Ricardo P.O.V
I'm on autopilot mode after I processed what the doctor has said about Ruby passing away. I can't even begin to describe the emotional pain I'm going through right now. I want to just break down and curse the fates for being so cruel, but I must think about my son who will need all the support, love and care I can give to get him through this tragedy.
He will have a hard time understanding the fact that he will not be able to see or get his mother's love ever again. It is going to break my heart into little pieces when I have to explain that he will never see his mother again and it's possible that he will not understand that death means not being able to see his mother anymore.
I am brought out of my thoughts when I find myself standing in front of Dante's room, my hands shaking from emotional and physical exhaustion. I didn't even realize that I am done with speaking with that Doctor about preparing Ruby's body for her funeral.
I called Miss Evans to ask her opinion about what to do with Ruby's body and we both came to an agreement that we wanted to bury her and not have her body be cremated. So, we also must choose which burial site we want to bury her in and other things.
As I thought this, I force my shaking hand to push down the handle and open the door. The first thing I see when I enter the room is my son who is still sleeping and that sleeping next to him is Miss Evans. As I walk into the room, I can see that she is sleeping while laying her head on the bed and while holding onto my son's hands like she is afraid he is going to disappear.
My heart throbs a bit as I realize she must also be in pain from losing her only sister who she has not met for years. As I stand there looking at them, I see that Miss Evans is shivering slightly and I frown, she must be cold sitting in this room without a proper sweater.
So, I walk towards the cupboard and open it to see the spare blanket I am looking for. I grab it and walk towards Miss Evans and put the blanket over her shoulder gently so that I don't wake her up from her much-needed rest. She just unconsciously pull the blanket closer to her but didn't wake up, so I went and sat down on Dante's other side of the bed.
I didn't know how tired I was until I sat down on the cushion chair and instantly felt my eye lids are so heavy that after fighting to stay awake for a minute I gave up and let myself fall asleep.
I am startle awake from my sleep by the sound of rustling of blankets so when I am awake enough to open my eyes, I see that Dante is waking up. He is moving around the bed like he is trying to find a comfortable spot. I look out the window and see that it's late morning already and there is breakfast prepared on the table for Dante.
A nurse must have come here early this morning, and I was too tired to hear the nurse come in. I was tired this morning after everything that happened, so I'm not surprised that I passed out and only waking up right now.
After a minute of moving around he opens his eyes and looks around the room before his eyes start to water and about to cry. So, I quickly got up the comfortable chair and try to soothe him. "Hey, it's okay everything is alright," I cooed at him while gently rubbing his head softly. He sniffles trying to stop crying as he does that, he looks at my face and did something that shocks me.
"Dada!" he cried with such happiness and hugs me as hard as he could. I am shocked as to how he seems to know that I am his father that I am frozen for a few seconds before I recover from my shock and hug him as well. I squeeze him lightly and kiss his forehead while whispering soothing words to stop him from crying. Even my eyes went a little misty as this is the first time I am bonding with my son since he was born.
"I'm here. I will never leave you," I assured him. He just sniffles trying to stop from crying. "I miss you. I never see you," he sniffles softly and if his mouth is not by my ear, I would not have heard him. My heart ache when he said that. "I'm so sorry I never visited you," my voice choke in my throat from my guilt. I should have made a thorough investigation when Ruby asked for a divorce back then, if I had none of this would have had to happen.
I focused my attention back to my son and ask something that I am curious about. "How do you know that I'm your dada?" "Photo. Mommy sow a lot of dada's photos," he mutters softly. My heart warms at the thought that Ruby showed who his real father is.
But that also made my heart ache even more because now I will never be able to show my gratitude to Ruby for taking care and protecting our son with all her might as she will be buried six feet underground soon.
I realized that from now on Dante has to look at pictures of his mother if he wants to remember her when growing up. He will never have both parents together as his mother passed away already and before this, he did not have a father. After a long time, he gets to meet his father, but he loses his mother at the same time.
I am contemplating on how to break the news to his fragile state of emotion right now as it might make him snap if I am not careful how I explain the situation when I heard someone in the room clear their throat.
I look towards where the sound is coming from and see that Miss Evans has already woken up from her sleep and is looking at Dante with a hopeful expression. Then it dawn on me that she also wants to meet Dante. So, I gently pull him from me, when he started frowning, I point to where Miss Evans is, and his eyes follow to where my finger is pointing at.
"See that lady over there, she is your mommy's younger sister, which makes her your aunt," I said introducing Miss Evans. "H-hi, it's nice to m-meet you Dante" Miss Evans stutters nervously. As soon as he looks at her for a second, he leap towards her and gave her a tight hug. "Aunty you look like mommy," Dante said and I can see Miss Evans crying silently while hugging him like he is going to disappear.
I admit even I am holding back tears when he said those words. After he said that did, I see how similar the sisters look when I studied Miss Evans properly as I don't really look at my secretary's appearance since she started working for me. As I did not want to be reminded of Ruby back then.
They both have the same vibrant red hair that I love, the same heart shape face and they have the same high cheekbones. The differences between them is that while Ruby had beautiful green eyes, her sister's eyes has a mixture of blue and green, also Ruby's nose is tall and thin while Miss Evans has a small button nose.
I stare at them both hugging each other and wish that it's Ruby that is hugging Dante, so that our family can be whole for the first time, but I know its wishful thinking, but I am only human. Even after she left me, I still couldn't fool myself into thinking that I don't love her anymore as every time I see something that Ruby likes I would instantly be reminded of her.
The sound of my son's soft voice brought me out of my reverie. "Why you cry aunty," Dante asks softly. She just shook her head and says, "I am crying happy tears as I am just happy to be able to meet you." "Oh okay. You stay with me now?" he asks her.
Miss Evans just nodded her head and gave a kiss to his forehead. "I'll stay with you from now on," she told Dante with a determination in her voice. He nodded his head and hugs his aunty again before letting go and getting off her lap and crawl over the bed to sit on my lap.
Rubbing his small face on my chest like a cat when it wants attention. My heart warms at the sight of my son taking comfort from me. I didn't even care that my secretary is in the room and can see a side of me that I have tried to bury deep inside me after what happen three years ago.
I vowed that I would be the best father that I could possibly be and raise him with love so that he knows that he is not alone and that he has somewhere to fall back on should he ever need it.
I kiss his forehead and say, "I love you, my son" to him and he replies with a "love you too dada." After about a minute of him rubbing his face on my chest he stops and looks at me with his curious eyes and asks the question I have been dreaded to answer.
"Mommy where?"