Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Leighton
We’d been hiking for about an hour and everything I’ve seen is just gorgeous. We’ve even seen a few wild animals. Valentino says they generally don’t bother anyone. I figure he’s a big guy, he can take care of us.
“I know the perfect place we can stop and have our lunch,” Valentino says.
I smile as I take his hand, his speech back at the house has me thinking. Do I believe in soulmates and love at first sight? That there truly is one person that was made just for you? Maybe. Okay, fine. I feel it, I want to be with him and I can’t explain why. I had a dream last night about Kayla. She was telling me that I need to open up and take more chances. That Valentino is my person, that person we always talked about finding. I begged her not to leave—I needed her, Davis needed her. When I woke up, my pillow was wet from my tears. I miss her so damn much.
“Are you okay?” Valentino’s voice breaks through my daydream.
“I’m okay. I’m sorry, all this beauty around us makes me miss Kayla so much. She should be here with Davis. Not me.”
Valentino stops and turns to me.
“I know you miss her, but you’re supposed to be here. With me and with Davis. Growing up I always wondered about my parents. Why they gave me up, or if they even had a choice. But so far? I’ve gotten nothing, I’ve even had Sebastiano Mancini and Francesco help me. They’re the best at finding information. I told myself that as hard as it is, I need to get past it and live my life. If I keep dwelling on the past, I’ll never be okay.”
Who knew Valentino was so deep? When you look at him, you’d never think these things would come out of his mouth. He’s six foot three and covered in tattoos. He looks like a badass and yet he says these things that just melt my heart.
We get to a place near another pond and he stops. The pond has a tiny waterfall and the spray is misting, creating a rainbow. I love it. I pull out the blanket and cushioning pad we brought to sit on. Then help him get the backpack off. Davis has fallen asleep so I lay him down. Valentino helps me get the food and drinks out, he gives me little kisses as we move around.
I’ve had boyfriends, but never someone who gave me attention like he does. It’s really nice, but it’s not something I’m used to. Growing up, I remember getting hugs when we were little. But after a while, instead of hugs, our father started to hit us. So as much as I love hugs…well…I’m just not used to them.
“This spot is beautiful, I can’t wait for Davis to wake up so we can get some pictures.”
“This is where I’ve been coming since I was a teenager. I found it one day and I noticed no one was around. There’s so many ponds here that most times you can find one that’s hardly used.”
“Thank you for today. I really appreciate all that you’re doing for us.”
“Baby, you should know by now that I’ll do anything for you and Davis. Anything.”
I lean forward and kiss him. Valentino is turning out to be the one I never knew I needed. Davis giggles beside us.
“Looks like someone is up.” Valentino smiles as he picks Davis up. “And he needs a change.”
I laugh and grab a diaper and wipes. I start to take Davis from him.
“I can change him,” he says as he sticks his tongue out.
He keeps doing more and more to make me fall for him. When he’s done, Davis is pointing at the picnic and then to his mouth. It’s amazing how much he does now to communicate. I can’t wait to see what his first words are. I hand him a strawberry and watch him grin as he uses what I call his bunny teeth to gnaw at it. He looks at the both of us and smiles, his mouth looks like he’s wearing strawberry lipstick.
“Looks like the strawberry lost.” Valentino laughs as he hands Davis another strawberry.
Valentino feeds me a piece of an apple, my tongue grazes his thumb and I watch his pupils dilate. He grabs a peach and bites into it. Holy fuck that’s hot…biting into a peach should not be that hot. He smiles as he watches my reaction.
Davis giggles and reaches for a banana. I take it to peel it for him and he feeds me some before smooshing it, then eating it. Thank god he shared with me first. I love him but I don’t know about eating his smooshed banana.
We spend another hour there, talking and enjoying each other. We even dip our feet in the cold pond.
“I bet it’s a lot of fun here in the summer. I can’t wait to come back and swim in the ponds. I saw a few with bigger waterfalls. By then Davis will be older too. Maybe we can take one of the four-wheelers out.”
“Definitely. We’ll have a lot of fun when summer comes,” Valentino says as he kisses me.
“You spoil me and you need to stop.” I chuckle.
“I’ll never stop spoiling you.”
I don’t know what I did to deserve him, but I’m starting to understand this feeling he was talking about. This pull I feel to him is crazy. I want to be near him, touching him, at all times.
“We should head home,” I say softly.
Valentino looks up at the sky. “It does look like it might rain.”
We both clean up and get everything packed again. Davis is the last to go into the backpack. He’s always such a happy baby, he yawns and starts to doze off as we head home.
When we get to the house we’re staying in, I don’t want him to leave.
“Would you like to stay for dinner? I don’t know what I can cook…maybe we can go shopping?”
“I’ll go shopping, then cook you and Davis dinner.”
Fuck me. He cooks too?
Valentino
I head to the grocery store after I help Leighton put Davis down for his afternoon nap. I’m trying to figure out what to make as I drive. I miss my motorcycle. But because we have Davis, I make sure I bring one of the cages that we own. I grab everything I need to make her salmon and garlic mashed potatoes. And for veggies, I grab zucchini. All these things I can make soft enough for Davis to eat too.
I’ve always loved living in Lake Renegade and now that I have Leighton and Davis, I love it even more. I’ll get to teach Davis about the history of our town and the families that built it. I can’t wait.
I knock on the door and wait for Leighton to answer.
“You don’t have to knock.” She laughs, opening the door and giving me a kiss. “You’re not a stranger anymore.”
“Good to know.” I smile, heading to the kitchen.
“What are you making?”
“It’s a surprise. But you can plant your gorgeous ass on that stool and keep me company.”
“Let me grab the baby monitor.”
I get everything out and start to prep for dinner.
“I got stuff we all can eat. It’s soft enough for Davis to gum to death. Or he can use those sharp little rabbit teeth.”
Leighton laughs. “I love his bunny teeth. You know what I’m excited for? His first word, I wonder what it will be.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, what will Davis call you? ‘Mama’?"
She takes a deep breath.
“When Kayla was alive, she wanted Davis to call me ‘mama.’ She was ‘mommy.’ She said she wanted him to know that he has the two of us. She gave birth to him, but I was just as much his mom. We split everything when it came to Davis. Work schedules, dates, you name it.”
When Leighton mentions dating other men, I can’t help but frown. I know she’s not a hermit, but I don’t want to hear about an ex. She’s mine.
“So are you okay with him calling you ‘mama’? I think that’s how it should be. Kayla will always be his mommy. But you’re raising him, you’re his mama.”
Leighton thinks for a minute.
“Yeah, I think I will. Before Kayla died, I always told her I should be aunty. But she never liked that, she even said what if something happened to her? Davis will need to know that I won’t leave him.”
“That makes sense, she wanted to make sure you and Davis had that connection. Kayla sounds like she was a great person.”
Leighton is so easy to talk. Listening to her stories with Kayla and then with Davis makes me wish I had been there from the beginning. But I do believe in fate and I think that there was a plan in there for us. Now it’s up to us to make it happen.
As I start to cook the salmon, we hear Davis babbling on the monitor. So far I haven’t seen him cry, he fusses but all-out crying? Nope. He reminds me of Grayson, he’s got that kind of temperament. I can’t wait to watch them grow up together. Leighton comes back in with Davis.
“Hey little man. How was your nap?” I ask him as I lean over to kiss him then Leighton.
Davis giggles and reaches out for me to take him.
“You have to wait, Papa is cooking,” Leighton tells him, which makes him pout.
I grab a spoon and let him try my mashed potatoes. That brings a smile to his face.
“You’re a natural with him. It’s like he knew from the start that you were his papa.”
“Thank you, I spend a lot of time with the kids when we’re home.”
“You’re very patient and I love that about you.”
“You love that about me? That means you love me?” I tease her.
Leighton laughs.
“I love different aspects about you. I’m not one hundred percent sure if I love you…yet.”
“You love me.” I chuckle.
We sit down to eat and I make a mini version of our plates for Davis.
“This is delicious. Who taught you to cook?” she asks me.
“Mam taught me. She said that every man should know how to cook at least a few dishes. Never expect your woman to do all the cooking or all the cleaning. Partnership is the key to any relationship.”
“Your mam is a great woman. You’re very lucky to have her.”
“I am lucky. Giacomo and Caitríona saved me from myself. If I hadn’t met them, I don’t know what I’d be doing or even where I’d be.”
“You said before that things happen for a reason. So you meeting the Bastianinis was meant to happen. You’re a good person, that much I know. And you deserved to be saved. My siblings and Kayla helped me, kept me sane when I thought I wanted to just give up.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
“Me too. Especially now that Davis needs me, and well, I met you.”
I look over at Davis as he yawns.
“Maybe we should give him a bath. I think the salmon attacked him during dinner.”
Leighton laughs.
“You should’ve seen the first time we fed him baby food. The faces he would make were hilarious and half the time he would spit it out. I’ll find the videos and send them to you.”
“I’d like that,” I say as I pick Davis up and we head upstairs to the bathroom.
“I’ll grab his bath stuff and be right back,” she says as I nod.
“You ready for a bath? I’m pretty sure you got more salmon and mashed potatoes on you than in you.”
I turn the water on to let it warm up and then start filling the tub. I find some bubble bath in the cabinet and set it aside while I get him undressed. I put him in the sink so I can get my shirt off, I’m pretty sure I’m going to get wet doing this and I don’t have any extra clothes. Davis looks at my tattoos and points to them.
“Tattoos,” I say to him. “When you turn eighteen you can get one too.”