Chapter Text
Sometimes, the best things in life are simply the things that we don’t expect will happen to us. One event can change your entire outlook on life.
Leone rubbed his eyes when he heard his phone obnoxiously buzzing and rattling on his nightstand. He grimaced, pushing himself up off his pillow, groaning when he saw how late it already was, noon to be exact. Then again, he had another late night of drinking, so maybe the time wasn’t all that surprising to him. So what if he overslept? It was his day off anyways, what did he or anyone else care?
He didn’t recognize the number calling, but picked it up anyways, hoping it’d be some scammer he could hang up on. “Hello?” he yawned, rubbing his eyes again, feeling his headache setting in already. He grumbled when looking at his hand, he forgot to wipe off his makeup again. “What?” he suddenly snapped at attention, pushing himself up more, quickly getting out of bed and trying to find whatever clothes he could lying around his room to get dressed. “Y-Yes, I’ll uh, be right there then.”
The thirty-two year old sighed as he fumbled to get his pants on; looking around the small three room apartment he had lived in for the past eight years. It was a mess, much like himself maybe; he should have kept up on the cleaning better, but he just did the bare minimum; it wasn’t like he ever got company. Maybe now wasn’t the time to feel sorry for himself; he was kind of in a hurry anyway.
He rubbed the back of his neck before looking for the aspirin, quickly filled the cat’s food dish, grabbed his jacket, and set out for the courthouse as quickly as he could.
He hurried into the small office he was told to head to, stopping in the doorway when he saw a little girl sitting in a chair, right next to an empty one that was clearly intended for him. She was so small, her feet dangled in the air as she sat. Her long, messy gray-blue hair was hiding most of her face, she was a toddler; what was she doing here?
“Leone Abbacchio?” The social worker addressed him.
“Uh, yeah, ” he kept his eyes on the girl though, slowly moving in and swallowing before taking a seat. She didn’t even look over to him, her gaze fixed on the ground in front of her chair.
“So, you’re Antonio Pomodoro’s cousin, huh, you look quite different from the photo he had,” the worker looked at the file, glancing up at Leone who quietly sat down. He kept looking at the little girl a couple of times before nodding in confirmation, wondering who she was and why she was even here, he felt like he should have known her, but maybe that was just his hangover talking.
During the pause, Leone pressed his lips together before making an audible conformation when he came out of his thoughts, “Um, yeah, but we haven’t talked in years, not since well,” he glanced down again, brow furrowing as the bad memories came back to him. He looked to his left again and blinked, finally realizing who the girl must have been. She definitely looked like her mother to say the least.
“Well, after a series of, um, incidents,” the social worker hesitated before decidingly having the girl removed from the room for now while he explained the situation to the older. “Her parents were murdered six months ago; right in front of her.” He folded his hands together. “It was a freak thing, a break in, the cops came just when he was going to get her too, but he unfortunately got away and they’re still looking for him.”
The new information left a pit in Leone’s stomach; he had no idea any of that had happened. Sure, he never got along with his cousin, maybe they even hated each other all their lives growing up, but the guy didn’t deserve that, or at least, his daughter didn’t deserve it. “A-And why am I just hearing about this now? What’s this really about? I’m retired from the force for five years now; I’m not about to help investi-”
“You’re next in line for custody of his daughter.”
Leone stared in silence; then he laughed, slouching back and crossing one leg over the other, arrogant. “That can’t be remotely right. She has so many more family members that are closer than m-”
“Her grandmother, your aunt, was found to be… quite incapable of caring for her.” The young man behind the desk folded his hands tightly, looking grim as he spoke.
The older stared at him. “What?”
“Campanella’s been staying with me and my wife for the past two weeks while we tried to track you down.” The social worker further explained. “She’s to be kept far away from her and other family members on her mother’s side for her own protection at this point. We’ve determined you’re a good candidate to place her with and are the next in line anyways.”
Leone scoffed at that. A good candidate? He had nothing to show for his life, he had a little apartment in downtown Santa Monica, a very spoiled cat, and was working two jobs just to keep himself busy and to make ends meet, and then spent his free nights going out on drunken benders. This guy wanted to place a toddler with him?
“You really have the wrong guy buddy; I’m not the same guy in your little file if you think it’s smart to put her with me,” Leone shook his head, getting up. “Try my sister maybe.”
“She’s travelling abroad and can’t be reached. Please sir, reconsider, she’s been through enough; she needs a good, stable home life.”
“So why place her with me? What gives you the idea I’m remotely stable?”
It got quiet for a moment before the social worker decided to speak up. “Look, I understand you may have a hard past; that this may require a bit of a… lifestyle change in some ways, but she needs someone who will care for her. If you’re dead set on your decision though, you can surrender her to the state and she will be placed into foster care, but kids like her don’t always do well.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, sir, she’s a selective mute because of the murder and her improper care with her grandmother, it’s a response to trauma, having another family member care for her is ideal. I feel well, maybe this will be good for the both of you in the end.”
Leone frowned, brow furrowing again as he looked away, reconsidering his answer now. She was just a kid, four years old no less, and she had no one on her side. He sighed, slouching his shoulders again, and looked back to the case worker, pressing his lips together.
Campanella stepped back in, looking up at Leone who towered over her, but he crouched down to be on her level better. “H-Hey there,” he hesitated. “Um, I’m your cousin, Leone,” he chewed the inside of his cheek as he thought about what to say next, but she probably wouldn’t respond, the worker said that it could take some time to get her to speak to him, which he had no choice but to accept if he was going to take her in. He just had to be patient.
He could do that.
It was a long day to say the least, getting everything sorted out, but all the papers were signed and he was given a small bag of her things, they even had a car seat for her that he could take. She didn’t want to take his hand when they went outside to his car, but still, she followed him and didn’t make a fuss when he carefully buckled her in.
He ran a hand through his long fringe when he got in, grabbing his keys to start it up and head back to his place. He had so much to think about and do now, but he just wanted to sleep, maybe this was just some weird dream from his hangover earlier. He’d have to call out of work the next day to help get her situated better, maybe a few more days after that too. He didn’t have a bed or anything either now that he thought about it.
“So uh, Campa,” he slowly started, looking at her in the rearview mirror. She was staring out the window as they drove, a neutral expression on her face. “Do uh, you like animals?” She glanced his way, eyes a little wider. Bingo. “I just wanted to let you know I do have a cat. Your file didn’t say anything about you being allergic, but um, yeah; thought you should know.”
He gripped the steering wheel tightly, knowing she wouldn’t respond, but he was still stressing out over all of it. He felt bad if he decided to not take her in, but at the same time, he also felt that he was now flung into something he didn’t even understand. He was just going to screw all of this up for the both of them somehow, just like he always did.
Well the short drive was over and he helped her up to the second floor where he resided, immediately feeling shame when he realized his apartment was probably in worse shape than he originally thought as he was in his rush to leave. He could worry about that later maybe.
Leone dropped her bag on the couch and immediately started grabbing glasses he had left out to put in the sink, it was a start. He looked over when he noticed Campanella was looking at a white pile of fluff on the couch. “Eury, say hi to your new friend,” he lightly scolded the cat before turning to the sink across the room. “Sorry the place is kinda a mess, I usually don’t get visitors, but I’ll clean it up,” he apologized to the girl who seemed to make herself at home on the couch, ignoring the mess altogether. “I promise, this week I’ll get everything sorted out for you and see about getting you an actual bed. Okay?”
She looked up, giving him a nod. That was an improvement already; that was one way they could communicate maybe.
The toddler kept to herself mostly, but it’d be a lie if Leone didn’t say he was hovering at all times, just to make sure she didn’t get into something she shouldn’t. Thankfully both his jobs understood the predicament he found himself in and got the rest of the week off, he had around four days worth of sick days to cash in, sure it didn’t cover his whole week, but luckily he didn’t blow his entire last paycheck on booze and knew he’d be fine. The social worker also had mentioned that he’d be getting a check in the mail that would help pay for her necessities.
Leone had stared at the small room that had served as merely storage for whatever he had hoarded over the years. He decided that was step one; clean it all out, that way she could have a space all to herself. He read that it was important that kids get their own space, hopefully that’ll make her happy.
Two days and she still wasn’t talking, though she did make nice with his cat and would at least nod her head in response to his questions, so she didn’t hate him already to his surprise.
They were on the couch during breakfast, he found she liked watching older cartoons, so he sat and watched with her while they ate their cereal, him doing his makeup for the day when he finished faster than her. He then felt she was watching him instead of the TV and he glanced back to her.
“What? You want more?” Leone asked, noticing she still had some cheerios left in the bowl. She shook her head quickly. “What’s wrong then? Bathroom, you want a nap? What?” He tried guessing to see what response he could get.
She frowned for a moment now, tapping her lips then pointing to the lipstick in his hand.
He blinked. Oh. She was looking curiously at his makeup. “Uh, I’m just getting ready for the day is all; I hate leaving the house without anything on if I can help it.” He actually was supposed to take her shopping for some new clothes as she had only a couple of different outfits to wear, then in a few days when he was done cleaning up the spare room, he’d finally start on the bed thing like he promised. He was already looking at IKEA guides on his phone.
Campanella still looked confused though by his explanation. Finally, he chuckled, “yeah, I’m sure it’s a little weird to you, but I like how I look with it on, ya know? Girls don’t just wear it.” She seemed to accept the answer and patiently waited for him to finish, watching him more now with fascination. Leone let himself smile a little bit at her curiosity. “Maybe when you’re older I’ll do your makeup for you.”
Campanella waddled in when Leone was cleaning up several boxes that were in her potential new room. Some stuff could definitely be donated, others he could find a different place to keep or maybe he could rent out a storage unit for all of it if he really wanted to keep it. He ran a hand through his hair, scratching the back of his head and sat hunched over the newest box, sitting on the futon. He glanced up and gave her a small smile as she looked around; she already really liked her new hooded sweater that had floppy bunny ears and a tail on the backside. She seemed to like bunnies from what he could tell, that was kind of cute.
She peered into another, smaller box as he sorted through his stuff. Eyes going wide when she pulled out a small black wallet like object, a silver medal on the inside she was pawing at with curiosity, probably just because it was still rather shiny, though he hadn’t polished it in years.
Before he could realize it himself, he had jumped out of his seat and snatched it from the toddler’s hands, closing it. She retracted abruptly and he came to his senses when her eyes welled up. He groaned as he realized he should have reacted better, now she was shaking, maybe expecting more than just the object being pulled from her grasp.
“I-I’m sorry,” Leone stepped away, sitting back down, gripping the object tightly in his hands, steering clear of her personal space. “Bad memories,” he admitted, swallowing hard as he kept the explanation short and simple for her. His chest ached as he felt his heart pounding away and the tension building up more. He sat back and took a deep breath, just like he always had been taught; he refused to break down in front of the kid.
He was so lost in his own thoughts again trying to calm down for her sake; he didn’t realize that his little cousin had crawled onto the futon beside him, touching his arm lightly, just enough for him to register her presence. “Sorry,” she whispered so quietly he thought he had imagined it at first.
Leone cracked somewhat of a smile at that, placing a hand on her head. “I-It’s fine kid, you didn’t know,” he slouched in his seat, staring at the ceiling now, his breathing evening out at last. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine.” He assured her. “Um, come on, I can sort through this more later, let’s go out for dinner, yeah?” he offered her a more genuine smile.
As they walked out, he felt a warm blush on his face as he felt Campanella reach up to grab hold of his hand.
Maybe this odd little adventure he was dragged into wouldn’t be so hard after all.