"Rules are mostly made to be broken and are too often for the lazy to hide behind." -Douglas MacArthur

Seven brothers. That's what I have to deal with. What in the heck happened to all the girls? Surely, they didn't have seven sons in a row. Sure, I wanted siblings but not seven and most certainly not all brothers. Isabella, there has to be a bright side to all of this, right? I mean a big family is better than no family at all.

"Sorellina, are you ok? Earth to Isabella" Ilias said waving his hand in front of my face. Which surprisingly I didn't flinch at, yay me. I realized that everyone was staring at me still. "Yeah, I'm ok sorry I guess I was in my own little world" I said adding a small smile at the end. If I've learned anything from being in foster care/homes is that a smile will help with almost anything.

"Alright, since we all have introduced ourselves. Bring in the food please." Dad (that feels so weird to say) says. Another set of doors that are in the corner of the room suddenly open and 4 people step out of them. With trays of food in hand. That's how much they eat for breakfast! That's probably more food than I've eaten in the timespan of the 2 years I spent with John and Larissa.

Once all of the food is placed on the table all of the others don't even take a minute to appreciate the food. Before they dig in. Let me tell you it was like war between all of them. You might think I'm being dramatic but trust me I'm not.

I was going to wait until everyone had already gotten what they wanted out of the food. But Mateo noticed me just sitting there with an empty plate in front of me. "Principessa, why aren't you getting anything to eat?" Mateo questioned me with his smile not so big anymore. (Principessa-princess)

"Oh, I was just going to wait until everyone else got their food first." I reply simply, with a small smile.

Mateo's face softened a great deal. "You can always ask me to fix your plate for you kiddo, I don't mind. You should never be the last to eat so just ask one of your dear brothers to get you your food." Mateo said sweetly. I had never heard such sweet words before. They were so sweet I couldn't help but wonder maybe, just maybe, it will be different here. No more beating, mean words, or days without food. Maybe I can be happy here with a family to call my own. I could have a home instead of just a house. My smile grew at the thought.

"Ok I understand. I might just do that," I had to hold back from hugging him for his sweet words. Mateo swiftly grabbed my plate and started putting food on it after looking to me for my nod of approval. Once Mateo had put all the foods of my liking on my plate, he gently sat it back down in front of me and turned back to his own plate of food. I looked down at my plate only to see how much food he had put on it. Did he mean to put this much on it? How in the world am I supposed to eat this much? Is this what a normal amount of food looks like?

I guess I had been staring at my plate of food for a little too long. "Is the food not to your liking Isabella? If so, we can have our chefs prepare something different." Leonardo stated, at his words, everyone turned their heads in my direction. I hated when people stared at me and boy were they staring intensely. "Oh no it's fine, perfect even" I stated rather cheerfully. They all nodded their heads in acknowledgement and went back to eating or talking.

I ate as much of the food as I could. But after about 5 bites I was super full. I couldn't eat anymore so I just started playing with my food. Again, someone seemed to notice and decided to point it out to everyone though. "Isabella, hunny, why are you not eating anymore" dad said sternly and with a blank face. "Oh, I just have a small appetite" I said, failing in trying not to sound nervous. Dad raised an eyebrow and shared a look with brother. Then they all nodded simultaneously. It was like they were all communicating with their eyes. Weird. "You're excused for now, I'll have one of your brothers go to your room and get you, to bring you to my office. We have some things to discuss." dad said with his face, once again, void of any sign of emotions. Is he always like that?

I nodded my head in reply to his words and started to pick up my plate to go wash it but was immediately stopped. "You don't have to; we have people for that kind of thing." Ilias said kindly. I smiled down at him and he smiled back. I couldn't seem to hold back my giggle as he had food all over his face. Ilias looked at me confused but with a look of-what seemed to be- love in his eyes. The others' faces had the same look in their eyes and not only did a few of my brothers smile, but surprisingly my dad and Theodore did as well. After doing my quick observation of their faces. I picked up my napkin and wiped all the food off of Ilias's face. "Thank you, lil sis" Ilias said goofily. "You're welcome," I replied.

I left the dining room after mine and Ilias's little moment. After a good 15 minutes of twists and turns I finally found my room. I decided it was best to take a shower to wash my hair. Since it was a little tangly and since I haven't showered in what seems like forever. I walk over to my duffel bag and take out my black ripped jeans along with a yellow-colored shirt.

I walk into my bathroom and close the door. I turn away from the mirror not wanting to see my disgusting body. I proceed to strip down and turn the water temperature to a medium temperature and step in.

After my 15-minute shower I step out, dry off, and get changed. After the outfit is on me, I quickly put on some concealer to cover any noticeable bruises on my arms. I glanced at my outfit and gave it a nod of approval.

I go sit on my bed and decide to read my book for a little while and wait for one of my brothers to come get me. 20 minutes later a knock comes from my door, and I walk over to the door to open it. I'm greeted by the sight of Ricardo standing there with a barely noticeable smile. "Hey Isabella come on dad is waiting in his office for you" Ricardo says sternly. He starts walking and I quickly follow behind. His steps are quick and hard to follow so I'm basically jogging to keep up with him. Ricardo must have noticed this because he starts slowing down his pace and I soon after catch up.

We soon walk up a staircase that I've never seen before so I start looking around curiously. "You're not allowed to come up here Bella,ok. Never come up here this is where we do all our work stuff so there really isn't a reason to." Ricardo says in a monotone voice. Although he was tense and there was a look on his face that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I nodded my head in understandment which seemed to shock him a little. I guess other people would have questioned his tactics a little. But after all my years in different foster homes I have learned that it's far better not to be curious. The saying is curiosity killed the cat right.

Ricardo and I stopped at a pair of doors with pretty designs on them at the end of the long hallway. Ricardo knocked on the doors, soon after a 'come in' was said from a voice inside. Ricardo opened the doors for me and motioned for me to go inside. Once I stepped inside, the doors were closed. "Come have a seat please Isabella," dad suggested once he saw it was me. I did as he said and sat down in one of the seats in front of his desk.

"First and foremost I'd like to personally welcome you home. I along with your brothers missed you dearly. If your mother were still alive she would be over the moon." dad said with a sad smile at the last part of his statement. I couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness also. I've always dreamed of having a family and now that I've found mine it's, unfortunately, still incomplete. She also went through 7 different pregnancies and labors just for her to finally have a girl. Only to have that little girl to be taken away from her. It's quite sad.

"Second, I have some rules for you, please note that most of these rules the boys follow also.

No dating of any kind

No drugs or alcohol

Always tell us where you're going/at

Your curfew is at 11pm

Your bedtime on school nights is at 12am and there is not one on weekends/holidays

I find that these rules aren't very hard to follow. Also, if you think you might not be able to be home by 11 on the dot. Then please call or text me or one of your brothers please. I would also like for you to know that depending on how tired you seem during the day, your bedtime can change."

Wow, those are really, really simple. Normal even. I-just-wow. I've never been given such easy and simple rules before. "A-are you sure that's all t-the rules?" I question him. He looks at me with confusion in his eyes before nodding his head. "Ok then. I'm going to head to my room, is that ok?" I ask, raising one of my eyebrows. "Of course," dad replies. I get up from my chair and start heading to the doors. I'm just about to step out the threshold of the office when dad says something more. "It's really nice to have you home principessa." dad says out of the blue. I quickly turn around to see my father looking at me with nothing but pure love and joy on his face along with a grin. I give him a smile back in reply and walk out the office door and start the journey to my room.

I've been switching between my book, phone, and TV since I got back from dad's office. We had dinner about an hour ago, it was pretty much the same as breakfast. I was just talked to more by everyone except Theodore. It doesn't bother me much and everyone else just told me it was going to take some time for him to get used to me. While playing DogLife on my phone I decided to check the time and saw it was 9 already. I took a shower earlier, so I just changed into my sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt I had gotten from one of my friends at an old school when I was staying at a different foster home.

I jumped into my warm bed. I pulled the covers on me and put my earbuds in to listen to some music. I soon fell into a sleep filled with nightmares of the nights that haunt me.