Not completely edited *

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It shouldn’t come as a surprise to many people anymore, but I was having yet another argument with the devil’s spawn.

“Can I do my homework later?” Maia whined, plugging her pink earphones back into her ears. “Please? Mom just bought me this One Direction CD and I have to listen to every single song.”

“Can’t you do your homework and listen to music at the same time?” I reasoned, holding her folder in front of her face. “You only have one. Just get it done and over with.”

Maia shook her head vigorously. “No,” she simply responded. “I have to focus on the songs.”

I rolled my eyes as she bobbed her head to the music, singing the lyrics to “Story of my Life”. Before I met Maia, I had nothing against the five British men. In fact, I thought they were pretty good. But when you were forced to listen to their songs every hour you were stuck with one of the annoying fans, you wanted nothing but to rip your ears off.

“Maia, I will take away your MP3,” I warned.

“Please,” Maia pleaded, clasping her hands together. “Pretty please with a cherry, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and ding – another berry on top?”

“You could listen to it after you do your homework.”

“Fine,” Maia sighed in defeat. She took a pencil from her pencil holder and reluctantly took her History homework out of her folder.

“And you better do it good,” I added. “I want all your effort. Not half of it.”

However, before Maia could even write her name on the worksheet, Natalia stuck her head into Maia’s room with her big smile. “Guys, dinner is ready! C’mon, I want to see you two downstairs in five minutes.”

I resisted the urge to groan at the bad timing. I spent ten minutes trying to convince Maia to do her homework and when she decided to finally work on it, it was dinner time. Nevertheless, I simply smiled back at Natalia and told her we’d be downstairs by then.  

After Maia and I washed our hands, we made our way to the big dining room. My mouth watered at the sight of pasta and salad placed on the dark mahogany table. The smell of the tasty looking pasta surrounded me and my stomach growled involuntarily.

Paul was already sat at one end of the table and Natalia sat opposite of him. Maia and I plopped down beside each other. It somewhat didn’t surprise me that Noah wasn’t sitting in his chair yet.

“Pasta again?” Maia teased, but smiled at her mom. “But thank you for making my favorite pasta.”

“The food looks delicious,” I complimented, eyeing the white pasta.

Natalia, who sat perfectly and properly in her seat, smiled kindly at me. “Thank you, Emma. I only make Italian dishes because they’re the only things I know how to cook. I think my husband and kids get sick of it.”

My eyebrows rose in confusion. “If you don’t mind that I ask – why do you only cook Italian dishes?”

“Oh,” Natalia giggled. “I’m Italian, honey.”

Well that explains her particular accent, aristocratic and gorgeous face, and her enviable slim figure. Natalia was striking.

“Where is that boy?” Paul asked in annoyance after five minutes of sitting at the table.

It was then that I realized how Paul and Noah looked so much alike. Their eyebrows knitted together the same way. Their eyes were different shades of blue, but blue nonetheless. Noah had his father’s cheekbones and tall figure. I think the only thing Noah picked up from his mother’s genes was her hair color. It kind of freaked me out that Noah was the carbon copy of his father.

“Relax, honey,” Natalia said calmly, her smile not faltering one bit. “At least he called to let us know he’s coming late.”

“He’s seventeen, for Christ’s sakes. He needs to be more responsible!”

Paul’s outburst was incredulous. Never have I ever seen the usual free-spirited, jovial, cheerful man angered or frustrated. He didn’t seem like the type of father to lose his patience over the simple fact that his child was late to dinner. I guess my judgments were wrong.

I couldn’t bring my eyes to land on Paul’s angry face. He looked scarier than the burly man that controlled the music at The Pit. Instead, I gulped awkwardly and twiddled my thumbs underneath the table while I stared at my porcelain plate.

“He’s having problems right now. You know that, Paul,” Natalia tried to reason with Paul.

Paul sat back in his chair and exhaled loudly, shaking his head. The dining room was silent besides the sounds of clinking as Maia played with her fork and plate.

“I got a hundred on my spelling test,” Maia announced in hopes to ease the tension.

“That’s great, sweetheart!” Natalia praised at the same time Paul said, “Keep up the work, Mai.”

Patting Maia on the back with a bright smile, I said, “Wow, making those words into a song really helped. I’ll buy you makeup as a reward for your hard work.”

Maia’s eyes widened. “You will?”

“Of course! You deserve it!”

“Pinky promise?” She asked, holding out her pinky. I wrapped my pinky around hers and laughed when a bright smile graced her face. “Thanks, Emmy! I couldn’t have done it without you! Did you know that I had the highest score in my class?”

“Really?” Natalia gasped, placing her hand over chest. “That’s awesome! I’m so proud of you!”

“Yeah and everyone else was begging me to sing the song Emmy and I made! It was so cool!”

“Wow, my sister’s a smarty pants,” a familiar husky voice said from behind us.

Everyone’s attention was drawn to Noah. He had a genuine smile on his face as he walked into the dining room. I was embarrassed to admit that I ogled at him. I personally found it hard not to check him out especially when he was wearing a muscle tee and basketball shorts, looked like he just finished a good workout, and had a smile on his face all at the same time. There was still a light trace of the bruise on his cheek, but he still looked … hot.

Oh God, I’m such a pervert.

“Congrats, Mai,” Noah commended while he ruffled his sister’s hair. He swooped down to kiss his mom on the cheek and said, “Hey mom. Sorry I’m late.”

“Hey, honey, how was the gym? How’s Callum?” She asked as he plopped down on the seat opposite me.

“It was the same as usual. Callum’s all right,” Noah informed his mother. He looked at me, gave me a single nod as a greeting and turned to his father. In a strained voice and a forced smile, he greeted, “Hey, dad.”

“Noah,” Paul simply said with his lips set in a straight line.

It was obvious that Paul and Noah didn’t have the best relationship. They barely joined hands when we said grace and hardly looked at each other as they passed several dishes to the other.

“How’s the food?” Natalia asked. “Spero che sia bene.”

Although I desperately wanted to gush that the pasta was the best pasta I’ve ever eaten, I also desperately wanted to continue to stuff my mouth. I was about to compliment her food to be polite, but almost choked on my food at the words that rolled off Noah’s tongue perfectly.

“No, mamma, si dovrebbe sapere che è davvero delizioso.”

“You speak Italian?” I blurted, feeling my cheeks heat up in embarrassment at my outburst.

“Yeah.” Noah shrugged without looking at me.

“I wanted my kids to learn Italian,” Natalia explained. “But unfortunately, Maia didn’t pick up on it.”

“I understand. I just can’t speak it. It’s so … hard,” Maia corrected her mother. “I know that Noah said that you should already know that your food is delicious.”

“It really is delicious,” I added. “It’s the best pasta I’ve ever tried.”

“Oh, please, you’re over exaggerating,” Natalia said with a wave of her hand.

“No, really. I’ve never tried authentic homemade pasta.”

“You know, you’re free to join us for dinner whenever,” she insisted. “After all you’ve done for Maia in the past three weeks, it’s the least we could do for you. You could even invite your brother, Evan, if you’d like.”

“Thanks, Natalia, but I don’t want to intrude on any more of your family time,” I told her with a tight smile.

“Emma! You’re a part of this family already! You’re possibly the best babysitter Maia has ever had.”

“Now that’s an over exaggeration.” I laughed lightly.

There was no way I was the best babysitter Maia has ever had. We argued more than we got along. Sure, we agreed on some things, but majority of our decisions weren’t flexible with the other. She drove me crazy while I angered her. If anything, I was probably the worst babysitter Maia has ever had but Natalia hasn’t realized it just yet.

“No, it isn’t,” Natalia assured. “Right, Paul?”

Paul, who has been eerily quiet since the beginning of dinner, nodded his head. “Yes, correct.”

This seemed to fuel Paul up for a discussion. He set his fork down and looked at his son, who was stuffing his mouth with pasta and trying his best to mind his own business.

“We’re very thankful to have you, Emma,” Paul notified, but I felt like he wasn’t directing his statement towards me. “Usually, we’d have Noah babysit Maia. But for some odd reason, he’s too busy to babysit his own sister.”

My eyes widened when Noah set his fork down on the table loudly, inhaling deeply. “Dad, if you want to say something to me, say it to my face. Don’t drag Emma into this.”

“Questo è abbastanza,” Natalia said to Noah in what sounded like warning. “Not during dinner.”

Noah shook his head. “No, voglio parlarne ora. Dad brought it up so we need to settle this now.”

“Settling your decisions like a man now, huh son?” Paul mocked with a bitter laugh. He folded his arms across his chest and gave Noah a stern look. “I’m just saying you need to be more responsible with your decisions.”

At the precise moment, I wanted to shrink until I wasn’t in this very awkward situation. I felt like an intruder, interfering in another family’s dealings. I shouldn’t be here, but I was here and I was going to feel more awkward if I just stood up and left.

“I’m trying – “ Noah began.

“Well, you’re not trying hard enough! Look where your bad decisions led you the last time! Do you want to make the same mistakes?” Paul barked, causing everyone around the table to flinch.

Natalia was trying to end the argument between her husband and son, tears streaming down her face. I watched the exchange of words with wide eyes, speechless. It may be a figment of my imagination, but I thought I saw Maia scoot closer to me.

“Are you seriously bringing that up now?” Noah yelled back at his father, running his hands through his hair furiously. “God, how many times do I have to tell you that I didn’t kill Nick?”

“I know you didn’t kill him, but you were there, weren’t you?”

“Yes, dad, I was there! Stop pretending that you’re the only one hurt about Nick’s death. He was my family too!”

“But he died right next to you and you didn’t even know what happened,” Paul bluntly said to Noah, who looked torn apart and angry at the same time. “All because you weren’t responsible enough.”

“You don’t have to constantly remind me that I’m your fucking screwed up son because I already know. You treat me like crap. And the way you hardly look and talk to me is enough proof that you’re ashamed of me,” Noah spat in disgust. “Don’t deny it, father.”

Noah’s statement seemed to tick Paul off even more. He stood up so abruptly that his chair fell behind him. He pointed an index finger in Noah’s face. “Don’t use vulgar language when you’re speaking to me. I’m not ashamed of you. I’d just wish you’d be more responsible so I know the family business will be all right when I retire!”

“What?” Noah laughed bitterly. “Dad, have you not listened to a word I’ve said since I was fourteen? I don’t want to take over your business. That’s not what I want.”

“Well, son, I hate to admit it you, but that’s the only chance for you to have a stable lifestyle. Who’s going to hire someone with a mark on their criminal record?”

“Wow, dad, you’re fucking faith in me is astonishing. You’re the best father in the whole entire world,” Noah jeered, emphasizing each and every word.

Paul’s rage heightened to the point of uncontrollable. He grabbed his glass cup and threw it at the wall, causing everyone to flinch once again.

“You will take over the company,” Paul yelled once more in Noah’s direction.

I watched with my jaw dropped as he exited the kitchen with his shoulders squared.

I had no idea that Paul was this harsh towards Noah. Surely, he had to know that he was overdoing it when he indirectly blamed Noah for the unknown cause of Nick’s death. It was also a shock that a man as supporting as Paul could be so pessimistic towards his son’s choice of lifestyle and career.

I’ve heard too much and seen too much. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Noah, because I absolutely didn’t know he had to endure this type of treatment from his father and I couldn’t bear to see the pain splayed all over his face. I knew that it was a huge blow to his emotions that his own father had said all those harsh words towards him.

Besides the loud sobs from a crying Natalia, the dining room was silent. In my peripheral vision, Noah sat stiffly in his chair and said nothing. Maia was crying silently beside me, wiping her tears furiously every so often. I wanted to help, but I didn’t know what to do. Instead, I stared at my twiddling thumbs underneath the table.

“I’m sorry you had to see that, Maia,” Noah apologized sincerely after a couple of minutes.

I finally mustered the courage to look at him. His mouth was set in a frown. His eyebrows were knitted together as always. In his eyes, there were many different emotions he tried so hard to hide.

“No!” Maia screamed, shaking her head. She got up from her seat in fury. “You guys are selfish! We were having a nice family dinner and you two always have to ruin it!”

“Maia, I’m really sorry,” Noah said, getting up from his chair and coming to kneel beside her.

“We’re a family! We’re supposed to be nice to each other! Not yell at each other all the time! You guys are selfish!” She sobbed, running out of the dining room.

I got up from my chair to chase after her but Natalia beat me to it. She grabbed Maia’s arm and turned her around.

“Darling, just calm down, okay?” Natalia urged, holding onto her daughters arm. Maia screamed in frustration as she tried to tug it out of her mother’s grasp. “Maia – “ 

“Let go, mom! Just leave me alone!” She shouted.

Once her mother let go, Maia stormed out of the kitchen.

“Maia,” Noah yelled in concern.

“Noah, leave me alone!” We heard Maia’s bawling. “Everyone, just leave me alone.”