Alexia

Chapter 5

Authors note - anything written in (Italian) is an english translation from another language. 

Leonardo POV

Leonardo sat in his seat on their family jet, observing his two youngest kids. It was clear Alexia was used to protecting Leo. He'd watched his son hide behind his daughter when they first walked out of the room. Then he'd watched Alexia walk over to a vending machine and get food for his son because he had clearly been hungry and that damn social worker probably hadn't given them any food.
Then he had watched her open the fruit cup, sniffing it to make sure it was good before giving it to him for their drive here.
Now they were in the air and he had watched as his son freaked out while Alexia calmed him down. At this moment Alexia seemed more like a mom to Leo than a sister. But it was probably because they had just lost their mother. She had been a good mom to his older sons and Alexia before she took his princess and disappeared.
For the first time since getting the call he wondered if he was taking the kids home too fast. Should he have let them attend the funeral of their mother and step father?
Crap. He probably should have. Leo had lived with them all his life and Alexia probably couldn't remember anything other than those two.
He sighed. He would have to do some thing like a memorial for them when they got home or something.
Now he watched as Alexia took out more of the food she had gotten from the vending machine. He didn't know how to feel knowing his own kid didn't trust him enough to even feed them, even if she doesn't recall him.
Again she opened the fruit cup and sniffed it. This time she took out a strawberry and a chunk of pineapple before giving Leo the fruit. She ate the pineapple first while opening what looked like an egg sandwich.
She smelled it as well before passing it over to Leo who instantly offered her half of it. She declined before softly asking him something he couldn't understand. He whispered a single word back and Alexia pulled out two bottles of apple juice, giving Leo one of the bottles.
"Ho avuto i loro trascritti scolastici." His oldest son, Lorenzo said handing him some papers as he sat down next to him. (Italian - "I got their school transcripts.")
He looked over Leo's papers first. Intrigued by what what he saw he looked it over more carefully.
It seemed his son wasn't as social as the rest of his sons. He had two friends and was very quiet and respectful towards teachers and peers alike. It was the exact opposite of his other sons who were the center of attention everywhere they went. His two oldest were the most respectful and calm of the bunch but they too had been surrounded by peers, especially girls. His other sons also didn't really respect the teachers seeing as all the teachers were afraid of them. No one dared to say anything so they all pretty much did whatever they wanted.
The only thing he demanded of his sons was to keep their grades to A's and B's. Preferring the A's. Anything less than a B and they would see consequences.
It seemed like he didn't need to worry about this son though. He was a straight A student including in the classes he apparently advanced in. Leo was enrolled in 6th grade but was doing 8th grade math and 8th grade language arts.
His after school activities included coding, robotics and designing. Interesting. Leo seemed to enjoy tech-related activities. Him, Santino and Emilio might connect well with that shared interest. Not that he was worried about those two in particular. They were more outgoing and accepting. It was his twins, Dante and Riccardo as well as his nephews Rocco and Nico he was more concerned about. He doubted they would welcome Alexia and Leo with open arms.
He sighed as he glanced at the two of them. Alexia was opening another sandwich.
Good maybe she will eat something this time. But to his shock, she sniffed it again before passing it over to Leo.
Seriously did the police in Denmark not feed them while they were in their custody? They'd been there for well over 8 hours for heaven sake. He should have killed that bloody social worker when he had the chance.
He was impressed with Alexia's choice of food for the two of them. Sure, he'd seen her pocket two small bags of chips but everything else hadn't been something most kids would go for. Hell most of his adult sons and nephews still wouldn't pick that over some of the other junk he had seen in that vending machine.
Even Kiara hadn't picked those choices for their kids when they were still married and he was pretty damn sure she hadn't changed that much and that the healthy food was all on Alexia.

He looked back down to the papers and looked over her information and instantly frowned.
Unlike her brothers she was not a good student. Mostly failing report cards and a lot of write-ups were in her transcript.
She was tardy and spent most of the little time she was in classes on sleeping and ignoring the teachers. Teachers commented on her never doing her homework and was mouthy and causing trouble in classes.
There were also several reports on her having bullied other students and been in a lot of fights, despite always claiming her innocence both evidence and people spoke against her.
She also had no extra curricular activities.
"PIgro e problematico o con difficoltà accademiche?" Lorenzo asked having read along over his shoulder. (Italian - "Lazy and troubled or academically challenged?") 
Leonardo sighed and looked over at Alexia and Leo again only to lock eyes with Alexia. 
Slightly taken aback he didn't answer Lorenzo. 
She broke eye contact pretty fast but he continued to study her while thinking of the encounter at the police station. She had seemed to understand when they spoke english and while she only spoke a few words they were fluent and not broken like the two adults they had encountered. He wasn't sure if that was the standard of english language in Denmark or if he was just unlucky to meet two that didn't know a lot. 
"You speak english?" He asked looking at Alexia. Both kids looked up at him as he spoke. Leo looked a little scared but he seemed to gather strength from his sister. 
He felt Alexia study him a few seconds before she answered his question. "We both do." 
"How?" Asked Lorenzo from besides him. 
Alexia shifted her gaze to him. "Well..." She started. "For starters, Kiara always spoke english."
Leonardo noted she called her mother by her name. 
"She knew very little Danish." Alexia continued to explain. "So therefore, we learned to speak it before we knew Danish." Alexia paused before continuing. "Learning English is also a requirement in Danish schools. They start teaching it in 1st grade."
Her explanation made sense, but something told him she wasn't being completely honest. 
"Turbato."