With Teresa Giudice in prison serving 15 months for an array of crimes to include bankruptcy fraud, wire fraud, and mortgage fraud, among other things, her oldest daughter, 14-year-old Gia has been pretty quiet. Although her mom is only two months into her sentence, Gia says she is doing great.

This is the first time that Gia has spoken about the ordeal, which has left many people angry and shocked. For the past several months prior to sentencing, the Giudice family has remained relatively isolated, while saying nothing. However, Gia is speaking out and admitted that she and her mom talk on the phone every day and can email one another whenever they want.

Gia said her mom tells her all the time to remain strong and that she will see her back home soon. Gia is known to be a strong young woman and in the situation, needs to be for the sake of her three younger sisters who are in the care of their father during the mom’s absence. However, once Teresa completes her prison sentence, her husband, Joe, will begin a 41-year sentence, followed by risk of deportation back to Italy.

So far, Teresa’s husband and four daughters have only been to visit her once. While Gia and the second oldest daughter know the truth about why their reality television star mom is gone, the two younger ones were apparently told that Teresa is in prison to do research for a book she is writing.

When asked how she was doing, Gia said she was good. She knew the day was coming that her mom would have to leave but at this time, she and her three sisters are okay. She admits that the younger siblings miss their mom a lot but overall, everyone is handling things fine.

Gia was also asked how her dad was doing as a single parent since Teresa has always been the one more in charge. She said that he is amazing and since her mom left, he has been a rock.

While there have been numerous reports about things being rough for Teresa behind bars, Gia disagrees. She actually said the visit with her mother was “fun” and that the experience was nothing like people expect. She added that her mom looked really good and had just had her makeup done for the visit.

Sources close to the Giudice family said that Gia has stepped up and taking on the role of “mommy” while Teresa is away. At 14, this is a lot of pressure but she is a strong girl with an incredible support system.