•did you get enough love, my little dove?•

~special names~ chapter five

"I hope ham's okay, August, and if you're still hungry afterwards I've got a chocolate chip cookie for you." I told August with a cheeky smile on my face as I handed him his sandwich after cutting it into smaller pieces for him.

"Th-Thank y-you, M-Mister." I swear, I'll die from his adorableness in the near future if he keeps being this cute. And, after seeing Nikolas's adoring face, I can tell he feels the same.

"Of course, tesoro." I couldn't help but slip into Italian as I spoke to August, I just already care about him so much and I need to show him in some form. (Darling.)

"W-What d-does that m-mean?" August asked as we all began eating our lunch. I took a second to swallow a bite of my food before answering.

"It means 'darling' in Italian. I hope that's alright, if you aren't comfortable please let me know and I'll stop with the names." I told him sincerely, the pet names are probably a bit much considering I just met August and I don't want to make him too uncomfortable.

"N-NO!" He sounded alarmed when he yelled out his reply, quickly dropping his food that he was about to eat. "I-I m-mean... No th-thank you." He said quietly as he looked at the table, not making a move towards his food again.

"I-I like th-the special n-names, s-sir. When Mr. B-Brooks s-says them th-they make me f-feel all w-warm inside and I-I feel the s-same when y-you say them." I smiled at his honest answer but he didn't seem very pleased by himself, looking ashamed as he waited for our response.

"Thank you for being honest, love. Davide and I are glad we make you feel good." Nikolas reassured him. "Now, eat up. Lunch will be over soon." With that, August slowly took his first bite of his meal. He ate quickly after that and his whole meal was gone within minutes. I tried to hide the look of worry on my face, covering it with a reassuring smile. I'm glad he enjoyed it and it's good that he's eating, I just hope he eats like this regularly.

"Here you go, il moroso." I told him as I placed the cookie in front of him. If I were taking care of him he wouldn't get the whole thing as it was huge and the sugar would keep him awake for hours but August deserves the extra treat. I might not have met him before today but Nikolas has told me everything about him and I know he must go through some tough things. (Sweetheart.)

"Oh... Th-thank y-you." He blushed once again, brighter this time, as he excepted his treat. "U-Ummm, you s-said I-Italian e-earlier, are y-you from I-Italy?" He asked as he started picking at the cookie, sounding genuinely interested.

"Yes, amore. My family and I were from there but I moved to America when I was twenty-three for my career." I told with a smile. As I was explaining, I felt Nikolas's hand work it's way into my own, holding it tightly, contributing to my good mood. (Love.)

"Th-That's s-so cool!" A bright smile worked it's way onto August's face.

"Thank you, tesoro." (Darling.)

"W-What d-do you d-do?" He asked me curiously after a few moments.

"I work in marketing. It's not that interesting but it's fun most of the time. I'm able to help businesses grow and I have the opportunity to work with a lot of really great people." August looked in awe as I explained.

"Y-You s-sound s-so i-i-important." I chuckled at his words but nodded gratefully. I'm glad he likes me enough to ask me questions about myself.

"That reminds me, did you talk with that client of yours you were worried about?" Nikolas asked me, removing August and I from our conversation and sprouting a new talk between him and I.

Nikolas knew I was having trouble working with one of my clients. We had a few disagreements on some strategies and the job was starting to stress me out.

"I'm sorry, August. I didn't realize we were talking for so long, you must be so bored." Nikolas suddenly spoke out as our conversation about my work ended and we realized we'd been talking for much longer than intended. Poor little August must feel so left out. "Oh... Baby, look." I glanced in the direction that Nikolas was gently pointing in and was met with one of the most adorable sights ever; August had his head laid down on the table, hair falling all over his face and he was dozing softly, letting out delicate mewls every few seconds.

"He's absolutely precious, mi amore." I told Nikolas as I stared at August in a trance. He's just so cute and innocent, it's a beautiful sight. (My love.)

"He is." He agreed, looking just as captivated as I am. "I'm a little worried, though. He fell asleep during my class too and when I asked him about it, he told me that he wasn't getting enough sleep. He didn't have time to tell me why but I'm sure it isn't good." Nikolas whispered with a sad look on his face. He cares so much about August, it's hurting him to see him struggling.

"I know, tesoro, but he'll be okay." I reassured him, removing my hand from his and bringing it up to instead gently rub the soft skin of his neck. He leaned into my touch. "I called my investigator this morning and he said he'll look into it as soon as possible. We'll know everything in no time." I could see the tension leave his figure at my words. (Darling.)

"Thank you, baby. I should wake him, though. Our lunch period is ending in a few minutes." He told me, rising from his chair and giving me a quick kiss before walking towards August's slumped over frame.

"It's time to wake up, sweet boy." He spoke softly, reaching a delicate hand out to run through August's unruly hair. August barely stirred, only pushing his head closer to Nikolas's touch. "Come on, darling. Wake up for me." He spoke again, slightly louder this time. After a few more minutes and soft touches later, August blinked his eyes open.

I began cleaning up our trash and putting Nikolas's room back together as he finished waking August up but my movements stopped in their tracks when I heard August's first few words after waking, "Nu, mama. Wan' sweep, p'ease."

That's definitely not what I expected.

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a/n - hey guys! sooo... august slipped finally! how do you think nikolas and davide will react??  i'm looking forward to writing some sweet august fluff and giving him a few happy moments for once :)

anyways... thank you so much for reading this chapter, i hope you loved it! please comment with any feedback you might have on the book so far and don't forget to vote! i hope you all have a lovely day/night <3

p.s. what little age do you guys think august should be most of the time??