Family First | *Rewrites in Progress*

Mi Dispiace

My dad had the most powerful mafia in the world. 

His parents had moved from Italy to Australia when he was a baby, and had taken the Cuore Rosso with them, expanding throughout the country my family now called home. It was passed down to my father when he turned 25 from my nonno, Giovanni, and soon, it would be Charlie's.

As Evelyn snored beside me, tired from our Harry Potter marathon, I scrolled through Instagram, where already, Quinn was trending in many stories. Some girls had claimed he and I had become a couple, others claimed that Jacob and Quinn were really fighting over their hearts.

Reading some of those stories made me wonder how sane those girls really were. 

Charlie had not explained anything during the car ride to Evelyn's house, but had informed me that I was not going back to school for the rest of the week, my other siblings and Evelyn included. She had squealed in delight at that, already planning to get our nails done and watch millions of movies, but I had been slightly shocked by Charlie's words.

Something had to be bad for my parents to agree to let us take a week off. 

----

"Would you like some more?" Jean asked me, referring to some leftover bacon she had in her frying pan. It was the next morning, the day after what would be quite a memorable yet crappy birthday, and Jean had offered to cook breakfast for Eve and I, before Charlie picked me up.

"No thank you, Aunt Jean. I'm quite full," I replied with a smile, patting my stomach. 

"I'll have some more mum!" Evelyn cried beside me, throwing her plate up into the air. Jean chuckled with a grin, before putting more bacon onto Evelyn's plate, giving her an affectionate kiss on her cheek. 

The doorbell rang just as Evelyn finished up her second helping, and Jean went off to see who was there, though I knew it was Charlie from the fact he had told me he was going to pick us up at around eight. Jean returned a few seconds later with my brother in tow, who was accompanied by another person.

My only cousin, Alexander.

"Alex! What on Earth are you doing here?" I said cheerfully, jumping up to run into his arms. Like Grayson, Alex was twenty-one, and was the son of my dad's younger brother, Roman. Unlike Grayson, Alex was a lot more quiet, though much of that came from his childhood, when my Aunt Daniella had died. 

"A little birdie called your papà asked for me and dad to come down, but dad's a little, preoccupied at the moment, so it's just me," he replied, ruffling my hair. He nodded towards Evelyn, who also greeted him with a hug, before he picked up the bag I had used overnight, slinging it over his shoulder.

"Say hi to Jacob for me," Evelyn whispered, catching me in one of her well-known hugs. They always consisted of her squeezing you to death whilst on the tips of her toes, before she kissed both of your cheeks. I nodded, doing our little handshake we had been doing since we were five, before letting Charlie and Alex lead me out of the Matthews' residence, and into Charlie's Tesla. 

"Happy belated birthday, little cousin," Alex said gently, handing me a small box. "Dad wishes the same," he added, though I knew he was lying. Uncle Roman could not care less about any of us, usually just drinking the days away. After Aunt Daniella had died, he and Alex had moved up north, quite a few hours away, and we only ever saw him at Christmas or mafia meetings, depending on how sober he was.

"Thanks Alex, but you didn't have to, I-"

"Ana, you're seventeen. Next year, you are finally legal. Plus, you are my cousin, what kind of family would I be if I didn't give a gift to mia cugina on her birthday?" he asked rhetorically, turning around to face me from the front passenger seat. He pinched my cheek, before turning back around, striking up a quiet conversation with Charlie about how the press were relentless recently. 

My grandfather had been famous for how much buildings and legal companies he had owned, so it had only grown as my father inherited all of the businesses. That meant that the press were always trying to catch glimpses of our family, and often, my elder brothers featured in news articles online about potential girlfriends and whatnot. 

Last I saw, they believed Grayson could be secretly gay, after he exited one of his bars with Dylan and Callum, his best friends.

Who were dating.

That went down quite well with Ramona, their other friend, who was currently pregnant with her first child. Charlie pulled in smoothly into his parking spot, before stepping out, opening my door for me. "Mamma wants to talk with you, Ana," he said, leading Alex and I into my home. I nodded, parting ways with the two to head into the kitchen, where my mamma was busy baking cookies.

"Buongiorno, mamma," I said, kissing her cheek. My mum jumped in fright, steadying herself by placing her hands on my shoulders, before she laughed, hugging me sweetly.

"Ah Anastasia, you frightened me, silly girl. Buongiorno bambina, how was Jean?" she asked, as she wafted her tea towel over cookies that were cooling. 

"She's well, though she insists that she will invite us over for dinner next week, to celebrate her birthday. Uncle Andrew wasn't home, as usual, but she seems happy," I noted, trying to snatch a cookie. My mamma noticed before I had been able to clasp one, and hit my fingers with the closet wooden utensil she could find, which happened to be a spatula.

"Ow, mamma! Mi dispiace, mi dispiace!" 

"So violent, Zia Tina," Alex said with a grin, slyly snatching a cookie from the tray. "Ah, Santa Lucia, these cookies are delicious, Zia."

My mother turned around to my cousin slowly, noticing the half eaten cookie in his hand. She raised her spatula up, and he took one step back, before bolting up to the guest bedroom. "Just because you are my nephew, does not mean you can steal all of my food!" she cried, running after him. She stopped at the base of the steps, where my younger brother and sister sat, and smiled, pinching both of their cheeks before returning to the kitchen.

"I am sorry your birthday did not go to plan yesterday, Ana," she said sincerely, patting my hair down with her hands. Being only 5'5, my mother was the shortest in my family besides Hazel, and often looked up to us, pinching our cheeks and cooing affectionate words. 

But the Italian side of her was quite violent, and usually, one of us would hide all the kitchen utensils just to stay out of her motherly wrath. She would then turn to shoes, and those were usually her beloved slippers. 

"It's okay, mamma. It was just a birthday," I said with a shrug, leaning into her warm embrace. She sighed, before picking up one of the cookies, which had been cooling for a while. Handing it to me with a warm smile, she gestured for me to take a seat at the kitchen table, just as my father walked into the kitchen.

"It's not just a birthday, darling. We'll make up for it, I promise," he said, placing his arm around mamma's waist. She leant into his chest as he made goggle eyes at her, and his cheeks blushed, as he placed a kiss to her nose. 

"Really, I don't need anything else. You two have done so much for me my entire life, and clearly this mafia issue is more important. I'll have many more birthdays to come, it's okay," I said, taking a bite out of my cookie. 

It really was okay.

The mafia was our family, and family always came first.