Lissy Romano

19| Leave everything.

Lissy Romano

I get it now... my brothers were just trying to protect me from the pain. I never got the chance to meet my parents, to feel my mom's comforting embrace, or sit on my dad's lap while he ran his fingers through my hair.

I never had a chance to make mistakes like every normal kid does. I would've loved to live a life with them... to go to school and tell my dad about the boys who teased me, and have him be the protective "daddy bear" and drive me to school the next day just to scare them into leaving me alone.

I wish I could've been wrapped in their arms when I felt scared or sad, with my dad kissing my forehead. Maybe he would have called me something cute, but I never got to hear that from him.

I dreamt of mom and me talking for hours about clothes, boys, and all those girly things. I wanted her to teach me about makeup, to help me with schoolwork, to make her proud, to make them proud. But I never had that chance.

"I understand..." I whispered as I looked at my brothers, their eyes filled with love and sadness.

"Lissy, they loved you so much." Vincenzo said, gently kissing my hand.

"When mom found out she was pregnant with you, she told dad, and the first thing he said was, 'It's a girl. Finally, God has given us a gorgeous little girl.' He was so happy... he didn't let mom do anything on her own for nine months," Domenico said with a soft smile on his face.

"Oh, I remember that like it was yesterday..." Davide added, a tender smile on his face. "Dad told us that our little sister was the best thing that had ever happened to us."

"He wasn't wrong, though," Vincenzo said, his eyes warm as they met mine.

"Dad would be so happy if he knew you were back with us..." Giovanni added, his voice thick with emotion.

"Dad made us train twice as hard... he said that his daughter would look just like her gorgeous mom, and that we'd have to beat up every boy who so much as looked at his little girl," Santino chuckled.

"Mom was the only one who didn't worry. She said her little Betty would be the most protected girl in the world," Enzo said with a small smile.

"Betty?" I furrowed my brows, confused.

"Yeah, mom called you Betty or Lissy... mostly Lissy because Santino called you that all the time, and we just followed along. But sometimes, when she was pregnant with you, she'd call you Betty," Vincenzo said as he stood up, walking over to the bookshelf and grabbing a photo album.

He handed it to me, and I slowly opened it as I sat on the floor. The first picture I saw was of a young mom and dad, both beaming with happiness, holding a tiny baby.

"That's mom and dad... with you," Giovanni said, pointing at the tiny baby in the picture.

"Me?" I asked, staring at the baby in the photo. She had the same hair color as me... even the smile looked the same.

"Yeah," Davide smiled warmly.

"No wonder my brothers are so muscular... look at my dad. He's like a mountain," I chuckled, scanning the photo of my dad.

"You're funny," Santino said, laughing.

"Wait... I said that out loud? Shit..." I quickly covered my face with my hands, feeling embarrassed.