Ariana's POV:
My alarm clock started ringing at 7 o'clock. I turned over and stretched out my hand to turn it off. I lay there in the bed for some time looking at the ceiling groggily. I felt refresh after my sleep as I slept really well at night.
I got up and got ready for my school. I got down the stairs and went into the kitchen to see my mom and dad looking a bit worried.
"What happened mom, dad? Why are you looking worried? Is something wrong?" I asked concerned.
They looked at each other and seemed to conversing with their eyes. Now I feel like it is something related to me.
They turned to me and said, "Ariana baby, we want to talk to you about something. Can you come home early from the school?"
Ok now I am really worried. Is something wrong with them or is it about their job? I was lost in my thoughts. I saw they were looking at me nervously.
"What do you want to talk?" I asked hesitantly. Mom replied, "We will talk after you come from school. It is nothing bad." "I hope." she murmured but I heard it.
"Ok. I will try to come as soon as possible. Are you sure it not something bad?" Dad nodded and gave me a small smile.
"Now eat some breakfast and go to your school and do not worry. Ok?" Said dad.
I nodded and ate some breakfast. "Bye mom, dad. I love you." I gave them a hug and left as my friends were already outside my house.
I went to my friends and they were chatting about school happily. Noah looked at me and asked concerned. "What happened, why are you looking like that?" I told them about what my parents said to me. They assured me.
"Maybe they want to talk to you about your further studies." Jessy said. "Anyways don't worry. I am sure it is not something bad. You will see." Noah tried to assure me. I nodded feeling a little relaxed.
I am so blessed to have them as my friends. "Ok guys, thank you. I also feel that it is not something bad. Let's go to school so that I can come and talk to my parents."
We went to our school. School was like everyday. We went to our classes, ate lunch at the cafeteria, we bickered with each other and learnt the lessons.
Then when the last bell rang, we went to the main gate. There, we met each other as our last class is different from each other. "How was your class?" Asked Noah. "It was ok." We both said at the same time. Then we looked at each other and burst out laughing because it happens a lot with us.
"Ok guys let's get going. I want to go and see what my parents want to talk about." Then we went home. As I was nearing my home, I was getting nervous and worried thinking what they want to talk about. I just hope it is not something bad. Fingers crossed.
I bid goodbye to my friends and they assured me.
I got to my home and see that my parents' car is there. It means they are already in the house. I took a deep breath and went into the house.
"Mom, dad, I am home." They came out after hearing my voice. They were looking worried.
"Ok guys. Now please tell me. I am worried." I told my parents.
They looked at each other and said, "Darling come on let's go sit in the living room and then talk." We went to the living room and I took my seat.
They took a deep breath and my mom started talking, "Ariana, you know that we love you so much, right? We will never do anything that can harm you and hurt you. You are our baby girl, our blessing and our joy." Mom said with tears in her eyes.
"Mom, what happened? Please tell me and don't cry. I know that you guys love me and l also love you. I don't doubt that. What happened? Why are you saying these things all of a sudden?" I panicked.
Dad took a deep breath and said, "Ariana, there is something that you don't know about. We wanted to tell you but we thought that you will feel like we don't love you that's why we didn't tell you. Now it's come to this. Can you promise me something?"
"What is it?" I asked.
"Please promise me that you will listen to what we are saying till the end and we will answer any questions that you ask us. Ok?"
"Ok dad, mom. I promise. Now tell me please."
"Ariana, when we were married for 4 years, we still couldn't get pregnant. We started getting worried. So we went to a doctor to get a check up. Doctors said because your mom had a miscarriage that we even didn't know about, we couldn't get pregnant ever."
Dad stopped and took a deep breath and started talking again, "It was a very sad time for us. But we thought that we could adopt a child. Some time after when we were in the right conditions to care for a baby we started inquiring about the process of adoption. We went to several orphanages to look for a child that we can adopt."
"But we didn't have any success. Then one night, when we were coming from work we bypassed an ally. There we heard a baby's cry. We went to check out the sound. There we saw a baby girl in a pink blanket crying. It was a late night in winter."
"We took the baby girl and looked for her parents. We asked around but we didn't meet her parents. She was burning with fever and was hungry. So we took her to the hospital and admitted her there."
"We got to know from the doctor that she was only a month old and she was in danger. So we stayed there and prayed for her well being. We didn't want a parent to feel what we were feeling, a loss of a child."
"As days passed, she started to recover slowly. By then we were so attached to her like she was our own baby. Still we discharged her from the hospital after her full recovery and went to the police station to find her missing parents."
"The police searched for her parents as much as they could. But they couldn't find her parents or relatives. They suggested that we adopt her or leave her at an orphanage. As we have to follow the laws."
"But how could we have left her at the orphanage when we were so attached to her and she was so small. She was like a blessing to us. A miracle that god sent to us because he knew how much we wanted a baby. So we decided to complete the formalities and adopt her."
By now my tears were flowing. I knew they were talking about me. But I couldn't understand how in the world someone can abandon a one month old baby. I was so shocked.
"Ariana, that was you. Baby girl, we love you as our own. We never thought that you were adopted. We always looked at you as our own baby. You are a blessing to us." Mom said, crying.
"We have something to give you." Mom said, taking out a box and giving it to me.
I took it with trembling hands and opened it. Inside was a pink blanket, baby clothes and a pendant. On it was engraved Ariana in beautiful cursive laded with diamonds.
I took it out and touched it. It was a chain suitable for babies. It was too small for me to wear now.
I looked at my mom and dad. Mom said, "these are the things that were with you when we found you that night. You were wearing that pendant with Ariana engraved on it. So we assumed that it must be your name. That's why we named you Ariana."
"We felt that if you met your parents then you could show them this pendant. That's why we kept it in the box for fear of losing it. Now you should keep it."
I sat there trying to digest everything that they have told me. I was thinking it was something related to them. But who knew that it was related to me and that too this.
I recalled our time as a family. I never felt that I was adopted. Mom and dad love me like their own daughter. We were so happy.
"Why are you guys telling me this now?" I asked, trembling. I felt like there is more to it than they are telling me.
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9 HOURS AGO:
Third person's POV:
The Romano family arrived in Texas. They wanted to meet their princess first thing in the morning. But they restrained themselves because they thought about her and what if she is still sleeping.
As they stepped out of the airport Gabriel said, "We should first talk to her adopted family. That way they can prepare her mentally. My PI told me that she doesn't know about being adopted." As he said it he looked in pain thinking that his princess doesn't know about them.
He said, "We will first go to the hotel that I have booked. Let's go."
All of the members of the Romano family went to their hotel room and Gabriel called her adopted family.
He was very nervous as he thought that he would meet his princess soon.
The phone started ringing. It was 6.30 in the morning, the Parker family was up and getting ready for their day and Ariana was still asleep. As we know that she loves her sleep.
The phone finally connected and then the voice of a male came through. The voice sounded like a man in his late 40s.
"Hello, who is this?" The voice said.
Gabriel became stiff as he imagined him to be her adoptive father.
"Hello, this is Gabriel Romano speaking. Am I talking to the father of Ariana Parker?" The grip on his phone tightened as he imagined her princess calling another man her father.
The Romano brothers were also there listening to the call. They were also tense as to how it would go.
"Yes it is. I am Evan Parker, her father. What is it about? How do you know Ariana?"
Gabriel took a deep breath and replied, "I want to talk to you and to your wife about Ariana's adoption. Can we meet? It is very important and it's not suitable to talk on the phone."
Evan frowned as he thought about how he knew about this. He felt worried. He glanced at his wife and she nodded to indicate that we should talk.
"Ok. We can talk. Where should we meet?"
Gabriel sighed with relief and replied, "We can meet at the hotel we are staying as it would be private. When can you both come and please don't tell Ariana about it now."
"Ok. We can come at 9 am. As she would be at her school. Send us the address."
"Ok we will be waiting." Gabriel sent the address to him and looked at his sons and said, "They will come at 9 o'clock. So get fresh, all of you."
They nodded and went to their respective rooms to freshen up and got ready. They arrived at the living room of the suite they are staying in.
They looked at the time and it was 8.30 a.m.
Antonio looked at his younger brothers and saw that they were all excited and nervous to meet their sister. He saw that their second youngest, Matteo, was nervous, more nervous than any of them.
He went to him and asked, "What happened? Why are you so nervous? Aren't you excited that we will meet her today? Hmm?"
Matteo looked at his eldest brother and replied, "Fratello Maggiore, I am very happy and excited to meet her but I am nervous that what if she doesn't accept us? What if she wants to stay here with her adopted family? What if she is targeted by our enemies?"
(Fratello Maggiore means elder brother in Italian.)
He started to get more panicked as he talked. "No, no, no we just found her. I don't want to lose her. I don't want to go through that again. Please." He started crying.
All of the brothers were listening to what he was saying and they were also getting pale faced. What if it comes true? What will they do?
But they still got up and surrounded Matteo and started consoling him. "It won't happen. If she refuses to acknowledge us then we will try our best to win her. We will try and make a place for us in her heart."
"And about her wanting to stay here, well she is attached to her family. Of course it would be tough for her. Imagine yourself in her place. But we will try our best to make her comfortable and to make her love us just as we love her."
"And about the enemies wanting to harm her, are we not Romanos? Is it so easy for them to attack our princess? Can we not protect her? We will try our best to protect her from the enemies. We are not the best mafia for nothing." They chuckled at the thought.
Now Matteo was beginning to relax as his elder brothers were comforting him. He smiled and said, "You are right. We will try our best to win her love and you will see, she will love me the most." He said, bragging.
Now all of them were offended and glared at him. "No, she will love me the most as I am the eldest brother." Said Antonio.
"What, are you kidding me, she will love me the most as I am the coolest brother." Said Alfonso.
"Shut up. She will love me the most. End of the discussion." Said Leonardo. Everyone was stunned and was gaping at him with wide eyes. He was the coldest amongst them all.
"Humph, I don't know why you guys are fussing about her so much. She doesn't even know us yet." Said Benjamin.
They sighed and rolled their eyes as they knew that he was just saying that because he always pretends to be cold towards everyone. Anyways they knew that he will most probably pamper her the most.
Gabriel was standing behind his sons and seeing everything. He was so happy to see that his sons were supporting each other, comforting each other. They were excited to see their little sister.
Just then the doorbell of their suite rang. "Ding Dong." Everyone froze. They looked at the clock and saw the clock displaying 9 o'clock. They looked at each other and knew that they were here. They took a deep breath.
Antonio went to the door and opened it.
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