Who is Alicia?

Who is Alicia?
Serena

Dinner unfolded in the way it usually did in this house, with laughter bouncing off the walls, voices overlapping, and plates being passed around as if food itself were an excuse to stay close to one another. Criston sat between Dante and Saddie, chattering endlessly, occasionally dropping crumbs on the table and earning gentle scolding that carried no real authority. Lucia teased Gino about his posture, Grace corrected someone’s grammar just to annoy them, and Nina kept insisting that everyone eat more because wasting food, according to her, was a personal insult to generations of ancestors.

For a moment, I forgot where I was and what kind of family this truly was. It almost felt normal.
I could see how much Saddie was in love with her son. It warmed my heart that she was finally being loved as she always loved the people in her life. Criston had suffered so much in his little life as well, just like his mama. Maybe, God made the two of them for each other.

Dante spoke.

“If you have a daughter,” he said casually while cutting into his food, “we can arrange the marriage of our children.”

The room did not fall silent, but something shifted. My heart picked up speed so suddenly that I had to press my hand lightly against my stomach. Dante continued, oblivious to the tension he had introduced.

Does he has any idea what he just said? How can he act so nonchalant about it?

“Your girl will remain close to you, always within your sight, inside the Romano family,” he went on. “What do you say. Do not worry, we are not talking about family inbreeding. You and I are distant cousins, with several relatives in between. At this point, we only share the surname. My son is adopted as well.”

I looked at Saddie instinctively. She was smiling widely, her expression warm and hopeful, and it was clear that she liked the idea. I then looked at Criston, who was busy poking his food and humming to himself, a sweet and beautiful child with no idea that adults were discussing futures he could not yet imagine.

My hand rested on my stomach, and almost as if sensing the shift in my emotions, the baby inside me went still.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the knife in Nico’s hand pause mid cut.

He did not look up when he spoke.

“No,” he said calmly.

The word was simple, but it landed heavily on the table.
I could breathe again.

Dante frowned and leaned back slightly. “Why,” he asked, clearly offended. “Are you looking down on my adopted son.”

Nico finally lifted his gaze, his expression unreadable. “I am telling you that this is wrong.”

Dante huffed, irritation written all over his face, and even Saddie’s smile faltered as sadness crept into her eyes. The room felt tight, as if the walls were listening.

Before anyone else could respond, Luca spoke.

“No,” Luca said firmly. “We are not looking down on your son.”

Everyone turned toward him.

“We are made men,” Luca continued, his voice steady but heavy with something deeper. “More than blood, we are brothers by the relationships we choose. Family is not made of blood alone, Dante. Family is made of people who would bleed for you without hesitation.”

Gino nodded slowly beside him, his face serious in a way I rarely saw.

“Any daughter of the Romano family will never be treated like a commodity,” Luca went on. “She will not be placed on a marriage market and given away to whoever offers the highest price. Never again. Our daughters are our treasures. A Romano daughter will never be forced into an arranged marriage or any marriage that is not her choice.”

“Right,” Gino added softly.
I never expected this kind of support from every Romano brother. It warmed my heart to see that my child will grow in a family like this, where he or she would be loved beyond words and meanings.

I looked at the three brothers, and something about their expressions unsettled me. Their eyes were hard, glossy with old pain that had not healed. I was confused, caught between Dante’s well meaning suggestion and the fierce refusal that followed.

Dante’s face slowly changed as realization dawned on him.

“I am sorry,” he said quietly. “I forgot how you all lost Alicia.”

Saddie frowned in confusion. “Who is Alicia,” she asked gently.

Luca’s expression softened as he looked at her. “Our baby sister,” he said. “She was older than Gino.”

Gino chuckled faintly. “She hated me.”

“You replaced her in our mother’s heart,” Luca added, the words carrying familiarity rather than resentment.

“Alicia is something,” Dante said with a small chuckle.

Both brothers looked at him sharply, because he had used the present tense, not the past.