"You probably have a lot of questions," Stella said, sitting her daughter down next to her on the leather couch. "Correct?"
Haru nodded.
"I'm so surprised you've been acting so calmly and accepting about all this," she admitted. "It makes me so proud of you, sweetie. Now, feel free to ask any question you want."
"H-Haru wants to know why you've never been around," she finally said after a pregnant pause. "Haru wants to know why Dad never talks about you."
"Let me start for the beginning for you then, mia bella," Stella said. "This began when I was living in Japan with your father. I just had you and I, too, was unaware of my roots in the Mafia, so of course, when I was visited by your uncle Adam it sure surprised me…"
...
Chapter 2 – Stella Caelus
When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. ~Sophia Loren.
...
"Nani!" Stella cried, holding the remote close to her. "How dare he do that! Alfredo, no! Don't live Amarelle! She can't live without you! Nooo!"
"My little niece is too cute!" someone cried. "Getting all riled up about a strange soap opera! Too cute!"
Stella turned to her to see a bald man beside her. She blinked a few times, rubbed her eyes, and then slapped herself before jumping up off the couch and hiding behind it. "NANI! Who are you? How'd you get here? What do you want?"
The bald man looked like he had been punched in the face. "My little niece does not remember her favorite uncle?" he frowned. "I am Adamo! Adamo Caelus, your beloved uncle! I even gave you your name, Stella!"
Stella's jaw dropped. "Uncle Adam?"
"It's Adamo now!" he corrected, a large smile on his face. "But you remember! Good!"
"Sweetheart," she heard her husband holler from the bedroom. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine!" she replied. "Go back to sleep!"
"And my little one is married, too," Adamo sighed. "How time passes!"
"Y…you're so…bald!" she cried. "What the heck happened to you?"
"You see, I got involved with, uh, how you say, the Mafia, darling," he told her. "The stress sort of made me rip my hair out. It'll eventually grow back – oh no, is the littler one crying?"
Stella frowned. "You…you just stay there, I'm not done asking you questions!" she said, slowly backing away from him and running to her daughter's nursery. She picked up the crying infant and rocked her slowly left and right. "Shh, shh, don't cry sweetie, Mama's here. Don't cry. Yes, there, there. No bad person is going to hurt you, not while Mama is here. Shhh, go to sleep."
"She's so cute, just like my little niece!" Stella nearly dropped the little girl. "Is this the one you call Haru?"
"Get the hell out of here!" she hissed, settling the now sleeping child back into her crib.
Once they re-entered the living room, Stella sighed. "Why are you here, uncle? And how the heck did you get in here?" she eyed him suspiciously. "Are you a ninja or something?"
"Of course not!" he cried. "I am but a man who knows how to pick a lock, and I have a small, super tiny, super-microscopic-that-you-can't-even-see-it favor to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Become the ninth boss for the Caelus family."
"Alright."
He blinked. Smiled. "Ah, I knew I could count on you, my little one!"
.
x
.
"And then he took me here and, yeah, now I'm boss," Stella finished lamely. "I didn't want to involve either you or your father, so I never returned home. Well, I did, but I made sure I wasn't seen. I would always write to your father, though. After you turned five, he just stopped writing to me altogether."
Haru stared at her with wide eyes. "…R…really? He just made you boss like that? Did you want to become boss?"
Stella shook her head. "No, of course not. I'd much rather stayed in Japan and watched you grow into the beautiful woman you are now."
"Then why didn't you refuse him?"
"I owe your uncle my life," she said, shrugging. "If he asked me to jump off of a cliff, I would."
Haru frowned. "Why?"
"That is a story for another time, mia bella," she said, kissing Haru's forehead. "Now, what do you think of your Guardians? I picked them out just for you."
"Haru doesn't like Corentin. Piero and Gino seem alright."
"Ah, Corentin, he's from the Bovino family, see. Having him is really good for us," Stella explained. "He's…an acquired taste. The longer you stick around him, the more you'll like him. I promise."
"If you say so," Haru said.
"Haru," their eyes met, a serious look in Stella's. "Now, what I did not get, you will have: I'm giving you a choice. Do you want to become Caelus Decimo? If you say yes, I assure you it will not be an easy feat. You could say no. You could go back to your old life, I won't mind, truly I won't. I'll always be proud of you."
Haru looked away. "You know," she said. "Every since Haru got here Corentin has been telling her that she's not suited being boss. He says that she's too naïve, she's not smart, or even strong enough. He says she's too much of a ditz to amount to anything. And…he's right."
Stella clenched her fists. It was okay. This was expected. Why would her daughter even want to be involved in something as dangerous as this? She was still proud of her. No matter what, she was still proud of her.
"Haru is not as smart, or as brave, or as selfless, or as understanding as some of the people she's met," she continued, laughing. It was a hollow laugh. "She's always been jealous of them. She wondered why they were so much better than her. What is it that Haru's doing wrong? Why can't Haru be like them, too? Why aren't their good traits rubbing off on Haru?"
She would always be proud of her daughter, her little girl, her bella. She was the world to Stella. No matter what path she took, Stella would support it one hundred percent.
"And Haru guessed her issue was that she wasn't trying hard enough, she was just complaining and complaining and acting selfish. She wasn't trying hard enough to be a better and stronger person." Haru regained eye contact with Stella, this time it was her with a serious look in her eyes. "So, Mom, Haru hope that through being Decimo she can achieve those traits she lacks."
Stella hugged her. "I am so proud of you, Haru," she said. "I'm tremendously proud of you. You'll become a wonderful boss, I just know it."