"No, you have to sit for a while. I'll come back." I told Rico as he tried to climb up the staircase.

"I'm fine." He tried convincing me but he failed miserably due to the fact that he was literally stumbling after taking a step forward.

"Yeah, sure." I said, guiding him back to one of the couches. "Sit here and don't move until I come back."

"Ooh, kinky." He winked. I narrowed my eyes at him and playfully smacked the back of his head. He pouted and rubbed his head.

I rolled my eyes and walked back to the entrance of the house where Nico was still trying to take his shoes off.

"Wait, Nic. I'll do it." I said, squatting down to remove his shoes. Once I did, I carried his sleepy self further into the house.

We had just reached the mansion and since Antonio, Julian and Callum were also injured with small scratches and cuts, they went back to their own houses.

So, now I had to take care of Nico, which I didn't mind, and the butt-head sitting on the couch. I walked to Rico with his son still dozing off in my arms.

"Can I give him a shower? Like, are you alright with it?" I asked him, while he groaned with pain. I didn't want to overstep the boundaries by giving him a shower so I needed his father's permission.

"No problem, I trust you." He gave me a pained smile.

"Take care, alright? I'll come." I told him and went upstairs to Nico's room. Choosing a night suit for him to wear, I gave him a quick shower while all he did was play with the bubbles made by the shampoo.

Once I had finished, I dressed him up and dried his hair with a towel.

"Thank you for taking me back." He spoke after a while.

"Hey, you don't have to thank me." I smiled, ruffling his hair. "I will always come to you, no matter how far apart. Also, it wasn't only me who came. Uncle Toni, Julian and Callum came too."

He looked a little confused at what I has said, "Julian? You mean Jay-Jay?"

"Um, yeah. Him." I replied, assuming that we were talking about the same person.

He ran out of the room and to his father downstairs.

"Dadda?" He asked, looking at his father's sleeping figure.

"Hm, Nico?" He lazily replied.

"Can I hug you?"

"You get free hugs, you don't have to ask. Come here, Buddy." He said, stretching his hands out. I could tell that he was in pain because there was literally a hole through and through his abdomen but he tried hiding it in front of his son.

Nico climbed onto the sofa, making sure to go around his father's body and not on it. Damn, this boy knows what he's doing. He wrapped his arms around Rico's neck and kissed his cheek. "I missed you so much, Dadda. I love you."

"I missed you too, and I love you even more." He replied, hugging him back.

"Where's everyone else?" The little boy asked his father.

"They're gone back home but don't worry, they will come to visit tomorrow." He answered.

"Okay, but I'm hungry." He whined.

"Alright, I'll give you something to eat." I told him, walking into the kitchen. Just as I did, I saw a pan kept on the counter with a note.

I smiled at Emma's thoughtfulness. It was so kind of her to make dinner before her and the other housekeepers left the house. I removed the cover of the pan and served Nico some after making it hot.

He sat on the couch and ate while I helped Rico stand up to go have a shower. He was told not to but being the stubborn person that he is, he still wanted to.

After fifteen very long minutes, he had managed to climb up with my help. When I opened the door to his room, almost immediately, the scent of his usual cologne hit my senses.

He walked towards the bathroom and closed the door behind him but not before saying, "I'll have a shower. Don't worry about me."

"Do you want me to be around in case you need something?" I asked from outside the door.

"No, it's fine." He replied.

"Okay, I'm going to check on Nico and tuck him into bed." I said, leaving the room and going downstairs. Once I did, I saw that he had finished eating already and made sure that he ate every single morsel of food that was in his plate.

I went to him and took the now empty plate from his hands. He smiled and jumped off of the couch while I walked to the kitchen and washed his plate. Taking his tiny hand in mine, we climbed up to his room and as soon as I entered, I turned on the nightlight knowing that he was afraid of the dark.

He jumped onto his bed and and called me over to him. Smiling at him, I sat on the bed and almost immediately, he hugged me.

"I missed you so much." He whimpered. "I thought that you didn't love me anymore just like my mother left me. I promise to be a good boy, but please don't send me away from you and Dadda."

"Your Dad and I could never do that to you, Nico. You're too precious to us. We wouldn't be able stay away from you for more than two hours. We love you, no matter what." I said, tears stinging my eyes. I couldn't believe that he was thinking of this at this age.

"Don't ever think like that, alright?" I asked, cupping his adorable face in my palms. I wiped his tears with my thumbs and kissed his forehead. "You mean so much to us. We love you with every bone in out body."

"Okay." He nodded.

I kissed his head and gave him a tight hug to which he returned. I tucked him under the quilt and said 'goodnight' to him. I sighed after I left the room due to the fact that he was still afraid that that's when I made up my mind.

I would start reminding him how much he meant to us and would make sure that he didn't feel insecure about the love we had for him. I don't want him to feel like he isn't important, especially because of how he was told that his mother didn't love him.

I sauntered towards Rico's room to check whether he had finished showering yet but knocked on the door before entering not wanting to see something that I shouldn't. He replied with a 'come in' so I opened the door...whoa.

I stood there, my eyes widened at the sight in front of me. A shirtless Rico sitting on the bed with only sweatpants. And yes, I had seen him like this before but it was when he was literally bleeding out in the car a few hours back.

"You got some drool there, Xia." He spoke up, pointing to my face.

"Butt-head." I muttered under my breath while I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Well, um, I needed some help to wrap the gauze." He smiled sheepishly. "I would have done it myself but it's difficult for me to turn around to wind it around."

"I'll help." I replied, walking into the room. I wanted to ask him where the gauze was but before I could ask, he told me.

"Everything that you'll need is on the counter in the bathroom."

"Alright." I went into the bathroom and gathered some antiseptic to clean the wounds and gauze. Lots of gauze.

"Xiaaaaa!" Rico whined. "I'm boorrreeddd...."

Well, time to tend to the wounds of the man-child.

-----------------------------