by Serena Light
Salvatore grabbed the door handle, about to bang it shut, as per his usual, when his mother's voice spoke up before he could.
"Softly, Salvatore," She reminded with closed eyes, hearing the door click into place as the couple managed to get a few more hours of sleep.
The second time the kids came in, they let their dogs, Comet, and Twinkles, loose on their parents. The Border Collie's slobbering all over their faces as the couple groaned and tried to push them away but to no avail. It wasn't until Arcangelo's Doberman Pincher, Zeus, started barking at them, did the two pups stop and lay down on the beds.
"You little-"Arcangelo started to say, noticing the twins giggling as he threw off the covers and ran after them in nothing but his pajama bottoms. The twins rushed down the stairs as their father caught them at the second landing, pulling the two back and attacking their sides with tickles as the two laughed hysterically, writhing against their dad's hold.
Soon all four of them were dressed and waiting for Arsenio to come home.
Being 20, he had gone off to university two years ago and often came to visit on the holidays and every time he came home, the twins were jumping with excitement. Arsenio was studying aerodynamic engineering at MIT, aiming to become a pilot, and his parents couldn't have been any more proud of their oldest son than they already were.
Hearing the sound of the car pulling up, the twins and Arsenio's pitbull, Maddox, were all standing and ready to run. The sound of the car door opening had the twins run towards the door, throwing it open as they ran out into the snow, their parents yelling after them to stop.
Rushing to the door, the two couldn't help but chuckle at the sight before them. Arsenio lying in the snow with his siblings on top of him as the pitbull slobbered all over the three, all of them laughing and telling Maddox to stop. Once they recovered, Arsenio managed to sit up with the twins in his lap, his black hair standing up in odd angles as his blue eyes shone brightly.
Getting the twins off him, Arcangelo gave his son a hand as he stood to his 5'10 height, dusting the snow off his clothes before hugging his father, both of them patting each other's back before he turned to his mother, hugging her tightly as she placed a kiss on his temple.
"It's good to have you back," Rosalie spoke in his ear.
"It's good to be back," Arsenio stated as he pulled away.
"Alright, come on inside, it's freezing out here," Arcangelo stated, looking up for the twins and seeing the two to be standing in the warmth of the estate, grinning at their parents from the lounge.
Going inside they all warmed up before Arsenio went to freshen up for lunch. Once they all had eaten, the twins wanted him to play with them but their father told them to let him rest.
"Sorry, guys," He apologized while standing from his place. "I promise to play with you when I wake up,"
Relenting, they allowed him to walk upstairs to his room as he made his way to the third floor, opening the door which once used to be the twins nursery. He couldn't help but breathe a relieved sigh to see his room the way he had left it. White walls with a king sized bed pushed against the wall to his right, dark wood headboard with a landscape picture on top, and a leather ottoman standing at the foot of his bed. A flat-screen T.V mounted on the wall in front of his bed as there was a pair of French windows leading out to the balcony with beige curtains; the flooring light beneath his shoes with a red Turkish rug between the ottoman and T.V table, his bags standing by the window.
Entering, he allowed Maddox to bound in before he closed the door, getting changed into something comfortable before falling asleep.
Arsenio spent the next couple of days meeting various people, going to various functions held in his honor and trying to pay attention to his little brother and sister. It was finally the weekend and he didn't have to be anywhere to his knowledge, so he took this opportunity to wake up early and get the twins to make breakfast with him. The three made pancakes as the kids asked him about the university as he told them all about the friends he made and his professors and which ones he liked best. Then once he got tired of talk, he asked what the twins had been up to as the two went into an account of the new school they started at how they were enjoying everything and how it was different from their previous school and how the studies were getting harder.
"Oh, buddy, studies will just be getting harder from here on out," Arsenio informed as he sipped his coffee.
Soon the three decided to take the dogs out for a walk and maybe even get lunch. So the siblings went to get changed. Arsenio being the first one out in dark brown leather ankle boots, black jeans, and a light grey sweatshirt beneath his grey overcoat with a red checked scarf. Going down the stairs, Maddox followed behind as he went and greeted his parents at the dining table, informing them that they had eaten and he'd be taking the twins out for the day.
"You got an inhaler for Salvatore?" His father asked as he sipped his coffee while reading the day's paper.
"Yup,"
"Alright. Give us a call to let us know where you'd be headed."
"Will do," Arsenio nodded as he got up from the table once the twins had joined with their Border Collie puppies, Comet and Twinkle. "Hey, dad? Want us to take Zeus with us?"
"If he comes to you, then sure,"
"Come on, Zeus, let's go for a walk," Arsenio spoke as he patted his thighs looking at the Doberman Pincher, who just sat beside his master, seemingly uninterested.
"Go on, Zeus," Arcangelo spoke from over his coffee mug. "Make sure the kids don't do anything."
At that, the dog stood up and walked over to Arsenio and the other three dogs, waiting for them all to leave. Taking the Range Rover, they made their way to the dog park where the three siblings spent most of the day running around with the dogs and having a snowball fight, all of them giggling and laughing hysterically as the dogs would intercept their way. They eventually had to stop when Salvatore was getting breathless. Sitting him down on a nearby bench, Arsenio handed him the inhaler which he had brought with him, watching his younger brother take a hit before calming down.
"Of all the things you could suck at, you suck at breathing." Serafina taunted as Salvatore was trying to regain his bearings. "You always ruin things."
"Hey, Serafina, stop that," Arsenio called out to her disapprovingly. "That's not a nice thing to say to your brother, it's not Salvatore's fault he has asthma. Rather than making him feel bad about it, you should ask him if he's doing alright."
Huffing in irritation, Serafina walked away from her brother and continued playing with the dogs. Turning towards his younger boy, Arsenio's heart ached to see the tears on his face.
"Hey, it's okay." He assured Salvatore while rubbing his back.
"She's right," Salvatore sniffled, looking down at the snow. "I ruin everything."
"No, she's not right." Arsenio denied. "You don't ruin anything. So what if you have asthma? That's just one flaw, but you have a thousand strengths to make up for it."
"Like what?"
"Your smile always makes the room lively, your eyes are so bright that the sun would be jealous, and you have such an amazing personality. And, dad tells me you're joining the gymnastics team! That's awesome!"
A small smile made its way across Salvatore's lips as he nodded.
"Don't let Serafina's anger bring you down. She still loves you, but we both know she can be a little hot-headed."
Her twin laughed as he nodded, wiping away the tears, both of them went over to their sister and got the dogs, deciding to get lunch.
It was difficult finding a place which allowed dogs inside, but when they eventually found one, the three siblings sat down to eat and scarfed up their food like starved people. Once they all had their fill, Arsenio paid the bill as they went and walked around the streets, going to a park where children were playing as the twins ran off to the slides, leaving Arsenio to sit at a bench with the dogs. However, he stood up and went to one of the slides where Serafina sat a little frightened.
&nbs
p; "I'm scared, Arsenio." She admitted from the top.
"Hey, don't worry." He called from the bottom. "Your big brother is always watching over you."
Swallowing, Serafina let herself go as she let out a shriek, giggling when Arsenio caught her at the bottom, chuckling along with her.
"There ya' go kiddo." He laughed and patted her back, watching her run off to another slide as he stood watching from the sidelines, chuckling every once in a while at his sibling's antics.