All The Small Things

79

[Luca POV]

It's been a couple of days since I got my medicine from Kayden and now Papa has to get our clothes and all that from his house. Today I get to hang out with Jess and Augustast while he takes Spade and Chris to get the stuff. And as of now, he's dropping me off outside their door. What if they aren't home? What if they don't want me here no more?
"Gimme a kiss, I gotta go," Papa told me as he unlocked the truck. I gently kissed his lips and he handed me Jupiter before I got out of the truck.
"Bye-bye, Papa," I mumbled, shutting the car door and running up to the house. I knocked hard and stimmed while waiting.
"My God, morning Babe! Come on," Jess greeted as she opened the front door more for me. I followed and let her get a good look at me when she asked to.
"Auggie is upstairs if you wanna go find him," She offered so I nodded and slid my shoes off before going to go find him.
"Auggie? Your momma told me to find you," I mumbled as I walked into his bedroom. I don't know what he was doing before I walked in but he quickly dropped something and looked at me.
"You gotta knock, Lukie," He whined, standing up and running up to me.
"M sorry," I told him as he hugged me.
"Is okay, but I was busy," He vaguely told me.
"You wanna try it?" He asked.
"Try what?" I asked, starting to pick at my face.

"Come here, my momma doesn't know what we doing so we gotta be quiet," He told me, starting to whisper. I followed him as he picked up two dolls, a boy and a girl, and held them up to me.
"You can make 'em kiss," He quietly told me, making me giggle.
"You're funny," I mumbled, sitting down next to him.
"You can make 'em do other stuff too," He alluded, somewhat confusing me. I know he means something dirty but I don't know exactly what he's talking about. He didn't bother to explain before handing me one.

When I heard his momma coming upstairs, I couldn't tell him cause she'd hear me so I tried to silently show him he needed to stop. He moved past kissing and was farther on at this point. He got the message seconds before Jess opened the bedroom door so it was suspiciously quiet when she walked in.
"What are you two up to?" She asked, trying to decipher what we could've been doing.
"Nothin', playin' Barbies," Auggie told her. I didn't know what to say so I just kept quiet.
"Lukie, what were ya doing?" She asked me instead.
"Playin' with dolls," I told her, following Auggies lead.
"Mkay, Babe. But I made you both something to eat, I know your papa wanted you to eat something over here," She told me, changing the subject. I stood up and followed her downstairs, Auggue following me. I sat at the table after Augustast did where the other plate was. Jess made mac n cheese and peas, which looked really good. Maybe I'm just hungry.

As I ate, I started feeling worse for not telling Jess all of it. It made me feel a little guilty at first, but the longer I thought about it the worse I felt. But I also don't want to 'snitch' on Auggie. Plus I left Jupiter upstairs so I can't even talk to him about it.
I looked over at Auggie who was eating and occasionally glancing at whatever Jess was doing. I think she was folding laundry right now but I'm not sure.
"Auggie, should we tell your momma?" I whispered, leaning closer to him.
"No, course not," He told me without another thought.
"But maybe-" I started.
"Just don't think 'bout it, are you a girl or something? Girls can't keep secrets," He told me, matter-of-factly.
"No! 'M not a girl!" I said, suddenly upset and willing to prove my point. Maybe it's cause my momma used to say I looked like a girl cause of my hips and want for long hair.

"You sure? You got real mad real quick and girls are emotional," He continued. I frowned and stared at him, unable to articulate how it hurted me.
"I not!" I shouted, my eyes tearing up. My sudden shouting caused Jess to come hurrying in though.
"Hey hey, what's wrong?" She quickly asked, shoving her phone into her pocket.
"I not a girl!" I told her. I don't like Auggie tryna say I am.
"I know," She reassured me, leaning down and kissing my forehead.
"Come here, let me talk to you," Jess said, taking my hand and gently guiding me to the living room. And I got a dirty glare from Auggie for it.
"What happened?" She asked, letting go of my hand as I stood in front of the coffee table.
"H-he said I was a girl 'cause I got mad!" I whined, pouting. It wasn't a good look for my 'I'm not emotional," but I was upset.

"I'm sorry he was teasing you, I know you're not a girl," She tried to comfort me. Like, there's nothing g wrong with being a girl but I don't feel like one. I feel like a boy, regardless of how my bone structure is set.

Jess wanted me and Auggie to play downstairs the rest of the time, probably because of how suspicious it looked earlier upstairs. Auggie didn't play with dolls downstairs, we played with cars instead. And he can't really make them kiss, but they can fight. Or however he said it. Eventually, there was a knock on the door and I hoped it was Papa. I love Auggie and Jess, but I missed him and wanted kisses. Jess opened the door and the second I heard him, I put my tennis shoes on.
"Hey, Bubba. You have fun?" Papa asked, still in the doorway. I quickly nodded and gave Auggie a very brief hug, jumping up and running over to him.

"Bye Lukie, I'll see you later," She said, kissing my cheek. I followed Papa out to the truck, climbed in, and tried to buckle. Spade was sitting in the middle so I smiled and told him hi.
"What did you two do? You guys play anything fun?" He asked as Papa stuck keys in the engine and turned it on.
"He made Barbies kiss. And do something else," I told him, not thinking much of it.
"Okay... Well, don't do that next time. You're just a little thing, you don't gotta be hearing about that stuff," Papa told me, glancing over from the road.
"Why?" I asked. I don't mean to be bratty or anything, I just don't know why. Auggie didn't say why either, just that his momma couldn't know.
"Because, Babe, that's not for when you're little," Papa briefly explained.
"What stuff did you get from Kayden?" I quietly asked, switching topics.
"Clothes, a lot of clothes, your wallet and keys, Kayden gave me your Ensures," He listed, most likely forgetting some stuff. I hope he got my teether cause I don't wanna bite on Spade when Papa works.

[Sorry mostly a filler chapter]