd wait until after dinner. Dinner was lively and there was a lot of talking and laughing. Everything felt light. I just didn't want to ruin it but I also knew I couldn't keep it in anymore. Dinner ended and we all went to the living room to watch a movie and I thought it was a good time to tell everyone the truth.

"Pietro, we have to talk to you," I said,

"What's going on?" Pietro asked, 

"Well, Ali and I have some things we have to tell you about," I said, 

"What is it?" Pietro asked, 

"Before we tell you, there's something you have to know. Ali and I need to get this out before we chicken out and it's really difficult," I said, 

"Does this have something to do with the past you weren't wanting to talk about?" Pietro asked, 

"Yeah, we've both felt like we could talk about it now," Ali said, 

"Okay, we're listening," Pietro said, 

"Okay, I guess it starts with Mom. I'm not sure what you think of Mom but to us, she was everything. She took care of us and we always had a good time together. We were happy if you can believe it," I started,

"But, that was until that night. We were six and we were at home with Mom, we'd just finished dinner when there was a knock on the door. Mom answered and there were these men, five of them to be exact. They pushed their way into our house and when Mom reached for the phone to call the police, they pointed their guns at her," Ali continued,

"Mom told us to run and we tried but they caught us. They tied us both to dining room chairs they dragged into the living room. Two of them held guns to our heads and threatened to kill us if Mom didn't do what they said. The leader started asking her questions and she kept saying "I don't know" over and over again," I said,