Family First | *Rewrites in Progress*

Well, I'm No Princess

Anastasia's POV

They really thought they were quiet, being mafia boys and all. 

But the whole idea of surprising someone was to make it spontaneous and an actual, you know...

Surprise.

I shut my eyes in anticipation, just as my door swung open, and my four brothers entered my bedroom. 

Grayson stood in his boxers on top of my dresser, singing his heart out to 'Teeth' by 5 Seconds of Summer. For someone who claimed to be twenty-one, he was the goofiest of my brothers, and acted more like a child than Nathan did. 

Jacob was twerking at my door, Charlie was grumbling and sitting at the foot of my bed, and Nathan was jumping on my bed, ruining the perfect crisp pink covers I had only placed on here yesterday. 

I was now waiting for one more. And like she could read my thoughts, my fourteen-year-old sister slumped into my room, already dressed for the school day in a tartan skirt with a white cropped blouse that I was sure I lost the other day. 

Hazel pulled out her phone, recording the madness before us, whilst simultaneously trying to brush her hair, her wrist set with the white scrunchie she wore every day. If anyone in my family ever got an award for Best Multitasker, it would be Hazel, who could make breakfast, brush her hair, and text thirty people all at the same time. 

I looked over to my phone, which thankfully, was in silent. Being my birthday and all, I knew my best friend, Evelyn, would have been spamming it since six am, when she normally woke up, and  all my family friends and relatives would have also sent their respective messages by now. 

I shifted the covers off me, and walked through the madness to my wardrobe, where a knitted sweater and high-waisted jeans were already set out from the night before. I had forgotten to shower the night before, and grimaced as I realised I would have to have one now.  Showering in the morning had always made me feel like I had come out of a sauna only to feel the cold itch of winter hit my body. 

"Alright, bugger off you lot," I called out, exiting my closet with my clothes bundled up in my arms. They all stared at me for two seconds, before Grayson and Nathan continued their antics, leaving Charlie and Jacob to drag them out, much to the amusement of Hazel and I. Hazel saluted me, before scurrying off, most likely to grab food before the boys did. 

----

Finally, after contemplating whether to wear my hair up or down for the day and answering Evelyn's fifty-seven messages, I trudged down the staircase, landing in the kitchen that I adored more than my brothers sometimes. 

My brothers and Hazel were already seated in their respective seats; my mother busy making choc chip pancakes - my favourite kind. Dad was at the head of the table, being unsuccessful at hiding the rather large pile of presents under his chair. 

You'd think being the leader of a mafia would give you skills at hiding things you didn't want to be found. 

"Buon compleanno principessa!" he called out cheerily, raising his mug of coffee towards me with a grin. He stood up, coming around the table to scoop me up into a hug, and instantly I relaxed as his familiar cologne wafted up to my nose, the same scent he had been using since I could remember. "You look so beautiful today, figlia."

"Thanks papà," I whispered into him, and I moved to my place near the middle of the table, opposite Jacob, and in-between Grayson and Hazel. Grayson slung his arm over my shoulder, pressing a kiss to my temple, and Jacob kicked me under the table, two very different signs of affection from two of my brothers.

My mother came to the table with two plates filled high with pancakes, and I could swear I saw all four of the boys begin to salivate at the sight and smell of them. Grayson and Nathan reached out for them, but were immediately swatted away by my mamma, who placed her arms around me in a tight hug, pecking my face with many kisses. 

"Happy birthday Anastasia!" she sang out, only letting me go when she had placed down seventeen kisses on my cheeks. She grinned at me, before walking over to my father, planting a sweet kiss on his lips. Despite being married for twenty-five years, they still acted as if they were love-sick teens, and their love was the type of love I dreamed of finding one day, even if I had to wait twenty years.

By now, drool was coming out of my brothers' mouths, and I knew it wasn't going to stop. 

My mum knew that too. 

"Oh for goodness sake, just eat them you beasts." She tried to act serious, but we all knew she was happy. Our mamma could never get angry at us, even when we did stupid things. She had instilled in us that mistakes were okay, and she never wanted to be the mother to us that her mother was, one who was controlling and abusive. 

Breakfast in the Heart household always consisted of small chatter whilst we ate. My father and eldest brother would normally discuss mafia dealings, sometimes joined in by Grayson if he wasn't entertaining the rest of us. Our mother sat on Hazel and Nathan's end of the table, and usually helped them out with any last minute homework they had. 

"Anastasia," my father called out, just as I was finishing up on my third pancake. "Charlie and I shall be out tonight on a mission, so I thought it would be better if we did presents now." I nodded, as he beckoned all of my siblings towards him, handing them all gifts that had clearly not been wrapped by him. 

"As the youngest, I think Hazel should give her gift first," my dad stated, and she nodded, handing me a gorgeously wrapped pink gift with a gold bow. I carefully unwrapped it, unveiling a book I had been wanting for months. 

"Thanks Hazel," I said, giving her a long bear hug, and I placed the book beside me. 

Nathan came next with a small calligraphy set, and Jacob completed that gift with a collection of calligraphy notebooks, as well as many pots of ink. Grayson gifted me a pair of pure diamond earrings with rose-gold backs, ones that he explained he had bought from our last trip to Cairns, and Charlie gave me a small glass rose, that had been created by him and Grayson. The intricate detail had most definitely come from Charlie's steady hands and I hugged him tightly around his neck, thankful for the sentimental gift from my big brothers. 

It was finally my father's turn. He handed me a blue box, with a golden clasp keeping it locked. I unlatched it, and before my eyes, a pendant sat, it's sapphire shining in the light. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes, and I brushed them off, but could not help the few tears that slipped from my eyes.

"Dad, it's beautiful," I exclaimed, and he came over to me, taking a seat in Nathan's vacant spot. 

"It was your Nonna Valeries', my sweet, and before she passed away, she told me she wished for you to have it. She was given this by her grandmother when she turned seventeen, and I managed to salvage it after she died. So now it's yours, bella." 

I beamed at him through my teary eyes, before Grayson came up to me, catching me off guard with a bear hug. Everyone laughed, coming to where I sat to hug me, and we hugged for longer than most people normally would.

But we weren't normal.

So long ass hugs were our jam.