His flowers

Chapter 4

                                Violet

"I missed you my dear!" Alessandro's mom tackles me in hugs as soon as she sees me. "Oh, Violeta." She pulls away looking at me. "You're more beautiful each time I see you."

She hugs Oak and Brie soaking us all in.  "I missed you three so much." She squeezes our faces together smiling brightly. "Alessandro's been a grump ever since he's stopped hanging around you." She pats the sides of our faces.

"I have not mamma." Alessandro grumbles as he walks into the room. My heart thumps rapidly in my chest. We haven't talked to him yet. I've been avoiding it.

Freya rolls her eyes at her son. "Can I use your bathroom?" Brie sheepishly asks.

"Of course, down the hall." Freya smile brightly.

My eyes catch Niko eating a pink cupcake. My stomach lightly grumbles as he picks the strawberry off the top. Jenna clasps his hand in hers walking him over to us.

"Niko, I want you to meet some of our friends." The little boy looks up as us, his eyes matching his moms.

"This is Violet and Oakley." She points at us.

His eyes flicker between us, "hi I'm Niko!" He grins, showing his missing front tooth. I literally melt in my spot at his cuteness.

"You're pretty." He grins at me making me chuckle. "Can you come with me outside?"

"Of course." I smile at him getting off the couch. His small hand grabs mine as we walk outside. "It's a little hot here." He says fanning himself. "Come here."

He pulls me to one of the jumpers. "Go there with me."

"I can't." I frown. "I want to but I have two babies in my stomach so I can't jump." He looks down to my stomach smiling. "In there?" He whispers pointing to my stomach.

"Mhm," I nod. "That's cool. Can they be my friends?" He lightly presses a finger to my stomach, poking it.

A laugh leaves my throat, a side effect pregnancy gave me is feeling ticklish. "Of course they can."

After much convincing, Niko went into the jumper alone while I stood at the sides watching through the colorful squares.

"Amore." I jump at the feeling of his hand on my back. Tingles run down my back making me shiver. "You've been out here for quite a while, let's get you some water and have you sit."

I nod trying to normalize my breathing as he takes my hand walking us to the closest chairs. "How are
You feeling? Are your feet hurting? Are you hungry?"

"I'm fine." I can't help the chuckle that slips through my lips. Alessandro's face lights up at the sound. He sits next to me passing me a cold water.

"Can we talk?" He questions scratching the back of his neck. I chug down the mini bottle of cold water before answering.

I look around the backyard in search for Brie or Oak. "I already talked to them." He says, making my attention shift back to him. "I wanted to talk to you alone."

"Ok." I gently sit the water down turning my attention to him.

"I'm sorry." He clears his throat, "I'm really sorry that I never called or texted. I wanted to, but I didn't know if you'd want me to." He mumbles looking down.

"Of course I wanted you to, Alessandro." I sigh feeling my eyes burn. "I waited for it every day. You promised me. And I believed you." My voice cracks making him look up.