A/N: Thank you to Alucard'sButterfly (Thank you. I'm glad you like it.) with Nobody Prince (Hahaha, I will try my best), Emoen (Hahaha, everyone wants to know what Pavi brought. And yep, foreshadowing is fun), MotherGothelFan1 (Thank you. Yes, I'm sure Pavi's gift would be a bit surprising), CockneyBird3 (Glad you like the story so far. You aren't alone at being skeptical about my story, so I understand. Hahaha, yeah, I don't think Luigi would be taken down easily. After all, he sometimes hide his knife under his sleeve), Evelyn (Hahaha, you aren't alone in wanting to know what he brought), and RebelAshRunner (Hahaha, it wouldn't be Shilo's birthday without the whole family set there. Oh cool, I'll check your story out when I have the time. ^-^) for the reviews. Whew, last chapter? Yep, it is. The sequel will just continue on where I left off. I have to think of a title for the sequel though. I just don't want to call it "Didn't Know I Love You So Much 2", "DKILYSM 2", or anything relatively close. I guess I'll just listen to the Repo songs to find a good title. Also, I would like to thank all the readers for reading as far as you did in my story. I do apologize for the very late update since I am still sharing a computer and will be sharing a computer for quite a long while. In conclusion, I will rarely update since my story is not as important as the education of a family member who uses the same computer as me. I sincerely apologize for this and I hope the readers will forgive me for it.
Chapter Thirty-Five
The children were first in giving their presents except for Nate. After they were done, Luigi announced his gift was a birthday dinner at some restaurant. Shilo thanked him and gave him a bright smile. Luigi looked at her awkwardly for a second before looking away, not knowing how to react to it. Mia took his hand and smiled. And for some reason, Luigi had to blush. She let go of his hand right after, making Luigi pout. Lina slapped his back in order for him to get back to his normal self, so he wouldn't take the joy away on Shilo's birthday. And thankfully, he calmed down. He stood up straight with his head held high and his arms crossed.
Mia gave Shilo a box wrapped in gold and black colors. Shilo accepted it, holding with two hands, sat down on a chair, and laid the gift on her lap. Shilo smiled and unwrapped the gift like she did to the children's. She carefully opened it and found a smooth beautiful black box embossed with a beautiful large silver firefly on top of it.
"Open it," Mia told her. Shilo did as she was told, and she heard one of her favorite Blind Mag songs. Inside, there was a hologram of a tiny figure of Blind Mag dancing as she sang the song. Tears started to form in Shilo's eyes and looked up at Mia with a joyous smile.
"Thank you, Mia. Thank you so much," Shilo said gratefully.
"Eh. Eh. Stop the tears. We're not done yet," Lina said with a smirk before looking at Mia. There were no words needed to understand Lina's expression, and Mia understood her expression told her she did a good job. Shilo wiped away her tears and smiled.
"Well, here's mine," Lina stated before giving a purple wrapped gift that seemed wrinkled from crumpling the paper. Shilo knew it was some sort of bottle or container by the looks of it. Lina then took out a green and gold wrapped box and gave it to Shilo as well. Shilo looked up at her questioningly, wondering why there were two gifts. "The green wrapping is Pierre's. He couldn't come because he's busy," Lina explained. Shilo smiled and nodded. When Pavi heard Pierre's name, he looked unhappy for a second before he forced a smile on his face. His name seemed stir wrongly inside Pavi for reasons Pavi could not understand or did understand but did not want to admit.
Shilo opened the gifts. She opened Pierre's gift first to find a red jewelry case and inside it were heart-shaped ruby earrings. She then opened Lina's gift and found out it was a book of insects she wanted to buy for a while but didn't have the time to. Shilo sighed in relief and smiled. Lina slightly frowned from the sigh, wondering what that meant. She didn't need to ask because Shilo soon gave her an answer.
"I'm relieved you finally got me a normal gift, Lina," Shilo said.
"Hey! What do you mean by that?" Lina asked, looking rather frustrated, "I thought my gifts were good."
"Lina, you always give me a different weapon as a gift for each birthday. I'm good with the taser gun you brought me for my eighteenth birthday, which I carry every day when I go out," Shilo stated.
"You bought her weapons for her birthday?" Luigi asked in a surprised manner. Graverobber, Pavi, and Nate were surprised as well.
Lina shrugged like it was nothing and said, "Hey, safety is an issue in Sanitarium Island. I might as well get Shilo something useful to defend herself with."
"I agree I need something to defend myself with, but not with three other various weapons when I need only one," Shilo pointed out.
"Fine. Fine. I won't buy any weapons for your birthday," Lina said, putting her hands up in the air in surrender. Shilo giggled with amusement.
"Oh, and if you go back to work, tell Pierre thanks for the birthday gift. I liked them very much," Shilo said. Pavi once again forced a smile on his face when Shilo mentioned Pierre's name. No one noticed his slight aggravation except for Mia. Lina nodded at Shilo's request before settling to stand next to Mia.
Pavi and Nate stepped forward and they were smiling brightly. Pavi held out their gift to her.
"This is the Pavi's and Nate's gift to you, bella," Pavi told her.
"We hope you like it," Nate added.
"Oh, and this gift as well, but open it when you are in your room. This is the Pavi's special side gift," Pavi told her with a wink as he took out a thin yet long box wrapped up in royal purple wrapping.
Shilo smiled and nodded appreciatingly. Lina looked over at the purple gift suspiciously and then looked over at Pavi with a glare.
"It better not be what I'm thinking it would be, you pervert," Lina whispered to him. Pavi merely smiled suspiciously, pretending he didn't know what Lina meant.
She took the gifts graciously and carefully tore the yellow and green wrapping of Pavi's and Nate's gift. She opened it to find a hand mirror. It was such a beautiful piece of work. Around the mirror, detailed designs of vines. On the back, there was a butterfly and a dragonfly near each other as if they were a couple. Under the insects, her name was engraved on it in calligraphy style and with such beautiful artistry. Shilo was in awe at the details of them. It looked so beautifully made that even Mia seemed interested with it.
"It must have taken days to make it," Mia said, nodding at the craftmanship.
"Well, it usually would take days, but it only took them two days to make such a beautiful and masterful piece like this. The Pavi always has a way," Pavi said with a smitten look on his face. Lina rolled her eyes before laying an arm around Nate.
"I'm sure Nate helped as well," Lina said. Nate smiled up at Lina and nodded.
"I was the one to show the pictures in Shilo's book. I hope you didn't mind, Shilo," Nate said, blushing faintly and turning his head away shyly. Lina couldn't help but ruffle Nate's hair.
Shilo smiled affectionately and stood up and walked towards Nate. She kneeled with one leg and looked at Nate warmly.
"Thank you, Nate. And no, I don't mind," Shilo told him with a smile. Nate turned his head towards Shilo and looked directly into Shilo's dark brown eyes. His face started heating up and he blushed even further. Shilo giggled and patted Nate's head before going back to sit on your chair.
"Hey, don't start liking the Kid. She's mine," Graverobber said possessively. Nate gaped at the statement and shook his head, gesturing to Graverobber he wasn't thinking that. Graverobber gave a hearty laugh and patted Nate's shoulder.
"I was just kidding," Graverobber told him with a smirk. Nate let out a sigh of relief and nodded. "Well, it's finally my turn."
Graverobber held out a small blue box. Unlike the rest, his gift was left unwrapped. Shilo knew it was going to be jewelry because the box was similar to Pierre's present. As she opened it, Shilo's mouth was open and immediately covered it with her hand.
There, holding in her hand, was a pendant already opened. On one side, there was her mother and on the other was her father. Tears started flowing down from her eyes immediately. The hand covering her mouth shifted towards the pendant. Her fingers slowly and gently touching the pictures of her mother and father. Her parents were young in the picture and were smiling. Shilo wondered how Graverobber was able to find these pictures, but she was too emotional to even ask. She looked up at Graverobber before putting down the present on the table and turned back to Graverobber. She couldn't help but put her arms around his neck and held him close.
"Th-thank you. Thank you so much," Shilo whispered as her body shivered from crying.
"They looked so happy, and Daddy... Daddy looked sane and normal," Shilo thought.
"You're welcome, Lovebug," Graverobber whispered in return. His hot breath made Shilo's body tingle inside and held him closer to her even further.
"Um... this feels incredibly awkward," Lina whispered near Mia's ear. Mia smiled and said nothing.
Mia had slowly and carefully took Luigi's hand and intertwined her fingers with his. Luigi coughed and cleared his throat while he held her hand, turning away while blushing. Even when he is in his early forties, Luigi was not used to being close to another woman, though he didn't seem to mind it as much as he used to.
Pavi took this time to slowly put an arm around Lina's shoulder while she was occupied at watching Shilo and Graverobber holding each other. Lina jumped a bit and looked at him questioningly. Pavi smiled at her before she sighed and allowed his hand to be placed on her shoulder. She didn't want to cause a commotion like she usually did; after all, it was Shilo's birthday. Nate watched Lina try her best to maintain her composure, but he saw a glint in Lina's expression, almost as if she was blushing. Nate turned back and started to quietly snicker.
"Lina and Pavi sitting on the tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G," Nate started singing in his mind. A smile had become visible on the boy's face.
And if anybody noticed, they truly looked like a family. But of course, Emma was the only one to notice. The love-filled air among the couples generated a glow to Emma's face. If anything, she had a keen sense in romance (maybe from reading fairy tales every day). Tom rolled his eyes at the lovey-dovey scenes. Just as equally, Tom had the same keen sense as Emma. After all, he spent most of his time watching Emma, chatting, and playing games with her. Tom looked over at Emma suspiciously and felt an odd feeling stirring inside him. When Emma felt like she was being watched, she looked over at Tom. Tom was surprised and turned away, making little Emma giggle. Sadly, Emma didn't realize a crush was being formed towards her. Tom was a blusher.
By the time Shilo entered her room and closed it, she opened Pavi's purple gift. Shilo's eyes widened and her mouth was agape in surprise. Her face turned red as she took out a lace and see through black one-piece lingerie. Luckily for Graverobber and unfortunately for Shilo, he appeared at the right time to see the beautiful piece. Graverobber licked his lips and smirked.
"Are you going to wear that for me, Lovebug?" Graverobber joked. Shilo squealed from the sudden voice and whipped her head to look at Graverobber before immediately hiding Pavi's surprising gift. Shilo glared at him before yelling him to leave. Graverobber just chuckled and left, closing the door behind him.
It wasn't long before it was time for dinner. Luigi ordered a limousine for everyone to fit. Lina, on the other hand, wanted to drive her black van. In the end, everyone went with Luigi except for Nate and Lina. Like she wanted, she drove the van with Nate, who was sitting on the passenger's side with a smile. Nate was talking to Lina about what had happened without her. Lina smiled and nodded. Nate spoke more as time passed by, in which Lina was glad for.
Pavi wanted to go with Lina, but she glared at him and said a deep "no". Groaning, Pavi had no other choice but sit in the limousine with a bored expression, looking out at the window to find GeneCo advertisements. He sighed, remembering Lina and him watching the stars above the sky. He wondered why Lina was distant with him after he had his new face. It unbelievably made his chest tighten at the thought. After Shilo's birthday, would he not see her often like before? He sighed and watched the children jump up and down in their seats and looking around the limousine in awe. Pavi couldn't help but smile. Usually, he wasn't one to handle children (and so was Luigi). He slowly understood for the first time, GeneCo was a poison. It poisoned the mind of his father, his brother, his sister, and him. Gold made the world go round, but it never said happiness will go with it. True, gold could gave him anything but not the kind of things he had from staying with Shilo Wallace. Does it mean Pavi was going to give up on GeneCo and money? No, of course not. In the reality of it all, Pavi wasn't going to give up gold for anything. It was then Pavi's eyes widened in realization. Did Lina know he wouldn't give up his old lifestyle? Was it the reason why she was distant with him? To let him get used to being without her. He felt his whole body becoming numb. To keep greed was to lose Lina and Nate. To keep greed, he would have to destroy the good feelings he had picked up in the Wallace household. His hand tightened into a fist. He wondered if he could forget everything he had been through inside that miracle of a house.
As for Luigi, he never knew living with children wasn't as bad as he thought. Of course, he was annoyed at first, yet he didn't seem mind that much now (though he was still a little annoyed). He couldn't help but remember his own childhood with his brother and sister. They always fought each other, but they were happy back then. It wasn't until his father started becoming cold-hearted and greedy that things changed in an unbelievably fast rate. Luigi frowned and hoped these children didn't grow up to become greedy people like the Largos and the rest of the world. He didn't want to imagine their innocence turn into sins as they grow up. Just as Luigi was about to further become consumed by his thoughts, Mia took his hand. Luigi turned and saw Mia warmly smiling at him. All thoughts flew away as his breath had been caught in his throat. Mia was actively showing her affection to him more recently after the outing. He needed someone like her. She was good for him, and he knew that. After all, Mia made him stable. It was sudden, but he pulled her around her waist towards him. His grip tightened but not enough to hurt her. He couldn't imagine being without her. Mia knew how he felt but it pained her in some way. She knew something would happen because of the case and GeneCo. But she had no idea, things would change soon enough.
Graverobber and Shilo were happy. Graverobber was holding her around the waist like Luigi did to Mia while Shilo's head was on top of his chest. She could hear his calm heartbeat. The feeling made Shilo feel happy. But inside, she felt a disturbance as if bad omen was coming soon enough. She gripped her fingers on his cloth, not wanting to lose this feeling of safety. Graverobber sensed something was wrong, but he did not ask. Instead, he stroke Shilo's short hair comfortingly. By the time they got to the restaurant, Shilo was happy again. The sense of danger disappeared, and she wanted to celebrate her birthday joyously.
Dinner was slightly formal, but Luigi forced the staff in the restaurant to make a comfortable atmosphere for the children. If the children wanted a kid's meal, they will have to give them a kid's meal. Thankfully, things went smoothly and no one was in danger of being killed off. Well, except for the waitress who was threatened to be slashed when she said there was no kid's meal. When everyone finished with their dessert, a happy Lina had been gracious enough to share her dessert with Nate and Pavi. Luigi always felt disturbed by the sickening image of a nice Lina, but all thoughts flew away again when Mia fed him dessert (he's one to talk).
Things went downhill when they started getting out of the restaurant. A loud voice called for help close by, almost too close. The buildings and darkness hid away the voices, and Lina turned back at everyone seriously.
"Get back inside the restaurant!" Lina bellowed before running in the darkness towards the voice. Shilo and everyone were scared and went back inside the restaurant. They could hear two gunshots, making Shilo shiver. Graverobber hugged her closely, trying his best to calm her even though he was scared as well. Pavi and Nate felt frantic. No more noise was heard for ten minutes. It was then Lina started turning up, sweat was evident on her face. Both of her hands were full: one hand held a basket while the other held a child near Nate's age, struggling against Lina's hold on him. Thankfully, there was handcuffs on him. Mia and Shilo noticed the bleeding injury on the boy's right shoulder. He wasn't the only one bleeding as on top of Lina's shoulder was also bleeding. Cries soon came from the basket, making everyone jump. It wasn't just one child crying but multiple.
"Take the children inside the limousine," Lina ordered Graverobber. Understanding, he did as he was told. Only the unknown child did not leave, who Lina was still holding onto. Lina still held onto the basket. She then turned to Pavi and Luigi. "You guys go to the limousine as well." They didn't want to go, but Lina's cold look told them otherwise. They gave up and left. Just as the children and the Largo brothers were gone, Lina looked around to make sure nobody was there to listen in on them. She saw the waitress hiding behind a counter and growled. "You better leave or I will make you regret it." The waitress squealed and ran inside the back. When she was sure everyone was gone, she skillfully struck the struggling boy unconscious without hurting the boy as much, so his injury would not bleed any further from struggling and to make sure he didn't hear their conversation. She then finally spoke in a quiet voice.
"The mother is dead. Because I interfered, the Repo Man is still alive, but he is paralyzed from the shock. I'll take him with me in my van, and you can check up on him. If we need to get to the clinic, I could drive you," Lina said with her voice incredibly cold. She then lifted the struggling boy, "I saw him electrify the Repo Man with a weapon. A three-pronged one."
Shilo gasped. Mia winced at the news before she started taking a look at the boy's injury.
"Did you shoot him?" Mia asked while looking at the boy, seeing the bullet didn't go in that far, not enough to make a fatal injury.
"I had no other choice. He shot me, and the only way to make him let go of the weapon was shooting him at his shoulder. Thankfully, I was only scraped. It seems our little hypothesis is right," Lina said. The cries of the children in the basket continued, causing Shilo to feel rather uncomfortable.
"And the basket?" Mia asked.
"Baby triplets," Lina said, looking in the basket and revealing to Mia and Shilo the three beautiful babies crying for their mother.
"Come. We are going to the house immediately to tend the wounds," Mia said coldly, returning back to her expressionless face. Shilo shivered and nodded. "If the Repo Man is only electrified, I think I have enough equipment to check up on him, so I don't think I need to go to a clinic."
"I'll take the kid and the Repo Man in my van then. If anything, I have to watch the kid closely. He's quite a dangerous one as well as the Repo Man," Lina said with a sigh.
The return to the house was quiet. The joyous event of Shilo's birthday had been replaced with a grim silence. When everyone returned to settle inside the house, the injuries sustained from Lina, the Repo Man, and the unknown boy were immediately tended by Mia. Mia had checked up on the triplets first and found nothing wrong with them except they were rather hungry. Graverobber already left to buy milk for the babes. Shilo looked down at the babies and strangely felt protective of them. She sighed and shook her head. She had never taken care of babies before, maybe toddlers, but never babies. She wondered if she had the strength and gentleness to take care of them. They were so tiny and fragile that Shilo was afraid of hurting them. This was not going to be an easy task, and she needed help more than ever. And what about the little boy? What would happen to the child assassin? And what should they do with the Repo Man? Questions were swarming in Shilo's head, giving her a headache and mixed emotions. This was not the way she wanted her birthday to end.
Why, oh why, did this have to happen on Shilo's birthday?
THE END (?)
Of course not.