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“Wait so you’re telling me I called him a bird and he broke down into tears because ‘It’s too adorable’?” I ask “Yep that’s pretty much the gist of it” Wess confirms “It was an old nickname our mom had for me, it’s not like he called me a woodpecker and I started balling” Anodyne defends grumpily. I snort “Add that one to the quote book Day,” I say “Wayy ahead of you” Day responds laughing. “What time is it anyway?” I ask looking toward Neo “Umm, about 8:30” Neo answers looking up at the clock on the wall. “Oh damn! Floris and Nikita are going to be here soon” I say in a panic as I quickly hop off the couch I had been resting on. “Who??” Day asks “Did Anodyne not tell you??” I questioned, Anodyne’s eyes go wide “Was uh, I supposed to do that?” He asks nervously “YES” I groan “Whatever, it’ll be more of a surprise this way,” I say confidently. Wess is sitting on a chair resting his ankle, as he had apparently injured it pretty badly when he was yanked up by that plant. Both Benji and Vinnie aren’t in the room, I’m assuming they’re somewhere in the building playing together. “Should I get the chefs to cook something?” Anodyne asks me “Nah, those two said they were bringing stuff and I doubt we’ll even be able to eat all of that, let’s not waste any more food,” I say as I grab my jacket off the back of the couch, I guess Anodyne or one of the boys had taken it off of me when I got here. “I’m going to find Vinnie and Benji, you guys get this place cleaned up, maybe bring some extra chairs, we’re going to have a lot of people in here” I instruct “Since when were you the boss?” Anodyne says with a frown “Since forever” I respond with a smug smile. Anodyne rolls his eyes “Dick” He mumbles “Oh definitely” I smirk before walking out of the room. As I walk I swing my jacket over my shoulder and push my arm into it. I adjust my jacket sleeves as I fully put it on. “Vinnieeee, Benjiii, where are you guys?” I shout out as I roam the red-carpeted floor. I hear footsteps behind me “Oh there you guys are-” I start to say as I turn around, before me stands, her. She stands, her hands folded and pointed down toward the floor, her white dress and her once blonde hair now mixed in with streaks of white and grey. “You are not alone” Her voice booms and echoes throughout the hall, her voice soft and sweet. I stand frozen in place, what am I looking at? An illusion of some kind? Maybe whatever is affecting me is causing hallucinations. I can't find the words to respond. She stares into my eyes, and smiles, that warm smile of hers “She will arrive soon, the one who is kept secret, who you don't know, and then your path will be decided, there will be no changing your Fate” Her voice booms once more. I shut my eyes tightly, trying to ignore whatever was happening, it couldn't be real. I long silence passes before I feel her ghostly hand placed gently on my face, her wisp-like state giving off no warmth as she presses her hand against my cheek “Oh my Clover, my beautiful Clover, believe in yourself, as I have always believed in you, you are stronger than you know, and I trust that you will know what choice to make when the time comes” Her soft voice, the voice I had longed for soothed me, I don’t speak, I feel her presence fade as her wispy appearance dissipates into nothingness. I try to think, but I can't. All I know is that whatever just happened couldn't have been real, some sort of side effect, or, just, something. “Oh hey Dad, who was that lady you were talking to?” I hear Vinnie call from behind me “What.. Did you just say?” I ask as I turn around to face my son, who was holding Benji’s hand who was clung tightly to him. “I heard you talking to a lady and I wanted to see what you were talking about” He replies “So, you were snooping huh?” I say with a disapproving look “I- I- NOOO I WAS JUST UM MAKING SURE YOU WERE OK” Vinnie panics “You were being a snoop!” I accuse as I point to him “BENJI RUNNNN” He shouts as he picks Benji up, who was giggling the entire time, and runs past me. I let out a laugh as he passes me. If Vinnie could hear her, it meant that she was actually there, which means…
I walk back into the living room to find Vinnie, Wess, and Day sitting on the couch “Where’s Neo?” I ask looking around the room for my bandana-wearing friend “Oh he’s gone out to walk Hercules” Vinnie responds absent minded while admiring Benji’s eyes. At that moment I hear the front doors swing open and a series of awes, I smile excitedly as I hear my old friends entire the castle, I rush out of the room once more, passing the windows that had previously been shining with bright sunlight. I loop around into the main room to find butlers trying to take away the card that had been packed full of pastries, which Nikita was tightly holding on to “I’ll take it! It’s fine really!” She says “I insist ma’am” The butler pleads “Nooo!” She holds her ground, her fingers tightly wrapped around the cold metal handle bar at the other end of the card “Just let her have it” I say with a chuckle to the butler, Nikita gasps “Clovis!!” She squeals letting go of the cart and rushing up to me with a hug. “Hi!” I chuckle “We saw each other like 7 hours ago geez!” I say with another laugh. “Yeah, but I’m just really excited!!” She exclaimed. “Well if you want to follow me with that cart of yours you can come meet the kids” I suggest “Sure! You two go ahead I’ll be right behind you” Nikita says with a smile urging Floris forward “You sure? We can wait up if you want” Floris questions “Mhm!” She responds in reassurance. I turn around to face the hallway I had walked down, Floris speed walking for a few seconds to catch up with me. “Im kind of nervous” He giggles “I’ve been looking forward to meeting them for hours and now I’m actually getting to!!” He squeals with excitement. “They don’t really remember you two very well, so I’m sure if you have any stories from all the way back then I’m sure they’d love it” I inform Floris, I turn my head toward him, he has a devilish grin on his face “Oh I definitely have some stories to tell,” He says with a mischievous giggle. Oh god. My mind rushes as I try and think of what he could say, is it something embarrassing? Did he even see me do anything embarrassing? Shush, be quiet anxiety, it’s fine, it’s probably just a story that made him laugh, we did have a lot of fun together. I hear the cart wheels roll against the carpet as Nikita strolls up beside me, Floris looks at her and they seem to have some sort of mental conversation, Nikita starts snickering as well, I think that’s the first time I’ve heard her ‘evil laugh’, I don’t like it. The three of us walk into the living room, Day is curled up on the couch, Benji sitting in his lap. Vinnie is sitting next to Day reading a book he had found on a small table right next to the couch, and Wess has his legs propped up on the coffee table with a cup of coffee in his hands, obviously trying his best to stay awake. Nikita gasps “HII!!!” She squeals as she sees the kids. Day looks at her, not knowing what to say or how to react, so he just waves awkwardly, Floris looks just as eager to meet them but tries his best to remain calm. He walks past Nikita and stands in front of the three boys “I’m pretty sure you don’t remember us, but we knew you when you were just babies, we were great friends with your dads” Floris explains with a smile and a calm voice “Wait you knew our other dad??” Day questions “Oh yeah definitely!” Nikita chimes in, finally calming down from her initial excitement “We were great friends! The four of us hung out tons of times! Our town was pretty small so we all knew each other really well” She continues. “We helped babysit you two a few times” Floris giggles while looking at Wess and Vinnie, this catches Vin’s attention who had still been reading his book “What was baby me like,” He says in awe, Nikita giggles at the question “Very adorable, and surprisingly handy with a pair of scissors” She continues “Wait, is THAT the reason Vinnie would always chase Wess with scissors???” I exclaim Floris chuckles nervously “You didn’t hear us say that,” he says putting his finger over his mouth and shushing me. I roll my eyes at the man before strolling over and grabbing a donut from the tray “You guys grab something, we’ll need to have something” I announce, “Hey Day can you get me one of those Muffins?” Wess asks “Mhm! No problem” Day answers. Day hops off the couch and grabs a muffin for Wess and a cupcake for himself, he sits back down on the couch and hands the muffin to Wess, Vinnie then stands up and grabs a glazed donut from the top of the stack of donut boxes Floris and Nikita had brought with them. He sits on the couch again before focusing on Floris, who sat down in the chair opposite them, I take a seat in my Father’s old chair, and Nikita sits in a very fluffy chair opposite me. Vinnie moves his hand to take a bite out of the donut but bites on air, he looks around to see Benji, who had stolen the donut while Vinnie wasn’t paying attention. “How dare you!!” Vinnie gasps, and Benji giggles as he sits in Day’s lap. “Give it!” Vinnie growls reaching for the donut. Benji pulls it away from Vinnie while laughing. “Benjamin” Day scolds, which immediately gets Benji’s attention, he looks up at his father “Give Vinnie his donut back and apologize?” Day orders “I sorryyyyy” Benji says with a frown giving the donut back. Vinnie grabs the donut, pauses for a moment, and then breaks it in half, handing one of the sides to Benjamin. “Yay!!! Thank yous!!!” Benji cheers ecstatically. Day nods approvingly, I feel a smile spread on my face, look at my son, being a responsible dad, I wonder where he learned it.
We took the next hour or so to fill the kids in on how the pair had arrived in the kingdom, before starting to tell stories about our past escapades, “Ok so, these bandits had been terrorizing our town for ages, and ended up setting our bakery on fire! And without hesitation, your dad jumped into the fire to save us! We wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for him!” Floris recounts, at the awe and wonder of the kids. “Oh I’m sure somebody would’ve saved you if I hadn’t come along” I chuckle “Oh stop it, give yourself some more credit!” Nikita scolds “Fine, fine, yeah I guess I might’ve saved your lives, but it isn't that big of a deal ok?” I say, “Sure” Wess scoffs in response. “Oh! There was this one time he came bursting into the bakery, he was completely drenched!” Floris starts, oh god, not this story “And covered in seaweed” Nikita chimes in with a giggle. “Oh yeah, he was wasn’t he?” Floris laughs “Anyway! He walked into the bakery completely covered in seaweed and soaking wet, and you want to know what the first thing he said when he walked in?” Floris asks, urging for a response, Day excitedly nods his head. “He strolled in with a tired look on his face, and said in a grouchy voice “Don’t ask”, Nikita flipped out and tried to take care of him, which he was VERY resistant to, after a while of pressuring he finally told us what happened, apparently, Oak wanted a pet otter to keep him company at home while your dad was out working, oh by the way in between tournaments he would work at the arena to help prep the respawn tech for the next game, BUT ANYWAY, your dad couldn’t find anything in town, because apparently people dont just sell otters, Oak got really sad, and to make him feel better, your dad tried to catch an Otter in the river, he hopped in and swam around, eventually finding one, and it was a strong one, it fought Clovis in that river for half an hour! And then it got away” Floris chuckles “AWWWW” Day squeals “THAT'S SO CUTEEEE” He continues “Huh??? You think me almost drowning is cute???” I ask with confusion “Noooo dum dum, he talking bout da otter” Benji says, clarifying his father’s words, “Mhm, that’s right buddy” Day smiles and rubs his nose against Benji’s. Cuteness overload . “OH! HA! And there was this one time, your dads came into our bakery one morning it hadn’t been a super busy morning which I and Nikita were delighted at, but anyway there was this out-of-town girl-” Floris starts “Oh god” I sigh in embarrassment as I realize what story he’s about to tell, which Floris giggles at like a child “Yeah so this girl came up to the counter and ordered something, I don’t remember what it was, and she looks over to your dad,” He continues looking at me for a moment as he said ‘your dad’. “She walked up to him, and she just started flirting, like HEAVILY flirting, she was complimenting him and obviously trying to say she wanted to ‘get’ with him,” Floris says with hints of disgust in his voice “But your dad, being the social butterfly he is, had absolutely no idea he was getting flirted with, he just thought she was being nice, so he just said thank you to all of the compliments, and he smiled like he was a total moron!” Floris cackles “And meanwhile Oak is standing next to your dad giving this girl the strongest death glare I’ve ever seen before” Nikita chimes in with a light giggle “This girl starts getting all handsy with your dad, touching him and stuff, and of course, your dear old dad was completely oblivious. And I guess that was the final straw, cause Oak walked over to this girl, tapped her on the shoulder, said ‘He’s taken’ AND THEN PICKED HER UP BY THE COLLAR OF HER SHIRT AND THREW HER THROUGH THE FRONT WINDOW” Floris bursts out laughing as he finishes, Day gasps and “AS HE SHOULD HAVE” Vinnie exclaims with a laugh “I had no idea our dad was such a bad bitch!” He shouts again “LANGUAGE!” Day shouts covering Benji’s ears “Sorryyyyy” Vinnie mumbles. “Then after that Oak sat your dad down and scolded him for about 2 and a half hours, and tried his best to teach him how to notice getting flirted with so it wouldn’t happen again,” Nikita says, bringing a calmness to the story, she does have a knack for that. Day chuckles, I think that helped boost his mood, which I’m definitely grateful for, even if the story is embarrassing.
“Your dads were always walking around together,” Floris says, his voice quiet and calm, the stories had gone deep into the night, Benji had fallen asleep resting snuggly in Day’s arms, and the kids were completely captivated by the stories they had been told, all of their focus was on my two friends, one of the only pieces from that old life left. The pair had spoken of birthdays gone wrong, and my intense rivalry with a raccoon that had nested on the roof of the old house, they told stories about the kids when they were just babies, which the kids were both completely embarrassed and ecstatic to hear about. “Wow, I- I actually think that's all the stories I remember” Floris admits in surprise, Vinnie groans in disappointment “Oh come onnn, there must be something else” Day whines “Sorry kiddo! I’m all out” Floris chuckles “Your dad might have some stories though” He suggests “Hm? Me? I suppose so” I say, speaking for the first time in hours, my voice is hoarse and stings at every word. All attention rests on me “Well what would you guys like to hear about?” I ask my family “Tell us about your favorite day with Dad” Wess suggests, he too had barely spoken, probably for different reasons than mine. “My favorite day with him?” I ask myself, trying to think of a day I hold the fondest memories of “My favorite day.. I can tell you about my favorite day with him”
I lay under the warm sheets that covered the bed, the heat from the sun only making it warmer inside of the room, I lay on my side, my head resting on a fluffy white pillow, I had been awake for about an hour, but I didn't want to leave, “ why would I want to leave when there’s a view like this? ” I think to myself as I admire the lightly tanned skin of my husband, rays of sunlight peered through the windows, illuminating his face, only making his beauty greater. I reach out and part his brown fluffy hair to get a better view of his adorable face, when he’s tired like this his cuteness is just multiplied 10 fold.
“OK WE GET IT DAD YOU’RE A SIMP, KEEP TELLING THE STORYYY” Day shouts “I was getting to it” I respond, “Now if you’ll please let me finish my story”.
As I brushed his hair from his face he stirred awake, his sky blue eyes almost glowing in the sunlight, he smiles warmly as he sees me “Good morning” He says quietly, he giggles as he rolls on top of me, he gives me a boop on the nose before starting to roll again “Wait-!” I try and warn, too late. Oak hadn’t realized I was sleeping on the very edge of the bed, and promptly rolled face-first into the floor “Ow..” I hear his muffled voice groan, I lean my head over the side of the bed to check if he was ok, as I peaked my head over the edge his outstretched arms grab me and pull me off the bed, I land on him with a thump, he giggles ecstatically as he cuddles me “That wasn’t cool man” I say, my voice muffled as my mouth is pressed against his shirt “Dont you want to cuddle?” he pouts "You know that's not what I meant" I say with a groan as I lift myself off the ground, he frowns as I stand “We’ll have cuddle time later, right now it’s time for breakfast” I say with an eye roll as I extend my hand to him to help him get off the ground. He takes my hand, the warmth of his hand giving me comfort. “Come on sleepy head,” I say as I drag him out of the bedroom. We walk into the living room together “You just relax on the couch I’ll make you some breakfast” I say with a warm smile, Oak simply nods in response with a similar cheery smile. I walk into the kitchen, it’s a total mess. We had offered to help with Floris and Nikita’s bake sale the other day, all they asked was to borrow a few of our plates and dishes, and now almost every plate I own is covered in the crumbs and mess of yesterday's baked goods. I sigh as I look on at the mess, I walk over to the sink and grab a plate, I turn on the water and put some soap on the dish as I start to scrub it off the sticky jam that it had been coated in. I hear a snicker from behind me “Whatttt” I ask with annoyance as I turn to face my husband “Oh nothing, I just think it’s cute that you still wash the dishes by hand when you could just use magic to do it for you.” He replies with a chuckle “Oh” I say dumbfounded “Right” I place the dish back into the sink, and with a wave of my hand the whole kitchen comes to life with moving pots and pans and utensils flying through the air. Oak chuckles again “Don’t make fun of me” I pout with a frown “Oh don’t be sad honey, you’re just a little slow in the morning” He teases as he walks up next to me and gives me a hug “HUMPH” I pout more shoving him off me, he gasps “You get back here mister!” He rushes up behind me and hugs me again, I turn my head to him as I cross my arms with another “Humph”. “NOOOO NOT THE SILENT TREATMENTT” My husband screams “IM SORRYYYYY” He wails, hugging me tighter “That’s what I thought,” I say, turning my head back to him “You’re a big jerk” he replies with a frown “Maybe, but you love me anyway sooo”.
The two of us sit on the couch as we eat breakfast “So, are we actually doing it? Like, are we actually going to have a kid?” Oak asks abruptly “I mean, if you want to, the real question is, are we ready for it? For the responsibility and all that” I respond. “Hm, I don’t know, I mean I guess I am” Oak ponders. “Well, do you have like, any experience with children?” I ask my husband “Um, uh, not really” He laughs nervously “Well then that’s what we’ll do today” I say as I take another bite of my breakfast “Oooo, it’ll be like a baby training boot camp! Ya!” Oak says ecstatically “We’ll just need a kid to be able to get some experience with” I point out “We can just use you, I mean you’re already a big baby,” Oak says smugly “UH, EXCUSE ME, I AM NOT” I yell back “ARE TOOO” Oak argues, I sigh “I was thinking we could, I don’t know, go to the daycare or the orphanage and volunteer to look after the kids,” I say with a disappointed face “Ohhh, yeahh, I guess that works to” Oak replies with a smile. Why’s he got to be so cute? It’s my one weakness, and he knows it. “Alright well when you finish eating go and get dressed, I’ll go and talk to Phillip at the daycare and ask him if we can help look after the kids,” I say, Oak nods in response as he continues to eat. I hop off the couch and walk over to the front door, I grab my shoes off the floor and slide them on, bending down and tying my shoes “Hey can you stay like that for a second?” Oak asks from the other room “Huh?” I ask back as I tie my shoes “I’m enjoying the view” he calls, I can just tell he’s got one of those smirks on “You’re gross” I reply as I walk out the door, I shut it behind me, I can faintly hear a pout from Oak as I walk away. I follow the path further into town, I wave at passersby as I walk. People I had only known for about five years, and yet I was so close with them. I feel like this place is my home. I walk toward the daycare, as kids are starting to get dropped off by their parents “Hi Phil!” I shout as I wave “Oh hey kiddo!” Phil replies (Phil is only 7 years older than me). “Me and Oak are thinking about having a kid, and we were thinking maybe we could get some experience looking after the little rascals by helping out around here for a little while” I explain. Phil seems lost in thought for a moment before replying “Well, normally we wouldn’t do something like this, but with you donating all that money from your tournament winnings to the daycare, I just can't say no!” Phil says cheerily “And also, I trust you a lot, not to mention the kids haven't stopped asking for you to come back since you put on that puppet show pack in the fall at the festival, just remember, we’ll be in room 2b!” Phil continues “Great! Well, I’ll wait for Oak to get here and then we’ll come in” I say with a smile. Phil replies with a nod before walking back to the kids to lead them inside. Not long after that Oak strolls up to me in one of his many, many sweaters, this one being a bright yellow. “Alright, c’mon let’s go in!” I say grabbing his hand. We walk over to the front door and push them ajar.
“CLOVISSSSS” The kids yell as I enter the classroom Phil had told me about, I giggle as they surround me like a bunch of over-excited puppies. They look hazy-eyed at Oak “Everyone, let me introduce you to Oak, he’s my husband!” I say with the most energy I can put in my voice this early in the morning. The kids seem ecstatic about me having a husband, and a few seem to gossiping about it, kids will be kids I suppose. “Now kids come over here,” Phil instructs, which the children follow quickly and without question, how does he do it?? “Clovis and Oak are going to be helping out around here today, so treat them how you would me, alright?” He instructs the children, and they all nod or reply “Got it!”, or “Yes sir!”. “Now, since you guys were very quick and respectful, you guys can have free time early today!” Phil says with a wide smile, to the delight of the children. They spread out, grabbing colored pencils and crayons before sitting down in random spots throughout the classroom. I see a few working on coloring books, some writing, and two having a sword fight with the pencils. The two boy’s pencils clash into each other with a click, they rush around the room giggiling while they fight, as the blonde boy passes Phil he’s yanked up by the collar “Behave you two” He says sternly “Sorry Mr Crow-God sir” one says before sombery walking back to where he was before the ‘sword’ fight had started “Crow-God?” I ask in confusion at what the boy had called Phil “Oh, that? Just a silly nickname the kids have given me, they seem to think I’m some sort of god of crow, they even made me dress up for halloween as ‘the crow god’” He says with a chuckle “AWWWW THATS SO CUTE” Oak squeals “I want a name like that!!” He exclaims “Hmm, alright, well you can be the cute-god” I reply “Clovis!” He hisses “Not in front of the kids! Look at their sweet innocent faces! No flirting allowed!” Oak demands in a stubborn tone, I put my hands up in defeat. I take a moment of thought, did my husband just try and defend children, from flirting? I’m- I don’t even know what to think about that. “Can I not even hold your hand?” I ask with a pout “Nuh uh!” He replies with a hmph. “Well as fun as watching this is, we do need to do some work, the kids usually have lunch at 12, so in a few hours. It’s our job to make enough for them, a few have allergies so take this list, memorize everyone on it, and what their allergic to” Phil says with a smile pushing the list into the Oak’s hands “Uhhh, haha, ha, CLOVIS YOU DO IT” Oak panics trying to shove the list into my hands “No way! I cooked breakfast this morning, you got to put in some work too” I reply “Ughhh, fine” he whines “You were the one who wanted to do this, remember?” I remind him “Yeahh I knowwwww, I just didn’t know there’d be so much workkk” he whines again. “Yeah, uh huh, sure” I reply, rolling my eyes. “Hey Clo, mind if you stay here and look after the kids while me and Oak start making the food?” Phil asks “Sure thing! I’m on it” I reply to Phil with a salute before strolling over to Oak and planting a kiss on his forehead “Hmph I said no flirting” He pouts in a hushed voice “I wasn’t flirting, I was just showing my affection and respect through a kiss, see I’ll do it with Phil to” I say turning to Phil, I start walking over to him “NO I DON’T THINK THERES ANY NEED FOR THAT,” Oak says in a panic rushing over to Phil and grabbing his arm “COME ON PHILLL” My husband shouts as he drags Phil out of the room in a sprint.
I walk over to a group of kids, the one who called Phil “Crow-God” was in it “Heya kids” I say with a warm smile, the blonde-haired one gasps “MR CLO!!” He shouts in excitement, standing from the floor where he had been working on something with the 3 others on the floor with him “Whatcha working on?” I asked, squatting down to get closer. The blonde-haired boy picks up a piece of paper from the ground and shows it to me, on the paper what appears to be 4 people, three with brown hair, and one with blonde, I realize that the people in the drawings are the children sitting in front of me “Ooo, that’s very nice” I say as I inspect the image “Thank chu!!” The boy says before turning and going back to drawing. I stand back up from my squatted position and turn, as I walk away I overhear the conversation of the boys I had just left “And then I’ll get all the wives!” The recognizable voice of the blonde boy calls “ The hell? Is this what kids talk about now? ” I think to myself as I walk away. “OWIE” I hear a voice call, my attention spikes as I look for where the voice had come from, I see on the floor a young fluffy-haired boy, his eyes bright green, sitting on the floor tears streaming down his face “Woah! What’s wrong?” I ask as I rush up to him “I-I-” He sniffles, “Where does it hurt?” I ask as I sit down next to him, he points at his knee. I inspect the knee he was pointing at, he was wearing shorts so the scrape on his knee was bright red and clear, I can’t believe I didn’t notice before. “Alright come here,” I say softly as I pick him up off the ground “Come on, I’ll get you all fixed up,” I say with a smile “O-Ok” The boy sniffles. I fully stand, as I rest the boy in my arm, I reach out with my free arm and point at the blonde boy “YOU” I semi-shout, he turns to look at me “YOU’RE IN CHARGE WHILE IM GONE” I instruct “Yes sir Mr. Clo sir!” He says with a salute. Im going to regret that later. I carry the boy out of the room “Do you want to talk about what happened?” I ask him as I walk through the halls, he stays silent, the only thing interrupting the piercing quietness of the moment being his sniffles. After a while of exploring I eventually reach a First-Aid station which had been hidden behind a corner just out of my vision. I place him on the table inside and start searching for some rubbing alcohol and a bandaid, eventually, I find what I’m looking for in a cabinet. “This is going to sting for a bit, it’ll only last a second,” I say softly “O-Ok Mr. Clo sir” he responds, his voice just as soft as mine, his tears have dried up but his eyes haven’t stopped watering, they look almost glazed. “Call me Clovis,” I say with a wide smile “Ok- Clovis-” He responds, he seems shaken, and upset, I don’t think him hurting his knee was an accident “So what happened, you know if somebody hurt you I need to know,” I say as I lightly rub the scrape on his knee with the cloth I had put the rubbing alcohol on, he’s surprisingly calm, kids his age usually get freaked out by now, it probably isn’t the first time something like this has happened to him. “I don’t wanna talk about it” The boy pouts “Hm, alright, well if that's the case you can just go back to play with your friend” I suggest “NO” He shouts back. Gotcha. “Oh? And whys that?” I ask as I slowly place the bandaid “Cause he pushed me over” He frowns as his voice quiets even more. “See that wasn’t so hard now was it Blueja-” I stop myself. “Sorry. I- I don’t know why I called you that” I say. I try to not look at the boy “Let’s just get you back to class” I say, I try and lift him off the table but he grabs onto the table tight “WAITTT” He yells again “Hm? What is it?” I ask, he lets go of the table edges and stands up, and gives me a hug “Thank you CloClo!” He says cheerily with a dopey smile “Cloclo?” I ask as the embrace continues, he lets go of the hug “Mhm! You’re Cloclo now!” He says, his smile persisting. He climbs down from the table and stands next to me, reaching out his hand “Oki I’m ready now!” He announces. “You got it buddy” I take the boy's hand, we start walking back to the classroom at a leisurely pace. I almost called him Bluejay, why? Why did I remember that day?
As we walk into the classroom, the children seem to be completing some sort of throne made out of pillows “Uh” Is the only thing I can manage to say as I watch on as the blonde-haired boy seems to be getting crowned as king. “Ahem” I announce my presence, I cross my arms as I look at the blonde-haired boy, who was staring hazy-eyed at a crown made from cereal and wire. He turns his head to me as I enter and gasps “THE TRUE KING HAS RETURNED, SCRAMBLE” He commands as he starts to run around the room in a panic, the other kids start to quickly dismantle the pillow throne, and the room is in total chaos, things are thrown everywhere, andddd right at that moment Phil walks back into the room, he stares blankly at the mess and chaos the room had fallen into “I uh- I needed to take him to the nurse's office- and when I came back- it was- this-” I explain myself, Phil sighs before clapping his hands together loudly, all of the children suddenly stop where they are and turn to look at him “Lunch is ready, but you lot won’t be getting it until this place is clean, now get to work” He orders, a groan fills the classroom as the children are in eminence disappointment. “Being all mopey about it isn’t gonna make it go any faster! C’mon!” he encourages. Only a few minutes later the room is in the state it was in before I left it. “Wow, they work fast” I admit “Well, they’re good kids, but at the end of the day, still kids, this doesn’t happen a lot, but whenever it does you have to make sure to handle it well, giving them something they want if they complete something they need to do is a great strategy,” Phil says as he looks on at the room “Hope you’re taking notes!” He chuckles “Wait was I supposed to be doing that??”. The children, who had finished cleaning, now stood at Phil’s feet. “Alright alright, good job kiddos,” He says with a smile, scruffing up one of the boy's hair “C’mon!” He says the kids squeal in excitement as they rush past him and out of the door. “Is Oak waiting in the lunch room?” I ask Phil as we walk behind the boys “Mhm! He’s setting up right now” Phil says, still carrying a wide smile “Hey Phil, I’ve got a question, how do you smile so much?” I ask, he laughs “Well the truth is, I love this place, I love the kids, I love what I do, so what’s there not to smile about?” He responds “Yeah, Yeah I guess so, but don’t you get tired every once in a while?” I ask the man, “Oh of course I do! I’m only human” he chuckles with a wide smile “But I still try my best for them, they deserve it” He replies. I understand now. We walk into the lunchroom, Oak is wearing an apron behind the counter, ready to give out food, wow he looks cute. GAH FOCUS CLOVIS, No flirting remember? I sigh as I walk behind the counter to help Oak, Phil isn’t far behind me on that. At first Oak and I are pretty slow, but after a while, we get into a good rhythm, and in no time all the kids have gotten their food and their rushing to their tables. Oak takes off his apron with a deep sigh, before Phil waves at us to follow him, he leads us to our own separate table, where we sit down.
“Ok so let me get this straight, you have to do this, every day, all by yourself??” Oak asks “Yep!” Phil says in a chipper voice “How-” Oak asks, he sounds exhausted “Well, to be honest, it’s something I enjoy a lot, so it doesn’t make me very tired” He explains “WAIT SO ARE YOU SAYING JUST BECAUSE I’M TIRED I DONT ENJOYING BEING A PARENT??” Oak yells in distress “I didn’t say that” Phil laughs in response “This is your first day doing this so there’s no surprise you’re tired, you’ll get used to it eventually” He smiles “You think so?” I ask “Mhm! I’m sure you two will make great parents” He reassures “Really??” Oak says with a sniffle “Yeah! I’m sure you’ll make amazing parents! I mean you’ve got Clovis, he’s one of the best people I know, and he’s pretty experienced at being a ‘parent as well” He chuckles “Oh?” Oak asks “What do you mean? Is he secretly cheating on me or something? Does he have a secret family!?” Oak gasps in a hushed voice “No no, nothing like that, when he was kid, before I moved to this village he took care of his two younger brothers” Phil explains, I slowly turn my head to face Phil and give him the strongest Death Glare I think I’ve ever used before “Oops! I don’t think I was supposed to say that” He apologizes rubbing the back of his neck. Oak’s jaw dropped, and he looks at me with that 'Im about to go on an excited rant’ look. This isn’t going to be a fun conversation. “You have brothers?! Why is this the first time I’m hearing about them!? When can I meet them??” Oak blurts out “It’s- a bit of a sensitive subject is all, I’m not really close with them, they were kinda jerks to me, it’s partly the reason I moved here in the first place” I explain in a quiet voice “Oh,” he says with a frown “I’m sorry sweetie” he wraps his arms around me “I didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories,” He says somberly “Don’t worry about it cutie,” I say as I rub my hands through his hair “You didn’t know, there wasn’t any way you could’ve known, don’t worry your pretty little head about it,” I say with a smile as he buries further into the hug “Still though” He mumbles “Nope, shush,” I say as I continue to run my fingers through his fluffy, completely unbrushed hair. “Oops, sorry, almost forgot, no flirting,” I say as I pull my hand back, but Oak doesn’t let go of the hug “Shut up and hug me,” He says as his embrace tightens “You don’t have to tell me twice” I reply as I return the tight hug. “It appears we’ve gathered an audience” Phil chuckles, I turn my head to look out in front of me, some of the children had finished their lunch early and started watching us. “They’re so cute-” I hear one mumble with tears in his eyes “IM GONNA WRITE A FANFICTION ABOUT THIS,” One of the older kids says “Hold on hold on!” The blonde boy says as he walks in front of the other kids “Lemme draw!” He says, pulling a sketchbook out of his backpack as well as a few crayons. “Let me help!” the same older kid says, he looks about 11 or 12. “Ya me too!” One of the girls says. 15 minutes went by, then 20, then 30, the children had an unwavering focus, they seemed to be working on this ‘masterpiece’ of theirs for ages, Oak hadn’t moved a muscle, I glance down at him for a moment, he was asleep. He doesn’t play fair, looking all cute like that.
The blonde boy excitedly stands up and walks up to me, sketchbook in hand, the other children who worked on it following shortly behind, he turns it around to show me “Woah! That’s actually really good!” I say in surprise, in front of me was a well-proportioned, beautifully colored, drawing, of me and my husband. “Do you think I could keep it?” I ask, the boy enthusiastically nods his head. “Well thank you very much” I smile “As much as I would love to stay, I need to get him home” I chuckle, I take gently lift him up into my arms and grab the drawing, that the boy had torn off of the sketchpad and offered me.
Oak slowly stirs awake “What happened..?” He asks “You fell asleep” I lightly laugh as I brush his hair out of his face. “Dang it! I really wanted to spend some more time with them” He pouts, “I know you did, so did I, but on the bright side, look what they made us” I say handing Oak the drawing “AWWW THIS IS SO GOOD!!” He squeals.
“After that, I hung the drawing up on the fridge, and then we went off to bed” I finish the story. Wess had gotten so torn up from hearing about something as simple as a normal day with the father he barely knew, that he had been on the verge of tears for pretty much the entire story, Vinnie had cried so hard he passed out before I could even finish the story, Floris, Nikita and Day, were the only ones who weren't passed out or sobbing. “So, what did you guys think? That anything like you were looking for?” I ask, Day nods, trying not to wake Benji who had fallen asleep on him. “That was really nice Clovis” Nikita says with a smile, I look at the grandfather clock in the room. 1:27. We had been talking and exchanging stories for hours “Oh man! Look at the time!” Floris says in a surprised tone “We better be heading back now,” Nikita giggles “Got to get ready for tomorrow” Floris continues “Yeah you probably should, oh and dont worry about the cart thingy, I’ll get my brother to bring it back first thing tomorrow morning” I reply with a smile “Oh well that would be lovely!” Nikita ecstatically responds. I stand from my chair and swiftly wrap Floris and Nikita into a hug “Don’t be a stranger” Floris says in a soft voice.
I sit alone, Day had gone to put Benji to bed and probably fell asleep himself not long after, Wess and Vinnie had gone to check on Neo, who had apparently gotten home from his walk with Hercules hours ago, and discovered a lab in the castle, according to Wess he had passed out next to “a bunch of science junk and gizmos”. The room is quiet, the fire had gone out hours ago, so not even the crackles of wood burning could be heard, the only light that was shining into the room was from the moonlit hallway behind me, but even that wasn’t that bright, it was filtered through the colored glass and barely made a difference. Despite the lonely nature of this room, I didn’t feel lonely, and despite there being no fire, I didn’t feel cold. “Whatcha you doing in here?” I hear my brother's voice call from the hall. “I didn’t want to go to sleep” I reply “Oh? Why’s that?” He asks, I hear his footsteps creaks against the wooden floor “Because then the moment would end, I’ve had a good day, so I don’t really want it to end” I explain “Awww, that’s actually sweet, I didn’t think you were capable of even thinking about anything sweet” My brother teases as he walks past “Anddd you just ruined it, guess I’m off to bed” I say with a smirk, standing from my chair “No no no, you can stay right there mister, I haven’t complained about my evening yet” My brother says as he flops onto the couch, proping his feet up as he rolls over onto his back “I had to go through like 17 pages of front and back paper work, just to approve people to make more paper work for me to sign to start the process of getting the school repaiers, and this’ll be my life for the next few weeks, thanks for that by the way” Anodyne explains his day, his voice filled with annoyance “Hey it wasn’t my fault your school wasn’t built well enough” I defend myself “Shut it” My brother replies “Ohand then there was this scout that barged into the meeting room right in the middle of some ‘very important paperwork’ and gave me some report, I haven’t opened it yet, it’s not gonna be anything interesting so I’ll just wait till the morning” My brother continues his rant “Right, so, you’re lazy” I say slowly in response “NO, UM, Uh, no, that’s not what it is, I’m just tired, and uh, I want to be able to read it with a clear and focused mind, yeah thats it” Anodyne replies confidently. “Well that’s good for you buddy, I can really really tell how many times you’ve practiced that in the mirror” I hiss. “Well you’ve officially ruined the moment so I’m gonna go to bed, cya in the morning” Anodyne says with a wave of his hand before standing from the couch, he virtually drags himself out of the room. Today was the first time I had taken time to think about my old life with Oak, seeing Floris and Nikita today made all those memories rush back to the front of my head like a tidal wave, in all these years, all this time, I barely took the time to really think about all the times we had together, I’ve kept all these emotions bottled up, so many emotions, my love for my brothers, my hatred for my father, my heartbreak for Oak, how proud I am of my sons, I’ve kept it all locked up, I was raised to keep it locked up. Well, it only took 36 years, but I’ve finally gotten over it all. I think I’m ready now. Hello, I’m Clovis Iodine, I’m a father, I’m a grandfather, I’m a widower, I’m a brother, and I’m a son, it’s very nice to meet you.