Bianca Caruso

Beloved wife and mother

Giulia stared at the words engraved on the tombstone. Her mother's resting place.

Alessio looked down at the bouquet of roses in Pietro's arms—the pretties ones from Bianca's garden, and smiled a bit.

"Giulia," he spoke softly. "How about you put the flowers for your mamma?"

He gave Pietro a small nod. The shark pup returned the gesture and carefully handed his sister the bouquet before removing the wilted batch from the gravestone.

"Place the flowers there, Giu," Pietro explained with a sad smile.

For a moment, Giulia just stood there, seemingly unsure of what to do. Then she gently placed the roses on Bianca's grave. Alessio placed a comforting hand on Pietro's shoulder as he wiped his teary eyes.

Giulia… just stood there, staring at her mother's grave.

She never cried when they came to visit Bianca's resting place. Instead, she always looked pensive, as if she were trying to remember something, anything, about her mother. Alessio never blamed her for the apparent apathy. How can he blame her? She'd only been with Bianca for her first three months of life before she died. As such, Giulia had no memories of her and found it difficult to mourn over someone of whom she had no recollection.

Just thinking about it hurt him. He didn't want to imagine how much it hurt Giulia.

As they drove back home ten minutes later, Alessio would glance at the rearview mirror every now and then. Pietro occasionally sniffled and wiped his eyes while Giulia… just stared out the window and watched the passing city lights.

Whatever she was feeling, she did an excellent job at hiding it. Alessio had no doubt that she got it from him.

After some pondering, he took a different turn.

"Where are we going, papa?" Pietro asked.

"There's a place I'd like you to see, figlio."

Being the overpolluted junkyard that Notamafia Town was, there weren't many pretty spots other than a few residential areas, such as the Knolastname Family and the Yakuza's respective compounds.

Alessio knew otherwise. You just had to know where to look.

After forty minutes of driving, the car stopped at an area just outside the city. Alessio led his two children down a dirt path and into a beautiful glade with a big pond of crystal clear waters. Dozens of fireflies were flying around the place, giving it an almost magical atmosphere. There was a small wooden bench beneath an old willow tree, not too far from the pier on the edge of the water.

"What's this place, papa?"

Alessio briefly looked around the area. It hasn't changed much from the last time he was here. He smiled sadly.

"It's a place your mother and I shared, figlio. We'd often have a picnic here, or I'd take her for a ride in the boat…" to his disappointment, said boat had long fallen into disrepair. Too bad. He wanted to take the children for a ride. "You probably don't remember, but we used to bring you here sometimes."

Alessio subtly looked down at Giulia. Again, there was no trace of emotion in her face other than curiosity for the place.

While his father sat down on the bench, Pietro immediately ran off to take a closer look at everything. Alessio chuckled fondly as he watched his son trying to catch some frogs at the end of the lake. He tried showing one to Giulia, but she recoiled in disgust and stuck out her tongue at the slimy creature. She was mesmerized by the fireflies instead and chased them around the area. Being younger than Pietro, she ran out of energy sooner and went to sit next to her father.

"Did you catch a firefly?" Alessio inquired. Giulia shook her head. "Don't feel bad about it, bambina. They're slippery."

Giulia rubbed one of her eyes and leaned against him. Alessio gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Even after all these years, it's still quite bigger in comparison to his daughter.

"Giulia… How are you feeling?" Silence. Alessio sighed. "...Would you like to hear a story about your mamma?"

Giulia went stiff. Her tail wrapped around her. This simple gesture confirmed his earlier suspicions.

"When we learned you were coming, Bianca started decorating your side of the nursery in pastel pink colors. She was certain that you'd be a girl. I was quite worried that we wouldn't be able to change the furniture if you had a boy." Alessio chuckled. "Imagine my surprise when the ultrasound confirmed that you were a girl a few months later. "When you were born…" he sighed sadly. "Bianca loved taking you to her garden to see the roses. Sometimes, we'd go to the beach near the house, and she…She'd take you into the water despite my protests. I thought you'd be afraid… but you were so happy." he sighed in dismay. "Heck, you'd cry every time we tried getting you out."

Sniffle.

Alessio peeked down. Tears were trickling down his daughter's cheeks. Giulia wiped them with her sleeve when she realized he was looking.

"Giulia… " Alessio pulled his daughter into his arms. "It's okay if you want to cry, bambina. Everyone needs it at some point. I've had my own share of crying over the years, especially when… Bianca passed away." the shark paused, then sighed. " I… I understand it must hurt not to have any memories of her, but I want you to know that your mamma loved you very much, amore mio." he smiled sadly, raising his daughter's chin up to look at her face. He wiped some of her tears with his thumb, "As much as I do, my little dolphin."

That seemed to be the last straw. Giulia threw her arms around his neck, sniffling and sobbing uncontrollably. Alessio didn't know what else to tell her. He just held her and rubbed her back as she silently wept.

Cara dolce bambina, non c'è bisogno di piangere

Ci stringerò forte

Così dormirai tutte le tue preoccupazioni e le tue paure

Non c'è bisogno di avere paura

Sei fuori pericolo

Ti terrò al sicuro e al caldo

Ti amerò ogni giorno