Chapter Seven

Picking up the Pieces

Gia awoke to a knock on her room's door. She sat up, Duke in the bed with her, shuffled her hair out of her badly swollen eyes and got up and opened the door. On the other side waited a woman with pale skin, long chocolate hair and kind, hazel eyes. She looked like she was in her late twenties and was wearing a grey tight, silk top with cutouts two cutouts on the shoulders and three cutouts on the chest, showing off her curvy frame, with a short leather skit. Her eyes done up with silver and dark grey and lips painted bright red.

"Hi, Gianna. My name is Desiree. I'm going to be hanging out with you for a while," she said. "We're going to go to your home and get your things and get you settled in here," she smiled down on Gia kindly. Gia looked up at her, not really knowing what to do, but she was glad that she'd have her things with her. Gia nodded her head, her eyes staring blankly in front of her.

"Here, come with me," Desiree said, taking Gia by the hand into the bathroom. She sat Gia down on the thick edge of the tub and went under the sink and pulled out a face cloth and soaked it in warm water. She went over to Gia and put it gently on her eyes. "There, that should help your eyes feel a little bit better. Does it help a little bit?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now, why don't we go and get your things? Keep the cloth on your eyes if they're still sore," she instructed, taking Gia by the hand and leading her out through the doorway and into the elevator. Gia held the cloth up, letting Desiree lead her through the hallways of GeneCo. They entered the chauffeured car, Gia finally taking the cloth off of her eyes. Gia didn't know how to feel about this, living at GeneCo tower, Desiree, her own father, who she'd only wondered about. She certainly never imagined this. Gia noticed tucked under Desiree's are was the paper for that day titled, 'Last Night's Opera' the girl she saw at the fair was on the cover, covered in blood.

"Who's that?" Gia asked, she knew her face and she still couldn't place the face, though she knew her from somewhere.

"Shilo Wallace, I think her name is. She was the main focus of the show."

"May I see it please?" Gianna squeaked, her throat was sore from sobbing and her voice was raspy.

Desiree reluctantly handed over the newspaper, and Gia flipped through it, reading the summary of what happened last night, the end of Rotti Largo, and the final page had Mag on it. Photos of her final performance, and then her smiling, eyes gouged out. She could feel tears brimming in her eyes again, a lump rising in her throat. Desiree noticed this and took the paper out of her hands.

"So, Gianna, what do you like to do in your spare time?" Desiree questioned, eager to change the subject. Gia took a deep breath and wiped away the tears, determined not to cry.

"I like to play the piano, my mother taught me, and I like to read and play with Duke," she said. She wished she had brought Duke with her, but Desiree decided it would be best to leave him.

"What do you like to read about?"

" I like fiction, but I really enjoy history. I'm reading about Henry VIII now."

"Oh, very interesting. I bet you're very good at the piano too if your mother taught you."

Gia smiled, dimples revealing themselves. Mag was wonderful at the piano, and she began to teach Gia at an early age. Her mother would sit her on her lap and show Gia first and then let Gia mimic her. If Gia couldn't quite get the keys, Mag would put her hands one Gia's and guide the tiny fingers to the right movements.

"Oh, we're here."

Desiree exited the large black car and waited for Gia on the steps of her home. Gia looked at the home, no longer did she feel warmth inside it, she only felt cold and sadness. She couldn't hear her mother's voice echoing, filling the halls with beautiful music and she didn't hear Lucia's laughter. It was only silence. She felt Desiree's hand on her shoulder, "Now, we'll go get everything you need. The other things will be put into storage, but you can always go get anything you'd like." There were large boxes at the base of the stairs in the hallway and men in GeneCo suits. "What're they here for?" Gia asked, confused by their presence.

"They're here to help move the boxes."

Gia entered the gothic, Tudor style home taking a deep breath. She walked up the stairs holding a large plastic box. She entered her room, still undisturbed from the night before. She walked to her shelves, collecting her many books, stacking them neatly in the box. Grabbing one book which she instantly recognized, she opened it. Her photo album. Through the pages were photos of Gia growing up, from the tiny infant wrapped in Mag's arms to a toddler riding on Duke's back, to photos her mother or Lucia took last week. Photos of her and Lucia were in there as well, them making funny faces or dancing around. She smiled, and tucked it away into the box. She continued to gather her clothing, her books, her toys and trinkets. She had five boxes backed up with her things, and she still had some things of her mother's she couldn't leave.

Desiree was downstairs collecting Duke's things for her, so Gia walked into her mother's room. Everything was the same as Mag usually left it, bed neatly made, clothes put away, makeup scattered on the dresser. She went over to the table and found her mother's porcelain jewelry box, it took bother of her hands to hold the sapphire blue box which was trimmed with black and on legs of silver. Her mother loved this box, being a gift from her friend Marni, whose picture was next to it. She looked at the photo of her mother's pretty friend and realized she and the girl on the magazine looked so much alike… But her mother told her Marni and her daughter had died. Once again, Gia put this in the back of her mind and wrapped up her mother's jewelry box. Desiree had told her that she needed to get everything she needed for now, mostly her own belongings and that the other things would be put into storage and she could go through them another time. After grabbing a few photos off of the walls and shelves, Gia was satisfied with collecting her things.

She found a bored looking Desiree sitting on a chair, flipping through a magazine. She looked up "Are you ready?"

"Yes." Gia said, her eyes trailing off to her piano, realizing that she needed her music sheet book, which was perched on the piano's seat.

"Okay, now I'm ready."

Desiree smiled, "Alright."

Once again, they seated themselves into the car while the GeneCo employee's storing the boxes into the trunk. Gia looked over and watched as Desiree spoke into her wrist communicator, her words to muffled for Gia to hear. She turned around and watched as her home was locked by the men, and watched it fade off into the foggy distance. It really hit Gia at that moment that this was really happening. That her mother and Lucia had died, that she was living with the father she never knew, that her life would never be like it was before. It took everything within Gia to remain calm and not react in a way that would alarm Desiree, who it seemed would be her new caretaker. A new Lucia, in a way. Gia shook that thought out of her mind because no one would ever replace Lucia and absolutely never replace her mother either.

When they arrived back at GeneCo tower, Desiree exited first and snapped her fingers at some more male employees, "Boxes, please. You know where they go," she instructed. Gia then scooted out and took Desiree's offered hand. Gia was curious to why Desiree was so caring towards a little girl she had just met, but decided she didn't really care. Gia needed sweetness around her. She didn't expect to see another kind of Sweet though. In the lobby of the building, Amber Sweet was standing in a pinstriped black, mini skirt and a hot pink blazer buttoned up and lace covering her chest, still showing off her latest breast enhancement. She was also with her brothers, Luigi with his usual demeanor, barking orders at a gentern and Pavi, fresh faced, literally, flirting with one.

"Ah! There she is! The littlest Largo!" Amber squealed, urging Gia forward. She kissed Gia on the head, "How gorgeous is she?" she praised, smiling at Gia with crystal blue eyes. Gia was uncomfortable and it wasn't hard to tell.

"She'll be so wonderful at the conference tomorrow!"

Gia's head shot up and Desiree looked confused.

"Conference?"

Amber turned to Desiree, "We'll be holding a press conference in the square tomorrow. You really think we can have a kid pop up with us everywhere with no explanation? Besides, what better way to show how much we're devoted to change by showing a tremendous change in the Largo family? Me showing off my beautiful little niece! I don't know about how much detail we'll go into about Gia, or Mag," she gritted her teeth at the mention of the woman she so detested. "Pavi has a daughter. Big headlines," Amber smirked, her eyes sparkling, clearly determined to show everyone who the boss of GeneCo now was. Desiree however, didn't look so sure.

"Amber, I don't think that will be good for her. It's been less than a day, and she's never been in a crowd like that," Desiree argued. Amber looked at her friend,

"Come on, Dez, I know what I'm doing. She'll be fine!" Amber insisted. Everything was setup and Gia clearly didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

"So, Desiree, make sure she looks extra cute tomorrow!" Amber encouraged. Desiree rolled her eyes and looked down on Gia. Gia looked paler than usual, "You'll be fine, don't worry." Desiree comforted.

"Alright, it's settled. Be ready by noon tomorrow, Gia. " Amber nodded, before strutting off. Luigi surprisingly had little to say about the matter and stalked off. Pavi took the opportunity to snake an arm around Desiree, who was more than happy to receive him.

"How-a was your-a little outing?" he asked,

"It went well, Gia got all her things, and I have a surprise waiting for her in her room," Desiree smiled to Gia, who looked still looked pale.

"I think I better get some food in this kid, Pavi. Poor baby hasn't eaten anything yet," Desiree was released and took Gia's hand again, winking at Pavi, who in turn smirked back, and he smiled at Gia, who gave a weak, unconfident smile, and then they turned to take Gia back to her room.

Author's Note

Okay, so I finally finished this. School limits the time I can work on this which sucks, but long weekend this weekend, so hopefully I can write. I've got the next chapter planned out and it's developing more in my head. Anyways, like I've been saying, Reviews make me happy, very happy! So please review and let me know if you like it!