I Still Love You, Like a Mother Should

[Giovanni De Luca]

Giovanni De Luca was rushing. Timmy had an appointment at St. Mungo's. She had found the way Timmy acted was not normal for a four year old. She knew it from the start that her son was different, but Gio needed to know why he was so different. She wanted to know more about what she could do to help her son. It was very stressful being a mother to her son, but she had bever expected it to be easy. Giovanni walked through the doors to St. Mungo's and waited for Timmy to catch up to her. He had refused to hold her hand, so she let him walk by himself. Her son did not understand that they were late to their appointment, so he was taking his time walking while playing with his purple straw. "Hurry, sweetheart! Mommy doesn't want to be even more tardy to this appointment." she encouraged her son to walk faster after silently questioning her grammar. Giovanni walked up to the front desk. She was wearing flats today, so the receptionist was only able to see her head."I have an appointment at 2:30 for Timothy Benenati Jr." she told the woman. She rolled her eyes once the woman asked her if she aware that she was late. Giovanni nodded. "Yes, I am aware." she told the woman. Her Italian accent accent heavy. She was told to wait and someone would come to get her. Giovanni nodded and went to sit down. Timmy sat on the floor next to her, still playing with his straw.

 

[Timothy De Luca]

Timothy Benenati Jr. did not know how to describe his mother. Aunt Vivian had taught him some new words, but he could not use any of them to describe his mother. Timmy refused to hold his mother's hand when she asked for it. He did not like beign touched. It always gave him a sensation he could not explain. Timmy knew he did not want to feel it. Walking behind his Mommy, Timmy played with his straw. Mommy had told him it was purple. He liked purple. It was a deep color, and iit just attracted him. There was an unexplainable attraction that he had with the straw. He preferred playing with the straw more than holding his ;ommy's had and playing with Fickles, the mini tiger. Timothy wanted to tell Mommy to stop walking so quickly, but the words did not come to his mouth. His legs were not light like they were when he woke up. It was like they were holding them down. Timmy did not know how to explain how it felt. It frustrated him. Mommy held the door open for him. Why did she do that? He would not have done it for her, no matter how much he liked Mommy. He looked up at his Mommy while she talked to someone. She had rolled her eyes. Mommy only did that when someone had did something not smart. He had observed that, but it still confused him. Within time, Timmy followed Mommy to a chair. He sat down at her feet. The floor was cold. Aunt Vivian had made him feel cold before, so he understood the feeling. The clothes he wore made him a little uncomfortable, but Mommy said he had to wear them. Timmy started to bite on his straw and stare at the floor. What was this place, and why were they here?

 

[Freddie Raska]

Freddie Raska was looking forward to the appointment he was going to have today. Well, it was not his appointment really. He was just filling in for a co-worker. A mother was was coming in with her child for a check up. It was something simple. Freddie prayed to God that it would not be anything complicated. He was good at figuring out complicated things, but that did not mean he liked doing it. He really did not. He was loving his job and his co-workers loved him. They thought he was sweet, and well- educated for a young person. He had been dreaming about this for his whole life and now he was finally in lime green robes.

Freddie walked up to the front desk. His appointment was going to start a little late because he had not yet been notifided that the mother and her son were here yet. He did not worry though. Freddie was a late person by nature. He would have somehow found a way to be late to the appointment. He saw that there was no need for that now. "has my 2:30 appointment arrived yet?" he asked the receptionist. She nodded. "I was just getting ready to send you a memo, Freddie. She is the very short woman over there. Good luck." the woman told him. Her good luck had sounded like some sort of curse. Freddie Raska picked up his clipboard and walked over to the woman and her son. Something was strange about the little boy. He looked so emotionless and lost. He had a feeling he would be diagnosing something today. "Hello, my name is Freddie Raska. You are...," he paused to look at his clipboard. "Giovanni De Luca, yes?" he asked and looked back at the woman with a smile. In his opinion the woman looked very nice and very short. Her feet did not even touch the ground, but he thought it was adorable. He had to keep that to himself.
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[Timothy De Luca]

Timothy did not know what was going on. He did not understand where they were. He just stared blankly at the floor. He did not know how to tell Mommy he did not know what was going on. He did not know how to explain how scared he was. From the corner of his eye he saw feet, but they headed towards Mommy. Timmy did not turn his head to look at the person approaching his mother. He was too focused on the ground and how to communicate to Mommy about his feelings. He was focused on the floor and his straw. He felt something wet on his chin, but he did not pay any attention to the feeling. Timmy started to cry. Wetness flowed down his cheeks. He started to whine and cry. He threw his straw and cried louder. "You scwared!" he managed to say. He was talking about himself. It just didn't come out that way. He did not understand how he was feeling. He didn't like it.

 

[Giovanni De Luca]

Giovanni was starting to get tired of waiting, but soon enough a huge man approached her. He looked young, but he was still had a lot of muscle and was much taller than her. She stood up and nodded when she was asked to clarify who she was. Freddie Raska. He surely had an interesting name. "I apologize for being late, Mr. Raska. I had a hard time getting Timmy dressed." she pushed her purse higher on her shoulder. First she saw Timmy's straw fly across the floor, and then she heard her son screaming and crying. She quickly went and kneeled in front of her son. She took him in her arms and held him. He had a problem refererring to himself properly. He was scared. He probably did not know he was scared, and that freaked him out. She stood up with her crying son on her hip. She held her other hand out and the straw came to her. "It's okay, baby. Were at a hospital for an appointment. Stop crying, okay?" she pointed over to Freddie. "See that man right there? He's not going to hurt mommy or you. He just wants to help, boo." she said calmly. She wiped away her son's tears with her thumb. She hoped he would stop crying.

 

[Freddie Raska]

Freddie smiled at Giovanni. How short she was made her so adorable! He had never met an adult, without goblin blood, this short. It was like some sort of miracle. "Please, call me Freddie." he told her. He always felt awkward when people clearly older than him called him Mr.; he thought it was unnecessary. The woman son had started to throw a fit. Freddie held his clipboard closer to his chest. First, the child looked like he had no emotions at all, and now he was wailing. He did not care about the people that start to stare at the scene. Giovanni started to comfort her son. Timmy was lucky to have a mother like Giovanni. Freddie never had a mother like her. His mother was an alcoholic, and she drank all day and night. Timmy was scared. If he was scared then how come he had referred to himself wrong. He said, 'You scwared.' Instead of, 'I am scared." By now, the boy should be able to refer to himself correctly. Incorrect pronunciation and enunciation of words was normal for kids his age. Freddie smiled when Giovanni mentioned him. He may have looked big, but he was the sweetest and most gentle person ever. Freddie was starting to get an idea of why Giovanni had come here.​

 

[Timothy De Luca]

Timmy was having a hard time hearing Mommy. He was crying very loud. He held his arms open wide. He knew Mommy would pick him up then. That was always how it happened. Mommy would pick him up when he opened his arms out. If it happened any other way it would ruin the miniscule order in Timmy's head. He felt himself be liffted from the used-to-be cold floor. They were at a hospital? Sick people stayed in hospitals. Was he sick? This made Timothy cry louder. Mommy was leaving him here? No! He would not have it at all! He loved Mommy and wanted to stay with her. He looked at the man Mommy had pointed to. Timmy had a hard time describing him, but Timmy liked his skin. It was a pretty color. He loved it. Timmy stopped crying. He held out his arms to the man. Timmy did not know how to explain why he wanted to go to the man. He just did.

 

[Freddie Raska]

Freddie took half a step back when Timmy held out his arms to him. Did he want Freddie to hold him? He gulped down the lump in his throat. Freddie had never held a child before. He always did his best to avoid children. They often only stuck around him because he had awesome tattoos. Freddie looked to Giovanni before he stepped closer and removed Timmy for his mother's arms. For a few seconds the boy was heavy, but Freddie quickly adjusted. It was a different experience holding a child. Especially if it was someone else's child. Freddie smiled at Timmy. "Are you ready for you appointment, Timmy?" he asked. He expected a loud, happy, or bright response from the boy, but he had a serious feeling he was not going to get such a response from the boy. Freddie had already suspected autism, and the examination had not even started yet! "Shall we go up to the office now?" Freddie asked Giovanni. He held out his hand to her. The elevator was probably full, and he did not want to put Timmy in a uncomfortable situation. The boy seemed to always be in a state of confusion or wonderland. Freddie apparated to the office. It was not his office, but it was his co-workers office. The co-worker he was subbing in for helped children most of the time. There were two chairs in front of the desk. Freddie sat Timmy in one of them. He went behind the desk to a table that had tea and some treats on it. It was in front of a window that gave a view of the street.
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