The Unknown Family

Phone Calls and Explanations

Giovanni Vitale has had a very long week...no month...its been so long and busy he doesn't even know what day it is. For some reason, August is the best time to be in the mafia business. Theres always so much more work to go around, training of new members increases as mafia children would rather follow in their parents' footsteps than go to collage, or they finish collage but still join the mafia.

So, Giovanni has be under quite a bit of stress as of late. But thankfully the busy season was over so he could finally have a well earned rest.

"Dad, theres a phone call for you." Katerina, or Rina as she prefers, said to her father who had just got settled at his desk, proud of the little paperwork there. He stood up from his seat, showing his tall and muscular frame, and leant against the desk as his daughter came to hand him the phone.

"Why do you have someone calling for me on your phone?" He asked as he took the device out of his daughter's hand.

"They said they couldn't reach you or Vito so they called me. It's a social worker." She explains.

As he put the phone to his ear, Giovanni tried to figure out why a social worker would be trying to contact not only him, but his eldest son and daughter aswell.

"Hello." His gruff tone is heard to the caller on the other side of the phone.

"Hello. My name is Aaron Walker, is this Giovanni Vitale?" The man on the other side of the conversation had a timid but kind voice, proving he must be a good social worker.

"Yes. Why?" Giovanni responded, a confused look still spread across his face.

"Well Mr Vitale, I am a social worker for the state of California. It has just recently came to my attention that you are the father of one of the children in our care, Liviana Mayers." In that moment, for the first time, Giovanni Vitale froze. The girl may not have his last name, but it is the name of the wife that left him almost thirteen years ago. And the girl's given name, that is the name of his mother.

"Mr Vitale? Mr Vitale?"

"Yes." His voice came out barley above a whisper.

"I was wondering if you wanted to take in Liviana, or she can stay where she is?" Without a second thought, Giovanni said he wanted to have his daughter back in his custody. By now the phone was on speaker, and both Rina and Giovanni were crying tears of joy.

"Lovely!" The social worker chirped. "When will you be available to take her in?"

"Tomorrow. As soon as possible." Giovanni spoke as his knuckles turned white from his deathly grip on the desk, for once to contain happiness and not anger.

"Yes, we will have someone fly out with her. New York correct?" After Giovanni confirmed the city, that someone would pick her up, and even payed for the two first class tickets, the phone call ended.

For the next half an hour, both Rina and Giovanni sat in stunned silence. The little baby girl they had both missed is returning home, but this time, as a fourteen year old girl. They were so shocked but filled with love and excitement aswell.

"We need to tell the boys." Was all Rina said before she texted the remaining immediate family to go down to their father's office.

Five minutes later, all four sons were in the room. Vito, the eldest, Rina the second oldest, Andrea and then the twins, Leone and Luca. But Giovanni still remained like a statue, which scared his sons, as they had never seen him like this before, into thinking he had had a stroke in his chair.

"Is dad okay?" Andrea asked as he crouched down to be eye level with his father. Giovanni was still sat with his palms flat against the desk, arms spread wide and a hopeful but to others confusing look on his face.

"He's in shock." Rina told him, a smile stretched across his face.

"Shock of what?" Leone asked as he too inspected his father.

"A social worker called... we're getting her back." She said, the sentence itself still sounded mad to her.

Vito and Andrea both became frozen like their father. Tears pooling at the eyes of the four of them while the twins look around for further explanation.

"Getting who back!?" Luca demanded in an aggressively annoyed tone.

"Liviana." Giovanni whispered. "We're getting Liviana back."