Little One

chapter twelve

picture of rocky ^^^

Gavin's POV

"Is he asleep?" I whispered to Charlie as I took a right onto our street, looking back at him through the rear view mirror.

"He's just drifting, baby." I could see his loving eyes as he spoke. He absolutely adored that boy. With a quick glance at Avery, I could see his eyes fluttering shut and open again every now and then. He had his splootsie clutched to his chest and his blankie tucked under his chin. At some point during the car ride, his little thumb had made its way passed his lips and he was sucking on it lightly. I made a mental note to get him some pacifiers tomorrow so he didn't hurt his delicate hands.

When I parked the car in the driveway, Avery's eyes opened up. He blinked, scanning his new surroundings tiredly as he let out an adorable yawn.

"We're home, little one." Charlie spoke to Avery softly as he was still disoriented from his little nap.

"It big mama." He said around his thumb, pointing to our house with his unoccupied hand. Don't get me wrong, our house wasn't small but it wasn't huge either. With Charlie's paintings selling at high price points and my promoted salary, we had the ability to get a much larger place, however, we like the homey feel our house offers.

"Yes, it is, sweet boy. Do you like it?" Charlie asked as he unbuckled his seatbelt. I did the same and quickly got out of the car, making sure not to close the door too hard so I don't startle Avery.

"Pwetty." Was all he said but I could see the admiration in his big, doe eyes.

"Thank you, love." I told him as I opened his door. He turned his head to look at me and a small grin appeared on his face. "Hello, sweetheart." I reached out and unstrapped him from his car seat before gently lifting him into my arms. I kept one arm under his bum and used the other to support his neck, holding it close to my own. "Are you all set, hun? Did you grab your toys?"

"Yesh daddy." His muffled voice replied.

"Could you grab his formula, love? I'll come out and grab our stuff later." I told Charlie but he'd already gotten everything in his hold, including our things from the hospital.

"I've got it, baby. I'm just going to go run this inside so I have some free hands to help keep Rocky off of Avery." Charlie said.

"Who dat?" Avery asked me once Charlie had gone inside. His grip around my waist tightened, seemingly scared. Or worried. I couldn't place the gesture yet.

"Rocky is mommy and daddy's doggy, sweetie. Now he's your doggy too." I told him as I bounced him on my hip, hopefully soothing him.

"Doggo?" He looked up at me with a mixture of excitement and hesitation flashing through his eyes.

"Yeah, little one. He's very sweet but a little scary at first. So, just give him a few minutes and you'll warm up to him." I assured him quickly. I don't want Rocky to be an obstacle for him, he really is a sweet dog, he's just rather large.

"Are you ready to go in, darling?" I asked him when I saw Charlie open the door again.

"Mmmm daddy." He hummed in approval.

"I've got him on a leash, love." Charlie told us as he retreated back into the house.

"Hello, Rocky. Look at who we brought home." I told the dog as I walked through the door, closing it behind me. Rocky got noticeably excited, his tail wagging back and forth as he sat on his hind legs. "What do you think, sweetheart?" Avery had partially moved away from my neck but I could see his strong grip on his stuffies.

"Wan' pet pwease?" He asked, moving his head to glance between the two of us.

"Of course, little one. Just let us know when you need to get up." I told him, gently sitting him down on the ground by my feet. Rocky immediately made a move to come closer to Avery, however, Charlie only loosened his hold on the leash a tiny bit.

"Go ahead, lovey." Charlie encouraged Avery when he saw his hesitation. Avery slowly leaned forward and brought his hand down to stroke Rocky's thin fur. "That's it, bubba." He said when Avery scooted even closer to Rocky and allowed him to smell him. He giggled adorably when Rocky licked him on the nose.

"Wike Rocky." He stated simply. I could already tell they would be best friends.

"We're glad, little love. He loves you too." Charlie responded as reached down and unhooked Rocky's leash. Once he was free, he began circling Avery and licking him some more. Out of nowhere, he let out a loud bark from his excitement. Avery recoiled and scooted backward until his back hit my thighs.

"Uppies pwease." Avery lifted his arms up to me and I bent down, grabbing him under his armpits and returning him to my hip.

"You did so good, sweetie. Mommy and daddy are so proud of you for meeting Rocky, even though you were scared." I praised him to help soothe his startled state. Charlie came up to the two of us and began gently rubbing Avery's back.

"Are you ready to see your new house, bubba?" Charlie asked him after a few moments of calming down.

"Yesh mama." Avery's mood suddenly switched to excitement as he perked up in my arms.

"Let's go, lovey." Charlie said as he led us further into the house and we began the tour of the home we would share with our little one for forever.

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a/n - hey guys! bit of a short chapter but it was too long to put the house tour in and i couldn't think of anything else to add so yeah... anyways next chapter is the house stuff and i include pictures with it so i won't have to do a separate chapter like i did with our abused pup :)

if you guys are okay with it i think i'm gonna start doing a question of the day thing but like relating to little stuff so it can help me brainstorm more for stories soooo.... I'll start today...

qotd: what's your favorite disney movie?

moving on... thank you all so much for reading and i hope you liked the chapter! don't forget to vote and comment letting me know what you thought of the chapter! i hope you all have a lovey day/night <3