THIRD PERSON

"What do you mean?" Matteo sat on the bed while Riccardo grabbed a chair from the desk. Josephine played with the cap of her bottle and briefly looked out the window. At the back of the garden, she saw one of the dogs, but she couldn't tell from the distance which one it was.

"Before I came here, I lived on the streets." She hesitated; she didn't want to reveal more than she had to, but if living together was going to work, she had to. "My parents died in a car accident. It was raining, and Dad was probably trying to avoid a deer. They went off the road and hit a tree. By the time the paramedics arrived, they were already dead. I was nine at the time. I went to a foster family, where I stayed until I was twelve. Then I ran away and lived on the street until Domenico found me in town three weeks ago and brought me here. But at that point, I wasn't... ready and went back to the streets. A week ago, I was taken to a hospital because I was severely hypothermic. I don't know exactly why, but Vito was informed, and in the end, it was decided that it would be best for me to stay here."

Both brothers were sure there had to be more, but Josephine blinked several times and drank quickly from her bottle. Clearly, she wouldn't elaborate any further. For a moment, no one said anything. If there was anything the brothers could understand, it was the pain of losing their parents. At least Riccardo could. Matteo was still young, barely a year old when their mother died, and he was only able to get to know their father for the first five years, three of which he needed care. Riccardo didn't have many memories of his mother anymore, but he knew that she once loved him. The same was true for his father. How often had he played with him in the garden? How often had Riccardo sat at his bedside and talked about his day, even though his father probably didn't understand much of it? Matteo was different, and that was okay. Both may have grieved in different ways, but they had grieved, and some days they still did.

"Why did you run away from your foster family?" Riccardo broke the silence in an attempt to flee from his own feelings. Josephine's hands began to shake slightly, and she put the bottle aside to hide it. Matteo, however, had seen it.

"I didn't cope well with their way of life, and I didn't cope well with the death of my parents," she said, which almost sounded like the truth to her. How many days and how many nights had she wished it were the truth? The lie was so much more beautiful than the truth.

"And why did Vito and Domenico take you in? No offense, but there are a lot of homeless young people out there," Riccardo asked, posing the question that was bothering him the most. Josephine looked into his eyes for the first time without immediately lowering her gaze.

"I don't know," she replied. She sounded so honest that even Riccardo believed her.

"Why wasn't anyone looking for you? Someone had to notice—at least your social worker!" Matteo had frowned, but Josephine couldn't give him a precise answer. The most likely scenario was that they had never reported Josephine missing and had somehow deceived the social workers to avoid unpleasant questions. But whatever it was, Josephine didn't know. Vito would probably find out once he filed for custody. Hopefully, no one would get in trouble for this.

Riccardo decided to change the subject; the mood in the room was difficult to bear. He had never learned how to deal with it in a sufficient way. "How come you have to feed the dogs?"

A little embarrassed, Josephine began to play with her hands again. "I tried to run away. Domenico had... limited understanding of this and found it pedagogically sensible to give me responsibility."

She had tried to keep her wording and tone neutral, but they both knew their brother. Matteo laughed, and Riccardo also had to grin reluctantly. Josephine breathed a sigh of relief; they weren't mad or thought she was ungrateful. Matteo winked at her. "If it's any consolation, we've all had to go through this at some point. Well, we didn't have to feed them, but we had to go for walks—"

"—to brush."

"—clean the enclosure."

"—keep them involved in sports."

"—keep them busy in general."

"God, remember when we were supposed to teach them at least three new commands?" Matteo looked at his brother and shook himself. He looked back at Josephine, who was watching him curiously. "We weren't very successful. Riccardo tried to teach them 'give paw,' and I tried retrieving, but it was just an attempt."

"Maybe you should have tried mangling," Josephine murmured quietly, but Matteo heard her and laughed again.

"I think they were taught that in their mother's womb." He grinned at his sister, and she smiled cautiously back. She looks lost, Matteo thought, wondering at the sudden thought. She probably was, too. How could she not be? He grew up in a relatively intact family and still felt lost from time to time. So why shouldn't she? "Well, you're not allowed to run away. Are there any other rules for you?"

Riccardo sat up with interest. What nonsensical things should she follow? But to his disappointment, Josephine shook her head. "No, not really. Ah yes, Valentino said I wasn't allowed in the wine cellar, but I think he meant consumption rather than mere presence, and that I should stay away from the pool as long as I can't swim, which makes sense."

"You can't swim? Who can't swim at our age?" Me, obviously, Josephine thought pointedly, but instead of answering Riccardo, she just shrugged her shoulders. "So what happens next? Are you going to go to our school?"

There it was, the sticking point. Josephine didn't know what to do next. Sure, there was certainty for the immediate future, but what would happen in six months or a year? Would she still be here, and was that what she wanted? "I'll be homeschooled until I catch up with the material from the last few years."

Matteo frowned. "But that can take time. Don't you miss the social contacts and being with people your own age?"

"I don't know. I only went to elementary school for four years and was then homeschooled by my foster mother. Do you like going to school?" Just the thought of being among so many people made Josephine uneasy. What would happen if she couldn't adapt? She would stand out, and others would notice her. And then, where could she hide?

"Nobody likes going to school," Riccardo replied instead, as if it was the most absurd thing he had ever heard.

"And that, dear Josephine, is the reason why Riccardo had to repeat a year." His brother laughed. Riccardo rolled the chair toward Matteo and hit him on the back of the head. Then he looked challengingly at Josephine. Part of him hoped that she would laugh at him and that he would be able to confirm his anger, but she didn't. She just stayed silent and looked out the window again. She was strange, he decided. She won't suit us. But he and Matteo wouldn't be staying much longer anyway, so he couldn't care less.

But at that moment, Matteo had other plans. "Can you play Mario Kart?"

____________

"Are we finally done?" Annoyed, Domenico leaned back and tilted his head back. However, the ceiling of the room was no more exciting than Vito's quarterly plans.

He furrowed his eyebrows angrily. "Nico."

"Vito," Domenico mimicked his tone and tried not to look at his brother. "I don't care how important you think these plans are. We both know that I can't help you with them anyway. You have people for that; can't you talk to them about business?"

"But you're my brother, and you should know what's going on." Vito knew that Domenico had no connection to this side of the business and therefore did not have to be involved in the planning. But even though Domenico complained at every one of these planning meetings, he still attended them again and again, so maybe it was just one of those things. "And we can use the time we're at home anyway and get it over with. Look at the bright side: you'll have peace again for three months."

"How would you like it if we talked about my contribution to the company every three months?" scoffed Domenico and looked at his brother. Even in his own house, Vito wore dress pants and a button-down shirt. Sometimes he couldn't understand how they could have so much common DNA.

"I actually think that's a very good idea."

"And yet curiosity killed the cat. Besides, I'm going to get up, take a stroll around the kitchen, and then do something more interesting than your beloved quarterly planning." Domenico stood up. "You are free to accompany me. As I just heard from the gentle footsteps of our brothers, they are also down here somewhere, and when I pause, I can almost hear their angelic voices calling the other one 'dickface.' So whatever they do, it sure sounds more fun than this."

Sighing, Vito looked at the desk filled with papers, spontaneously got up, and followed his brother. "At some point, these two will drive me crazy."

"Our parents must have thought the same thing about both of us. And only one of them went crazy," answered Domenico nonchalantly. Vito, who had known his brother too long to be seriously shocked by this statement, nevertheless made a half-hearted effort to remind his brother that the effects of a stroke did not equate to insanity. As he had already expected, Domenico cared very little.

What interested him, however, and made him forget about eating, was what was happening in the living room. Before they had even entered the room, they heard Riccardo and Matteo shouting and insulting each other while the cheerful melody of Mario Kart played in the background. They only noticed Josephine when they saw the girl. She sat in the chair with her knees drawn up and watched the race on the screen with curiosity. Apparently, Riccardo was winning, but from the sound of it, he had only stolen the lead from Matteo through improper means. He was driving through the finish line when Domenico sat down next to him and unceremoniously took the controller out of his hand.

"Hey! That's mine!" Riccardo protested angrily, but his brother ignored him.

"Tough luck; get a new one," he simply replied. Josephine watched Riccardo in surprise as he stood up and actually got a new controller. She definitely would have done the same, but from prior situations, she expected an argument to break out.

Matteo had also passed his controller to Vito and made Riccardo give him a new one. Seeing Josephine's confused look, he smiled at her. "Younger siblings always have to walk."

"That's the rule?" Josephine asked, grinning.

"That's the rule." Matteo's smile turned ominous. "You shouldn't forget that, little sister."

Josephine's cheeks turned red at the last words, and she quickly looked out the window to hide it. She had never been anyone's little sister. It sounded good, she thought. It sounded like family.





Hello there and happy new Year!

It's been some time (again) and I hope you all are doing well. I made a minor change in Chapter 17 so that Josephine could be homeschooled. In the previous version its mentioned, that the fosters only allowed contact her school friends, but it wouldn't make much sense; if she had some, they surely would've notice her absence.

I hope you have a nice weekend!