All The Small Things

155

[Jacob POV]

I got off work a little early, but not substantially. I was out at 7 instead of 7:30. I sat in my truck for a couple of minutes, just trying to de-stress before going to get Luca. I knew he was gonna be clingy and probably get loud, which I really didn't mind. I just had to take a minute to prepare myself beforehand since we were pretty busy tonight. I drove to Carter's house and knocked on the door, only having to wait a couple of seconds before he answered.
"Hey," He greeted me before inviting me in. I noticed Luca's shoes neatly lined against the wall, which didn't really surprise me.
"Dady!" Luca shouted, standing up and running to me from the living room. He hugged me tight as I pecked his forehead.
"You have fun?" I asked, gently pushing the stray hairs that fell out of his pig tails away from his face.
"Side..." He told me, reaching up.
"You went outside?" I asked, following Carter back into the living room. Two other littles were still there. As I sat on the couch, I felt Luca nod against me.

Carter and I were talking about Luca's day, specifically about how he ate most of his food, when he climbed back on my lap after getting Leo from where he was lying down. It would've totally been fine if he didn't knee me directly in the dick.
"Ow, fuc-" I groaned, forcing myself to shut up before I finished the cuss word. The pain didn't really last that long, but Jesus Christ, it hurt while it did.
"Get owie...?" Luca asked, extremely confused. Carter was giving me a second to get through it while trying not to laugh, and the two littles were busy playing on their own.
"Yeah," I groaned, less visibly pained than last time I spoke.
"I kiss better?" Luca innocently offered, instantly making me shake my head.
"Noooo. Not there. You can't kiss there," I told him, confusing him a little more. I looked over at one of my best friends who was trying not to crack up about it.
"Well, I mean, Luca had a good day," He continued telling me. "I'm gonna let you get home and fix any problems that might've caused you,"

Luca got his boots on when I asked him, we grabbed his stuff, Luca said bye, and then we left.
"Why can't kiss it better?" Luca asked after we got in the truck while I was putting the key into the ignition.
"Cause that's Dady's penis. You can't kiss it while you're a little baby," I tried to explain.
"Why?" He asked.
"Baby, I can't tell you while you're small," I mumbled, backing out of the driveway. Luca pouted the whole way home and reminded me he wasn't a baby more than once. It was unrelated to the conversation we would be having, but I guess he just had to tell me regardless. Carter mentioned the other littles being closer to 5 or 6 when they're regressed, so I figured it had something to do with that.

"Dady, I not a baby. Kay?" He reminded me again in the middle of a radio station ad about rotating your tires.
"Oh, really? You know, only babies get pacifiers," I reminded him, making him reconsider his answer.
"Oh... Maybe I just a little bit a baby then," He reasoned. We got home, and I told him not to unpack the stuff in his backpack since he was going tomorrow, too. He just set it down next to the front door before asking me to hug him.
"Come here," I mumbled, sitting on the couch and reaching out for him. Luca grinned and climbed in my lap, not kneeing me this time, and let me kiss his head until he was ready to go to sleep.

True to my word, he had to go tomorrow too. He wasn't upset about going. He just wanted skin to skin. Luca was entirely non-verbal the whole morning, including when I dropped him off. Carter let us in, and I could hang around for a minute since he got up a little more willing than last time.
"Hey," I said to Carter as I stepped inside his house with Luca in my arms since he only would get out of the truck. By me carrying him.
"Hi. He want breakfast?" Carter asked, making me look at Luca for a second before shaking my head.
"He normally doesn't," I mumbled.
"You want coffee?" He asked me his time.
"Yeah, that'd be great," I agreed, trying to set my fiance down. I put him on his feet, only getting the start of a meltdown.

"Hold me," He loudly whined, close to crying. I thought to myself, 'Jesus Christ, please not here,'. I thought for a second before picking him back up, regardless of how my arms started hurting. I've been lifting so much stuff, so it's not entirely caused by Luca demanding to be held 24/7. But, they still hurt. I felt bad for what Carter would deal with when I had to leave.
"You just want it black, right?" He called from the kitchen.
"Yeah," I answered loudly as Luca buried his head in my neck.

He's still extra sensitive a lot of the time, regardless of how little the other aspects of grief are showing up. I rubbed his back and let him cling to me while Carter and I talked. At some point, a girl came over to us and tried to talk Luca into playing.
"You wanna do blocks?" She asked after he lifted his head.
"Yeah, why don't you go play, baby?" I suggested, "I really should get going anyway," I set him down and kissed his head, telling Carter bye and stepping outside before he could start crying.

[Luca POV]

I'd felt really clingy and emotional since I first woke up this morning, so when Dady left, I wasn't in a good mood. As soon as he shut the front door behind him, I started crying.
"Don't cry," Sage attempted to comfort me, trying to hug me, but it didn't help.
"Hun," Carter mumbled, picking me up. "Sage, go play with Claire,"
"Dady!" I cried, full-blown sobbing in less than a minute. Hell, in less than 30 seconds. Carter sat down on the couch with me in his lap, patting my back and cooing at me. When he told the other littles to just play and that I was fine, I knew that they were staring at me. Which just made me want my Daddy even more. After almost 10 minutes of just being held, I had stopped sobbing, and my crying had slowly dissipated to sniffles, but I still didn't wanna be set down.
"Your Dady wasn't kidding. You are clingy," He mumbled, accepting I wasn't gonna be okay with being put down.

I stuck my thumb in my mouth and rested my head on his chest, ready to go back to sleep when Claire said she wanted to be held too. Claire had blue hair that went down to her elbows, and I couldn't help but compare my body to hers cause she was super pretty.
"Claire, I can't hold you right now. He's a whole lot younger than you. You know how some littles are like babies or toddlers, and some are big kids?" Carter asked after telling him to come sit next to him.
"Yeah..." She quietly answered.
"Well, Luca's 'bout two right now. And you know some babies like to be held all the time?" He asked again, getting the same answer from her. "And then they cry really loud when they aren't being held. But you know when I can hold you?"
"When?" She asked as I started rocking myself.
"When he's taking a nap. And babies take a lot of naps," He said, making Claire smile and slide off the couch to go play with Sage again.

He eventually got out the same palletes for us as he did yesterday, but I didn't wanna lay down. He put a movie on and took me off his lap, nicely telling me to go lay down. But it didn't matter how nicely he told me because I was almost instantly crying again.
"My Dady!" I cried, putting my fingers in my mouth. I didn't wanna be here. I wanted him. And I wanted my Momma...
"Luca, c'mon," Carter gently whispered, standing up and guiding me by my hand to where I laid down yesterday. He sat next to the setup and patted it, signaling for me to lay down.

I saw my blankie Dady gave me and really wanted to hold it, so while I was still sobbing, I laid down and let him lay it on top of me. I laid on my belly cause if I laid on my back, my tears got in my nose, which only upset me more. Carter firmly and rhythmically patted my back as a way to soothe me.
"Claire, come here," He called to her from where she was lying. Her head turned instantly, only taking a second before she picked up her blanket and climbed in his lap. I didn't care, I wanted my Dady. Mine. I eventually tired myself out, so while he was still comforting me, I fell asleep.