The Beginning to an end

Chapter Twenty One:

Adam POV

“Adam? What are you doing here?” what are they doing here with Rose? When did she meet them? Does she know who they really are?

“How do you guys know each other?” 

“He’s..” I started waving my hand frantically, telling them not to tell her who I really am but stopped when Rose turned to look at me. “I mean his name is on the plaque outside the door so… yeah.”

“What? It is? I didn’t know that. I could’ve sworn that you were going to say that he’s our uncle. But if that was true, then that means he knew all along that Ruby and Sebastian weren’t my parents and he didn’t tell me that he is my uncle but isn’t the brother to Sebastian but to Raul instead.” everything froze in me and it got hard to breath for a second. I tried to explain to her why I didn’t tell her right away but before I could get any words out, she came up and hugged me. I stood frozen until she grabbed my arms and wrapped them around herself, snapping out of it and hugging her tight. 

I told her that I didn’t tell her about who she really is because I didn’t want to put her in danger. With the family business and Raul being the leader of it, if his enemies were to find out that he has a daughter, they would do anything to make him suffer from kidnapping her and torturing her or just plain killing her. I was the one who told her it would be a good idea to learn how to defend herself in all kinds of scenarios and was happy when she agreed to it. Now she’s trained in a bunch of mixed martial arts and can protect herself but I didn’t think that she would find out about Raul and our family for a while, yet here she is, in my office with her two older brothers watching over her like a hawk and I’m glad for that. Once people learn that she is Raul’s daughter, everyone is going to be coming after her to get to us and him. She squeezed me tighter and told me that she understood why I did what I did. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my chest and I felt lighter and happier. She pulled away from me but still close as I held her face in my hands, making her look up at me.

“I would do anything to keep you safe and sound, sweetheart. You know that right?” she nodded and rested her hands on my wrists as I placed a light kiss on her forehead before bringing her in for another hug. She pulled away again and said she had something for me. I didn’t know what she would’ve gotten me so I was surprised when she handed my a drink from Dutch Bros.

“It’s a French Toast Frost. I know you love the cereal so I thought you would like it. And I wanted to say thank you for always being there for me whenever Phoebe couldn’t.” I took a small sip before taking a bigger one; it was delicious. “It’s made with white chocolate and brown sugar cinnamon. Does it taste good?” I nodded and gave her a side hug and thanked her. “You’re welcome. Oh and I came to tell you that I moved out of that house and got an apartment.” I choked on my drink and started coughing as Rose patted my back a few times before I got over it.

“You what!?” she explained to me that she couldn’t stay in the house after finding out what she did and went into detail about everything that happened after she left the hospital. “Wait! You were in the hospital and no one decided to call and tell me!? How did you end up in the hospital anyway!” she then told me how her and everyone else went to her house after they left here yesterday and when they got there, they saw Ruby and Sebastian’s cars and a few black SUV’s parked in the driveway. 

I looked at my nephews and they nodded their heads before Rose continued about how she learned about her not being their real daughter and that she learned it from her brothers. I glared at them, they looked away as Rose went to tell me how she could hear a fight breaking out between her brothers and Sebastian but she couldn’t do anything as she was frozen, trying to process everything. She told me she remembered that it was hard to breathe and that her head started to hurt and then remembered Phoebe trying to get to her and to focus before collapsing and passing out. Those i***t nephews of mine caused her to pass out!? She tells me about she woke up in the hospital, met her real parents, ran away from the hospital, moved out and met a really nice couple who she is renting the apartment from. The whole time I was listening to the story, I kept thinking how she is standing here right now and not shutting herself in the apartment or isolating herself.

“Wait, why didn’t you just come live with me instead of getting an apartment? You know you’re always welcome to stay with me whenever and if you ever need to.”

“I decided that it was time for me to get my own place to live. I was originally going to go a hotel or inn or something but when I left the house, I figured it would be better just to get my own apartment so I have and I love it.” 

“Are you sure you don’t want to come stay with me instead? I would feel a lot better if you lived with me.” she gave me a look that sound ‘you’re not going to win this one’ so I decided to let it go.

We talked for a little longer before she hugged me and said she had to go see Tia before classes started. I nodded and hugged her again before she walked out and waved to Krissy. I just hope that since Raul and Rossella have found her, their enemies won’t and that she will stay safe. While she may be able to handle herself and all, I just hope she doesn’t have to use them unless she absolutely has to.

After Rose and the boys left, I decided to give my brother a call after all these years. As I waited for him to pick up the phone, to say I was nervous was an understatement. I put the speaker on and set the phone done right as it connected.

“Ciao?”

“Hey Raul, it’s me.”

“Adam?”

“Yeah. How have you been, brother?”

“You mean after you disappeared and my daughter was kidnapped and searching for both of you? I’ve been better.”

“I didn’t exactly disappear, I just needed some time on my own and away from the family business is all. I was going to come back and say hi after I got my life together and started doing things my own way. You kept saying that you wanted to be the one to take over and with me out of the way, you would be able to. I didn't want it as much as you did so what better way to leave and start my own life while you get what you wanted.” there was a pause before he spoke up and asked me what I decided to do after my life. I told him I went and finished college, earning a master’s degree in both education leadership and administration and that I’m now a high school principal.

“You’re a school principal? Where at?”

“Angel Crest High”

“That’s awesome. I’m happy for you fratellino. I mean it.”

“Thank you. I’ve missed you, fratello.”

“I’ve missed you too, little bro. You have no idea how much. I’ve missed the pranks that we would play on mom and dad as well as everyone else.”

“Ah the good ole days.” we talked for few a minutes before he said he had to go.

“Oh wait! Before I forget”

“What’s up?”

“You said you work at Angel Crest right? Does that mean you have access to the students profiles and can ask the other principal’s about other students?”

“Well, I have to have a very good reason for looking into the student, like if they didn’t something wrong while on my campus for any reason. Why are you asking? Who are you trying to find?” is he looking for Rose? I was right because he asked me if I could ask around and see if I can find out what school she goes to.

“I found my daughter, Rose, yesterday and I want to know what school she goes to so Ella and I can get to know her after all these years. Maybe take her to lunch and catch up. Now that we’ve found her, we’re not going to let her go.” I stayed silent for a bit trying to decide if I should tell him or not before I sighed and gave in.

I told him that he doesn’t have to look far because I already know what school she goes to. He’s going to be mad that I didn’t tell him right away but who cares.

“Where does she go?”

“She goes to my school, Angel Crest.”

“What? She’s been there the whole time and you never thought to contact and tell us!?”

“I did think about it but I didn’t because of how you’re acting right now. She’s your daughter, I get that but she’s my niece and after everything she’s been through in her life. I was not about to throw her into a tidal pool of overprotective family and the kind of attention that she doesn’t need on her right now. Look, I didn’t tell you she’s here so that you can get mad and yell at me. I told you because you guys are her parents and right now she believes she doesn’t have any at all now. Stop being a baby and throwing a tantrum just because you didn’t know right at the first second I called you.”

“... You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, Adam.”

“Or course you missed me; I’m awesome!” we talked for a few more minutes before he really had to go and we hung up. I took a deep breath and leaned back in my chair before getting up, grabbing my coffee and walking out to walk around the school. 

As I turned the corner, I saw Rose, Remus and Nico walking towards me and talking back forth between each other. Seeing them laugh together made me happy; they’ve known each other for a day but they act like they’ve known each other all their lives. Watching them made me think of how Raul and I used to be before I left, making me miss him even more; I’m going to have to find a time to meet and catch up with him; between us and between Rose and her parents. They looked over and saw me as I waved. Handing Remus her drink and running over to me, Rose flung her arms around me and gave me a big hug as I tried not to spill my drink on her while hugging her back. All the students walking by, stopped and looked at us as they started forming a crowd. I looked up and saw Drake, the twins and Phoebe walking towards us with their books before looking behind them and saw Kelsey and her group glaring at Rose and Phoebe.

“What’s this for?”

“For always being there for me. You’re the best” she gave me a bright smile when she pulled back and I couldn’t help but return it.

“Anytime, my beautiful niece. I’ll always be here for you.” there was a few gasps and murmurings after I said that. This is the first time that I called Rose that in front of all the students and staff so I can understand why everyone is so surprised. Looking at Kelsey again, I could see she was surprised too. Maybe now she will leave Rose and Phoebe alone. Judging by the angry look on her face, I think that’s not going to happen anytime soon. “Oh right. Rose, your parents want to take you to lunch to get to know you. How do you feel about that?” she thought about it before asking her brothers if they would be there too. They said they didn’t know yet and would let her know when she makes a decision on whether to go or not. 

“I’ll go but not today or this week. I plan to bring lunch for Phoebe and the guys this week since I won’t be here til next week.” I saw Kelsey and her group smirk at the thought of them hurting her so bad that she can’t come to school for a week. “Since I got my own apartment, there is a lot of stuff to move, buy, all kinds of stuff.” and there goes the smirks on their faces. I tried not to laugh as she smiled and gave me one last hug before walking over to her brothers and taking her drink back. The bell rang and the crowd has gotten bigger so I told everyone to disperse and go to their classes if they didn’t want to be tardy. Most of them left except for Drake, the twins and Phoebe, but then I saw Kelsey walking over with the group following closely behind. They stopped in front of Rose with Kelsey in the middle and tapped Rose on the shoulder. “What do you want now, barbie squad?” we all tried to keep our laughter down as they looked angry; I don’t think they like the name.. 

“We are not the barbie squad!”

“Are you sure about that? You all wear way too much makeup and you wear the highest heels, which people call hooker heels by the way, known to man. I would be lying if I said that seeing you trip in them wouldn’t be funny because it would be; so very much but as much as I don’t like you guys for how you treated me ever since high school started, I’m not about to turn into one of you.”

“One of us? Are you saying we are different from everyone else? Are you saying we aren’t human?”

“I’m not saying you aren’t human but the way you act is. Picking on and beating up people just because you want to or something not related to school happened? That’s not you being human, that’s you being a terrible person; right now you guys are turning those two words into one and the same. The pain you inflict on other people just because you want to and how you smile while doing it isn’t human at all. I would never say to someone’s face that they are inhuman because it’s rude but I can say that about the way they act and behave. If you keep it up, don’t be surprised to see that everyone around you; friends, family, peers, will end up leaving because they won’t want to be near anyone as mean as you all are being to innocent people. I once thought that we all could be friends and I still do but not until you reevaluate yourselves. If I’m being mean to you guys, it’s because I have to. I’m done being your personal punching bag, and I’m done with how you treat everyone based on looks, grades and social status. Life is too short to be acting like a child all the time. Grow up and act your age or watch everyone leave you behind. Your choice.” before the girls say anything back to her, she turned around and gave me a hug before walking towards the door with all of us following her.