Valentine's Day special (again)

Chapter twelve

February, 14, 2023
Rufus
1:35pm

“I’m here, I’m here” Mateo said running up to me holding a basket of stuff

“Hey babe” I said and kissed his sweaty forehead

“I got your gift” He said breathing hard

“Thank you babe, why are you so tired?” I laughed holding him close and hugged him

“Getting your gift was a lot” Mateo said and caught his breath

“So was yours” I said and showed him the books

“Oh cool” Mateo said amazed and put my basket down and grabbed the book and I took the basket

“And that's not all, Follow me” I told him and we walked to the bookstore Joel worked at and I gave him the tickets

“You didn’t” Mateo gasped

“I did” I said and kissed his lips

We walked in and I saw Vale again, he was sitting in a big fabric chair strumming a guitar

“Vale?” I asked and got his attention

“Hey Rufus” Vale smiled

“You know him?” Mateo asked me

“He helped me get your books” I answered

“Didn't know you got tickets” Vale smiled at me as an man walked behind him holding hands with a little girl

“Hey” Mateo said happily

“You know him?” I asked him

“I met him at Walmart, wait is this your son?” Mateo asked

“Sure is” Valentino smiled as his daughter smiled at Mateo

I looked ahead to see the same guy in the Yankees hat signing autographs

“Holy shit, your dad was the author? Why didn’t you just tell me?” I asked Vale

“Because it was funnier not to” He said giving me a cocky smile

“You met Orion Pagan?” He asked me and started shaking a bit from excitement

“Kinda” I shrugged and Mateo walked to him to get his books signed

“Your boyfriend nice” The little dark skinned girl said

“Yeah he is” I smiled at her

“When he dies you’ll die right after him” She told me

“What the hell?” I asked shocked

“Lilac stop that” Valentino told her and grabbed her hand

I shook that weirdness off and watched Mateo talk to his favorite author and looked so excited

I love seeing him happy

I love seeing him smile

I love him so much