His Doctor

Sixteen

"No need to apologize Enzo. Shall we feast now?" I can tell Vanessa is trying to break the tenseness in the room, which isn't working all that well. "I would love to. Everything looks amazing." I attempt to help her out which seems like it works because everyone starts filling up their plate with the Italian cuisine sitting in front of us. After, we all start to eat slowly until Dom breaks the silence. "So... Kalani."

Oh here we go. Someone kill or help me.

"Tell us a bit about yourself." He says just before taking a bite of his pasta. "Well my last name is Cassano, and I am a doctor. I treated both of your sons and I met Sofia today." Their parents nod in response.

"And this is Kade! He's such a good doggy." Sofia exclaims and rubs Kade's head which brings a smile to my face. We all finish up and enjoy our dinner. I reach for my cup of water and take a sip. "So are you and my son Lorenzo dating?" I choke on my water and cough, trying to clear my throat as I place the glass down.

"Dom, don't be so straightforward with the poor girl." His wife scolds and she starts to rub my back to help. "Father, don't make such stupid accusations." Lorenzo's voice echoes through the whole room while he grips the table, making his knuckles turn white.

Ouch. Okay that one kind of hurt.

"And who are you Lorenzo to demand and tell me what to do?" All I can hear is Enzo's heavy breathing from him trying to control his anger. "I don't think it's stupid. She is gorgeous, also definitely a life saver and keeper." Leo says in an attempt to break the tension and sends me a wink.

Well it was definitely a dumb attempt. Like really Leonardo? Right now?

"I appreciate it, but no. I'm not dating anyone, nor do I belong to anyone." I direct my words to both twins but mostly Lorenzo which seems to piss him off. How is he going to flirt with me, treat me the way he does, ask me to work for him, and come to his own dinner with his family if he is just going to be an asshole.

"I apologize sweetie for my family's... outburst and behavior. I will clean this up." Their mom stands up and starts to clear the men's and her own dishes from the table. "May I help Vanessa?" I stand up, awaiting her response. "Oh dear, you don't have to." I give her a polite smile and start to pick up my dirty plate and silverware, as well as Sofia's.

"You're so kind, dear. Thank you." She shoots a death glare at the men still sat at the table. "Of course." I state as I follow her to the kitchen. We set them down in the sink, "Okay I am on washing duty, you are on drying duty." I nod as she starts to rinse and soap the dishes one by one. "Sof really loves to be around you, I can tell." She breaks the silence. "I love to be around her too. I love kids, and she is such a sweetheart." Vanessa gives an approving nod with a grin.

"I know this is kind of a silly thing to ask, but how do you tell the difference between Lorenzo and Leo-" My sentence gets cut off by yelling coming from the dining room once again. I hear Vanessa let out a sigh and she dries her hands on a rag. "I'm sorry, I'll go take care of that."

"It's okay. I'll follow and go occupy Sofia and Kade to get them away from the shouting. Just call me when you are done with the washing and I will do my part by drying." She hums in response while we walk out and into the room where all the chaos is being held.

"Sai che sei un vero padre stronzo!" ("You know you are a real asshole father!") Lorenzo shouts across the table, now standing up like his father. Alexandro has a grip on his best friend's forearm like how Leonardo has a grip on his father.

"Sono uno stronzo?! Sei tu che hai detto che uscire con Kalani è stata un'accusa stupida! Come pensi che la faccia sentire?! Sai che hai bisogno di a-" ("I'm an asshole?! You are the one who said that dating Kalani was a stupid accusation! How do you think that makes her feel?! You know you need a-")

"Both of you enough!" Vanessa shouts. "We have a guest and you two are acting like immature teenagers!" I look to my left and see Sofia balled up in a corner scared, blocked by Kade as he guards her. "Sophia. Let's go play with Kade somewhere, okay?" I grab my purse at the same time all of her family members stare in pity for Sof. "Look what you two caused. You frightened Sophia. And you know you aren't supposed to speak of such things in front of anyone!" V exclaimed at her family's childish way of acting.

They don't know I heard everything they said and I don't want to stick around them to find out more.

I grab Kade's leash and let Sofia take my hand and I let her walk us to wherever she would like to go. "Are you okay?" She sniffles and nods. I know she isn't fine but I don't want to push it. We stop at a door after we went up the many steps to a floor I don't even know the number of.

She opens the door and we follow her in. I absorb my surroundings and come to the conclusion that this is her room. It's surrounded by flowers and beautiful, yet peaceful animals like doves and butterflies. "Is this your room?" I say in awe while she guides us to sit on the bed. "Yes this is my room. Isn't it pretty?" She smiles and sniffles.

"It's very pretty Sofia." I smile back and she looks around as well. "Hey, do you want to do some tricks with Kade and feed him?" Her gaze meets mine happily and she nods eagerly. I turn and reach in my purse to grab out a bag of his treats and I give it to her. "Okay so just take one treat at a time and say a command of your choice like sit or lay down, and he will do it. After he does it, give him the treat." She nods and thinks of what to say. "Kade, spin." He does a three-sixty for her and she giggles, giving him the snack. "Lay down." She sticks her hand in the ziploc bag for another one as he settles his body on her floor. She grants Kade with the new treat.

I let her continue training and feeding my German Shepherd. I yawn after a few minutes and check my phone. It's already eleven p.m. I'm guessing Sof caught on that I was getting a little tired. "You can lay down on my bed if you want." I thank her and do as she says. "We are going to have to go soon." She groans in response. "Aw okay. Well Kade finished his treats." I nod and close my eyes to rest them. A few minutes later I feel her lie down and rest her head on my chest.

"Is this okay Kalani?" I grin, "Yes it is. You can sleep. It's late. We will be gone after." She hums as a reply and starts to drift off. I feel Kade jump up on the bed and lay his head on my knees while he falls asleep as well.

She looks comfortable and I don't want to wake her or Kade. I will stay for just a few more minutes. Before I know it, a few minutes turns into a few more minutes, and then a few more hours. I contemplate during those hours if I should leave but I can still hear yelling from downstairs. I couldn't stop myself from dozing off and I let my eyes shut.