Page 70 of Vita Mia

“Time for what?” he asked.

“Your surprise!” she announced.

“They have a surprise Lola?” Gio asked the toddler.

Lola stuck her two middle fingers in her mouth and sucked. She nodded.

“We have a biiiiiiggggggg surprise for you, Papa,” Gianni said. He was now standing on the bed.

“Don’t tell him,” Eve warned. She whispered in Gino’s ear. His son nodded. Eve gave her father the brightest smile.

“We’re waiting! Get dressed!”

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ALL OF THE KIDS INCLUDINGlittle Lola ran from the room celebrating with laughter and cheers. The surprise was a welcome event for Giovanni. He didn’t expect to wake up to such a sweet morning. The sounds of laughter filled the house. For Giovanni, Eve had made the most progress in the family. It was as if her world hadn’t burned to ashes eight months ago. There were times he worried over his daughter’s recovery. Where did the trauma go? If she was like him at the age of six, the trauma was there buried, underneath, waiting to surface at her next lowest point in her life. When he was her age he saw his father kill a man. When he was her age he knew death. And now his precious firefly knew it, as well.

That worry was for another day. Even now he felt the morning frost in his room, so he cleaned up and brushed his teeth then fully dressed in a hurry. He pulled on a cardigan and a pair of jeans. He put on his runners, and his watch. Then he left the room in search of the family.

The house had fallen unusually silent. The kids were plotting against him. He pretended not to notice. They were not in their play areas, so he headed for the garden terrace to the back of the villa. It was where their meals were served. He suspected breakfast was being prepared for him. On his way, he heard music playing from the TV room. It wasn’t a radio. It was the piano. And whomever played was pretty good.

It was then he remembered the meaning of the day. New Years. It was his anniversary and Lorenzo’s birthday. It was a date that always meant a lot of celebrating in the family. In the family room, he found all the kids gathered. Even his baby girl Leeza was in her walker sucking her pacifier. Lola and Leeza were quite close. Lola took Leeza’s pacifier out and then put it back in her mouth repeatedly to make the baby smile. Eve played the piano.

Mirabella sat in the chair grinning at the children. “Come inside, Gio. This is for us. Eve arranged it.”

Giovanni’s brows lifted in surprise. He walked over to Mirabella and kissed her forehead. He sat next to her. Lorenza ran over to Giovanni and he picked her up and sat her on his knee. The twins were the ones to perform. He looked over to the table in the room and saw colorful cupcakes that had to have been frosted by the children with Mirabella’s help. Eve played a song that he had heard her practicing with her Aunt. She sang along with the twins. Leeza was too busy playing with the lights on her walker to join in with her brothers and sister.

Eve was quite the pianist. She wore the rhinestone glove to cover the scarring from her burns, but she played fine. Mirabella made it for her. And his daughter had taken to the fashion statement. Never was she seen without it.

Eve’s voice sang out over her brothers. Giovanni didn’t know his soon to be seven-year-old could sing with such inflection. The song ended far too soon and Giovanni and Mirabella made sure to celebrate her accomplishment. They clapped for the kids.

He kissed Lorenza, known in the family as Lola, and passed her over to Mirabella. He got up and went to his daughter.

“Felice anno nuovo, Papa!” Eve said. “And happy anniversary too.”

“Grazie, piccola,” he said and picked her up from the piano bench. She wasn’t too big to be held. He kissed her and held her up above him so she could squeal. The boys rushed his legs and Leeza ran over in her walker nearly knocking them all aside. Giovanni laughed.

He set Eve down and went to reach for the other kids when he heard a commotion not common to his house. It was his men shouting. And other voices shouting back.

Giovanni froze. In fact, everyone in the room did. And before he could react the invaders charged in.

It was the Carabinieri.

They had their assault rifles aimed at his children and wife, not him. A clear command for him to stand down or they’d suffer the consequence.

“Bella,” Giovanni said calmly.

“Kids, come!” Mirabella said to their children. Giovanni tried to extract Gianni from his leg. Mirabella scooped Leeza from her walker and balanced her on one hip with Lola on the other. The boys went to their mother but Eve stood stark still staring at the men. Her eyes were stretched so wide with fight Giovanni had to summon all the control and restraint he had left in him not reach for his daughter.

“Get out of our house!” Eve demanded and trembled with rage. Her hands clenched into fists. “Get out of our house now!”

“In ginocchio diavolo!” The head lieutenant barked for Giovanni to get down on his knees. It was as if Eve hadn’t spoken.

“Papa no!” Eve rushed him and hugged his legs. “Make them go away! Make them go away!”

“Go to your mother,” he said calmly. Something in his voice made the request unquestionable. Eve let go of him and looked up at him with fear and worry in her eyes. It was as if in that moment his baby girl realized that he wasn’t a super hero. That he couldn’t command men to bend and break by the snap of his fingers. That he too was vulnerable and could be taken from her.

It broke him.

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