Cover me in sunshine (Completed)

chapter 13

The eyes-rays, pinkish cheeks and small hands that reach out to him. Pete knows that no matter what the weather is outside, this little sunshine greets him every morning.

Aw, what a miracle you are, Venice!

"Hey," it sounds behind them as Pete wipes the baby after bathing.

"Good morning," Pete turns his head - Vegas is already in his suit.

They even smile the same. Not only with lips, but also with eyes. Hopefully, Venice won't start twisting his mouth as often as his elder brother when he grows up.

"Since today, you have breakfast and dinner with me. And on weekends we also have lunch together. I'm waiting for you downstairs."

Pete manages to close his mouth before holding it in a shape of the letter "O" for an indecent long time.

"Uh... All right. I'm going to dress the baby now. And it will be necessary to take his table."

Vegas grins, - well, how can it be without this!- picks up Venice's table with one hand and carries it out of the room.

"Breakfast is getting cold."

Everything is already set in the dining room. Pete usually has a sandwich and coffee in the morning, but today, in front of him - as well as in front of Vegas and Venice - there is a bowl of oatmeal porridge. On the table there are vases with berries, jam, honey and sliced fruits. And a basket with fresh pastries.

"Mmm... why did you decide to switch to porridge?"

Vegas squints.

"Well, no one wanted to cook it for me. So... I decided to try it myself."

"Hmm," Pete raises his eyebrows in surprise, with a smile, "really?"

"Are you doubting my cooking skills?"

Pete shrugs.

"Really? Pfft, is it a big deal? To cook porridge. What's complicated about that?"

Pete ties the bibs to Venice and the hedgehog, which was placed next to the baby. In response to Vegas' words, he only tightens his lips to keep from laughing.

"Okay," Vegas groans, "they helped me in the kitchen. A little bit."

Pete nods quickly several times, barely restraining his amusement.

Vegas jerks his chin up.

"Okay. Today I was just watching. But there's really nothing complicated. I'll cook it myself next time."

"I believe it," Pete finally lets out a chuckle.

Vegas teases, then mutters "enjoy your meal" and starts eating.

"Bon appetit, Khun Vegas."

In response, a nod follows, then breakfast takes place in relative silence.

After that, Pete goes out into the garden with Venice in his arms. Before going to the office, Vegas once again reminds him about the check from custody.

"Have you prepared everything?"

"Yes. Don't worry."

"I'll be there early. About five. They will also talk to me, but the main thing is that they need to see that Venice lives in comfort and is properly cared of. Is that clear?"

"Sure."

Vegas nods and turns to the parking lot. At this moment, the baby sitting in Pete's arms begins to behave restlessly. Pete assumes that Venice needs the toilet, but the kid pulls the hands towards his brother, muttering "Vegas".

Pete lowers him to the ground, and Venice starts stomping his little feet along the path, intending to catch up with Vegas. The latter stops and smiles slightly. The baby who hobbled up to him hugs his brother's left leg. Pete notices how Vegas's eyes begin to shine with moisture, he bends down, picks up his brother in the arms and hugs him tightly, whispering: "I will never let you down, my baby."

Pete, who is biting his lower lip with all his might, really wants to be in these arms now too. But he does not dare to disturb their little world.

In the afternoon, Pete doesn't even have time to think about lifting Venice's table for lunch, as a new one is brought into the nursery. Obviously, Vegas has already taken care of the second dining place for his brother. Today they are reading a book about animals and birds, of course, looking at bright pictures more. Pete names the animal and imitates the sounds it makes. Venice happily repeats "meow-meow", "woof-woof", "moo". When they reach the turkey, the kid pokes at the picture with his finger and cheekily shouts: "Vegas!"

Pete almost falls to the floor laughing. He hugs Venice.

"You're so smart, my sweet baby."

I hope your elder brother won't hear it, though.

The nursery is in perfect order. Pete's documents are quite okay. The baby is clean, in fresh clothes, with a healthy blush on his delicate cheeks. There is simply nothing to find fault with. Therefore, the commission that came to him has practically no questions. Just, one of the two ladies asked about the motives for choosing this kind of occupation, but Pete, with all his sincerity, answered the same thing as to Vegas - he has been used to taking care of babies since his own childhood. Both ladies smiled, wrote something down in their notebooks and left the nursery to talk to Vegas.

After that, Pete decides to put Venice to bed so that he can take a nap before dinner. Pete is so nervous that he is simply unable to play with the baby. But Venice does not want to fall asleep in any way: he kicks the legs, turns over on his tummy and back, pulls the hedgehog and hums all the time. Then Pete picks him up and sits down, placing Venice on his laps. The baby is sitting facing him, chubby fingers grabbing Pete's nose.

"Home."

Pete can't help but smile. It's not the first time the baby calls him that. But the fact is that with all this fuss, he does not notice how Vegas has been watching them from the threshold for several minutes.

"Indeed," agrees a slightly hoarse voice.

Pete still has anxiety lurking in his eyes.

"How did it go?.."

Vegas goes into the nursery and squats down in front of them.

"Well, except for the question 'have you ever had sex with another man in front of your younger brother?' - tolerable."

Pete is not shocked. He knows that these people, especially in such a delicate situation when it comes to the deprivation of parental rights of the mother in favor of the older brother, with whom the child has only a mutual father, may ask worse things. Unfortunately.

"I understand everything, Khun Vegas," Pete gently touches his hand, "but you still got off in an easy way, believe me."

"Yeah. Easy," Vegas grins, "okay, they're already gone, forget it. The first court trial is in a week. I need to pull myself together."

"Everything will be alright," Pete puts his hand on Vegas' knee, "you have someone to fight for."

Vegas covers his hand with his own, and with the other he strokes Venice's head.

"I know, Pete, I know."

They sit like that for a while. Then Vegas says:

"Listen, of course, I promised to have dinner together, but I have to work out one thing, so tonight - without me."

Pete nods as Vegas' phone rings. Pete accidentally sees whose name is displayed on the screen. Vegas winks at both of them, gets up and leaves the nursery, but Pete manages to hear "I'll pick you up in forty minutes."

Well, yes. And what exactly was I counting on?..

Pete wants to bite his lip again. Not from emotion, but from his own naivety and ... resentment.

If so... If you spend time with him again... Then why was it all?