DID YOU EVER(arranged marriage)

CHAPTER 17

''Hello Anthony, we would like you meet your new primo....Nicholas'' Tia Flavia said a gestured a slim short blonde haired little boy towards me. He stared at me shyly with his olive green eyes and I could only stare back.

Tia Flavia was always on the move. My entire family used to call her the busy bee as she hopped from one continent to another on all kinds of expeditions. In my opinion, she was the fun tia always coming back with all sorts of gifts and stories.

One day she not only came back with all sorts of goodies but with a man .

Tio Hugo was German-American, she told us they met on a hot air balloon trip during the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and in her own words, they instantly hit off. They got married a few years after and decided to settle in Canada.

Now out of the blue here she was pushing a midget towards me as her son.

I looked up at Tia and all she did was smile encouragingly as she pushed the newbie towards me.

''H-Hi, my name's Nicholas and 6 years old'' the little chap said whilst staring at his new brown shoes. I wanted to ask how on earth he was blonde and had olive green eyes but I was old enough to understand the concept of adoption. 2

But I could hardly care about that, I always loved new getting new additions to my family as long as I didn't have to babysit or anything.

''Hi, I'm Anthony. I guess I'm a bit older than you but that's alright. Wanna see my superhero comic book collection? I have all issues of Ironman!" I exclaimed enthusiastically and watched as his face lit up with a wide smile.

Nodding in agreement, I eagerly took his hand and we ran upstairs into my room.

As soon as I opened the door, his mouth opened wide in amazement. He hesitated a bit before stepping in but once he did he was eager to go through my stack of comics and my action figures as well.

''You're really lucky, Anthony. You've got a lot of things to play with! And is that your own TV?!''

I chuckled and plopped on the bed, gesturing him to sit beside me I pulled up a comic and started to brief him on all my favorite characters. He didn't hide his excitement as he asked questions and gave remarks about the costumes of each superhero.

''Where do you come from, Nicholas?" I suddenly asked him after a long match between my Ironman figurine and his Wolverine one.

''Oh I'm from Canada actually. Mrs. Cole adopted me there'' he muttered without a hint of expression in his tone.

''You mean your mama'' I corrected him and he chuckled.

''Its just weird....but I'm happy. Very happy, Anthony. I'm glad you're my cousin'' He beamed and I couldn't help but smile back.

''I'm glad too. Let's stick together till the end, okay?" I muttered and stuck out my finger.

He intertwined his pinkie with mine and we both uttered,'' Promise''

''I feel fucked'' I muttered and tossed the hand gun from hand to hand,

''You look fucked too, but who can you blame but yourself when you allowed such a bitch into your home'' Nicholas muttered beside me, chuckling mockingly. He took a stance and aimed at the target, I could tell he wasn't having it easy either because the infamous Bullseye Raid managed to miss with over 5centimeters to spare.

''I know you ain't talking Melissa'' I murmured and he shot me an exasperated look. He then sighed and reloaded the hand gun, running his finger round the muzzle he turned to look at me and gave me a sad smile.