A light || Ricky and Nini

Chapter 197

Ricky POV

I shoot Nini a text as I get to my mom's hotel room. I grin when I see Nini send me a heart in response to my message almost instantly, and I tap on the hotel door as I send one back to her. "Hey Ricky! Come on in." I'm greeted by Todd after a few moments and I give him a nod, following him in. "Your mom is in bed, and Lucas is with her." He gives me a smile and I thank him before reaching out to stop him from walking away. "Actually, I want to talk to you first, if that's good?" Todd's eyebrows shoot up but he nods, quickly. "Oh? Oh sure. Um, yeah that works." He forces out and he presses a hand to my shoulder to lead me into a small bedroom next to the door. "Where's Jason?" I ask as I gesture to the suitcase on the bed, clearly Jason's from the workout clothes thrown over the top. Todd shrugs and rubs at his neck. "I wish I... he stepped out." He corrects himself and I raise my eyebrows before I nod. "Well I kinda want to talk about him. Look, I don't like to screw with people or families and stuff... but he's messing with Nini and that's not chill with me." Todd opens and closes his mouth before nodding. "What is he doing?" He asks carefully and I bite my lip. "Just being a complete asshole to her. Mocking her... making her completely uncomfortable. I just don't really know who to go to because I don't want to start something up with mom, and I don't want to talk to him, it'd just make it worse." Todd nods quickly and sits on the edge of the bed. "Thank you for coming to me Ricky, it really is-" I cut him off, squirming out of discomfort, his emotion way too soon for this point in our relationship. "It's all good, I just need help." I say and he clears his throat, nodding frantically again. "No yeah I'm gonna help, buddy. I'll talk to Jason. He... he's had it rough. His mom, well she left a few years ago and he's gotten pretty out of control. I know he isn't perfect, but he's much better than he was... you know, when she first left." I raise my eyebrows at Todd's confession. "Am I supposed to feel bad about that? I had it rough too, and I haven't gone making his girlfriend feel bad about having sex with him." I quirk an eyebrow, talking dryly as if I'm unamused. I watch Todd try to hide his smile. "You couldn't be more right, kid." He laughs and I shrug, giving him a small smile. "So you'll talk to him?" Todd nods and I move towards the door. "Can you not mention that I asked you to talk to him, by the way? I think that would just spur him on too." Todd nods and gets up off the bed. "This conversation never happened." He puts his hands in the air and I nod. "I appreciate it." I don't miss his smile as I walk out of the room.

"Baby you made it! Come here!" My mom greets me when I reappear out in the main part of the hotel room. I smile shyly and walk towards her. She pats the bed, and I only hesitate for a second before sitting next to her, shoulder to shoulder. "Hold out your arms hon" she says softly and then Lucas is being placed against my chest. I grin as the infant opens his eyes and reaches his tiny hand up to my nose before curling up into me and closing his eyes. "He's so small." I say in disbelief and my mom nods. "You were smaller than him actually." I turn my grin to her. "Really? But he was born at 8 months." She nods and gives me a bright smile. "A good thing too because any longer and I wouldn't be able to get him out." I laugh and rub my thumb across Lucas' forehead. "He's perfect" I admit and her arm comes around me. "You are too Rick." She practically whispers.

My mom falls asleep after a few minutes of silently marveling at me holding Lucas. Part of me is certain that she didn't think she'd ever see me holding her little child. I know she thought I didn't want to know this kid at all, and by the way she was trying to stay awake, it's something that she doesn't want to take for granted. As I hold the sleeping baby though, I admit to myself that it probably wasn't a likely situation if things didn't play out the way it did, and I'm suddenly grateful for the chaos that occurred yesterday.

I manage to pick my phone up and I snap a picture of Lucas in my arms, sending it to Nini. "I can't wait for ours." I text before silencing my phone and putting it back on the bed. Lucas stirs against me and I lean my face closer to his forehead. "Between me and you dude, there's a lot of good shit... stuff... going on that's only happening because you were born." I grimace when I realize I've sworn in front of the newborn but I downright jump when my mom's voice interrupts the silence. "Richard Bowen so help me god, you better hope his first words aren't cuss words." I cringe and look towards my mom who had awoken just in time to hear me. "Hey you're lucky I'm holding him at all." I challenge, a smile forming on my face. She raises an eyebrow challenging me back. "You're lucky your on this earth to hold him at all." My grin slips slightly and shake my head at my loss. "Whatever." She smiles proudly. "Mothers always win baby. Now I believe you have a scrapbook to show me."

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Little filler! I'm trying to figure out ways to continue this story. Obviously I don't want it to end yet, but I gotta find ways to keep the chapters interesting. ❤️