Five's A Crowd

sixty nine

We all huddle around our father's bed, and when I say all I mean me. The rest of my brothers are probably aware of all of the answers my father has. 

"What sort of questions do you want me to answer, pumpkin?" My father asks, looking at me carefully, as I consider the things I could say.

"When were you taken?" I say, and my throat becomes dry at the thought of what he might respond with.

"I think that it was eleven years ago, but I'm not completely sure." He scratches the back of his neck, probably feeling awkward.

"Okay, and I wasn't living with you at that point, right?" I suggest, cocking my head to the side.

"No, you were. As was your mother- my wife. It was after my disappearance that she felt vulnerable and left. I've been told that your godfather took control of the family, until Matteo turned eighteen years old," my father briefly explains, as his eyes flicker back and forth between the boys and me. 

I too, look at my brothers who are all glancing at their feet, or forcing their eyes towards the wall, so they don't have to see me.

I never realized that they had to go through that. Live with another person who wasn't related to them. Have their mother and little sister leave the house, and never come back. As well as have a dad who was absent for most of their childhood, due to the fact that he was kidnapped.

I suddenly feel as if I have been ungrateful for most of my life, and that my brothers have been through so much worse. Within the last few months, we've all gotten so much closer so I'm surprised that they never shared that fact with me.

I don't know why I thought so, but I always just assumed that Matteo has been looking after the family since the incident happened.

"Ummm, okay. Is there a reason that Noah and Fletcher took you?" I question.

Throughout this entire experience, I can't link a similarity between us.

"It's a very long story, pumpkin, but your great grandfather, and their great grandfather had a feud with their mafias, and for the past few generations we've had a massive grudge against each other. I don't always like it as that way, but it is what is it," my father exclaims smiling down at me softly.

"Why wasn't their father the one who took you?" I ask innocently, not understanding the damage I just caused.

I can feel everyone freeze up around me, and the only sound that can be heard is the heartbeat monitor that is connected to my father's body.

My father clears his throat loudly, before continuing to speak. "Their father was the one to take me at first, because Noah was your age- only a child, and Fletcher was still young as well. That changed though, when I umm... you know, ended him in self defense..."

My father trails off with his words, and I look at him in horror. I was already aware that to be in the mafia, they had to kill three people, but I didn't realize that killing people was something that they regularly did.

"When you say self defense, how much defending were you doing?" I hesitantly question, picking my words out carefully, even if my sentence doesn't make a lot of sense. 

"It's fine, Hazel. What happened has happened. Everything is okay now. You see, I'm okay, your brothers are okay. But most importantly, you are okay," my father reassures me, but it does little to help my nerves.

"What about my mother, your so called wife, huh?!" I comment loudly, throwing my hands up in the air, trying to be dramatic. "She's dead, but everything is okay, because you're back home, and killed a person in what you like to say 'self defense.'"

"What happened to your mother will not go unnoticed, and I can assure you that the person who is responsible for the crime will be paying the time, and I certainly don't mean jail. I will personally deal with them," my father says threatening, turning into a completely different man, than what he was a couple of minutes ago, while gently smiling down at me.

"That topic leads me to my next question," I clearly pronounce. "Do you know who killed my mother, and how can you be so sure that they are responsible for the killing?"

"It was carried out by a couple of Fletcher's men, and after some extensive research in the last couple of days, I have their locations, and proof of the crime being committed." My father sighs loudly, and shuts his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose.

It's like he's relieving a sour, and scary memory. It probably has something to do with the proof of the crime being committed.

"You don't need to worry about any of it though, okay," my father says softly, taking my hands into one of his- the one that wasn't on the side of the shooting. "Your brothers and I have it all sorted out. If we want your help, you can ask, but if you feel the need to insert your opinion, you certainly can."

"You're not in any condition to be dealing with the bad guys. You were basically dying two days ago. I think that you need to rest a lot more," I frown, and look my father up and down.

"I'm fine pumpkin, see." My father stands up, which tugs out all of the wires connected to his body.

"Good as new!"

A/N: Hey guys, thank you so much for reading. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE VOTE, COMMENT, AND READ WHEN I GET A CHAPTER OUT TOMORROW. I have a plan for where this book is going, I just need a little support. Also, thank you very much for 63000 reads and over 2k votes- 2527. (I know that it's not a lot,) but to me, it means the world. Keep slaying in life, and I will see you tomorrow night- or day depending on where you live- when I update tomorrow. Bye <3