"Dadda is not home yet." Nic pouted, tilting his head behind so that it rested on the front of my shoulder.

Since I had promised a day out, we had spent the entire day together playing hide and seek, taking a walk in the beautiful garden that was just outside the mansion, and cooked pasta for dinner.

Right now, we were having a Disney movie marathon with all the movies that we could think of for the past hour or so. He has been sitting on my lap with his back to my chest, the both of us facing the TV in the living room.

From the time that Ricardo had gone out earlier today, Nic has been asking where he was and when he was going to come back.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon." I smiled.

He nodded but didn't show any emotion due to the fact that I had saying this one line right through the entire day.

I texted Ricardo, asking him when he would come home but he hasn't seen the text yet so I assumed that he was just busy.

A while later, I heard Nic's tummy grumble. Listening to it too, he giggled and said, "I think I'm hungry."

"Yeah, you are. Come on, let's feed that dinosaur in your stomach." I said, standing up while removing the blanket that covered us a second ago.

Pressing pause on the remote, I placed him on the floor and walked to the kitchen with Nic following my lead.

It was quite late now which meant that all the housekeepers had already left. I reheated the pasta that we had made and served him.

"Here." I said, handing him the plate.

"Thank you, Xia." He beamed and walked over to the dining table to eat.

"Is it good?" I asked.

He nodded his head eagerly, "It's the best pasta ever!"

"I'm so glad that you liked it." I ruffled his hair.

"Do you want?"Nic asked me while offering me a bite.

"No, you eat. I'll eat later when Ric comes." I denied.

"But I want to feed you." He whined, giving me the puppy eyes.

I chuckled, "One bite wouldn't hurt."

He fed me a bite of the pasta and I took the pasta in my mouth. The flavor of the pasta was much better than I had expected. Damn, I'm good.

Nico smiled at me, his eyes sparkling with happiness and excitement. All of a sudden, hugged me, wrapping his tiny arms around my neck.

"I really like you, Xia." He confided.

I hugged him tighter, feeling emotional. "And I really like you too, Nicolas."

The little boy pulled away and grinned at my response. "I like you more than Uncle Toni."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't tell him that." I whispered.

He nodded and just as he was about to continue eating, someone cleared their throat, causing me to snap my head up. There stood Ricardo in front of us along with his phone and keys in hand.

"I'm home!" He announced, making the little boy jump out of his seat and into his father's arms.

"Dadda! I missed youuuu!" He said, hugging his father who had the most happiest smile plastered onto his face.

"I missed you too, Nico." He gave his son one last kiss before placing him back down on the floor.

"Hello there!" He greeted me, acknowledging my presence.

"Hey! How was your day?" I asked.

Ricardo quickly glanced at Nic, who was eating the remaining pasta in his plate and back at me, in a way of saying 'I'll tell you later'.

I nodded, understanding what he meant.

"Well, um, I am gonna go have a shower." He said, walking further to climb up the stairs.

Once Nicolas had finished eating, the both of us sat at the couch again to watch the rest of Ratatouille. Nicolas made sure that he was in same position as we were before.

I mentally squeed when he took my arms in his tiny hands and wrapped them around him. How is he so adorable?

About twenty minutes later, Ricardo came to where we were sitting and sat next to me, or rather, us. He watched the movie along with us for another half an hour until it ended.

Looking away from the screen, I glanced at Ricardo who had dozing off. Deciding not to disturb him, I looked at Nic, who was still on my lap and saw that he had already fallen asleep.

Slowly, I stood up with the little guy still in my arms. I carried him all the way to his room, which was upstairs, and tucked him into his bed after turning the nightlight on.

"Goodnight, Nic." I whispered and kissed his forehead.

As soon as I turned around, I jumped in surprise, not expecting Ricardo to be leaning on the doorway.

Placing my hand on my chest, I whisper shouted at Ric, "Jeez, you scared me. The least you could do is knock or say something so I know that you're there, ya know."

"Oops, sorry." He whispered back. I walked towards the door and motioned for him to take a step back.

When he did, I gently closed the door behind me and descended downstairs, with him on my trail.

When we reached the last step, I turned to face him. "Do you want to eat dinner?"

"I would love to, I'm starving." I replied.

Nodding, I told him that his son and I had made pasta. We went to the kitchen and served ourselves. Walking to the dining table, we ate in silence but it was comfortable rather than awkward.

"So, how was your day with Nico?" Ric asked, settling his fork on the now empty plate.

Swallowing the food in my mouth, I spoke, "It was so fun. We went for a nature walk, played hide and seek, had a Disney movie marathon and well, cooked pasta."

"Wow, that's a lot." He said. "I'm surprised that he's getting comfortable with you. He's never been like this with anyone before a month...at least."

"Well, what can I say? I have a gift when it comes to children." I teased, flipping my ponytail behind.

"You sure do." Ricardo mumbled and stood up with the plate in his hand. Quickly finishing the last bite of pasta, I walked to the kitchen along with him.

"Well, give me your plate." He said, reaching his hand out as stood over the sink.

"Nope. I'll wash mine." I argued back. If I'm being honest, my lazy ass didn't want to wash it but I had to chivalrous.

"Xiaa...." He warned.

"Rico....." I imitated his tone, tightening my hold on the plate.

"Rico?" He furrowed his eyebrows. "Really? What are you, The Nickname 3000?"

"Hey! I like giving nicknames to people." I shot back.

While I spoke, I had unconsciously loosened my grip on the ceramic dish. This man, being the butt-head that he is, snatched the plate from my hand and started washing it.

"Oh, well." I shrugged.

He shook his head and washed the dishes while I stood behind him. It was only now that I realized what he was wearing; a plain gray tee, that showed off all his tattoos, paired with black sweatpants. His hair was a little damp, due the the fact that he had just showered.

"I can feel a hole being burned through my shirt with your stare, Xia." He teased, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"I wasn't staring, you butt-head." I retorted.

"Whatever floats your boat." He said, wiping his wet hands on a kitchen cloth.

I narrowed my eyes at him and he winked. And let me tell you, that wink...damn. I know, I know, I say the word, 'damn' to often.

But it is what it is...

We wished each other a quick goodnight and went back to our respective rooms. Once I opened the door to my room, as in the guest room, I sighed as the mess that I had left a few hours back.

Earlier today, Antonio came by and gave me a bag of my clothes and other few essentials that I would need from my apartment.

I tried arranging it a in the wardrobe but ended up stopping halfway because the little jellybean of a boy got bored.

Since I was a neat freak, I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep without arranging all of this before sleeping. I huffed under my breath and bent down to the ground, picking up the hoodies that were sprawled across the floor.

Around half an hour later, everything that was in the bag was now neatly arranged in the huge closet that was attached to the room.

I yawned, looking at the clock. Oh, that explains why I'm sleepy. It's midnight.

Quickly having a shower, I changed into a comfy outfit and jumped on the bed. I drifted off into a peaceful sleep with one thing on my mind.

I hope Adrian is alright now.

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