I have good news!!!! I am on break right now so I'm able to update more often!!! I apologize that the previous chapter was short! I tried to make this chapter longer!
Until next time!!!!
Bye!!!! J
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Chapter 22: Bonding
Ricardo P.O.V
I am on autopilot mode after I processed what the doctor has said about Sapphire being dead. I can't begin to describe the emotional pain I'm going through right now. I want to just break down and curse the fates for being so cruel but I have to think about my son who will need all the support and care I can give to get him through this tragedy.
He will have a hard understanding the fact that he will not be able to see or get his mother's love anymore. It is going to break my heart into little pieces when I have to explain that he will never see his mother again and see his tears and possibly in denial about his mother's death.
I am brought out of my thoughts when I find myself standing in front of Dante's room, my hands shaking from exhaustion emotionally as well as physically. I didn't even realize that I am done with speaking with that nurse about preparing Sapphire's body for her funeral.
I force my shaking hand to push down the handle and open the door. The first thing I see when I enter the room is my son who is still sleeping and that sitting or sleeping next to him is my secretary. As I walk closer into the room I can see that she is holding onto my sons hands like she is afraid he is going to disappear. My heart throb a bit as I realize she must also be in pain from losing her only sister who she has not met for years.
As I stand there looking at them I see that Miss Jones is shivering a little and I frown, she must be cold sitting in this room without a proper sweater so I walk towards the cupboard and open it to see the spare blanket I am looking for. So I grab it and walk towards Miss Jones and put the blanket over her gently so that I don't wake her up from her much needed rest.
She just unconsciously pull the blanket closer to her but didn't wake up so I went and sat down on Dante's other side. I didn't know how tired I was until I sat down on the cushion chair and instantly felt my eye lids are so heavy that after fighting to stay awake for a minute I gave up and let myself fall asleep.
I am startle awake by the sound of rustling of blankets so when I am awake enough to open my eyes I see that Dante is waking up. He is moving around the bed like he is trying to find a comfortable spot. I look out the window and see that it's late morning already and there is breakfast prepared on the table for Dante. A nurse must have came here early this morning and I was too tired to hear the nurse come in.
After a minute of moving around he opens his eyes and look around the room before he's eyes start to water and about to cry. So I quickly got up the comfortable chair and try to soothe him. "Hey it's okay nothing will hurt you here," I cooed at him while gently rubbing his head. He sniffles and looks at my face and did something that shocks me.
"Dada!" he cried with such happiness and hugs me as hard as he could. I am too shock as to how he seems to know that I am his father that I am frozen for a few seconds before I recover from my shock and hug him as well.
I squeeze him lightly and kiss his cheek while whispering soothing words to stop him from crying. Even my eyes went a little misty as this is the first time I am bonding with my son since he was born.
"I'm here. I will never leave you," I assure him. He just sniffles trying to stop from crying. "I miss you. I never see you," he sniffles softly and if his mouth is not by my ear I would not have heard him. My heart broke when he said that. "I'm so sorry I never visited you," I chocked out.
"How do you know that I'm your dada?" I question him, curious to know. "Photo. Mommy sow a lot of dada pitures," he mutters softly. My heart warm at the thought that Sapphire showed who his real father is. But that also made my heart ache because now I will never be able to show my gratitude to Sapphire for taking care and protecting Dante with all her might as she will be buried six feet under ground by the end of today.
I realize now that he has to look at pictures of his mother if he wants to remember her when growing up. He will never have both parents together as his mother passed away already and before this he did not have a father. After a long time he gets to meet his father but he losses his mother at the same time.
I am contemplating on how to break the news to his fragile state of emotion right now as it might make snap if I am not careful how I explain the situation when I heard someone in the room clear their throat.
I look towards where the sound is coming from and see that my secretary has already woken up from her sleep and is looking at Dante with and hopeful expression. Then it dawn on me that she also wants to meet Dante for the first time. So I gently pull him from me, then he started frowning when I point to where Miss Jones is and his eyes follow to where I am pointing.
"See that lady over there, she is your mommy's sister, which makes her your aunty," I said introducing his aunty. "H-hi," Miss Jones stutters nervously. As soon as he looks at her for a second he leap towards her and gave a tight hug. "Aunty you look like mommy," Dante said and I can see Miss Jones crying silently while hugging him like he is going to disappear.
I admit even I am holding back tears when he said those words. After he said that did I see how similar the sisters look when I studied Miss Jones properly as I don't really look at my secretary appearance since she started working for me.
They both have the same vibrant red hair that I love, the same heart shape face and they have the same high cheekbones. The differences between them is that while Sapphire had beautiful green eyes while her sister has a mixture of blue and green, also Sapphire nose is tall and thin while Miss Jones has a small button nose.
I stare at the both of them hugging each other and wish that it's Sapphire hugging our son and be a family together but I know its wishful thinking but I am only human. Even after she left me I still couldn't fool myself into thinking that I don't love her anymore as every time I see something that Sapphire likes I would instantly remember her.
The sound of my son's soft voice brought me out of my reverie. "Why you cry aunty," Dante asks his aunty. She shook her head and says, "I am crying happy tears as I am just happy to be able to meet you."
"Oh okay. You stay with me now?" he asks her. Miss Jones just nodded her head and gave a kiss to is forehead. "I'll stay with you from now on," she told Dante with a determined resolve.
He nodded his head and hugs his aunty again before letting go and getting off her lap and crawl over the bed to sit on my lap. Rubbing his small face on my chest like a cat when it wants attention.
My heart warm at the sight of my son taking comfort from me. I didn't even care that my secretary is in the room and can see a side of me that I have tried to bury deep inside me after what happen three years ago.
I didn't think of anything but how I am going to try to be the best father I could possibly be for Dante. I kiss his forehead and said "I love you, my son" to him and he replies with a "love you too dada." After about a minute of him rubbing his face on my chest he stops and looks at me with a curious eyes and asks the question I have been dreaded to answer.
"Mommy where?"
Scarlett P.O.V
I start to wake up when I hear voices penetrate on my sleep so I slowly stretch my arms and blink a couple of times before I am fully awake. The first thing I see is my boss and his son hugging each other tightly like they had just met after a long separation and they missed each other terribly.
I never thought that I would see this side of my boss that cares for something other than his work. I don't know how he can cope with my sister's death and having to raise his three years old son on top of that. I hope he will let me take care of him sometime as I also want to bond with Dante and he is going to need a mother figure that he can talk to.
Although I will never try to replace his mother. I will just be like a second mother to him whenever he needs it. After staring at them for a few minutes I clear my throat to get my boss's attention so that he will let me talk with Dante. He lifts his head when he heard me and must have seen the way I stare at Dante longingly as he introduces me to Dante as his aunt.
"H-hi," I said nervously at him. He stares at me with his eyes just like his father for a second before he jumps from his father's lap into mine. I am a little startle but I manage to catch him and we both hug each other. I don't know why I keep thinking that he is going to disappear if I don't have him within sight.
I didn't realize I am crying until I felt drops of water land on my hand and when Dante said "aunty you look like mommy." I ended up crying even more as I really did look like my sister. People would mistake us as identical twins until they look closer and see the difference in our eye color and our different shape nose. I didn't even realize that I am crying in front of my boss who does not like when people are emotional and cry in his presence but he didn't say anything.
Dante's words just made me miss my sister so much more as before she ran away from home we were very close with each other and even though we would occasionally fight with each other about stuff we would always make up again. This also leads me to think about how my three year old nephew going to cope with not having his mother to take care of him anymore.
Then he asks me in a very cute childlike voice, "why you cry aunty." I didn't want to tell him why I am crying so I said, "I am crying happy tears as I am just happy to be able to meet you." He looks at me with a skeptical look in his eyes but he must have decided to let it go as he asks, "oh okay. You stay with me now?"
To answer him I nod my head and said with determination, "I'll stay with you from now on." He gave me a cute nod before he hug me tightly one more time and climb out of my lap and crawl over the bed to sit on his father's lap.
Once Dante is sitting on his father's lap he did the most adorable thing I have ever seen a toddler do. He actually rubs his small cute face on his father's chest like a kitten who wants attention from its owner.
I look at my boss and I see him give genuine smile that is full of love and adoration towards his son. It made him look more human than I have ever seen since I first met him until now.
What made me really know how much my boss cares for his son is when he gave a kiss to Dante's fore head and said, "I love you, my son," with such raw emotion that it brought tears to my eyes. Dante replies with a "love you too, dada." I know he won't show this side of him to anyone but his son.
It feels like both of them are in their own world until after a few minutes he stops rubbing his face on his father's chest and sat up, look at his father and asks the question that me and Mr. Giovanni have been avoiding as long as possible.
"Mommy where?"
We both sat both sat still until the sound of my phone ringing broke the tense silence that descended in the room after Dante asks that question. I quickly search my handbag for my phone, pretty sure that it's Bethany calling me and I am right when I see the caller ID.
I look at my boss and said "Sorry I need to take this call." He just gave me a nod so I got up from the chair but when Dante looks worried I promise him that I will be back and after he's sure that I will be back I left the room to explain everything that happened today to Beth.
"Hello. Beth," I said after I accept the call. As soon as I finish speaking I can hear Beth's worried voice lecturing me about where I am and why I have not answer her calls and she told how worried she is about me.
"I'm fine. I'm at the hospital right now. Something really bad happen," I told Beth. Then I began to explain everything that happen from receiving a call from my boss last night until right now.