Make Me Part of Your League

Chapter 17

Allison's POV

Tito and I finish up our meals and then we head over to UHaul. Tito gives me the key to his car, "Be careful!" he warns. We give each other a hug and I whisper to him

"Everything is going to be okay."

I get into the driver's side of his Honda Accord and put the keys into the ignition. Tito pulls away from the UHaul and I follow up behind him. I say a quick prayer in my head and then I turn on the radio.

We pull up to what must have been Francesca's house. On the outside the house is gorgeous. It has white siding with black window frames. The walkway is lined with calalillies and bushes of small red flowers, and the path itself is lined with mulch and stone pavers. Tito and I stand in front of the car for a minute and then I look at him, "Are you ready?"

He nods his head at me and then I grab his hand. Usually it's the big brother holding his sister's hand for protection but today the case is the opposite. I hold his hand to let him know that I am here with him and I will be here forever.

We walk towards the front door through what seems to be the longest 30 foot walk ever. With shaking hands, Tito extends his hand towards the doorbell. It rings once and we hear heavy footsteps. The door swings open and a heavy set man who appears to be in his mid fifties stands in the doorway.

Tito tries to extend his hand out for a handshake but is greeted with coldness, "Her stuff is upstairs, second room, make it quick."

I see Tito's eyes go from the gentle and warm to cold and furious, I put some pressure on his tense arm and he eases up a bit. Without a word he leads me into the bedroom and a sudden sadness comes across his eyes.

She set the room up gorgeous. The room is painted light pink with multi colored spots around the wall. The sheets on the bed are brown and pink. I take a garbage bag and begin emptying the drawers. The first drawer is filled with princess pull ups, the next has all of Ellie's shirts, the next has her pants, and the last two are filled with socks, t shirts and bed stuff. I walk over to the white nightstand and see a picture of Francesca and Ellie on it. I look in the drawer and there are multiple pictures, paintings and caricatures of the two of them.

"She seemed really happy Tito."

"She did. That little girl must have been what kept her alive. You see the man that answered the door? I didn't realize at first but that's her step father. He molested her for years. And when we were dating he raped her. She never wanted to report it because she lived at home."

"Poor Francesca."

"I know. I'm sure she took a beating or two protecting the baby. Ally lets start taking this stuff down I want to get out of here."

We finish packing up the room built for a princess and load it onto the truck. I see Tito give the man the finger as we back out of the driveway.

________

About a 10 minute drive later we pulled up to an apartment complex.

"Apartment 3C is where they live. Looks like its this one" I say. This time I knock on the door. When the door swings open, a welcoming younger woman comes to the door.

A petite woman standing at about 5'3 with jet black, pin straight hair, answers the door. She's wearing a fuzzy sweater, leggings and ugg boots.

"Hi, you must be Tito. And your... Girlfriend?"

Tito responds, "No, she's basically my sister-in-law. This is Ally she was mentioned in the will, I thought it would be a good idea to bring her."

"Oh, well very nice to meet you. I'm Arabella. Francesca was my younger sister. Oh please come in!" She says. "I'm really sorry about the mess, I started cleaning and then I remembered you guys were coming so I ordered something to eat."

"The mess is no worry at all!" Replies Tito.

"Oh I should probably get Ellie! It's been a long day you'll have to excuse me. She's on the potty we're working on training her."

Arabella walks down the hallway and into the third door. We hear her saying "Good job! Make sure you clean and wash your hands."

Then we see the shadows of two figures. I feel Tito start to shake next to me, once again I grab his hand as a support.

Tito's POV

From the doorway emerges a beautiful little girl. Standing at a little under three feet is an olive colored girl with green eyes and auburn colored curly hair.

I whisper to Ally, "she has my hair texture and my nose."

The little girl is dressed in jeans, a pair of Jordan's, and a pink top. In her hair there's a golden headband.

"She's beautiful" I finally manage to say out loud. The little girl smiles.

Arabella says, "Tito, Meet your daughter. This is Ellie Sofia Perez."

I look up in confusion and say, "she gave her my last name."

Arabella just smiles at me and nods. She sits on the floor and turns her attention towards Ellie, "look baby girl, there are some people I want you to meet. This is Tito. You want to hear a secret about him?" Ellie nods her head. Arabella whispers, "he's your daddy and the girl, she's your zia."

"But you're my zia" says Ellie.

"Well now you have two zia's"

Ellie looks at my with a puzzled face "daddy?" I nod my head at her. I extend my arms towards the two and motion for Ellie to come to me. She cautiously approaches and I lift her onto my lap. I sit her so that she's sitting facing me. I stare at her for a minute. "Your beautiful. I love you so much already. " I give her a squeeze and she hugs me back. When I release her I see that tears have formed in Arabella's eyes.

"Ally, can you watch her for a minute while I talk to Arabella." I turn my attention towards her, "may we?"

She nods her head at me.

Arabella and I walk into the back room

"Are you ok? I saw you start to tear up back there. I know loosing your sister must be hard I don't know what I would do if something happened to Alex."

"It's been tough, only thing keeping me sane has been Ellie but now she's leaving and I don't know what I'm going to do now all by myself."

"Arabella, you've been part of year life for almost two years now, I would never take her away from you. I've already missed out on the first two years of her life. I missed her first step, her first smile, I wasn't there too kiss her first booboo you were. I still want you to be in her life, help me. You're the only one in this family that seems to be accepting her, I would love for her to have someone."

"Really?"

I nod my head at her. "I really appreciate that. This is my number, text me so I can get yours. Do you mind if I take her out sometimes? I would love to still have that time with her. "

" Of course. Maybe, if you don't mind I could join you sometime?"

"That sounds lovely" she said as she flashed her gorgeous smile at me.

Now I know this is my exes sister but I think there could be something here at some point