"Mami!"

Valentino ran toward his mom, who had come to pick him up just as she said she would, grinning from ear to ear. She made a little sound of surprise as he hit her at full force, almost knocking her over. He wrapped his arms around her waist, taking in the smell of her leather jacket and that other woodsy scent he now associated with her. She seemed a little surprised that he was hugging her again, even though they had done it before and her voice had that soft, gentle tone she was using with him more these days that was really different from how she normally spoke to everyone except his mommy.

"Hey, Little Guy. I get another hug too, huh? Had a good day?"

"Yes!"

"Did you get into any fights?"

"So many!" He lied, grinning at her.

"Did you win?"

He nodded quickly. She ruffled his hair roughly with a proud smile on her face and bumped fists with him.

"I knew it. That's my boy."

He felt so secure somehow, when she held him. She ran her fingers through his hair softly then helped him up onto her bike. He stared at the black and red bike in awe for a long moment, still fascinated with it.

"I wanna have a motorcycle when I grow up too!"

"Ha, is that so? Like me, huh? One day you will, when you're grown up. I bet your mommy won't like that too much for her precious baby boy though, so maybe don't mention that to her."

He smirked, resting her head against her back.

"I'm really hungry!" He declared as soon as they got home, marching over to her with his hands on his hips. She looked up from her phone. She wasn't paying enough attention to him so he said it five more times, jumping up and down on the couch beside her, then climbing onto her lap.

"Alright already, Kid. What do you feel like eating?"

"McDonald's! I want nuggets and fries!"

"That's what you want? Little Boy, I can take you out to any five star restaurant. Or Breadstix."

"No! McDonald's! With lots and lots of fries and ice cream too!"

"No."

"You're so mean! Mami's bad! Mami's a bad guy!"

"Okay, okay, don't have a catfit. We'll get fries and whatever you want," She rolled her eyes, getting out her keys. "I don't remember my mother letting me get my way like this, I swear, you're spoiled. Get your shoes on and get in the car. Wait a minute, does your mom even let you have this?"

"Yes!" He lied, avoiding her dark eyes and frowning. His mommy used to buy him fast food all the time but recently she wanted him to stop because his stomach was sensitive. His other mom didn't need to know that though, he reasoned. Besides, he didn't want to seem like a baby so he continued to argue loudly. "She buys me all the time! Why can't I have it? That's all I want and I'm super hungry."

Mami looked at him skeptically, arching a black eyebrow but didn't argue. As soon as they got in the car, she drove at full speed and his jaw dropped when she shouted at the other drivers who were making her angry. Sometimes he joined in with her and she looked over at him in surprise.

"Mami, can you play music?"

"Of course."

She switched through the channels and he squealed when he heard his favourite Disney song.

"No, go back to that!"

"Really? C'mon, Bossypants."

"I want to hear that song, Mami! Why can't we listen to that song?"

"Okay, whatever," She groaned, muttering under her breath. "Damn, if my coworkers saw me right now. So much for the badass Santana Lopez."

He sang along at full volume and Mami cringed but didn't say anything more to him as he made her stay on that station for the rest of the car ride.

His eyes widened when she bought him so much food. She watched him in silence as he ate, her arms folded and that same serious scowl she always had on her face etched on. He copied her, trying his best to scowl and look cool like she did. He loved that it looked like they were matching in their all black clothes.

"Mami, you're supposed to get me a kids meal," He explained to her because it was obvious she didn't know. She gave him this really massive looking soda too instead of the chocolate milk he usually got. "This is for grown ups!"

She just grunted and shrugged her shoulders, seemingly not remotely happy about them eating at a crowded fast food place with all of these parents and other kids rushing around them. It was weird seeing his Mami in this type of place. She seemed way too dressed up and she didn't like other people too much, especially when they were noisy and pushy.

"Oh. Just eat it - it's the same food. This is better anyway. You want to be a grown up, right?"

"Mommy gets me the one with the toys."

"She does, huh? Well, you can get that next time. I'll buy you some damn toys if you want toys."

"Aren't you hungry, Mami? Do you want food too?"

"No," She replied and then raised an eyebrow again as he ate everything at full speed. "Slow down, Little Guy. It's not gonna run away from you. You're eating like Finn Hudson at an all you can eat buffet. You really like this stuff, huh?"

"Yeah!"

"You're tiny. Aren't you full?" She asked, tilting her head to the side in disbelief as he continued eating and drinking, then asked her for more nuggets and ice cream. "Okay, fine. You can have anything you want. It's your special day."

"You can share with me too, Mami." He told her, when she brought him more food. He held his ice cream cone toward her and she seemed like she wanted to say no but then her dark eyes softened and she accepted it, licking it once and handing it back to him.

"Oh no, I dropped it!" He cried. "My ice cream!"

Usually Mommy helped him with stuff like this really well and always knew what to do but Mami seemed bewildered then horrified when he screamed and began to cry.

"Oh fuck- I mean, oh damn! Why'd you drop it? Whatever, I'll buy you another one, okay? C'mon, don't cry," She marched up to the teenaged cashier as everyone stared at them the more he cried. Mami lost her temper really quickly and he could tell she was starting to panic. "Hey, can we get another ice cream for the kid? Yeah whatever, don't stare at me like if I'm the devil just because the boy dropped the blasted ice cream. Look at this, I'm getting judgment from Zit Face. Hurry up already, can't you see the kid wants ice cream? Take my money and get him the fucking ice cream!"

"O-okay, Ma'am."

She swiped her card forcefully, giving the terrified looking cashiers one last scowl and glaring at the parents watching her, shaking their heads as she grabbed his hand and pulled him away. She passed the ice cream to him and he stopped crying immediately, shrieking in delight then jumping up and down excitedly.

Her eyes widened and she looked horrified when he kissed her on the cheek right after eating some of it, putting his hands that were covered in the melted, sugary stuff on her face.

"Whoa, hey, hey! No kisses with that sticky mouth, Fella." She mumbled, holding up her finger warningly as he came close again. She had a look of terror in her dark eyes as he giggled nonstop at her reaction.

She stood guard by the playground, watching him the whole time with that same serious scowly face that he realized was just her normal face as he played with the other kids he met there for a long time.

"Come. It's time to go home."

"No, Mami! Five more minutes!"

Usually, this worked on Mommy especially when he used big brown puppy eyes and pouted but Mami didn't seem to be too pleased. She nodded, eventually giving in but after ten minutes passed he found her standing over him when he was playing a game with the friends he had just met and she didn't look too happy.

"We're going home. Stop flirting with your little girlfriends and go get in the car."

"They're not my girlfriends!" He blushed as the other children laughed at him. Mami rolled her eyes, huffing and her jaw hardened as she pressed her lips together.

"Whatever. Say bye to your lady friends then and come here. Don't make me say it again."

"O-okay."

He gave in, seeing that scary look on her face. Sometimes his mom could be pretty terrifying.

After a million nuggets, fries and ice cream, Valentino felt really hyper and ran around at full speed when they eventually got home. Mami took him shopping too after going for food and she was carrying all of these bags of toys and clothes, even though she huffed and complained about having to carry them. Lord Tubbington dashed away at full speed when he saw the boy coming toward him, but that didn't stop the boy from finding him and hugging him as the cat's ears flattened while his tail wagged, outraged by his predicament.

"What do you want to watch?" Mami asked as he sat beside her, swinging his legs happily.

"That movie!" He shouted immediately, pointing at one that had a ghostly person on it with a creepy smile and blood spatter. His mommy never wanted to watch ones like that and he wasn't supposed to either because they gave him nightmares sometimes but Mami didn't need to know that. "It's really cool!"

"Oh that one, huh?" She smirked and didn't seem to mind starting the movie. "Okay, if you're brave enough. It's better than cartoons. Are you even allowed to watch this?"

"Yes, I am!" He insisted, bouncing around on the couch. "I'm not a baby."

"Okay then, I stand corrected, Big Man. If you think you're ready for it, we can watch some of this."

She pressed play and he gaped at the screen as he watched some of the scary scenes. Valentino wanted to look brave in front of his mom but he couldn't help but hide his face and dive into the cushions whenever something scared him. The other thing was that he really, really had to go to the bathroom, especially after the large soda he drank the whole thing of but he didn't want to tell her that.

He was in the middle of squirming and hiding his face when something grabbed his ankle and he wasn't expecting it at all. He looked up and screamed as Mami made a scary face, imagining she had turned into one of the monsters they were watching on the screen.

"Boo!"

"Mami!" He cried, starting to sob, jumping back away from her and there was now a puddle beneath his feet. Uh oh. That just made him cry even more. She stared at him and then the floor for a long moment as if frozen in place.

"Oh shit. Kid, I didn't mean to scare you that badly. It's okay. You don't need to cry," She eventually pulled him into a hug. "It's just me. You didn't tell me you can't handle scary movies."

"I drank too much!"

"Yeah, I can tell," She mumbled, wincing at the state of the floor again. "It's like someone let a firehouse off in here, goddamn. How much did you actually drink? No more soda either."

"Okay." He whimpered, covering his face with his hands.

"Damn, this is a disaster," Mami mumbled, rushing around and attempting to clean up. "I don't think I'm cut out for this."

"Mami, look at my painting!"

"Boy, what are you doing?" Mami didn't sound too happy when she found him painting. Probably because there was paint all over his face and body… and now even on the carpet. "This room is in a state. You need to clean this up."

"I don't want to!"

The woman groaned, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration.

"Look, don't you want your mom to be happy when she comes home and the place is all clean for her?" Val nodded. He did actually want that. Nothing felt better than when Mommy was proud of him. "You gotta help me out here a little then, Kid."

"Okay." He eventually said but forgot all about that when he got into painting again.

He ran to show his mom his creations. She was in the middle of attempting to feed Lord Tubbington, who looked at her with distaste with his eyes narrowed. If cats could curse, Valentino could swear he heard the grey tabby mutter saying some F words to Mami when she pushed his food bowl toward him and he growled.

"Chubbs, don't tell me you of all people don't have an appetite," Santana sighed, her hands on her hips as she had a staring contest with the cat. "Oh that's how it is, you only eat for Mommy, huh? Fine then, I'll leave it out for you. By the way, Brittany knows you've been smoking again."

"Mami, look!" He held up his paper to show to her, interrupting her conversation with the tabby cat.

"Very good," She mumbled after a while, as if she didn't know what to say, patting him on the head and smiling gently. "You're so creative like your mommy."

"Can you paint with me too?"

"I- um-" Mami seemed like she really didn't want to do that but then he kept pouting and eventually she gave in. "If you really want me to. This sort of stuff isn't exactly my thing, Buddy."

"What's that?" He asked, confused when she finished painting what looked like a red blob on the paper.

"It's a cat. Isn't it obvious?"

"Not really. Mami, I don't think you're so good at painting."

"Whatever," She huffed, balling up her paper then throwing it into the garbage as she lost her patience with it. "No offence but I don't really have time for this, Kid. Let me see your masterpiece then, Picasso. Good job."

"Mami, I don't feels so good. I feel sick. My stomach really hurts." He whined to her not long after that, throwing down his action figure and running to the couch where she was spread out, laying on her back while working on her laptop again. He pulled at the sleeve of her shirt and she eventually put the laptop aside.

"Oh…"

She blinked up at him, silent for a long moment and seemed confused about what to do. He curled up on the couch, beginning to whimper and then cry as he hugged his black cat plushie tightly, squirming around as he tried to find a comfortable position.

"I want my mommy!" He cried, shrinking away from her when she tried to come close. Even though he felt more comfortable with her as his other mom now, sometimes he really just needed Mommy for some things.

"I know, I know. It's okay. She'll be back soon," Mami whispered to him. "Just um, try to take your mind off of it. Watch TV but no more scary movies. I'll get you some ginger ale."

He drank it quickly and then turned to her, getting on top of her and burying his face against her stomach. The fizzy drink made him feel even worse somehow.

"It really hurts, Mami," He moaned. "I think I ate too much. You fed me too much."

"You said you wanted it. In fact, you begged for it, Mister, I want fries, Mami, more fries!" She mimicked his voice but then stopped when she noticed him actually getting tears in his eyes. "Oh, don't cry. Come here."

She patted his back a few times and her body was frozen up as if she was scared and didn't know what to do. She yelped, clearly not expecting it when he threw up on her a little when he couldn't help it then started to cry even louder when that happened, shocked by it.

"I- I threw up!"

"Ah, whoa, okay, vomit. You weren't kidding when you said you don't feel well," She groaned, her face turning a pale shade. "Last time I was that sick, I had a hangover for two days. I'll get you a bucket. Fuck, now I think I'm gonna throw up."

He heard her throwing up in the bathroom after that and she looked completely out of it when she came back, slowing moving toward him with her hand clutched to her stomach.

"Mami, what's a hangover?"

"It's when you drink too much and you feel like hell the next day," She muttered, still groaning at the mess on her clothes and taking off her ruined shirt, throwing it on the ground somewhere, then she made him lie down and placed the bucket in front of him. Then she threw some old newspaper on the ground to clean up some of the mess. "I mean, nevermind. You don't need to know that. You're a child"

"Why not? That's weird, why do you drink so much, Mami?" He asked, "I saw you drinking b-bodka and brandy too the other night. Auntie Rachel says you drink alcohol a lot all the time!"

"She said that, huh? That little troll," Mami scoffed. "Oh he's talking again now. Sounds like you feel a little better. Mind your business, Pukey."

He blinked up at her when she returned, whimpering and burying his head against the cushion as he held his hand against his stomach while she wiped his face clean, then cleaned up the couch and threw the towels down somewhere. Mami walked around in just her jeans and black bra, an exhausted look on her face. She glanced at him in concern as he continued to groan in pain, her expression softening.

"Look, okay, what does your Mommy usually do when you get sick?"

"She um, rubs my back and cuddles me… and she sings to me."

"Okay… I'll try my best," She sighed, awkwardly picking him up and holding him stiffly. She obviously didn't know how to cuddle him the way Mommy did but her warm skin felt good and he closed his eyes as he pressed his face against her bare shoulder, clinging to her. "The truth is, I don't have much experience with this, Kid but I'm trying. For you, I'll try."

"Can you sing Songbird?"

"You'd like that, huh?" Her voice sounded kind of shaky and scared then she went quiet for a long moment. "Okay, Sweetheart."

He eventually dozed off against her shoulder, as her voice that was so rich and raspy but sweet like honey filled his ears as she began to sing the familiar song quietly, stroking his shoulders and back.

For you, there'll be no more crying
For you, the sun will be shining
And I feel that when I'm with you
It's alright, I know it's right

To you, I'll give the world
To you, I'll never be cold
'Cause I feel that when I'm with you
It's alright, I know it's right

And the songbirds are singing,
Like they know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before