"…Good morning Miss Lia. I'm Valentina. Thank you for coming by today. I assume you're the designer Kaiser said would stop by?" Valentina asked with a weak smile on her face.
"Exactly right! Kaiser invited me over because I was very interested in working with you and begged him until he finally gave in! And please call me Designer Lia or Lia alone, not Miss Lia!" Lia corrected in a loud voice.
Valentina: "…. Got it. Well Lia, would it be possible to lower your voice to an indoor level? You are scaring Luca here." She gently patted Luca's back as she spoke.
"Ah I am speaking at an indoor level…wait a minute…" Lia quickly patted both her ears before dashing away while yelling, "I'll be right back!"
Watching the short figure sprint away, Valentina thought that Lia really had so much energy this early in the morning. How nice. As her arms began to shake, Valentina gently put Luca down and led him to the dining area.
"Miss Valentina, shall I bring the usual breakfast for you and young master Luca?" a maid waiting to the side asked.
"Yes, please. As well as an extra plate for the guest. Thank you."
"Of course Miss Valentina. It will be right out." The maid respectfully bowed as Valentina helped Luca take a seat.
As they waited, she turned to him.
"Luca, why were you afraid? Did she do anything to hurt you?"
He shook his head rapidly before hanging his head and saying, "Strangers are scary."
Looking at his downcast face, she didn't know what to say. Since she had met him, she had never thought that he might be afraid of strangers, but it made sense. The first time she had seen him, he was getting bullied by some kids and after that, he had only ever spent time with his family. He didn't attend any playdates with other children or even preschool. Since she wasn't his parent she had never looked into it, but this might be a serious problem that she would have to talk to Kaiser about.
"Luca…not all strangers are scary. We have to make sure that we don't judge people without getting to know them okay?"
Seeing that he was still shaking his head, she continued, "Luca. I was a stranger to you once as well. And we became close, right? Not all strangers are bad. You have to give people a chance okay?"
"You're not a stranger!" Luca immediately raised his head while shouting.
"But I used to be. When I didn't know Luca before I was a stranger right? Why don't you try to introduce yourself to Lia when she comes back? You don't have to spend time with her but saying hello is the right thing to do when we meet people okay?" Valentina pleaded while gently patting his head.
"…Okay." the little nugget hesitantly agreed.
"Good boy." Valentina gently patted his head before placing a kiss on it.
They both began eating as the maids brought out their plates. When they were almost finished with their meals, Lia burst back into the room.
"Hello again Valentina and young child, the great Lia is back!" although her tone was much quieter than it was earlier, it was still quite loud. Seeing Luca flinch beside her, Valentina calmly warned the woman with her narrowed eyes.
"Please reduce your tone and use your inside voice if you can. You're making the child uncomfortable."
"Big sis, I apologize!" Lia immediately bowed her head and apologized. She slowly approached Luca, stopping a fair distance away from him as he clutched Valentina's arm for comfort.
"And I'm sorry young master for upsetting and scaring you. My name is Lia, may I have your name?"
Luca held onto Valentia, looking between her and Lia. Seeing Valentina's gentle nod, he hesitantly spoke up.
"Uhm I'm Luca. I am four and a half years old. I am not scared…you're just a bit loud…" he trailed off at the end after introducing himself and hiding his face.
Valentina gently patted his head as he confidently got his words out and shared how he was feeling. She felt so proud of him.
After hearing Luca's words, Lia slowly squatted on the ground before giving Luca a sad smile full of emotions.
"It's so lovely to finally meet you, young master Luca. I will do my best to not scare you again, but if I do please forgive me." Lia moved the hair covering her ears to expose the blue hearing aids in her ears. "I have a bit of a hard time hearing and have some difficulty controlling the volume of my voice, but I'll do my best to be careful."
"O-okay." Luca hesitantly before climbing into Valentina's arms and hiding his face.
"Sorry. He's a bit shy towards strangers. And thank you for letting us know." Valentina reassured Lia when she saw the sad expression on the woman's face.
"…I guess I'm a stranger now," Lia muttered quietly to herself. As she examined the beautiful green-eyed woman who was gently comforting the young boy in her arms who shyly peeked at her, she couldn't help but think of her best friend who was no longer in this world. Aubri, your baby is growing up.
"Lia," Valentina gently caught the attention of the woman who looked as if she were deep in thought. "Kaiser mentioned that you were interested in designing some clothes for me?"
"Yes, I am! In fact, I have a very important proposition for you. When you're done eating your breakfast. I would love to have some of your time to mention it to you!" Despite squatting on the floor, Lia's expression was serious as she stared up at Valentina.
"Okay then. Please come and have some breakfast as well. I'll take Luca upstairs and be right back." Valentina replied with a soft smile.
Turning to Luca who was buried in her arms, she gently asked him, "Shall I carry you upstairs little nugget or do you want to walk?
"Carry me."
"Of course little nugget."
Seeing the large puppy dog eyes, Valentina picked him up without hesitation although on the inside she wanted to die. This body of hers was really too weak.