Little One

chapter ten

Charlie's POV

"Are you comfortable, sweet boy?" I asked Avery who I currently had cradled in my lap. He was about to take his first bottle from Gavin and I, and I wanted to make sure he doesn't get too overwhelmed. It's been a really emotional day for him so the sooner I can get him down for a nap, the better.

"Yes, mommy." Avery replied, looking up at me with wide eyes. He wasn't quite back in headspace yet but with a little coaxing he would be there soon.

I slowly lowered the bottle to Avery's lips. He opened up almost immediately and excepted the nipple of the bottle, suckling lightly to test out the flavor. When he had tested enough he began to quicken his speed, downing half of the bottle in less than a few minutes.

"Easy, love. If you drink it too quickly you'll get a tummy ache." I told him in a soft tone. As I did Gavin brought his hand over, across Avery's small body to rub his belly. If his stomach did start hurting, hopefully the warm touch would help soothe it.

"Good boy, little one." I praised him when his motions slowed and became less urgent, releasing adorably soft suckling noises. After a few minutes his bottle was completely empty and he was left suckling on the air remaining.

I quickly removed the bottle from his mouth and maneuvered him to straddle my hips, chest pressed to my own and his head resting on my shoulder.

I brought my hand down on Avery's back in a rhythmic pattern until he let out a small burp, letting me know he'd gotten all the wind out. When I removed him from the front of my body I saw his eyes slowly closing just as a large yawn fell from his lips. I slowly lowered him on the bed between Gavin and I, tucking the covers around him before placing a small kiss to his forehead, Gavin following suit.

"Have a nice nap, sweetheart. Mommy and daddy love you so much." I told him quietly as his eyelids fully closed.

"Wove mommy and daddy toos." He mumbled just as his breaths slowed and he fell asleep. Hearing those words made me feel completely whole.

"I'll call our lawyer tomorrow, get the papers for the adoption." Gavin said in a whisper, carefully getting off the bed and moving to one of the chairs in the room.

"Thank you, baby." I told him, getting up off the bed as well to sit on his lap.

Gavin and I sat there together for a while, watching our little one sleep peacefully. It was one of the best feelings of my life to see him so relaxed and content, knowing that Gavin and I are the reason why.

"He's keeping something from us, you know." I told Gavin quietly. I figure if we're going to let Avery keep a secret then Gavin and I should at least be on the same page about it first.

"Yeah, it's about the nightmares. That bastard hurt him mentally and physically." He paused, taking a deep breath before he got too mad. "We'll have to get him to trust our intentions before we can get him to talk to us." I nuzzled his neck and softly nodded into it. "I'll do everything I can to catch him, my love, you don't have to worry about it." He told me, referring to Liam Knight.

"I know you will, baby, you'll protect us." I assured him. I have no doubt in my mind that Gavin would protect Avery and I with his life. "But, it's something else. Something happened to him before he was taken as well." Gavin nodded along as I spoke, considering my words.

"You're right, darling. It'll be alright, though, he'll tell us when he's ready." He agreed with me and with that we went back to looking at our little one.

We startled from the haze of the moment when the doctor suddenly entered the room. He was about to say something to us when he noticed Avery asleep on the bed. Instead of interrupting his sleep, he motioned for Gavin and I to follow him into the hallway.

"Is everything alright?" I asked him after closing Avery's door.

"Yes, of course, everything's fine. I just wanted to come and talk you guys through a thing or two about little Avery's recovery." He told us with a smile. I would be worried but I was currently finding comfort in Gavin's strong, warm arm that, at some point, made it's way around my waist.

"So, as you two know, Avery is very malnourished and that will be the main obstacle hindering his full rehabilitation. To help with this, I'll prescribe a special formula for him. You can pick it up from the hospital pharmacy before you leave. He needs a bottle with three scoops of this formula after every meal. This will help him gain weight back as well as strengthen his immune system. Until the formula starts taking full affect, he shouldn't do too much walking. No physical assertion outside from some crawling here and there to put some of his muscles to use. Other than that, there isn't much else. We'll be taking his stitches out in a few days, he'll still be hurting but it shouldn't be too bad, a few Tylenol should do it." Gavin and I nodded. "Do you have any other questions?"

"When will we be able to take him home?" Gavin asked him. I'm glad he's here because my brain was too preoccupied trying to put together a schedule for Avery, to think about rational questions. Knowing when we can take our baby home is a good example of one.

"If everything goes as planned, he should be all yours in about three days." Three days. Three days and I could take my child home. I can't wait and by the way Gavin tightened his hold on my body, he couldn't wait either.

"Great, thank you so much, Doctor." I told him thoughtfully.

"Of course! I'll see you guys soon, have a good night." We said our own quick 'good night' and soon found ourselves back in the chair next to our sleeping boy.

"I'll call into the station tomorrow, darling, but I'm pretty sure I can get a few months of paternity leave. That way I can spend some more time with you guys." Gavin told me as he gently traced over the lines of my hand with his fingertips.

"That's great, baby. Thank you." I smiled up at him before tucking my head into the crook of his neck and breathing in his cologne. He always smelt like fresh rain, calming me down instantly anywhere we were.

"Mmm." He hummed in response. I could feel the vibrations run through my head. "I love you, sweetheart." He said, craning his neck to place a soft kiss on my lips.

"And I you." I whispered between another kiss.

I can't wait to take care of our beautiful little one with my amazing man.

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a/n - hey guys! so... they're taking him home in the next chapter.. i'm excited we're getting farther into the book!

i remember when i wrote this a few weeks ago i really liked it so i hope you guys liked it too!

anyways... don't forget to vote and comment letting me know what you thought of the chapter :) i hope you all have a lovely day/night <3