He crossed his arms tight over his stomach, shoulders hunched forward even as he peered excitedly out the window. The plane bumped down on the runway, jolting him slightly. As the airplane halted, he felt nerves causing his stomach to flip over. The plane was unloaded quickly, and he had never been so relieved to feel solid ground beneath his feet.

The airport was crowded and loud, and he felt himself beginning to panic. Before the fear could really creep in, however, he saw a tall man with grey streaked russet curls holding a sign high over the crowd.

Antonio Carriedo.

It was with a sigh of relief that Antonio hurried to the tall man, clutching his duffle bag and guitar case tight to his chest. Antonio stopped before the man, unsure of what to say, but thinking that he should be a bit more assertive and friendly. After all, he was the man who would be caring for his children.

"Hello, Antonio." the russet haired man said with a warm smile, lowering the sign. "I'm Romulus Vargas, but you may call me Roma." Roma had a wide smile on his face.

"Yes sir. Roma." Antonio said, stumbling a bit over his words and mentally face palming. Roma began to walk, and Antonio hurried to keep with him.

"How was your flight?" Roma asked as they ducked into his car. It was a nice car, Antonio knew that, and he realized that Roma's suit was Armani.

"It was fine. There was a bit of turbulence, but nothing terrible." Antonio said, holding his bag tight in his hands. Roma glanced at him.

"You don't have to be worried, Antonio." Roma said, mistaking his anxiety for nerves. "My sons are good children, for the most part. You may have a bit of trouble with Lovino, my eldest, but he's just grumpy because I hired a nanny. " Roma laughs. "Lovino is fourteen, and he's independent is all."

Antonio nodded to himself, forcing himself to relax his death grip on the beaten up duffle bag. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. This was a new start for himself, away from the horror his life had been in Buñol, Spain. He was going to be a new person here, that's what he had decided when he took this job.

The car pulled up to a very nice manor type home, and Antonio stared at it in awe as he climbed out of the car. "Whoa..." he murmured softly.

Roma laughed. "This house was passed down to me from my own father." he explained, leading Antonio inside the house. "Boys!" he bellowed, making Antonio jump and nearly drop his bag. He heard the pattering of footsteps, and then three boys hurried down the steps, stopping when they reached the bottom.

The children stared at Antonio, and he stared back. The smallest one, Seraphino if he remembered correctly, had auburn hair and amber eyes, and he clung to his brother a bit shyly. The second biggest one, Feliciano, had red hair and light honey eyes, and had a decidedly fragile air to him. Lovino, the oldest, had hair that looked to be very dark brown and the brightest green eyes Antonio had ever seen. After a moment of staring, Roma took a step forward.

"Boys, this is Antonio. I told you he was coming. Antonio, these are my sons: Lovino, Feliciano, and Seraphino." Roma said cheerfully. Antonio gave a halfhearted wave, and Feliciano bit back a giggle.

Smile. Antonio reminded himself firmly, and he forced a smile for the three boys. It felt wooden and fake, but it was apparently convincing. Seraphino and Feliciano both smiled shyly in response, but Lovino merely huffed and looked away, arms crossed. Roma sighed.

"I have to leave for work, so I'm counting on you three to help Antonio settle in." Roma said. He went to his children and kissed them each on the forehead, pausing when Lovino turned his head away with a scowl. Roma left soon after, and Antonio was left standing there with his bag, suddenly feeling out of place in the immaculate house and expensive furniture.

It was the shy one, Seraphino, who made the first move. He stepped forward, and peered up at Antonio with a curious glint to his eyes. "Your eyes are pretty." the boy said.

Antonio gave the wooden smile again. "Thank you, Seraphino." he said, crouching a bit to look the boy in the eyes. "How old are you?"

"I'm eight!" Seraphino said proudly, puffing out his little chest.

"Really?" Antonio feigned surprise. "You look so much older! It must be those big muscles!" Seraphino ate it up, bouncing excitedly.

"Knock it off, Sera." Lovino snapped, and the eight year old bowed his head instantly. Lovino strode forward purposefully, taking Antonio's duffle bag and handing it off to Feliciano, as well as the duffle bag, and Feliciano let out a little huff as he took its weight. Lovino's hand closed around Antonio's shirtsleeve, half leading, half dragging the Spaniard up the ornate staircase, down a hallway, to a closed door. Feliciano followed with the duffle bag dutifully.

"This is your room." Lovino said, dropping Antonio's sleeve and scowling. "Do whatever you want. Fels, we have to finish our homework. You too, Sera."

"But Lovi!" Feliciano protested in a rather falsetto voice.

"Come on, Feli!" Lovino snapped, grabbing Feliciano's hand and all but dragging the poor boy away. Seraphino followed quickly after them.

With the children off doing their homework, Antonio headed into his new room. It was large, with a hardwood floor and a huge bed done with white sheets and a dark blue blanket. There was a bay window overlooking a small creek and willow tree, and a dresser in the corner. The closet was modest, but that wasn't a problem. Antonio didn't bring much with him. He flopped on the bed, hands behind his head.

Seraphino and Feliciano were both sweet children as far as Antonio could tell. But Lovino seemed bitter and angry at everyone. He turned to his side, facing the bay window, thinking about how he should probably unpack and then go learn more about what he was supposed to do here. But even before the thoughts were completed, Antonio was asleep.

.~*~.

"Oi! Bastard!" an angry voice woke Antonio sometime later, and he sat up, eyes wide and heart pounding like mad, to see Lovino standing in the door with a scowl in place. Antonio looked out the window, grateful to see he hadn't been asleep very long at all.

"A-Ah, Lovino..." Antonio said guiltily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Caught napping on his first day. "I'm sorry, I was-"

"Don't care, bastard." Lovino said, cutting off the Spaniard, and Antonio's eyes widened. This boy cussed like a sailor.

Feliciano peeked his head around the doorway with a sweet smile. "Hi Antonio." the younger brother said cheerfully. "Can you make us dinner per favore?"

"Of course." Antonio said, scrambling off the bed and running a hand through his dark curls. Feliciano led the way to the nice kitchen, where Seraphino was sitting in a stool at the counter, swinging his feet and a book in his hands. "So what do you boys want for dinner?" Antonio asked the room at large as Lovino slunk into the kitchen.

"Can we have gnocchi?" Seraphino asked excitedly, looking up from his book. Antonio smiled a bit shakily. "Sure thing." He set about to rooting through the cupboards for the ingredients he'd need.

"We have frozen gnocchi." Lovino stated flatly.

Antonio paused for a moment, then renewed his search. "Well, nothing beats homemade gnocchi. Oh! And you have tomatoes! I could even make some nice sauce to go with this!"

He had to admit, he was starting to feel a bit excited. Cooking was one of his greatest talents, and he couldn't wait to see what the boys would make of his cooking capabilities. Maybe it would even be enough to make Lovino smile. It was easy to lose himself in the careful calculations of measuring and mixing, and this was the distraction that Antonio had needed. He could feel all of his anxiety and fears being pushed to the back of his mind, and for a moment, he felt at peace.

"Ta-da!" Antonio said, putting the bowls on the table with a bit of a flourish. The gnocchi were perfectly shaped, the sauce smooth. He had even thrown in a bit of shredded chicken breast and topped the whole thing off with a sprinkling of cheese.

"Oh! Ve~ this is fantastic, Toni!" Feliciano exclaimed in delight after only one bite. Seraphino agreed with an eager nod, shoveling another bite into his mouth. Antonio glanced at Lovino, but the dark haired boy ate quietly, his face expressionless and eyes downcast. Antonio sighed, taking a bite from his own plate.

A few hours later, Antonio crept quietly down the big hallway, stopping before each door. He peeked in Seraphino's room, pleased to see the auburn haired boy sleeping peacefully under a quilt. He moved on to Feliciano's room, where the redhead was twisted in the sheets but breathing peacefully in slumber. Lovino's door was locked, and Antonio returned to his own room. He had left the kitchen spotless after dinner, and now he lay in bed, the blanket warm and comfortable.

It was amazing now much different he felt. He had been here for only one day, but he already felt a little lighter, a little freer He was sleepy, but it was not the emotional and mental exhaustion he had become familiar with, but a physical tiredness that signaled an active day, just like his therapist had recommended. He had one final thought as he drifted off to sleep.

This place really was good for him.