Coming Back Home

Meeting the Family

"Who you?" she asks.

Francesco's POV

Oh. My. God. SHE IS SO FREAKIN' CUTE!!!

I walk towards her and crouch down. "Hello carina [cute]. My name is Francesco. I'm your big brother." I say softly. "Fwan- Fwanny?" She replies cutely with her head cocked to the side. I chuckle warmly while nodding at her. "That's right!" I reach out my hand slowly. She watches warily as I raise my hand towards her head. I rub her hair fondly, trying to provide some comfort and familiarity. Giada tenses briefly before relaxing. She smiles nervously up at me. "Hewwo, Fwanny."

I look over at Dad, who's still standing there staring at Giada with a look of love. I wave him over, which snaps him out of his reverie. He starts to walk over to us. "Hey, carina," I take her hand in mine. She's looking at Dad curiously. "This is your papa." Dad crouches down next to me. "Hello, dolcezza [sweetheart]. I'm your papa." He smiles at her. I haven't seen him smile since Giada was taken by that woman. Giada looks at Dad and cocks her head to the side in confusion. "Whas Papa?" she asks.

The woman, Ms. Flores, speaks up from behind us. "This is your daddy. Remember I told you that he would be coming to see you today?" Giada's eyes brighten in understanding. "Oh, you Daddy?" Her smile brightens up the room. "Yes, I'm your daddy. But, you can call me Papa, okay?" Dad responds. "Otay, Papa!" Giada chirps. Dad's smile got bigger if that's even possible. "Alright, dolcezza! Let's go home, and you can meet your other brothers." He explains. "Ubber (other) bubbas?" Giada asks cutely.

I chime in, "Yes, carina, you have 4 other brothers. That's this many." I take her hand and lift up four of her fingers one by one. I lift her thumb as well. "And I am your brother, too. So, you have five brothers in all, see?" She looks at her fingers in wonder. "Wow," she whispers in amazement. "Wook, Fwanny," she puts four fingers up again. "Me this many." The proud look on her face makes me 'aww' internally.

"Alright, Giada. Let's go home, okay?" She nods excitedly. Dad reaches out to her, but pauses. "Can I hold you, Giada?" he asks gently. Giada nods and lifts her hands up towards him. Dad picks her up and places her on his hip. The door opens again and the young officer from earlier comes in. He looks at Ms. Flores. "Well, is everything signed and ready to go?"

"Yes, Giada is all set to go back with her family." Ms. Flores walks over to Dad. "Well, I'm glad we were able to get a happy ending for this little one." She taps Giada on the nose, who giggles in response. Dad's face returns to his blank stare. "Yes, thank you for bringing my baby back to me." I see him hold Giada closer to him. Giada notices one of Dad's tattoos and starts tracing it in wonder.

Dad looks down at Giada, and his eyes soften. "We'll be going now. I'll be in touch about Camilla's body. Do whatever you want with that man." He spits the last words with disgust. I appreciate that he is willing to bring Camilla's body back to us. She may not have been much of a mother these last 5 years, but she still gave birth to us. We can at least bury her with her parents.

Dad turns to leave, which catches Giada's attention again. "Buh-bye Jeffy! Buh-bye Mawy!" she calls out and waves goodbye. "Bye, sweetheart! Have a great time with your papa and brothers, okay?" the young officer replies with a smile. Ms. Flores just waves. "Otay, Jeffy!" Giada yells back. As we leave the building, Giada waves to every person we pass. She is such a friendly little girl.

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Alessandro POV

Francesco and I get in the back of the car with Giada. The driver drives out of the lot and heads to the airport where our jet is waiting for us to leave. Giada is sitting on my lap with her face practically glued to the car window. She watches everything pass by in amazement.