A Promessa

Giulia

Alessio does his best... even if he doesn't fully understand what's wrong with his daughter.

—*—

"Open wide, little lady."

Alessio watched intently as his daughter opened her mouth as much as he could so that the doctor could take a look at her throat.

"That's odd. Her vocal cords are perfectly fine. Try saying 'hi.'" Giulia did as told—or at least, she tried to. But nothing came out of her mouth other than a faint raspy sound. "I've never seen anything like this before. How long has she been like this?"

"She used to cry and make sounds when she was a baby," Alessio explained.

"And she just stopped?"

"Yes."

The doctor hesitated. "Mr. Carouso, maybe you should consider taking your child to a... psychologist."

Against the doctor's expectations, Alessio didn't pull out a gun and shoot between his eyes at the P word. He merely picked Giulia up and left the consulting room to go pay the bill with the secretary.

He's been to doctors and been given the same answer enough times to have gotten used to it.

Sir, you might want to take your daughter to a psychologist.

Maybe the problem is in her head.

It's pretty evident that your daughter needs a headshrinker. She's quite defective!

Alessio clenched his free fist. That last doctor did get a bullet between his eyes for calling Giulia like that. His daughter is not defective.

He was just finishing with the payment when Pietro returned from his trip to the nearest snack machine with a tuna candy and a chocolate bar—the latter for his sister.

"It's time to go, Pietro," he told his son, urging him to follow.

It wasn't until they were in the car that Pietro finally asked. "How did it go, Papa?"

"She's okay, figlio."

"Does that mean Giula will talk soon?"

Alessio took a deep breath. "She will when the time comes." At least, that's what he's hoping.

"Don't worry, Giulia. I'm sure you'll get to speak soon enough." Pietro handed the chocolate bar to his sister. "Here, I found the dark chocolate you like so much!"

The sight made Alessio smile a bit, especially when Giulia's face brightened, and she began nibbling on the treat.

When they got home, he went straight to the kitchen to start preparing dinner while sending the children upstairs to take a bath. Most other men–Crimson included–considered cooking to be a woman's job, but Alessio didn't share that mindset; he was more than happy to help Mother and then Bianca when they cooked... even if he ended up cutting his finger or burning a simple stew.

While skipping some pages from Bianca's recipe notebook, he ran a finger over her delicate handwriting. No matter how hard he tried, his food would never taste the same as hers. He'd once asked her if she had any secret ingredient for such delicious food. 'Love', she'd said.

He was in the middle of slicing some sardines when he heard Pietro's voice. "Papa."

Alessio looked down. "What is it, figlio?"

"Giulia's been in the bathroom for half an hour."

Half an hour? That's odd. Alessio temporarily abandoned the kitchen and followed his son upstairs to the bathroom. He knocked on the door.

"Giulia? Is everything okay in there, bambina?"

Of course, he got no reply. Motioning Pietro to stay behind him, Alessio opened the door.

Giulia was inside the filled bathtub, a big towel wrapped around her shoulders as she continued to pour water on herself with the hand shower.

Alessio sighed. "Oh, Giulia..."

Ten minutes later, he was helping his daughter put on her pajamas after drying her up.

"What am I to do with you, bambina?" he chuckled as he slipped the decorated gown over Giulia. "Well, at least you didn't do it with one of Crimson's coats. He probably would have thrown a fit."

Giulia was looking down at the floor with a downcast face. Alessio smiled.

"Don't be sad, bambina. I'm not mad," he said, gently lifting her chin up to look into her eyes. "You just caught me by surprise, that's all."

Giulia jumped off her bed and pulled his sleeve, wordlessly asking him to follow. She led him to one of her smaller bookshelves, where she pulled out a book and showed it to him. It had a dolphin on the cover.

His heart sank.

"You want to see dolphins?" Giulia nodded eagerly. Alessio smiled sadly. "I don't think there are dolphins in Greed, bambina. But I did hear a new waterpark in Envy opened a few months ago. Mr. Crimson will be traveling there for business next month, so I might ask him if you and Pietro could come along to visit the park." He was barely done speaking when Giulia threw herself into his arms and clung from her neck in a silent but excited 'thank you.' He chuckled. "Alright, bambina, how about you and Pietro set up the table while I finish making dinner? I'm making your favorite tonight."

Giulia nodded eagerly and dashed out of her room. Alessio watched her go with a small chuckle. She resembled her mother more with each passing day.

Oh, Bianca.

His mind drifted to what had transpired fifteen minutes ago. He knew what Giulia was trying to do, even if she wasn't fully conscious of it. It made him feel guilty, but it was for her own good.

He'd promised Bianca he'd keep them safe, after all... even if it meant keeping Giulia's heritage locked away in a trunk inside his closet.

What would she have done in his place...?