●be mine, valentine●

chapter eleven

"Mama!"

Valentine lets out an involuntary groan when he hears the excited voice coming from his little one. He chooses to ignore the word, hoping that if he stayed quiet Luca would go back to sleep.

Usually he had no problem talking himself into waking up when Luca got up but this morning was different. When he got home after work last night he'd spent at least a few hours debriefing with Avery. It was two before he'd finally gone off to bed, joining Luca in his slumber.

It felt so good to just lay down and sleep. He wishes he could do it all day long.

"Mama n' Luca day! Gotsta wakey.". His heart clenches at the words, halting his dream worthy thoughts.

He wanted to make Luca happy more than he wanted to sleep. Sleep could wait.

"Good morning, my little monkey." Valentine said in a hushed voice as he cracked his eyes open. He grabbed Luca from underneath his armpits, pulling the boy to his chest. "How did you sleep, huh?", he asks.

"Mmmmm good, mama." Luca mumbles, nuzzling his head into Valentine's collarbone. Valentine places a swift kiss to the boys' head, taking a few moments to just lay there with his boy. "Mama s'eep?" He asks in an adorable little voice.

"Mama slept good, my love. Such good manners!" He compliments, sitting the two of them up in the process. He cradles the boy to his chest as he does.

"What do we wanna do today, hon?" He asks as he pulls an unruly curl of Luca's behind his ear. The boy's hair was getting too long to deal with. He'd have to start putting it up soon if he didn't want it cut.

"Go park?" He asks adorably, tilting his head to the side. "An' an' go get book?" He adds, vibrating with excitement.

"That sounds like a lovely plan, sweetheart." He praises as he stifles a yawn. Luca doesn't need to see him tired, he deserves everything Valentine can give him. And today that would be a day out with him to go play at the park and get a new book from the library. It wasn't much but it was enough to make Luca happy.

Or that's just all that he knows. His mind chimes in without his permission.

No, he wouldn't think about that today. Today would be a happy day. A day to forget about work and forget about all of the mistakes he's made as a mother. A day to simply be with his child and make him happy.

After all, his happiness didn't matter. It wasn't the priority. It never was.

"Alright, bubba, let's get dressed!" He says with an air of fake excitement.

Don't get him wrong, Valentine was more than happy to spend a day with his child but it seemed that the days and nights spent working had caught up to him. His back hurt, his feet ached, and there was a dull pounding in his head that was getting harder and harder to ignore by the second. Not to mention the nausea that threatened to creep up on him.

He didn't have time to linger on any of that though. He had a two year old to take care of and love and a baby that was eager to arrive in only two short trimesters. There was always more to get done. Right now that was getting Luca dressed but in a few minutes it would be something else and after that another thing would follow.

Valentine thought back to his conversation with Maverick yesterday. He was able to read him so quickly, understand parts of his mind that Valentine didn't even have the time to read into.

He was drawn to him for some unknown reason. Enough that he was thinking about the man on his day off.

And of course with the thought of Maverick came the thoughts of Greyson. The brooding man plagued Valentines' mind. It was a blessing and a curse. The man was a walking wet dream. Him and Maverick were really similar in that way. But he was also a pain in the butt that Valentine would do good without. That wasn't a possibility though, not when he was desperate.