035. Hold my Hand
Characters: Grandpa Roma, Lovi & Feli
Genre:Family
Rating: K+
Time Period: right after Tomatita

New Family

Romulus Roma was not a bad man.

Yes, he was rather hedonistic. And yes, he lived his life by the maxim of 'eat, drink, and be merry'. He derived great enjoyment from excesses of wine, women, and song. But he wasn't a deadbeat. And if he'd known about his daughter, then he sure as hell would've gone ahead and done the proper thing. Whatever that was.

But they'd managed to keep her a secret—for almost thirty years—and not only her, but also his granddaughters...

And how astonishing was that? He'd come back from his three month trip to Rome to find out that not only was he a father, but also a grandfather. And the girl he'd apparently managed to knock up all those years ago? Nereza Vargas.

Of the Vargas family. Which explained how they'd managed to find him at least...

It was a pity that he couldn't really remember her, though. He felt like he should, but there'd been so many ladies throughout the years and, in his younger mind at least, she'd just been another one-night stand.

He supposed that he should've been expecting something like this to happen eventually, as he'd been rather less-than-careful about protection when he was younger. He'd learned his lesson eventually—getting diagnosed with Hep-B could do that—but he'd always suspected that there were probably at least a few individuals out there sharing half of his DNA...

"Nonno!"

And he was brought back to the present by the call originating around his knees. He immediately smiled, allowing his gaze to fall to the little face peering up at him. The big amber eyes that he was already finding impossible to resist.

His life had turned a complete 180 in the last couple of weeks. He'd spent his previous years single, unattached, travelling to exotic locales—and now he was a grandfather; a grandfather who'd packed up his old life, bought a house in one of those small towns where everybody knew everybody, and committed to raising two pre-schoolers.

Romulus Roma believed in doing things whole-heartedly.

"Yeah, Feli?"

Feliciana was the less-difficult granddaughter. She loved hugs, cuddles, sweets, stuffed animals, tea parties, and playing dress-up. She was the one who reached up to grasp at his hand when they were walking through the store or crossing the street. She was absolutely adorable.

And now she pointed across the aisle at a pink lamp with a fuzzy purple lampshade. "Ve~ Nonno, can I have that one for my room, please?"

"Of course, Fels!" This was their task for today, after all. Furniture shopping!

Furniture shopping for the girls' rooms, at least. Since he'd finally finished with the rest of the house. Roma had never actually realised just how much work went into decorating and furnishing a home. It was exhausting and if it hadn't been for the Beilschmidts, he'd probably still be standing in his new kitchen, staring at the ugly gold-coloured cabinets in horror.

"What about you, Lovina?" And now he turned toward the other girl, who was hobbling a few feet behind on her crutches. Lips twisted down in her usual pout.

Now Lovi... Lovi was his more challenging granddaughter. Stubborn, purposely difficult. She seemed to hate all of the cute things that her little sister adored. And she seemed to dislike most other children. And most adults... Most people in general, actually.

She didn't seem to like him much either. But he supposed that made sense, since he had just appeared out of nowhere and thrust himself into their lives.

But he was quite sure that he'd be able to win her over. He was terrific with kids after all.

"What kind of lamp do you want?" He bent down a little so he was closer to her level. Lovi absolutely hated to be talked down to—which did make things challenging since she was only about four feet tall. He had to do a lot of stooping in her presence.

"Don't want one."

That surprised him a little bit. "You don't want one?"

And now she glared at him like he was a complete idiot. Which in her mind, he probably was... "Stupid." She glared at the fluffy lamp that her sister had chosen as if it had personally offended her. "Don't want new room."

Ah, and that made a little more sense. "Do you want your old room back, Lovi?" It was only natural that she'd miss her old life. Feli had already asked him about her Mommy quite a few times.

Bella. His long-lost daughter. He'd gone to talk to her a couple days after he'd arrived. And, well, it'd been a rather horrific experience. She'd been drinking when he arrived—and she probably had been drinking for the past few weeks or so. Then she'd spent most of their first meeting cursing at him and telling him exactly what she thought of him.

But he supposed he should've been expecting that too. Signora Beilschmidt had warned him about Bella...

"No." Ah, and he'd almost managed to forget about Lovi. She was still pouting up at him. "Wanna stay with Mama Potato."

That response? Definitely not expected... "Mama Potato?"

"Mommy 'Tato!" Feli repeated, giggling.

Roma knew that Lovi called Ludwig a 'stupid potato' for some reason, so that must make Leni 'Mama Potato'. He'd have to inform her of this fact if she wasn't already aware. Because that was absolutely precious. Of course he would have the cutest granddaughters in the entire universe! "You want to stay with Signora Beilschmidt?"

She continued pouting, but then nodded.

And Lovina was absolutely adorable.

"Not stupid potato," she added, stomping one of her little Mary Jane-clad feet against the concrete to emphasise her point.

Where in the world had that nickname even come from anyway? he wondered. She must have picked it up from someone...

Not that that was important right now. What was important was that he was her primary caregiver now, which meant that he should be reassuring her right now. So he leaned even farther over and patted her on the head. "Don't worry, lovey. You'll be able to see Signora Beilschmidt all the time after you come and live with me."

And what did he receive in response? A hug or a kiss or an adorable little smile, like the ones that often graced her little sister's face?

No. She kicked him. Right in the shin. And immediately began to hobble off in the opposite direction. Surprisingly quickly considering the fact that she was doing so on crutches.

Well... That wasn't good.

"Wait! Lovi! You need to stay with Nonno! Wait!"

A/N: Yeah, so I'm an awful person for being so ridiculously slow with updates. I hate writer's block. =.= Graaah. This is like my fourth attempt to write this chapter... And the next chapter of R&R is being a bitch too. And JaLP as well and uggggh... *whines in intense irritation* And I still don't like this chapter, but I'm too annoyed right now to care.

Blah. But in happier news, I started my job for the summer at the glass museum and it's quite fun. Even if I do have to stand for forever, which is rather tiring for my poor little feetsies. Um... And since I've been having issues writing, I've been reading more. Which is lovely~ Lots of Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, and various other fantasy writers. Which is fun, because I haven't read a lot of fantasy stuff in quite a while.

And I've been watching Supernatural and Doctor Who when I get a chance. Because emotional trauma is fun...

And I've got some new ideas for some original stories. So yay~ Whether I'll actually write them is still up in the air, but at least I have some ideas.

Hold your hand... Grandpa Roma is holding Feli's hand. Wee~ Next prompt is Precious Treasure.