Scared And Scarred

2️⃣ 8️⃣

I don't know what silly game God wants to play with me.
Firstly he gave me a family overnight, and now 9 more brothers in a wink.

No family to 15 brothers, two uncles, two aunts, dad, and grandparents, don't forget to add the mafia in the mix.
Of course, I am overwhelmed.

Today is the day when everyone is coming here from Spain. In these two days, my school life was the same boring with no friends yet. My brothers still buy lunch for me but they discuss it among themselves first.

I finally figured out that my brothers are not famous for some of their bad boy deeds but because of the surname Ortiz. And it automatically makes me famous by default.

People don't know us as the mafia but we are known as ruthless billionaires. Being the richest family in not just the USA is something else in itself.

Issac's no-nonsense cold behavior makes us all look scarier, I don't even want to imagine what picture Lucas or Martin painted of us Ortiz's in their school days.

Today we got to skip school so we all are present here to welcome our family.

I am hella nervous about meeting new people. Though they are my family yet I am not confident about how will they react after meeting me.

Papa assured me that all of them love me but how could you love someone you don't even know? The reality is that They all loved the 2-year-old me and they don't know anything about this scared and scarred 13-year-old me.

If I go by the description that Lucas gave me, let me be honest, I am not very ecstatic to meet even half of the group.

Currently, I am sitting in the living room with dad and the rest of the brothers. We had our breakfast and after that, I went to change into something more passable.

I was so confused about what to wear. Formal or comfy, dress or pants, bright color or dark. One after another, eventually my entire closet was lying all over my bed.

Now it was even harder to pair up anything decent together. Not wasting any more time than I already did, I went to call my Oso.

"Yahel I have no clue about what to dress in. Help me please,"

" Calm down Mariposa, let's go to your room.

God has there been an earthquake in this room"

"Mock me later, help me first."

"Goodness, I would have to dive into this pool of clothes to match anything up for you."

"I hope you are a good swimmer then."

After almost an hour, I was finally done getting ready and then I joined my family in the living room.

We waited for some 15 mins before there was the sound of screeching tyres and stopping engines.

Dad and Lucas went to open the door and in seconds, a crowd of people was standing in front of me. I was standing with my brothers.

Thanks to Lucas, I was able to recognize a few people among them.

Before things could get awkward, an old lady, my grandma wrapped me in a bone-crushing hug. I was hardly able to  breath.

"Thanks to all the people up there, I could hold you again, I got my Nieta back." (granddaughter )

Tita was crying and I had no idea how to calm her down. When I cried, dad hugged me or patted my back but we were already hugging, and patting the back was out of the question as my hands were caged in her tight hold.

"Losen your hold, Mi Amor, or she would faint from lack of breath."

Thanks, grandpa I owe you one.

"Sí Mamá, we all waiting for our turn." one of my uncles said.

"Dios, fine," finally Tita let go of me after kissing my forehead. my lungs got to work again.

"Mi mala Nieta, I never introduced myself, I am Elisa Ortiz, mother of your father. And the old broody man over there is your grandfather. You can call us Tita and Tito like the rest of the boys do. "

I smiled at her and nodded toward Tito.

"Dear, I am Pablo and this is my wife Sofia. We are your elder Tio y Tia."

"We missed you, Xia. And I can't wait to have a girl's day with all the ladies in the house. A day free from these troublemakers. And remember if any of these boys trouble you, just let me know." Tia Sofia said as she gave me a side hug.

"Boys introduce yourself to your sister."

"I am Santiago." he should have some expressions for lunch.

"Hi beautiful, I am your favorite brother, Alonzo," he said while giving me a hug

"we'll see who will be her favorite Al. I am Manuel, princess" he gave me a big smile.

"I am Miguel" I smell rudeness.

"I am Hugo, your highness." another hug.

"Sobrina, I am your only fun uncle and apparently your favourite uncle to be, my name is Alvaro and she is my wife Julia. We missed you a lot baby girl. Come hug your uncle." (niece)

As I hugged Tio Alvaro, Tia Julia pulled me out of his embrace and hugged me herself.

"Xia darling, I can't wait to feed you all of your favourite dishes and take you shopping. When you were born, I loved dressing you up for different occasions." She had tears when she finished speaking.

"We can do that now Tia," I told her with a smile and she nodded and smiled back.

"Boys," she said and they started introducing themselves.

"Marcello" Santiago should share his lunch with him. I don't know what's the issue with these firstborns. They are all arrogant with not an ounce of expression. It's like they share their DNA with that of some robot.

" I am Rio and he is my twin Rey."

"Hola, Hermana, nice to meet you," Rey said with a smile.

"you too, Hermano." (brother)

"My name is Arlo Ortiz and I am 6 years old." said a cute little voice, extending his little hand to shake.

"hello Arlo, my name is Alicia Ortiz and I am 13 years old." I kneeled and replied while shaking his tiny hand.

"Are you my sister?" I nodded.

"Where were you for so many years, why have I never met you?"

I had no clue how to answer this little one's question without tainting his childhood. I have no experience in dealing with children as this is my first time.

"There was a bad witch, who took me away from my family and locked me up in a tall tower. He wouldn't let me meet my family."

"How did you escape? Did a prince save you"

"your sister is so brave Arlo, she needed no prince to save her. She fought all those bad demons and came back to her family." Lucas answered for me. He seemed proud, while Arlo's eyes shone in excitement.

"Wow you are so brave, sister, will you be my friend?" I nodded and hugged him.

Meeting with my extended family turned out better than I expected. I got a whole platter of the family with all the different flavours.
Some rude, some sweet. Some notorious, some strict. Some caring, some cute.

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Happy reading :)