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

~mama~ chapter six

I knocked on her door softly when I approached it and entered after receiving a quiet 'come in'. When I did, she was sitting at her desk with a stack of papers in front of her, running a stressed hand through her thick, bright red hair.

"Sorry to be a bother, Mary, but could you maybe cover my last class today?" I asked her as sweetly as possible, making sure to give her my famous puppy dog eyes.

"Sure, honey, it's not a problem. I'll be in your classroom in a few." Her thick southern accent answered as she put her pen down.

"You're a life savor, thank you so much! I'll see you tomorrow." I called behind my back as I made my way back to my classroom, finding Davide packing my laptop into my tote bag.

"Are you ready, amore?" He asked, slinging my bag and August's over his broad shoulders. (Love.)

"Yeah, one sec. I'll grab August." I told him, quietly approaching the peaceful boy before carefully picking up his small body and adjusting him on my hip. I waited for a sign that he'd woken up or was disturbed in his slumber but all I received was his thin arms wrapping around my neck and cuddling towards my body. I cooed when I heard his adorably sweet voice mumble a soft 'comfy, mama' into my skin, it was so precious that I almost forgot about how easy it was to lift little August.

But I didn't.

I've never had the biggest muscles in the world. No, Davide has always been the strong one and I've been the sentimental one.

The fact that I'm able to hold August in my arms with no struggle worries me beyond belief. I've never seen how skinny he is because he wears baggy clothing a lot of the time but I know one thing for sure; he shouldn't be this light.

I caught Davide's worried look as I made my way out of the classroom, he was thinking the same thing.

I moved through the hallway swiftly with Davide following closely behind, being sure to hold an arm securely underneath August's bum and wrapping a strong hold around his waist, rubbing the skin softly so he stays asleep.

"Do you wanna sit with him in the back while I drive?" Davide asked as we approached our new Grand Wagoneer Jeep.

"Will you be okay, baby?" I asked him, concerned. I would love to sit with August and keep him safe because we don't have a car seat for him at the moment and he's too short to sit without one but I know Davide just made the hour long drive from the city to come surprise me at school. I don't want him to have to drive home, too.

"I'll be fine, tesoro." He replied lovingly, leaning down to place a kiss to my lips and run a gentle hand through August's hair before opening the back door for me and August. I stepped in, situating little Augie across my lap so he was straddling my waist and closed the door, soon after hearing Davide's door shut as well. (Darling.)

We sat in relative silence for the next hour, soft music played in the background but we stayed quiet to give August the best nap that was possible. Throughout the ride, I rubbed the expanse of his back and bounced him lightly lulling him into peacefulness. He was so deep into his sleep that he didn't even notice when we pulled into the parking garage of our apartment building and got out of the car.

Davide placed a loving hand on the small of my back, guiding me through the parking garage and into the elevator, taking us up to the fifty-third floor. We live in a penthouse in a large apartment building in the upper east side of Manhattan. The entire fifty-third floor is ours, it's a four bedroom and three and a half bath with windows as most of the walls, looking out at the city.