âAUNTIE ANNA!â Leandroâs voice carried through the house when the boy first saw her after so many weeks apart. After what had happened with her, she had agreed with Ari that it was far better for the boy to see her when she was both feeling and looking better, the last thing that Anna wanted was to traumatize the life out of her nephew by having him seeing her all swollen, bruised and with her movements impaired by a cast on one arm and another one on her leg. Compared to before, she was much betterâ there was no more swelling on her face and most of her bruises were starting to discolor in different shades of purples, greens, and yellows, and they were easier to mask with some makeup, not that it made them completely fade away, but they were surely less perceptible. Kneeling down to hug him and having him hugging her so tightly back made a smile widen on Annaâs lips. âHey budâ I totally missed you, lemme see you,â she said once they were apart and narrowed her eyes as if studying him. âYou have grown a few inches, havenât you?â She laughed at the wide smile the sentence provoked and got off the ground, her knees already bothering her, so she could speak to the boyâs mother and her best friend. âHey,â she hugged Arianna, âdamn I missed this boy. Feels like a huge milestone just to be able to see him without scarinâ him,â she shook her head, chuckling at how ridiculous her sentence felt rolling out of her tongue. âThank you for coming, do you want some coffee? Or anythinâ?â
âI miss you, too.â Leandro said as he hugged Anna tightly. The little boy stood tall, nodding his head and giggling lightly. âYes, then Iâm gonna be this tall!â he said, raising his hands as high as he could.
Arianna grinned as she watched the exchange between her son and best friend. It was adorable! Leandro had been asking about going to Annaâs so much that she was starting to run out of excuses to tell her little boy. She wanted to surprise him and it totally helped that Anna was now staying with Hector. Leo thought he was on his way to see his daddy, not to see his of his favorite auntieâs. Seeing the expression on his face was totally worth it. âHey, honey.â Arianna said, returning the hug. âHe missed you a lot, too. All he ever asked was when heâs gonna see his auntie.â Arianna had to call her a couple of times so her son could talk to her because once Leo wanted something, there was no other way around it. âCoffee sounds good. Yâknow, he actually made something for you--â
       âNo, mami! I show it, I show it.â Leandro interrupted, as he pulled on Ariannaâs bag, trying to take it off of her.Â
âOkay, okay.â she chuckled lightly as she let him have the bag. The four year old quickly opened it and pulled out a small canvas. Painting was Ariannaâs passion and it was no doubt that her son was following in her steps. And not just because he loved to make a mess in the house. It was their favorite mom-son activity. âItâs for you.â
"He painted it himself and everything. Iâm starting to get jealous âcause heâs yet to make me a flower.â Ari said, chuckling lightly.