A few days later...

"Look at all the food..."

"Not yet, Dino. Wait until dinner time." Dad glared at Dino, who whined and tried to reach over for a piece of ham but it was quickly smacked away.

"Fine!" Dino stomped away and Georgie and I 'oohed', the both of us glancing at Dad.

"Let me hear you say that again, Dino!"

Dino ran away and Dad shook his head. "Eddie, watch the food, please. Dino keeps attempting to steal it."

Eddie shook his head with a small smile. "Alright, Xavier."

"Thank you."

"Lucio, come outside and play soccer with us!" Vito pulled on my hand, but Dad quickly shook his head.

"It's too cold outside for him."

I rolled my eyes while Vito whined and begged my dad, but he didn't budge. Vito pulled Georgie away and left me on the counter to watch Dad, Bubba, and three of my uncles cook food.

It was Christmas Eve today, so we came over to Frankie's house for the day. So far, the ham and chicken was ready as well as the mashed potatoes, some delicious looking cheese and pesto casserole, and the bread rolls. A few other side dishes were being made as well as the desserts which Uncle Reece was working on with the help of Uncle Jace.

I was getting a bit hungry, but dinner wouldn't be ready for another hour or so. Because the food looked tempting, I hopped off the island stool and went to the living room where Papa and Romeo were cuddling as they watched tv.

"Papa, where's Dino?"

"He said he was going to the bathroom." He pointed near the stairs which was where the bathroom was, and I sat on the couch as I waited for him.

Once he came out, I grabbed his hand and sat on Papa's right side.

"Papa, Romeo, Dino, and I have a surprise for you, Dad, and Bubba for Christmas tomorrow."

Papa gave me a subtle glare. "You already know we don't get each other presents, Lucio."

"I know," I blushed a little, "but this present...I think the three of you will like it, plus it'll be making me happy too, so I'll be enjoying the surprise as well, Papa."

Romeo tucked his head below Papa's chin and stared at me with red cheeks.

"Alright, fine. But we did get some presents for Dino and Romeo since it's their first Christmas with us. It's only a few gifts, though." Papa said and I nodded.

"I'm excited for tomorrow, though. You, Dad, and Bubba will probably be surprised with the gift, but I know we'll enjoy it. I want Georgie to be there, too." I could already imagine how the day would go, but I had to think about something else so I wouldn't get too excited.

Papa hummed, and leaned over to kiss my head, then Dino's. "Well, we'll have to wait for tomorrow to see what our surprise is."

I nodded and Papa, Romeo, Dino, and I cuddled on the couch while watching tv.

An hour later, we were called to the kitchen since the food was ready. My cousins and brother were called in from the backyard and we got in line to serve ourselves the delicious and yummy looking food.

I grabbed a paper plate and put a little bit of ham, chicken, potato salad, and the cheese and pesto casserole. I grabbed my plastic utensils and we gathered around the table which was folded out to make a larger table that fit all of us.

We began eating and talked about random memories and what we were going to do for New Years. I felt happy and warm inside, but every time I would glance at Andrea, he would ruin my mood.

Since it was Christmas, the entire family was here which included Andrea. He flew out from Italy a week ago, and ever since I told him about Romeo, he's been mad. He tried to talk with my bubba and convince him to kick Romeo out, but it ended in an argument. Alvaro then had to scold Andrea for disrespecting Bubba because of the way he was talking to Bubba.

We made sure Romeo and Dino didn't find out about it, but ever since then, Andrea has been completely ignoring Romeo and I. It made me upset because whenever Romeo would try to be nice and talk with him, Andrea would blatantly ignore him or leave the room.

I had to make Romeo think that Andrea was just weird and would sometimes get in moods at times, and fortunately, he still does believe it. I felt bad for lying to him, but I wanted Romeo to be happy and not think that it was his fault that Andrea didn't like him because of everything that happened.

When we finished our food, we talked for about an hour just sitting at the table, then Tony's dad got the camera so we could take family pictures. And for those, we took about an hour taking hundreds of family photos.

We spent the rest of Christmas Eve talking and having some delicious dessert. There were cookies, pie, brownies, small chocolate truffles, and even macaroons. We stuffed ourselves with food all over again, laid around in the living room, complained about eating too much dessert and regretting it, then waiting for the clock to strike midnight. And as soon as it hit midnight, we immediately started packing to go home.

Our family always did that whenever it was Christmas Eve. We would eat, talk, take pictures, then eat some more and wait for it to hit midnight so we could go home. Even though it really wasn't much, we enjoyed spending time with our family.

"Andrea, come say bye." Felix called for my oldest cousin, but Andrea came over and only said goodbye to Dad, Papa, Bubba, Georgie, and Dino.

"It's alright, Romeo. Like I said, he's having another one of his moody days." I squeezed his hand and although he was frowning a bit, he nodded and squeezed my hand back.

"Wait, we got presents for Romeo and Dino." Uncle Jace left the living room, then a few of my uncles left as well.

After a few minutes, they came back with bags and boxes in hand and Uncle Marco smiled. "Since it's Romeo and Dino's first Christmas with us, we got them some presents."

I heard Andrea scoff and Ollie pulled him to another room.

My parents and brother had to help Romeo and Dino with the amount of presents they got from our family, so once we packed everything into our family car, we thanked them and said goodbye.

I sat in the third row of the car and leaned my head on Georgie's shoulder. "What a tiresome day."

"We barely even did anything." He chuckled and I nodded.

"We talked a lot, though." I smiled and he laid his head on my own. I grabbed our hands and linked them together.

The drive home was quiet but it felt nice so I felt content and happy.

Once we got home, we brought our stuff inside and got ready for bed. Dad wanted Romeo and Dino to open their presents tomorrow, so they agreed and we did our night routines.

We said goodnight to our parents and Georgie, then Romeo, Dino, and I went to my room. We climbed into bed and Romeo tucked his head between my neck and shoulder, tucking his body close to mine.

Even though Romeo was bigger than me, he got cold pretty easily so he would always be tucked against my side or one of our parents' sides.

Dino sometimes would cuddle with us, but preferred to have his space as well. In general, he wasn't really a physically affectionate type of guy, but acted like a total baby with our parents. He was like Vito when it came to our parents. He wanted to be held and cuddled with.

"Are you both excited for tomorrow?" I asked them.

Romeo nodded against my shoulder while Dino answered verbally. "Yeah. I'm a little nervous, but really excited."

I smiled to myself and closed my eyes. "Georgie will be there, too. It's not much of a present for him, but I want him to be there with us. I want our family to grow closer to each other, so we'll all have to be there to finish that last step so we can complete our family bond. You and Romeo will be close to Dad, Papa, and Bubba as Georgie and I are to them. We'll all be on the same level. Neither of us will be higher than the other, and we'll be equal."

"Yeah..." Dino mumbled. "Even though it's weird to think about, I really am happy that we'll be close to them as you and Georgie are. Fuck...I'm so fucking happy, Lucio."

I chuckled and felt Romeo smile against my neck. "I'm excited and happy, too."

It went silent and after a few moments, Dino asked, "What do you think Romeo and I got from your uncles?"

I let out a loud sigh. "You'll find out tomorrow, Dino."

_________________________

"Look at all my cute babies!" Dad took pictures of Georgie, Romeo, Dino, and I in matching onesies and apparently Romeo was the only one smiling. "Georgie! Dino! Lucio! Smile!"

I let out a tired sigh while Papa and Bubba watched Dad take hundreds of pictures of us in our matching blue snowmen onesies.

"Lucio, I said smile!" He glared at me and I quickly did as he said. He took hundreds of more pictures, then placed his phone down. "Alright, Romeo, Dino, you can open your presents now."

Papa and Bubba joined Dad on the couch while Georgie and I sat against the couch on the floor.

We watched Romeo and Dino open their presents. They took about fifteen minutes to open their presents from our uncles and received clothes, cologne, some jewelry, and some pocket knives.

Of course Dad took some more pictures of them with all their presents to send to our uncles, and asked if they liked it.

"Yes, thank you!" Romeo and Dino smiled with happy blushes.

"We need to get your presents from us." Dad, Papa, and Bubba got up and went to their room.

They came back after a few moments with boxes in their hands and handed the stuff to Romeo and Dino. They sat back down on the couch and Papa clasped his hands together.

"These are obviously presents from us, but they do have to do with our family and everything. Some of them will be useful and two of the items that you received is something that Georgie and Lucio have of their own." Papa explained with a warm smile. "We hope you do like them, if not, then we'll get you something else."

"I'm sure we'll like them, Papa." Dino smiled and Romeo quickly agreed.

"Go ahead and open them." Bubba gestured to them.

Romeo and Dino received three boxes each in total. They started with the biggest ones and Dino pulled out a seven inch piece of metal. He looked at it, then chuckled awkwardly.

"Not to sound rude, but I don't know what this is." He looked over at Bubba, who shrugged.

"Me neither." He blinked and Dino looked away awkwardly. "I'm just playing, Dino."

Dino pouted and our parents laughed. "It's a double sided knife."

"How do I open it?" Dino asked, and Bubba held his hand out, so Dino handed it to him.

"This one was mine and I used it a lot when I was younger. You press this button here." Bubba pressed the black button on the middle of the metal piece and two blades popped out from the top and bottom side. He flicked it around in his hand, then smiled. "This was one of my favorites, so I wanted to give it to you. To close it, you press the button again. You can also press this button near the end of the piece and only one blade will pop out."

He handed Dino the knife back and the latter smiled. "I like it, it's super cool."

The metal piece was a dark gray and the blades were flat and thin, but super sharp.

Romeo had a knife that looked like a regular pocket knife, but he looked so happy so I couldn't help but coo. It was a pocket knife with a walnut wooden handle.

"It looks like a boring, regular knife, but I made that knife a couple years after I joined the gang." Papa said. "Rainer can make knives, so he helped me and I made that one. I've been carrying that around since Georgie was born, but then I got a new favorite knife so I kept that one in my nightstand and decided to give it to you."

Romeo smiled. "I love it, Papa."

Papa smiled and Dad cooed as he snapped some pictures. "Open the next ones!"

Romeo and Dino grabbed the small box. They unwrapped it, then popped the lid off. Georgie and I peeked over and realized what it was, and what the last gift was going to be.

"The five of us already have our own, but you two were the only ones without them so we decided to get you both one as well since you're a part of our family." Dad explained with a small smile.

Romeo pulled out the thin, white-gold silver chain which had a single pendant. It was a viper wrapping itself around the ace of spades symbol.

"Genovese is Ace of Flames and Jameson, which is my gang that Amir and Enzo made me start..." Dad glared at Papa and Bubba who sheepishly smiled, "is the Azure Vipers. After I married Amir, of course we combined the two gangs, so that's our family symbol now. A viper wrapping around an ace of spades."

Romeo and Dino stared at the small pendant and they both smiled.

"I love it, Dami." Dino quietly spoke while Romeo continued to stare at the pendant.

"That's good. You don't have to wear it, since we don't even really wear it much, but it's something to show off. You can say you're part of the Genovese and that's the family symbol." Dad shrugged with a small smile and Dino nodded.

"Open the last one." Papa pointed at the box that was slightly bigger than the last one and Romeo and Dino grabbed their boxes.

They unwrapped it and popped open the box.

"I'm sure you know what that is since we all wear one." Bubba said and they both nodded. "It's really not that special but my grandfather wore one and so did my dad. My dad gave one to Alvaro and I, so now Felix, Ollie, and Andrea wear one since we have the same last name. With this present, we do hope you wear it since it'll represent our family name even though it's not flashy. The inside of the plate was the date which you became a Genovese, so the day that your dad, papa, and I 'adopted' you both is the date that's engraved into it."

The present was a simple white-gold bracelet. It had a white-gold plate in the middle with the family name, Genovese, engraved into it in a cursive font. The inside of the plate had the exact date when we became a Genovese, so for Georgie and I, it was our birth dates. The two ends of the bracelet were flat and clicked into each other, but once you put it on, you couldn't take it off unless you had a small pin.

Bubba, Papa, Dad, Georgie, and I all had one. We all wore it on our left wrist and we never took it off, so we've been wearing them for years. The rest of our family had their own bracelets with their own family names as well, so it was something that we all had.

Romeo took the bracelet off and crawled closer to Bubba. "Can you put it on for me?"

Bubba nodded with a smile and Romeo held his left wrist out. Bubba clicked the two ends together and Romeo looked at the plate.

Dino then moved closer to Bubba and Bubba repeated the action with him. Dino smiled and hugged Dad, Papa, and Bubba.

"Thank you for the presents. I loved them, and I love you all."

Dad, Papa, and Bubba kissed his head. "No problem, Dino, and we love you, too."

Dino pulled away with a red face and Romeo took his place. "I really did love the gifts, thank you. I'm so happy that I have a family like ours. I love you all, too."

Our parents kissed his head. "Of course, Romeo. We love you, too."

Romeo remained on Bubba's lap and he snuggled up with him, but I got up.

"Wait, we have a surprise for the three of you too, but it'll take a while first." I grabbed Romeo and Dino's hands and pulled them away. "We'll see you guys in an hour or so!"

I quickly pulled them to my room and locked my door, facing Romeo and Dino. "We need to shower, then get ready."

They both blushed and I chuckled. "I'll go turn the shower on."

I clapped my hands and quickly walked to the shower. I turned the water on and hummed to myself with excitement.

I grabbed towels and set them on the rack beside the shower, then called Romeo and Dino into the bathroom. We undressed and hopped in the shower.

We did take our time showering since Dino kept saying how nervous he was, but I assured him that everything was going to be fine. Romeo was a bit too quiet than he usually was so I asked what was wrong.

He looked up at me and softly shook his head. "I've never felt this happy spending time with my family since my mom passed away. And it wasn't always happy memories when she was still alive, but ever since Dami, Papa, and Bubba took us in, I've been happy each time even when it would just be our cousins at the house after school and during lunch. I've never been so happy this much in my entire life and I don't know how to react. I'm always thinking about how much happier I am with our family now and...I feel so loved and cared for."

I smiled and rinsed Romeo's hair out. "That's what Dad warned you and Dino about. Once you became part of our family, you would become spoiled with love and affection. You'll be babied and cared for and that's why I love my family so much. We're spoiled with love but we never complain about it because it makes all of us happy."

Romeo nodded and hugged me. "Thank you, Lucio. I know I've thanked you multiple times for giving me a new, loving family but I feel like it's not enough."

I kissed Romeo's cheek. "You don't have to thank me, Romeo. Besides, seeing Dad, Papa, and Bubba being happy with you and Dino is enough to repay me. I like seeing them happy."

Romeo nodded and pulled away with a red face, while Dino snickered behind me. I turned my head and glared at me while he huffed.

"I haven't even said anything!"

"I know you were about to make fun of him for being cheesy."

Dino shook his head, then nodded. "You're right."

___________________________________

Alright, guys, it's time! Get in your places, everyone! Next chapter is...wooh! ;P

What do you guys think?

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed! See you all next time, BYE!!! :))

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