"Aunt Ciara..."The little boy smiled widely, his smile reaching his eyes as he rushed to go embrace her. Ciara, as if waiting for him to, caught him and lifted him up, reciprocating his smile. Still, the boy's smile was wider.
Derrick is Uncle Kent's oldest and maybe only grandson and the closest to his grandfather -and since Uncle Kent is pretty close to Dwayne and Ciara, they get to meet more often, creating a bond more than ever.
"Little Rick." She renounced before dropping him down. In response to her, Derrick pouted his lips childishly, masking his face up in a displeased expression. Ciara noticed his new made - up look, and she squatted down to his height. "What is it, is something wrong?"
Derrick nodded his head multiple times in reply before speaking. "Yes." He mouthed slowly, drawling his words. "I don't love the sound of the name you keep calling me, aunt Ciara."
"Eh -why?" She requested simply with her brows raised in a questioning manner. "Why don't you love it? Isn't little Rick a good name enough for you, huh?"
"No, it isn't." Derrick muffled out as he shook his head in disapproval. "Why do you still call me little? I'm no longer little, I'll be six soon. It should be just Derrick instead, well, I'll prefer big Rick-I love it when you call me Rick."
Ciara laughed at his choice of words. "How silly, supposed big boy..."She uttered, still laughing as she pulls him into her scrutiny. "No matter how old you turn, big boy, you will always be my little Rick. Do you hear me?"
Derrick, instead, was still frowning. "I told you, Aunt, I don't like the sound of little. It makes me feel like I'm still a baby, which I'm not." He pouted his lips.
"Now stop complaining and be a good boy instead, will you?" She said to him as she placed her hand on his head, ruffling his soft curly hair. "You will always be my little Rick, big boy."
"Aye, captain." He muffled out with quiet laughter. His laughter was stopped abruptly as the door creaked opened, revealing Uncle Kent with Ciara's baggage with him.
"Whose bag is this, grandfather? Aunt Ciara's, right?" Derrick asked as he rushed to uncle Kent, assisting him with the baggage he was with.
"Yeah, you are right. It's hers." Uncle Kent stated in a plain tone, with a short and quick nod.
Derrick's eyes sparkled in realization. "Does that mean she will be staying here with us? For how long, grandfather? A week or probably a month?" He questioned with so much enthusiasm. "She'll be spending quite a while here with us, right?"
"If not months, son." Uncle Kent replied to him. "She'll be staying here more than you will even imagine, it's more like a...Yes, a vacation but a long one atthat. I'll go drop this in her room, I'll be right back." With that, he exited the living room, with the baggage behind him.
Derrick did not bother to conceal the look of excitement on his face. "Well that means I'll be seeing you for a while before returning home then." He uttered in a mixed tone of relief and delight. "I thought you will be leaving today."
"Ah -no, not at all; that was why my baggage was brought along with me, to spend months here." Ciara chipped in, reciprocating the same vibe as Derrick's. "Too bad, I wish you will stay for a while longer too."
Derrick furrowed his brows at her reply, trying to figure out what she meant by her words. "What do you mean? Am I leaving too soon?" He muttered, his voice sounding unpleased.
"Aren't you going in the next two days?" She asked, it was her turn to be surprised at his words. Derrick frowned, shaking his head negatively in reply. "But uncle said you will only be spending the weekend here with him."
"What -only the weekend? That's not true!" Derrick shrieked in reply, vigorously shaking his head. "Is grandfather trying to send me home now; because you are here?"
It was Ciara's turn to be confused. "What do you mean? Aren't you here to spend the weekend with him in the first place?" She asked, her brows creased lightly. "You know uncle can't send you back home, at least not for any reason."
"It's summer vacation already, why would he suggest I spend the weekend only?" He asked, his face crumpled in displease. "I came here to spend the whole of the vacation but now... this, eh?"
"Uh -well... well, I think there is an understanding here." Uncle Kent uttered, butting in and beating Ciara to it before she got the chance to say any word. None of them had noticed when he came in.
"Y -yeah, I guess so." Ciara nodded in affirmation, even without knowing the source of the misunderstanding as Uncle Kent has addressed it.
"I guess I've still not gotten over his usual weekend visit." Uncle Kent said with a small laugh. "I thought it's one of it, the summer vacation totally skipped my mind. My bad, Derrick."
Uncle Kent pulled him closer to himself and ruffled his soft hair lightly. "I'm so sorry, son... He muttered slowly in apology with Derrick still clasped in his scrutiny. "I did not recall it's summer, would you mind forgiving me for this?"
"Yes, why won't I?" It was Derrick's turn to laugh as he struggles to break free from his old man's grips. "Can you let go now, grandfather?" "Sure.I'lL." He muffled out in a low tone and let go off him almost immediately. "Now, go to your room. Your aunt and I need to discuss -adult talks, you know."
"Uh -I know." He mumbled with a slight shoulder shrug, rushing out of the living room as requested.
"Now what's your plan, Ciara." Uncle Kent asked immediately Derrick left the room. "Dwayne told me you would rather not involve the child's father in it, I assume you have made up your mind on something else then?"
"Well, to be honest, I have no plan as of no other than taking over my parent's company since Dwayne has little or no interest in it." Ciara replied, honestly.
"Now...？ I mean, you want to take over the company now?" He asked with an air of interest.
"No. Not now, that's should be after the baby's birth, yeah." She replied dryly. "-and as for the plan for the baby, for now, I'll just leave it to fate to decide..."