Snake and Venom: Sheded skin

Chapter 10

I walk into Rocco's parents house with Aurora and Sophia. They both told Renzo and Antonio to meet us here instead of the mansion because their father didn't feel like making the drive.

Aurora told her husband it was inconsiderate of him to make me drive all the way here. It seems that Aurora has been in better spirits since she found out I was pregnant. Her eyes were lifeless when she came to the mansion a month ago, but I'm glad my pregnancy has given her life.

Renzo and Antonio walk down the stairs. "How did the ultrasound?" Renzo asks.

"They said that the baby is healthy." I smile.

"Ooo do you have the picture." Antonio's eyes widen as he speed walks over to me excitedly.

"Yeah of course. I wanted you two to see." I hold up the ultra sound picture.

Antonio looks at it and a grin appears on his face. "Oh wow. This is my first time seeing one of these."

Renzo walks over and takes a look too. "Rocco would have loved this." He smiles sadly.

I bite my lip and look away from the photo trying not to get all sad again. I already cried a lot at the hospital. "He would have loved this so much." I add.

Aurora starts tearing up again. "I want you all to join me for dinner tonight. I feel like I haven't been spending time with you all lately."

"We would love to mom." Sophia smiles.

"Yeah. Renzo and I were just making ourselves at home. Dad hasn't come back yet though." Antonio says.

"He said he will be back before dinner is done. I'll get started on it now." Aurora heads towards the kitchen.

"I'm going to go up to Rocco's room. I want to see if he left anything behind." I say to Sophia and the brothers.

"Okay." They all nod.

I turn to Marcelo whose been quiet the entire time. "You can stay down here. I just need some alone time." I smile at him.

He nods and heads towards the living room with Antonio. I walk upstairs to the room Rocco showed me to the first time we ever came here. It's crazy how I've only been to his family home one time. Then again Rocco and I didn't get much time to actually get to know each other outside of what happened in the mafia and in the comfort of his mansion.

I never got to introduce him to my family nor Natalia. Not the man behind the name he made for himself, but the man who I fell in love with. Once I enter the room the scent of him fills me. He always smelled like a deep sexy cologne. A scent that I could never get tired of. I walk over to the closet remembering the box of pictures he had. At the time I was never able to see what was inside, but I really want to now.

I look on top of the shelves searching for it. If I remember correctly it was right here. Aha. I smile as I find the box. I pull it down from the shelf and walk back into the room. I sit down on the bed with the orange sheets on it. Then I open the box.

It's pictures of Rocco and his family growing up. I pull out all the pictures and set them down as I go through them. The first photo is a group photo. Aurora and his dad are behind everyone hugging. She looks a lot younger in this photo and his dad has a lot more hair. Sophia and Antonio are toddlers and they look so adorable. Renzo and Rocco as kids. They look about 10 years old in the photo. Everyone is posing in a huge garden. Even back then they looked like a mafia family. Renzo and Rocco are both wearing suits and they look so serious in the photo.

I pull out another photo. It's Rocco and he's on the ground next to his bike with a helmet on. He's picking up a caterpillar with his hands while holding it up to whoever is behind the camera with a smile on his face. Aww.

I pull out another photo. It's Renzo chasing Rocco around on a scooter. I guess this is back when they lived in Sicily. The background looks completely different from America.

I go through a bunch of the photos in the pile. A lot of them are Renzo and Rocco. Then once Antonio and Sophia are old enough they join the pictures also. There's pictures of Rocco in his teen years. A picture of him getting his first tattoo. A picture of him at a party with a group of friends. Him, Sophia, Renzo, and Antonio all at a wedding. I wonder whose wedding it was.

This whole box contains photo's of Rocco's whole life. He was such an adorable kid. Then he became a trouble maker and I can really see it in his photos. I wish I could ask him about all the tattoos and their meanings. It's probably all related to the mafia.

I spend an hour looking through his photos. I feel like I'm getting to know him. At the same time I don't really know the backstories behind these photos. It makes my heart ache just a little bit more.

I stand up from the bad and take the ultrasound picture out of my purse. I set it down into the box. I should start taking more pictures. Rocco and I don't even have one together. I close the box up leaving the ultrasound picture. This box should be safe here in this house. I walk back to the closet. Then I place a kiss onto the box and put it back. When I turn around I see Sophia in the doorway. "The foods done." She smiles.

"Alright I'll be down in a minute." I reply. This dinner is going to be really fun if Rocco's father doesn't try to attack me.

"Okay." She nods and then heads downstairs. I take a deep breath before heading downstairs to join everyone.