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"Giiiiiino!" the little Sasha ran with her arms out reached and open towards him. His little eyes were wide in surprise when he was just about tackled by the girl! "Hi Gino! I came to see you agaaaiin!" Sasha seemed to sing her words and laugh them more than talk. But, it was a winsome charm to her and I myself liked it.

"Sasha, be gentle. Gino may be a boy, but he is smaller than you, after all." I smiled at little Gino's pouting face. He hated to be called small, well, in the prescence of others.

Sasha turned and smiled, "Okay!"

That was a cute picture. Priceless. Sasha, nearly squeezing the life out of my little Gino, beaming with as much gusto as possible. I think she had a little crush on him! Oh, what a cute couple they make! I can't get enough of the pure, utter cuteness they posed together. Young love is so adorable. Especially with my Gino. He will most definitely have to watch out when he grows older, I know he will be quite the lady-killer. It's in the genes, and he inherited good looks from both sides of the family!

"Waaah! Sasha! I can' breathe!"

But for now, it's the ladies killing him, "Now, Sasha..." I smiled.

"Oop, sorry Gino!" And I saw her give one final squeeze before she let go, "Let's play now!" She took his hand and pulled him off but I could hear him mumble.

"Wai' Sasha! I wanna give my Mama somethin'!" Oh? I smiled as he ran up to me, hiding something behind his back. He pulled out a little wreath of hibi flowers and held it up to me, "For my Mama! I love you!"

I smiled, he was so kind and thoughtful! I leaned my head down and he put it on my head and beamed. "You're so pretty, Mama!"

I felt that I would cry at this, because I loved him so much, I simply gave him a hug and thanked him for his gift as he ran off to play with Sasha. Ah, my Gino. My sweet Gino!

Sasha and Gino went off into the gardens again when they saw the butterflies had returned. They laughed and jumped, trying to catch them, but they always failed. They'll eventually learn the right way, but now, it's just funny to watch them in their laughter while they groped the sky for a butterfly. How sweet.

Time passed and the afternoon progressed. It seemed hours, but I don't think more than a half hour passed by as I watched two children pretend in the gardens from a little seat by the glass doors. I couldn't ever become tired of watching them! It makes me wish some times that I was still that age.

"H-hey! Leg-go of me!"

"You are trespassing on the Gambino Family property. You have no right to be here. Since you will not cooperate, I will have to escort you off the premesis."

Hmm. One voice was Bucho, but I don't recall the other one. It seemed very vaguely familiar. It was a little child's voice. I turned to Gino and Sasha and smiled, "I'll be right back, don't go anywhere while I'm gone!"

Sasha grinned and nodded, "'Kay!"

I didn't completely trust that smile, but I seriously doubted she could get too far by the time I finished investigating. Although I don't think she'd go anywhere without Gino while he was around, and he wouldn't go anywhere unless he absolutely knew he could.

I rounded the corner around the house by the main gates and I saw Bucho with a young boy about Sasha's age in hand. The boy was hanging from Bucho's grip by the collar of his jacket nearly a foot off of the ground!

"Put meh down! I'll beat ya up! I will!" He absently swung his fists in the air, slowing down Bucho as he tried to walk out the gate.

"Bucho! What are you doing? Put that boy down!"

"You annoying little--eh? Uh..." Bucho seemed reluctant to put him down, but I gave him a hard look and he nearly dropped the poor boy to the ground.

I walked up and I got a closer look to him. Ah yes! I knew that I knew that voice from somewhere! Why, it was Ian! I knew his mother since high school and his father ran a very sucessful shop here on the island. There was no missing his family's tan jacket and hat. His father seemed to wear similar clothing as Ian did, but I didn't know if it was a family tradition or not, I couldn't remember if his grandfather wore something alike to it. But I do remember their family's shop open in the same location it was today when I first visited this island when I was a little girl...

Oh! Sometimes I start going off like that.

"Ian! Oh, are you all right? Bucho! He's just a child!"

Bucho just furrowed his eyebrows and mumbled, "He was trespassing and refused to leave, Ma'am."

"Well, it's still no excuse to treat him that way! Are you okay, Ian?" Honestly, sometimes Bucho seemed more like a robot than anything. He was just so cold sometimes! It was exasperating working with him!

Ian bent down and picked up his hat off the ground and dusted it. He stuck it back on his head and looked at me, "Oh, I'm okay. Hey, how d'ya know my name?"

Oh, that's right, I met him when I was still pregnant with Gino. He should have been only about four or three then, but he probably didn't remember me. "Oh, I've met you before, but you must not remember. I was good friends with your mother!"

He only raised his eyebrow at me skeptically, as if I asked him where the sky was and his eyes wandered, "Oh, okay."

I leaned down to get a better look at him and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Bucho shuffling off as quietly as a tank and into the mansion. "What are you doing here, Ian?"

He turned back at me, surprised and opened his mouth wide, "I can' find my cat! She ran away a few days ago an' once my Dad said she ran away here! I thought maybe she came back!"

"Really? What did she look like?"

"Well, she's gray, she has three white spots on her head...An'...the top of her tail's white an'...she's fat."

"Hmm. I haven't seen a cat that looked like that around here lately. What's her name? Maybe I can help you look for her! What's her name?"

"Her name's Anne. An' sometimes she chirps."

"She chirps?"

"Yeah! Like a bird! An's sings too. So, if you hear any chirpin' or singin' it's prolly Anne."

A singing cat? Oh yes, that's right. His family owns talking cats that help them run the store. Isn't that peculiar? Talking cats, and this one right now chirps! Like a bird! "Okay, Ian. Come with me. I'll introduce you to Gino and Sasha and we can look for your cat."

He stood there quite stiffly, eyeing the ground with his eyebrows tightly knit. He seemed like he was thinking quite hard, hoping to incinerate something with his powerful mind, or something or other. I couldn't help thinking of it while he just stood there. "...Okay." He said seriously, reminding me of Edmund in his military days as if he just confirmed an order.

We walked through the little courtyard and I could see Ian looking around incredulously at the garden, his mouth was wide open, looking up to every flower he could find. In his awe, he nearly tripped, but strode off as if it never happened. He was cute! He was the little tough man who knew everything.

Thankfully, I saw Sasha and Gino sitting by a patch of large sunflowers. Sasha was pouting immensely and Gino looked like he was trying to be clueless. "Sasha, what's wrong?" I asked her.

"Nothin'."

I was curious, but it didn't seem like anything was too amiss, and I still had Ian at my side. "Hmm," I raised an eyebrow, but at this moment, nothing looked like there was anything really wrong, so perhaps it didn't need to be pressed on. I brought Ian around to introduce him to them, "Oh, here, look, we have a new friend with us. His name is Ian."

And for a moment, they stared at eachother. Their eyes were wide as if they had never seen another little boy in their lives. It seemed that it was an awkward first meeting, "He lost his cat and it might be around here. Do you want to help him find her?"

Sasha smiled exuberantly and hopped up and into Ian's face. "Oh! You have a kitty?! I love kitties! They're soooooo cute! But they make me sneeze," She giggled, "An' my name's Sasha! What's yours?"

I couldn't see his face, but he seemed shocked at Sasha's enthusiasm. "Uh, my name's Ian..."

Sasha grinned and giggled again, "Oh, I'll never 'member that!" And without warning, she gave Ian a bone crushing hug which Ian seemed to take it as if it were the plague. He seemed so stiff and I couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. "It's so nice to meet'cha, Ian!" She gave a final squeeze and let him go.

Gino was still looking up a little vaguely and I smiled at him, "Gino, Darling, won't you introduce yourself to Ian, too?"

He shuffled to his feet and gave a shy smile, "Hi. 'm Gino."

I smiled to all of them, it looked like this would be a nice start! "Now that we're all introduced, let's all be good friends now, okay?"

"Okay!" Sasha beamed.

I leaned down to Gino and Sasha, "So, will we help Ian find his cat?"

Sasha gave out another elated agreement and Gino smiled and nodded. I don't think he ever saw a real cat before besides pictures and television.

It seemed that they were going to be on the fast track to be friends. Sasha proceeded to talk to Ian, gushing and gushing conversation that I think intimidated Ian. But, it didn't last too long when a maid crossed to the garden and bowed.

"Madame, lunch is prepared."

"Oh really? Already? Time flies by, doesn't it?" I rubbed my chin and looked to the children and smiled. Sasha would of course be staying for lunch, but what about Ian? "Ian, would you like to stay for lunch before we help you find your cat?"

Ian simply looked at me and nodded. It seems every child I have met on this island so far is very strange in their attitude. Moira, Sasha, and now Ian. But, I'm not an expert on children, only an expert on my Gino, and he seemed normal enough...

"Okay, we'll have another setting for you then. Come along now, everyone. Let's eat, and hopefully we can find Ian's cat soon."