As Valentina walked through the hallway of Blue Robin, she marveled at how nice it truly was. The floors were marble with grey and gold veins while the walls were paneled in a mix of dark and light wood. There were greenery and plans along the hallways and gorgeous gold wall lanterns to light the way.
Valentina truly felt as if she was walking through a forest garden. Valentina walked around for a bit and still did not see the restroom. Although she had cooled down, she wanted to splash some water on her face anyway. As she made yet another turn into a long hallway, she spotted a group of 4 kids not older than 10 years old gathered together.
As she got closer, she noticed that there was a small child in the center of the kids, and he was being pointed at and laughed at by the group.
Angry to see kids bullying another child at such a young age, she yelled out.
"Hey! What are you doing!"
Startled, the kids turned to look at her before an arrogant-looking redhead boy turned to yell at her. he looked as if he was around seven years old and was dressed in a child's version of a suit. "You better mind your business you ugly old lady! Who are you to yell at me? Do you know who my father is?"
"It doesn't matter who your father is. You shouldn't be mean to other people! Why are you bullying a little baby!" Valentina replied. She didn't want to yell at a child but what kind of 6-year-old knows how to yell 'Do you know who my father is?'
"You can't tell me what to do! And if I want to be mean to this motherless bastard I can! My father said nobody wants him anyway and he's just a, a, a burden to his family!" the red-headed boy replied angrily while stuttering.
"Yeah!" a little girl in a white dress agreed with him.
"He's a motherless bastard!" the other kids yelled and began pointing at the small boy in the center again.
Shocked at the words coming out of the mouths of young children, Valentina was temporarily silent with shock. Who was raising these children so that they could spew out these kinds of words? Was this what their parents said at home?
Valentina looked at the little boy in the center. He was dressed in a black button-up shirt and black slacks. He had dark curly hair that fell into his face and his eyes were a greenish grey color. And although his eyes were watery, no tears came out. His fists were clenched, and he looked like he wanted to fight.
Suddenly he yelled out. "I'm not a motherless child! And I'm not a bastard! I have a mom!" Saying that he ran forward and pushed the redheaded boy down.
The red-headed boy stared up from the ground in shock, then his face got fierce, and he responded, "Oh yeah? Where is she then? Nobody has ever seen her! Everyone says that your mom ran away because she hated you. That's why you're motherless!"
Valentina saw the boy flinch at the words and decided she had to step in.
"Who said he was motherless? This is obviously my son. Now give me the names of your parents so I can report you to them! All of you will be in major trouble!" Valentina firmly said. She quickly walked over to the little boy in black and held out her hands to pick him up. The boy looked and her uncertainly until she winked at him, and he agreed to be carried.
"You're not his mom! You don't even look like him, you ugly witch!" the red-headed boy stood up and replied angrily. His face was red, but his voice was softer than before. He looked afraid ever since she said she would report him to his parents.
"Of course, we do. It's you that blind." Valentina retorted, "Can't you see our matching black hair and green eyes? You have 5 seconds before I go and report you all to your parents for tormenting my kid. 5! 4!" As Valentina continued counting down, the other kids started running away. The red-headed boy stared at her angrily before kicking her in the shin and dashing off.
Startled at the hard kick, Valentina flinched in pain.
Owwwwwwwwww. She wanted to scream and curse but remembering she had a little nugget in her arms she held it in and looked at him.
He was staring at her with large eyes as tears dripped down his face. His hands were holding her shoulders and he was shaking. Feeling a stab of pain through her heart, Valentina looked him in the eye and whispered.
"You can hug me and cry if you need to okay? I'll protect you from those mean kids alright?" the little boy hesitated before burying his face into her neck and sobbing his heart out. His arms held her tight and his whole body was shaking.
Of course, his feelings were hurt. Who wouldn't be when they listened to such hurtful words? Gently patting his back, she forgot the pain in her body as she walked in search of a bathroom. Thankfully, she found one really quickly and she entered it and locked the door.
The bathroom was in the style of a powder room with sofas and chairs in one room and a deeper section with bathroom stalls. She carefully lowered herself onto a chair while holding on to the boy. Although he was quite small and light, her arms were starting to ache because she was so weak.
However, she couldn't put down a sobbing kid and ask him to walk so she held on. As he slowly quieted down, she continued rubbing his back until he pulled away to look at her.
As Valentina looked at his puffy face and swollen eyes, she softly poked his cheek and asked, "Are you feeling better little nugget?"
He looked at her and nodded seeming a bit embarrassed as he blushed.
Valentina smiled at his little red face and asked, "Can you tell me your name little nugget?"
"It's- it's Luca but you can call me little nugget too." He responded in a husky baby voice. His throat probably hurt from all the crying.
"Luca. That is such a pretty name. Do you know what It means?" Valentina asked Luca while dabbing his face with her sleeve.
As he shook his head no, she continued. "It means bringer of light. Parents name their child Luca because their child brought light and joy into their lives. It means when your parents named you they were happy for your existence. So don't listen to those mean kids, okay Luca?"
As his eyes began watering up again, Valentina lifted him up and carried him to a sink before placing him on the counter.
She grabbed a clean tissue and wet it with warm water and began gently wiping his face.
"Luca, how old are you?"
"4 but I'm almost 5" he held up 4 fingers and Valentina smiled at the cuteness.
"Do you know what your last name is? Or where your parents are?"
"I'm not allowed to say my last name. And my uncle is here."
Hearing his response that he couldn't share his last name, Valentina looked at him again as she gently wiped his face. On second look, his clothing was all name-brand things.
Loro Piana pants.
Chanel shirt.
Fendi shoes.
A diamond tennis bracelet on his little wrist.
This was most definitely the son of a wealthy family. Valentina realized then that not just any kids could be roaming the halls of Blue Robin. And she just scolded a bunch of them. Oops.