Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.
A/n1: So I have some good news and some bad news concerning this fic.
The good news is: I know how many chapters there are left for me to write.
The bad news is: I know how many chapters there are left for me to write.
I'm not going to tell you how many, though, because one: I'm not going to survive making a wrong calculation YET AGAIN, and two: I'm an evil human being that needs to make her SCHOOLWORK because TESTS ARE COMING and I haven't learned SHIT yet.
A/n2: The last chapters I will write for this fic (including this one), will be sappy, corny and fluffy as fuck. Because the kids will give their speeches, and every quote/bunch of lyrics you stumble upon for the next two chapters (and this chapter) will say something about the kid that's giving the speech. There will be more than two chapters left, however, so don't jump to conclusions yet!
For this chapter, the song's Stef Bos (Dutch singer – I'm sorry, but look, I translated it again) with 'Papa'.
A/n3: Italian Skunk made fanart of Luisa! 8DDDDDDDDD *snags pom-poms from random cheerleader and runs for the hills* Also, even more headcanons for the kids were made up, the usual people did it (I call them the Great Dork Squad), and unless you want to cry, DON'T LOOK THEM UP. You are warned.
~~ And Three Makes Five ~~
Chapter 95:
I have a godless religion
And I love every woman
And maybe I've become
What you definitely didn't want me to become
But, papa,
I look more and more like you.
Stef Bos
(Papa)
You know, all of this felt like a major flashback.
A major flashback to our wedding day.
The guests that were there were placed more or less the same: on both sides of a quickly-created path in the middle. They also all looked very sophisticated and refined in their expensive clothes. Plus, they were happy and excited for me and Antonio, just like they were on our wedding day, and really, if Mia hadn't been in my arms right now, I would have thought that I was dreaming – that I was reliving the back-then happiest day of my life.
But this actually all was real, very real even, and it was great. I already enjoyed every single second of this evening and I had just walked into the church – a grandchild on an arm, a husband holding on to my hand, and three adult children, suddenly appearing on the podium, even before we had gotten to the two red seats yet.
And…
Oh.
They looked beautiful.
They all looked so beautiful…
Alejo wore a very experimental, deep-green suit that matched his equally mysterious and quirky personality. It would have looked horrible on each and every other living being in the very universe, but of course, Alejo – being a son of mine – wore it like it was the most casual piece of garment he had in his wardrobe. He stood there, as the oldest of the twins, the oldest of all kids together, his hands nonchalantly put in the green pants' pockets, smirking to somebody in the crowd I couldn't see.
He looked creepy, handsome, arrogant and dangerous, and it was fucking cute.
…
What, dammit? He was cute! Especially when he noticed Antonio and I had appeared – you should have seen the look on his face, for fuck's sake!
It wasn't before we had taken our seats that I looked over to the other half of the twins – to Matteo, my sweet, stupid, moronic, kind and angelic Dumb Kid.
Matteo wore a light-blue suit.
…
Yes.
A light-blue suit. Baby blue. With a frilly blouse underneath it and a dark blue tie, and white shoes, and – to be honest – he was lucky to have been a kid of Antonio and me, because if he hadn't been, he would have looked like a gay Austin Powers (please don't ever tell him that, oh god, his tiny heart would break and I'd never stop kicking myself out of sheer guilt).
I smiled when I noticed the happy face Matteo was wearing – and my eyebrows raised a bit when I saw he didn't wear his glasses tonight. Matteo, like Alejo, was positively stunning, regardless of the unimportant little flaws they had, and I now that I saw Matteo without his goofy, red glasses, I think it was a good thing he wore a questionable suit, or people in the crowd would have fucking died.
'They are so handsome…' I heard Antonio stammer next to me, as I put Mia on my lap. 'Lovi – how come we have such gorgeous sons? I mean – just – look at them! My god, they are the most beautiful sons I've ever seen, I – I can barely believe that they are ours!'
I grinned and nodded, right on the moment Mia, folded her arms, glaring at Matteo critically.
'Papa looks weeeird.'
'What?' I chuckled, teasingly pulling her hair. 'That's not true – he looks great! Like a prince!'
'Yea,' Mia huffed – and I realized that that was exactly the point.
'Maybe,' I thought out loud, 'maybe papa isn't a prince, but a princess dressing like a prince.'
Mia turned her head around to stare at me like I was the sole inventor of candy and floating balloons.
'OHHHHHH.'
I snickered. 'Does that make papa looking a bit better?'
'YESSH.' Mia nodded enthusiastically. 'And Rakel, toooo.'
'Raquel, huh?' I hesitated one second about looking around, to see where Seb and Raquel were and to criticize the way they dressed themselves – they weren't on the podium like our kids – but then I happened to see Luisa, and all of that other stuff just didn't seem to be worth thinking about anymore.
Luisa looked a lot like me, appearance- and personality-wise. She had the same face, the same fail-height, the same frown and the same unapproachable air hanging around her. Her skin was a tad darker than my skin, though, proving that she was Antonio's kid as well – and proving that Alejo and Matteo were mine, since Teo's skin was slightly lighter and Allie could behave just as unreasonable as I can.
Anyway, Luisa also proved to be my kid by looking absolutely breathtaking in her yellow – with white details! – dress. It's wasn't a big, puffy dress, like I had seen some other nation kids wear, but a simple, stylish dress that showed her slowly-progressing pregnancy. It didn't have sleeves and it didn't reveal much of her chest – thank god – but it stood out by being so elegant, so lady-like, and so downright Luisa that it actually brought tears to my eyes. She looked so confident. A bit nervous because she was on that big stage-thing, sure, but she knew she was rocking that dress, and she didn't fucking hesitate to flaunt it like she should.
She's a queen, I thought, as I waved at her when her green eyes met mine. She was my queen – my and Antonio's queen (and Seb's probably, but screw him for now hahahaha).
Even when she did glare at us accusingly as she walked to the lonely microphone on the excessively decorated podium (seriously – there were flowers anywhere, even on the damn podium, damn you Matteo and your silly love for flowers).
'Um… u-um… is this thing on?' Luisa said, tapping on the microphone – and causing a very hard noise to echo through the chamber. The guests laughed and clapped for her, and why wouldn't they? They should clap for everything she does, even if it was as much as tapping on microphones!
'Oh – um – yeah, it's on, I guess… um.' Luisa looked around the big room carefully, smiling weakly when – apparently – recognizing some faces, before she cleared her throat, and glared at me and Antonio again.
'So you showed up.'
The room started to laugh out loud, a few 'whooooo!'s here and there, agreeing with Luisa's dry statement. Meanwhile, Antonio mouthed 'sorry' at her, and I just couldn't stop fucking grinning, like some fucking douchebag, my god, this stupid FACE.
'You know, I'm not going to lie – when you weren't here at 3 PM, we weren't even surprised. And neither were we when you still weren't here at 4 PM, and not even when we couldn't reach your cell phones, that you, naturally, forgot to bring along when you left your House this morning/afternoon/God knows when,' Luisa continued.
'Fuck,' I said, automatically touching my pants – and the guests roared with laughter, even more than before, while Antonio also came to the conclusion he, too, didn't bring along his cell.
Luisa grinned. 'No no, it's alright! Like I said – we had kind of expected you to be late. And that was confirmed by your friends here. R-right, people?'
She randomly swooped her arms around, which looked very awkward and clumsy and adorable and I was so going to hug her later.
'That's right! They're never on time!' I heard somebody sounding an awful lot like Switzerland cry out.
'No kidding! They're too busy making out at inappropriate places most of the time!' somebody else that was probably Prussia yelled.
'Which is GLORIOUS and a perfectly understandable reason to be late!' Hungary – yes, that was definitely Hungary's raspy voice – shouted out.
Again, the comments were followed with much snickering and snorting and just simple, plain laughing.
'But anyway!' Luisa tried to carry on – but she actually had to wait for people to stop being so loud and making funny remarks before would be able to continue. It all took a bit too much time, or so Femke thought, who all of a sudden ran out of the crowd – holding up the skirt of her dress to make running easier – and stood in front of the podium, her back turned to the kids, and she took out her faithful whistle from in-between her boobs of course and put it in her mouth warningly.
Unfortunately enough, while some nations got the message and instantly shut up, most of them didn't even notice Femke and her Whistle of Doom and kept on chatting and so, she had no other choice but to actually use her whistle.
FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET
The whistle sounded as dreadful as always – the sound of a thousand angels dying, I've said it before – and while the biggest portion of the guests were still cowering in shock and pain afterwards, the kids grinned at Femke rather thankfully. Femke said something to Luisa – I couldn't hear what, the moans of the people around me were too loud – and handed over her whistle verrrrrry slowwwwwwlllllly, before walking back into the crowd again, after a last content, catlike smile directed at me and Antonio.
'We're doomed if she ever gets the power to rule over the world,' I muttered to Antonio while grinning back at her carefully.
'Big time,' Antonio agreed.
'O-okay!' Luisa then said, holding up the whistle. 'Now shut your traps and let me talk already, dammit, you… talkative… persons! I have a whistle!'
Cue collective gasp, followed by a collective silence.
'Nice,' I could see Alejo mouth – and then Luisa could finally get on with it, at last.
'Right!' she said, while putting the whistle around her neck as a silent warning – but all I could see was the nametag – the necklace with the nametag – goddammit, she still wore it. 'Now that I have all of your attention, allow me to explain what's going to happen in the following hours!
First of all, Alejo, Matteo and I will talk to… P-Papa Lovi and Papa Toni about… well… it's just that… we've prepared something, see? Sappy speeches and… and stuff. To thank them for… being our parents and all that… crap. We all have written down something special for them, and so… um… that's what we will be telling you, and them, and everybody, later.'
Alejo walked up and snatched the mike away from Luisa for a second. 'And I'll be going first, because I'm the eldest and because I have to settle a fine example for my dorky brother and naggy sister. Also you all look like puny peasants from this higher-up perspective! Obey me, peasants! Hahahahaha!~'
Luisa growled, took back the microphone and elbowed him out of the way, causing me, Antonio and the guests to chuckle amusedly.
'So!' She huffed, while Matteo quietly dragged Alejo back. 'After we have held our speeches, there will be food—'
'FOOD! YEAH!' somebody – was that Denmark? – shouted in an almost orgasmic way, immediately followed by some other nations laughing at that.
'Yeah!' Luisa grinned, positively assaulting my poor, sensitive heart. 'Food, yes! We, um, we have a warm and cold buffet, it's not prepared yet, but it will be, soon after our speeches have ended. That way, we kind of force you to listen to us and be, I don't know, hungry. But don't worry, it will be worth the wait, because we have succulent food from both Spain and Italy – seafood, rice, vegetables, spices, pork, drinks and what-not – all for you to enjoy!'
People clapped and cheered at that, some giving approving, sharp whistle-noises.
'And after that!' Luisa smiled and waited for a few moments for the guests to quiet down again, '…as I was saying, after that, there will be music and the opportunity for people to compete with a fun dance competition! We're still looking for objective and honest judges though, so if you think you have what it takes to critically look at the funky moves of the others, come chat with me or my brothers after our speeches!'
'That's a job for you, England!' America's voice yelled out.
England roared loudly. 'Fine! I'll be one of the judges – if you be the DJ, you trollop!'
'WHOOOOO! DJ Al Dee Ball RETURNS, FOLKS!'
Antonio and I exchanged "exhausted" facial expressions, actually feeling extremely entertained by all of this while the crowd burst out in yet another excited applause, probably because France ('I'm a man made of elegance and refinement – I know dancing!'), Austria ('Music and dance. It's the most beautiful development of cultural wonder since Pachelbel's Canon.') and even fucking Russia ('Hey, hey, I'll give extra points to everybody who dances my nation's traditional dance!~')were all currently trying to make clear that they, too, wanted to do the judging.
Luisa, Matteo and Alejo seemed to be very satisfied with the reactions that came out of the crowd, and while said crowd kept on being noisy and peppy, Antonio and I could clearly see that they were discussing about how they would "do" the speeches, and I had to say it was pretty wonderful to watch them working together like that, cooperating, trying to give each other advice on how to approach certain things…
'I'm proud of our kids for many things, but that's got to be the thing that I'm proudest of,' Antonio suddenly said, with a big, happy smile, not looking away from the three greatest morons in the world. 'The fact that they get along so nicely.'
I agreed wholeheartedly, feeling an even bigger smile pulling on the corners of my mouth. I knew what he meant, and I felt the same. Feliciano and I got along pretty well, too, most of the time, but I had more brothers – and I didn't really communicate with those brothers all that much: I either never talked to them/wanted to meet them, or they were estranged from me and extremely Catholic. Same story for Antonio and his brother, really – they had been on awful terms. Things were finally starting to get a bit better now, I hoped, but… well… we could definitely learn a thing of two, three from our children.
They never stopped hanging out together. In all those years, they never stopped bickering, seeking each other's support and making fools of themselves, and it was very obvious that they cared about each other a lot. Two protective brothers and their little sister that needed to be protected against evil at all costs. Or… a protective brother and sister and an innocent brother that needed to be protected against evil at all costs. Or… a protective brother and sister and a not-so-innocent brother that also needed to be protected against evil at all costs…
They were an union.
They were their own European Union.
…
Oh god.
I-I swear, I'm going to fucking sue somebody for putting all this dusty air in here! M-my eyes, dammit!
Antonio noticed my quivering lips and my hand, gripping his way too harshly – but he didn't make any smartass comments, nor did he ask me what was the matter. He just let me squeeze his hands and never pulled his hand away, and, to be frank, I think that was the best move he could have done in this situation.
Good thing Mia wasn't aware that her grandparents were a couple of crying pussies – she was way too caught up in her conversation with her dress, and why the fuck wouldn't she, there were at least twenty crocodiles pictured on her clothing, enough to have an intense babble about the more important things in life, like… logs, crayons and giant-slaughtering princesses.
Goddammit.
Bless this whole fucking evening.
0\o0/
I had no idea that people in a church-like building like this one could still manage to be so noisy, but my god – they sure could! You should have been there – all those folks, all those nations, they just kept on yelling and laughing hysterically, as if they weren't in a sacred place at all!
…
Not that I gave a damn about this basilica – oh, no. Just another old building to me. But Matteo kept on complaining that people should keep in mind how gorgeous and good and holy this place was, and, well, Matteo was a moron, but a moron that knew more about art than most living souls would ever know, so he was no doubt right.
'Don't worry,' I tried to reassure him while Luisa monologued the hell out of the room with people, 'Luisa's going to blow their brains up with that satanic whistle if they don't shut the hell up during our speeches anyway, so your holy place of gloominess and melting shit will still be engulfed in quiet respect. Eventually.'
'Yay!' Matteo grinned, conveniently forgetting all of the bad words I just told him and the fact that there would still be music being played and everything at the church later – but I guess Raquel and her surprisingly good figure would distract him from that later. Good GOD did she look nice today in that hot-princess-dress. Just watch her standing in the crowd – the special crowd, that only had our partners and loved ones, like Seb, Papa Ángel and Papa Stefano. Damn. Girl got legs.
'Alejo.' Matteo watched me staring at Raquel and put a gentle hand on my shoulder. 'You are allowed to gawk at her since she can't help radiating like a fiery, sexy sun, but try something funny and I'll scalp you alive.'
I started at him, slightly freaked out.
'Okay?~' Teo smiled.
'Whoa – sure, Hannibal, I'll stay clear of your tall woman.'
'Talking about women…'
Matteo frowned and managed to point discretely at Anya, who gave me a weak smile. I understood why – I hadn't really… paid all that much attention to her yet.
'…tell that girl the truth already, Allie. You're being such a baby.'
'I don't know what the hell you're talking about,' I huffed.
'You've been looking for her ever since the party started. You didn't even look at Anya when she asked you what you thought about how she looked. That Italian girl's constantly on your mind.'
I gave Matteo another, even more freaked-out look. 'Shit – now I realize! You're the annoying little voice in my head, aren't you? God GOD!'
'Huh?' Matteo blinked.
'Man, leave me alone already!' I glared at him and shook his hand off my shoulder. 'I'm not interested in some stupid, Italian chick that's going to fucking leave me for her dumb career like she fucking should, she's the smartest and most gifted woman I've ever met.'
'You can join her. I'm sure Italy's looking for good butchers as well!' Matteo suggested.
'Oh yeah?' I snorted, nodding at Paco, who, too, had been invited (and who clearly had no idea what was going on because I kind of hadn't told my boss yet about my two male parents). 'And what should I tell Paco, then? That man counts on me to take over his butchery shop. His evil, bitchy son obviously can't do it - he's too busy screwing French girls, dammit! Paco always was there for me! I can't let him down – not after all these years!'
Matteo gave me a difficult, 'then-I-don't-know-either' –look that wasn't helpful at all, but I could see why he'd be out of words.
'It's okay. Thanks for wanting to help me out, Teo, but this is something that you can't help me with.'
'But even if I can't, I still want to help you.' Matteo's naked eyes got big and poofy. 'You're my brother. My only brother. I don't want to see you sad about… well… anything!'
'Shit. Cut that out, you… you wuss.' I stared at Teo with probably just as big and poofy eyes and hesitated about hugging him or not – but then, before I could do anything at all, Luisa grabbed one of my arms and pulled me next to her. Her hand was sweaty, firm and even a bit painful – I bet she was shitting a thousand kinds of shit later because I knew how much she hated talking up in public – but she still sounded like she had control over anything, as she pushed another mike into my hands.
'Are you ready for this?' I heard her quickly hiss at me – not because she was mad, but because she was anxious as fuck for this next part. 'If… if you still need some more time to prepare yourself, I think I can—'
'Naaah – thanks, Lulu, but I'll be fine!' I smiled at her and teasingly patted her well-styled hair (I don't think I had ever seen Lulu's hair looking pretty like that by the way), before softly pushing her out of the way.
Papa Lovi, Papa Toni and my little niece looked up at me expectantly.
I looked down – in a friendly way – on them confidently.
The noises in the chamber started to fade away.
Okay. Time to shine.
I took a deep breath, I took one last, smirking look around the room, and I nearly bit my damn tongue when I spotted Venetia, sitting at the bar in on the side of the room, staring at me emotionlessly.
0\o0/
'Venetia.
I-I mean…
Um.
…
So.
My name's… hi, everybody. I'm Alejo Hernández, I'm… um.
Wait, just… just let me start all over.
Hi. I'm Alejo. I'm my parents' eldest son. Not only Papa Lovi and Papa Toni's eldest son, but also Papa Ángel and Papa Stefano's eldest son. Apart from an eldest son, I'm also an eldest brother – both Luisa and Matteo should worship and look up to me as their great and wonderful, supreme brother, right? Because I'm so great and responsible. Because I'm the one that protects them, whatever the risks may be. Because I'm the one who's supposed to be an example to them. Right?
Wrong. I'm… I'm not all that great.
I mean – I haven't even prepared myself well enough for this speech, and that's a shame, because my siblings and I had agreed to write these things over a little more than a week ago, and tadaaah: I still didn't prepare anything, because I'm most of the time too busy with myself.
And you may take that literally.'
(hesitant laughter coming from the room)
'You see, the thing is…
I-I kind of suck. As both a brother and as a son, but also as a… a lover, or a possible boyfriend, and as an employee. I have dreams, I have certain ambitions and I have more than enough in life to live for, but I have to be honest to you – and I have to be honest to you, dads – I'm not a great, flawless person like I should be, as an eldest child.
Up to now, I haven't lived a life my parents would want their son to live. You should have seen Papa Lovi's face when he found out all of the shit I have been into – he turned bleaker than Papa Ángel's favorite marble garden ornament (please don't glare at me like that, Papa Lovi, you might get wrinkles).'
(more laughter coming from the room)
'It's no laughing matter, dammit.'
(less laughter coming from the room)
'I did terrible things – you think that's funny? It's not! It's despicable! I did all the things my adoptive fathers had forbidden me and my siblings to do, and guess what – I went and did it, did all of it, and at the time being, I didn't even give a crap.
It was all about me. It was always all about me. Ever since meeting my new dads, I always felt like I should get more attention than I was getting.
There was a time I wanted to leave Luisa behind at a playground, just so she could stop stealing Papa Ángel and Papa Stefano's attention from me. I ultimately didn't, because Lulu's a persistent little cute bitch that kept holding my hand. There also was a time I hated Matteo – hated him, with ever single fiber of my being, just because he was a better version of me.
…
Don't look so shocked, Teo – you know this.
He…
Matteo was always the cuter son. The nicer son. The kinder son. The sensitive son. The better half.
And I? I was the creepy kid. It was a title I was proud of in my earliest years, but when other people started calling me a creepy kid, not smiling when they said it like… like some man always did when he called me a Creepy Kid…
It became something I thought I should be ashamed of.
But instead of becoming ashamed, I got rebellious, and my siblings, parents and adoptive parents all know what happened then, so I'm not going to repeat that.'
(pale, upset looks from Papa Lovi, Papa Toni, Papa Ángel and Papa Stefano)
'Now don't worry.
I did grow out of all that, eventually.
I understand now that Luisa deserves just as much attention as I do, and I know that Matteo's the fucking next Messiah and therefore unbeatable in any way, except for his own incorruptible stupidity. Did you know he stalked an annoying salesman on the street earlier this week, begging him to please let him pay him in flowers since he didn't have money on him at that moment but wanted to make some sort of donation anyway? This guy. I swear.'
(laughter from the room, chuckles from Matteo)
'Mind you, though.
I might have been very jealous at Matteo and Luisa sometimes (and I still am, sometimes), and I might regret some of the decisions that I made in my life (and cost me some fingers, too), but I really like myself a lot.
I'm a guy with lots of bad sides. I still have much to learn. I'm an unreasonable son-of-a-gun sometimes.
But I really like myself.
I look awesome. I know I do – it's no use to object to that. Ssssshhhh. It's okay. We can't all be hunks. It's a burden for the pretty few.
I'm a good butcher – and no, I didn't lose my fingers because of an knife-accident while chopping pigs up, or something like that. I lost my fingers in a car accident. Either the fingers had to go or the life. Although I really liked my fingers, my life was worth just that tiny bit more.
Just kidding, my fingers were goners anyway.'
(laughter intensified)
'Also, I'm quite open-minded. I don't care who you are or what you like/want in your life. As long as you're happy and not hurting anybody with it, it's perfectly fine with me. You're a guy that likes girls? Fine. You're a guy that likes other guys? Fine. You're a girl that likes guys or a girl that likes other girls or a transgender-person that likes other transgender-people or whatever – it's ALL FINE – I give you all my number no matter what, because I swear, if you allow me to, I'll gladly love and tap that ass, no matter what kind of ass it is.
Your asses are all tap-worthy.
It should be said.
…
I…
I also became a better brother to my twin and my little sister. I'm not saying I'm the best example they have (because I'm not), but they know I care for them and that I go through fires to protect them. I might nag at them for having horrible tastes in clothing, but I love them, I love them a lot, and I always will.
Now for the son-part.
…
I... I-I never really…
…
I didn't live that long with them, hence the… t-the long…
…introduction …
B-but…
…
Before they took us away, I adored Papa Toni and Papa Lovi.
My first memory of Papa Toni was his baffled eyes when he caught me and Teo playing with his shaving foam and my first memory of Papa Lovi was that stupefied expression of his when he saw me and Matteo for the very first time.
I was scared, you know.
I didn't know… anything.
I just was there, all of a sudden, just… just there, in the House of two people who I didn't know but still felt somehow connected to, and that was all.
I wanted somebody to hold me and tell me that things were going to be okay. It didn't really matter to me who that somebody was going to be – I was a child, a scared child with shaving foam all over himself, and I longed for some love and affection.
And I got that.'
(cheers and claps, Papa Lovi and Papa Toni finally smiled)
'Papa Lovi, Papa Toni, I…
…
I had a great… toddlerhood.
Even if my brother, sister and I only spend half a year or something of our entire lives with you.
I think that that alone says enough.
Because we remembered, see? No matter how short our time together was, we remembered. We still remember. Vividly.
You know why?
Because you two taught us was it was like to be loved. Unconditionally loved, no matter what we did.
We could tear the place down, throw tantrums, get angry, yell things at you, toss things at you and make you feel like the worst parents in the world, but you still loved us. You'd still make me feel better when I felt lonely and overlooked. You'd still tell me yet another crazy bedtime story. You'd still hug and hold me if I needed some affection.
You were real dads!
You are real dads!
No…
No matter how old you're getting, and no matter how old we will get, you will always be our fathers.
And the same goes for Papa Ángel and Papa Stefano. Don't think for a second you're less worthy than my biological parents.
They taught us that being loved by your parents is normal – you confirmed that statement.
Showed us that they were right.
I love you all for that.'
(sobbing noises coming from all kinds of places)
'S-so.
…
Sh-sheesh, are you finished crying already? Bunch of sissies here, aren't you?
…
…
A-alright – no I don't need a tissue, Teo, keep it – NO, TEO, I JUST SAID… – okay, thank you.
…
Right.
I now… told you why I failed as a human being, a brother, a son and a lover, yet succeeded as a human being, a brother and a son, and that means I only have to explain to you why that somebody should be with me.
I'm sorry, dad-squad, but the next times are meant for… for that… insanely fashionable person. Not for you (although I have to admit, Papa Lovi, you always do look like you just got off a runway, like, wow – respect, pa).'
(crowd looking around confusedly, Papa Toni and Papa Lovi grinning and nodding)
'Um.
I…
You were there.
You gave me love when I could not love myself.
When I needed you.
I didn't even know I needed you. But apparently, I do need you.
You made me turn from… the way I saw myself, and others.
Your touches and great sense of fashion.
Your let's-bake-cakes and your I-could-use-some-coffee tics.
Your patience.
…
It helped me help myself.
You saved me.
…
…
I-I'm really scared.
I don't want to get hurt. Again.
I'm afraid of getting hurt. Again.
So I thought, repel her – repel her, and you'll be fine. That way, she can't hurt you. That way, she can't even think about hurting you.
But…
B-but how can you save me that way?
You can't save me that way.
So.
Venetia.
Please.
Please.
Save me.
One… one more time.'
VRT
Mother and I stared at Alejo, just like the greater part of all the living beings in this room was. But I could see the guests in the giant heap of persons look around as well, by the way, as if they were looking for this "Venetia" person – just who was this "Venetia" person, I could almost hear them think, and really, if I hadn't been her, I would probably have done the same.
But alas.
'So,' I could hear mother say at a sudden moment.
'What?' I said, looking away from Alejo to passionately look at my magnificent cup of boiling-hot macchiato instead. It was great. This was just a little fake bar they simply put here, and yet, they served one of the best coffee-drinks I had tasted in all of my life.
'So you got yourself an admirer.' Mother, sipping from her own macchiato, gave me an expressionless look. 'The oldest boy of the Spain/South Italy couple, no less.'
I nodded. 'It looks like it.'
'Not bad.'
'Hmm.'
'What are you going to do now?'
'I think I'll finish my coffee, first.'
'Really?' Mother cocked her head and glanced over her shoulder. 'That poor boy looks crestfallen. Probably because you're still here instead of, well, running up that stage to squeeze the daylights out of him.'
'That'll teach him to pick a nation kid over me.' I huffed, stirring into my coffee rapidly because I wanted it to cool off so I could finish it and sprint the fire out of my legs already in my hurry to get to that cute – that, that sweet – that… that—
'Oh look, seems like that Anya-girl going up to comfort him now.'
'I got to go.'
I stopped drinking, shove my half-empty cup away from me, jumped off the bar stool and pulled up my dress' somewhat-too-cramped-up-upper part, ready to dash. Then, I noticed my mother had been lying – Alejo was still standing all alone on that podium and Anya was nowhere to be seen – and I sighed.
'Ugh. You didn't even allow me to wait until I finished my macchiato.'
My mother smiled cheekily. 'Nonsense. You wanted to wait until your eyes didn't look so red and blown up anymore.'
'That's his fault.' I swallowed and clenched my fists together. 'You think they have good hospitals in Spain?'
'I'll call some Spanish co-workers of me later.'
'Thanks, mother.'
And then I was suddenly running.
Good thing I had iron ankles and won several Speedrun-on-Heels-contests in Italy.