38 Chapter Thirty-Seven: Favorite Animal, But not an Animal

"This...?" 

I looked up at Domenic as I fingered the bow that was sitting in the center of the gift box that was wrapped in a green wrapper.

"Open it," Domenic said as he took a seat beside me on the edge of the bed.

His voice was way more calm and soft than what I was used to hearing. And the same softness could be seen in his dark green eyes that were trained on the gift box that was sitting in my lap.

I slowly undid the bow and started taking off the wrapper. It took me a lot of time to finally get the box out of the wrapper.

However, Domenic kept sitting beside me silently as he waited with patience for me to open the box and look at the present that he had bought for me.

As my fingers were about to lift the cover of the box, I found my eyes turning towards Domenic.

He gave me an encouraging nod and with a soft sigh, I finally opened the box.

"What the-?" 

I could not find any words to speak out my feelings as I stared at the object that was sitting inside the box.

I would never have guessed that I would find something like that inside the box.

But my shock only increased as I watched Domenic standing up as he walked in front of me and kneeled down on the floor as he took one of my hands in both of his large ones.

His eyes were full of warmth and care, emotions that I had barely seen him carrying, as he looked at me with a soft smile playing on his lips.

"I know that you are now seventeen years old and no more a little child, but I still want to gift you this present," Domenic said as he looked at the box on my lap.

"Why?" I found myself asking in a very soft voice as I kept looking at Domenic as if I was trying to read his emotions.

"This is the present that I bought for you sixteen years ago..." Domenic whispered softly as he kept looking at the box.

His words only made my confusion intensify. Questions after questions were popping up in my mind as I waited for him to continue.

"It was your first birthday. You were going to turn one year old. Everyone was excited and were eagerly waiting for the big day to finally arrive and I was no different. I had saved five months of my pocket money and I accompanied the rest of my brothers along with Mr. Harris to buy presents for you."

As Domenic stopped for a few seconds, I found the silence that suddenly took over us as a heaviness that was not comfortable at all.

My mind had gone completely blank. I knew that I was a part of the Alessandro family for a little bit of time, but I never expected Domenic to tell me such a story about my past, of our past.

"The moment my eyes landed on this one..." 

He tapped the box as he continued.

"...I knew that this is what I wanted to gift you as your birthday present. But little did I know at that moment that I would never be able to give this to you."

I watched in complete shock as a single tear rolled down his left cheek and before I even realized what was happening, my fingers were already wiping away his tear.

Domenic grasped my hand in his own as he rested it against his cheek as he continued, "We lost you that day, Emy. When the six of us returned home we could not find you anywhere in the mansion. We found out that your mother took you away just a few moments before we arrived at the mansion."

I was silent for a few seconds and when I finally spoke my voice was just as shaky and emotional as Domenic's.

"But I was told that it was her husband who abandoned both her and me."

Domenic let out a fake chuckle as he replied, "Both the sides had their own story and I have no idea which is the true one. All I know is that because of those two people, we lost you! You were the life of us brothers, of this family, of this mansion, and the day you left us, we lost our life too." 

It was not until I felt the wetness dripping on my hands did I realize that I was crying. The warmth and love that I could see in Domenic eyes were making my entire heart and soul shake.

"There are so many things that I want to know. Will I ever get to know them?" I asked as I looked at him with my eyes filled with unshed tears.

"I know that you want answers and that many questions are swarming your mind. I promise to tell you everything because you have the right to know. But we will take our time. I don't want to increase your unhappiness. I want my baby sister to be the happiest person on this planet." Domenic replied as he wiped away my tears.

A small smile made its way to my lips as I nodded my head slightly in acknowledgment. My eyes returned to the box that was still resting on my lap.

My fingers grazed the soft squeezy big white dolphin plushie that was resting inside the box.

"It's so cute...and pretty," I said as I took it out of the box and looked at it with a huge smile on my face.

But then my face turned a little serious as I looked at Domenic before asking, "Why a dolphin though?" 

The smile that was already present on his lips only increased at my question as he replied, "For some reason, you have always been intrigued by dolphins. I remember the day when you were around five months old or something and we went to visit the National Aquarium, you were the happiest when you watched the dolphins playing around in the pool. Ever since that day, you loved to see dolphins on tv or in books. That's why when I saw this plushie, I knew that you were going to love it." 

My eyes returned to the plushie that was filling my heart with a warmth that I never experienced before in my life.

"I do love it. Thank you! Maybe, today I finally found my favorite animal. The only problem is that it's not an animal." I said as I shook the plushie lightly as both I and Domenic burst out in chuckles.