"Yuyu, Jax? What's going on? Where are mom and dad?", their little brother asks, grabbing onto each of their shirts with his tiny hands. Even though he is asking them that, his eyes are already wet with tears and his hands are shaking. "They're coming home with us, right?" The older brothers both swallow hard with dread showing in their eyes. They look at each other, then back to their youngest brother. Yujah bends down, bringing his eyes to the same level as Jonah's. "Jonah... mom and dad did not wake up. They are not going to come home with us...", the older boy says, hoping that the six-year-old will understand the underlying meaning. "They won't wake up? Never?", the younger boy says, tears starting to run down his cheeks. "No, they won't wake up again.", Yujah states as the younger boy starts to cry loudly. Yujah hugs him tightly, doing his best to ignore the urge to tell his brother to keep it down because of the bystanders' gazes. "Are they in heaven now?", Jonah asks. "Of course.", his older brother answers, managing a small smile, secretly adding a 'not' in his head.
The younger teen then turns his head around to lock eyes with their oldest brother. "Who do we call?", Yujah asks. "I don't know... if we call Harold, it's going to take a while until he gets here, same for Mia.", he says, referring to Yujah's godfather and the godfather's daughter, who both live a little farther away. "Okay.", Yujah says, sighing. "Let's call Lia and her mother.", he decides, grabbing his phone and kissing his younger brother's head on top of his black curls, still embracing the crying boy. He quickly scrolls through his contacts, tapping the contact named 'Principessa'. The phone barely rings as the girl picks up almost immediately. "Ciao, Yuyu.", the voice on the other end says. "Hi, Lia. Is mamma home?", the boy asks. "Sure, what's wrong?", the girl asks, her voice getting considerably less cheerful after hearing her friend's tone of voice and the noises of a crying child in the background. "We need you to come pick us up. We're outside of town, in a hospital, I'll send you the address. I'll tell you the details later. Ti voglio bene, Lia.", the boy knows that he is confusing his friend, but he wants to tell her what is going on in person. He knows that it's going to affect her, after all, they have been friends since they were toddlers and therefore they know each other's families as well as their own. "Love you too, see you there!", Lia answers quickly, feeling the need to rush. Yujah hears her calling out "Mamma!" before the line goes dead. Sighing, the boy sends her the address. "Let's wait near the reception.", he then tells his brothers. Jaxon nods. Yujah picks up the crying Jonah, trying to calm him down.
Jaxon goes to fill out any form he can, before coming back to his brothers, who are now sitting on a few chairs and sitting down next to them. Now all they can do is wait, something they have done an awful lot that day.
About an hour later, a woman with shoulder-length dark brown hair and a girl about Yujah's age and ginger hair about the same length as her mother's walk in hastily, making their way to the boys as soon as they notice them. The girl, who is about the same height as Yujah, takes him and Jonah into a tight embrace the moment she arrives, after seeing the tears in the child's eyes and the uncertain look her childhood friend is giving her. "Hey, what's wrong? What happened?", she asks with a gentle tone. The woman is now standing next to the boys, waiting. "Our parents got into a car accident... they didn't make it.", Yujah says, his voice shaking lightly. Tears make their way into Lia's eyes as she tightens her embrace even more and her mother is using her hand to cover her mouth, her gaze downcast, before joining in on the hug.
After everything Jaxon couldn't do on his own is discussed with the doctors, they leave the hospital as a group. "Jaxon.", Mrs. Rossi starts, "I know that you seem collected, but please don't drive any more today. We can get your car tomorrow or the day after. I don't feel good about letting you drive after a shock like that.", Jaxon nods in response to her worries, not wanting to start a fight with her. "Alright.", he says. "But I would like you to take us back to our place for now.", Jaxon clarifies. "Are you sure? You could stay at our place for the night.", says Mrs. Rossi. "Yes, I'm sure. Thanks for the offer, though."
The drive back is silent. The only thing you can hear are Jonah's quiet sobs. Mrs. Rossi is driving, while Jaxon sits in the passenger seat. Yujah and Guiliana are sitting in the back, with Jonah in the middle. The three of them are still embracing each other. When they arrive, nobody moves for a short while. "Are you sure that you don't want to spend the night at our place?", Mrs. Rossi asks again. "Yes, we are. Thanks for driving us, Bianca.", Jaxon says. "No need to thank me. It's only natural for me to do so.", the woman answers back. "We should go, I need to take Jonah to bed.", Yujah says, before removing his and his younger brother's seat belts. "Call me when you need to talk, okay? It doesn't matter what time it is.", Lia tells him. She presses a kiss on Yujah's cheek. "I will.", the boy answers back, copying her action. "Good night, princess.", he tells her, before taking Jonah, who tells her 'Bye, bye' and leaving the car. The boys wish Bianca goodbye too, before closing the door. Jaxon and Bianca watched the scene through the rear-view mirror, thinking of the interaction between Yujah and Giuliana as sweet. Jaxon honestly doesn't understand how his brother and Lia are not dating. With a sigh, he gets out of the car himself. "Bye, Jax.", Guiliana calls from the backseat. "Call us when you boys need something.", Bianca adds. Jaxon nods, tells them bye, and goes into the house, where he can already hear his brothers on the top floor, getting ready for bed. He takes out his phone to look at the time. The numbers say that it's a little after midnight.
Jonah was already very tired before the hospital visit and now, he basically fell asleep the moment he hit the mattress. Yujah is grateful for that. He loves taking care of his younger brother, but right now he needs some time for himself. The fact that they just lost their parents has barely registered in his mind. He hears the front door close and soon he can hear his older brother's footsteps on the staircase. Soon Jaxon appears in the doorway. "Is he asleep?", he asks in a whisper. Yujah nods. Jaxon nods back, before turning and going back to his own room for the night. Yujah stays sitting next to his little brother's sleeping figure.
As he thinks back on everything that happened, reality slowly starts to set in. His parents are dead. Which means that right now, he and his brothers do not have a proper guardian - and that they are now orphans, who won't be able to stay where they live now. What if they end up in an orphanage? Will they get separated? He hopes not. His brothers are two of the most precious people in the whole world for him. He couldn't stand being apart from them without knowing when they might see each other again.
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