A Splash Of Paint (MCYT Oneshots)

[R] Where's Mama? (Sam & Quackity)

(A/N: request as photo. I have no idea why it keeps duplicating it like 7 times but you just gotta deal w/ it. anyways some characters are de-aged for this oneshot, so yeah. also y'all know lilianator's single dad schlatt au? yeah uh kinda using the absent dad phil leaves wilbur to take care of tommy + single dad schlatt with tubbo idea)

"Papa?" Sam looked up from his work when he heard Quackity's voice. He turned his head and saw his son standing by the doorway of his office, sniffling and with tears beading at his eyes.

In an instant, Sam was already moving to hoist Quackity up into his arms, heading back to his seat to try and comfort the six year old as he sniffled and hiccuped.

"Oh, Ducky," Sam cooed gently, patting his son's back. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Quackity shook his head, but didn't make a move to say anything.

"Quackity, my little duckling, you have to tell Papa what's wrong, otherwise Papa won't know what to do."

Quackity bit his lip. "Was watchin' the television, Papa."

"Uh huh," Sam nodded, bouncing Quackity on his lap gently. "And what happened on the television?"

"They were talkin' about- about Mother's Day and stuff," his son looked up at him, more tears beading at his eyes. "They all looked so happy, Papa. But I wasn't happy, 'cause I don't have a Mama. Where did my Mama go, Papa? Was- was I not good enough?"

Sam felt his heart break at the question, and at the fact that his son thought that he was the reason his other parent had left. With a sigh, Sam gently planted a kiss on his son's head.

"Oh, ducky, it was never your fault to begin with," he told Quackity. "Sometimes..."

Sam frowned, trying to think of a way to phrase it in a way that wouldn't reveal more than Quackity needed to know at his age.

"Sometimes what, Papa?"

"Sometimes," Sam began again. "People change their minds. Like how you wanted to buy that candy last year for your birthday, but then decided you wanted to buy Quakers instead. You remember that time, ducky?"

"Yup!" Quackity nodded eagerly.

"Yes, well," Sam let out an amused huff at his son's eagerness. "Sometimes people change their minds, even after they've already done what they later decided they didn't want to do. And sometimes, changing your mind is good! But other times, changing your mind isn't good. And in your mother's case, her changing her mind wasn't good."

Sam could still remember the argument they had over Quackity. He remembered the way she kept on trying to paint him as the bad guy, when he just wanted his son to grow up well. They were only 19, so it was only natural that she wouldn't want to have a son so early. But Sam had refused to let her give away their son, to just toss him out like they didn't spend months preparing for him to come out.

The whole thing had ended in her packing up her bags, and never coming back again, leaving him to take care of their son alone. Sam would be lying if he said he didn't have doubts about his decision, but now, six years later, he never regretted keeping Quackity for a second.

"Your mother was in her right, of course," Sam continued. "But you have to understand that it was never your fault, alright? You did nothing wrong, ducky. And not having a Mama isn't bad! There's plenty of children like you who don't have a Mama!"

Quackity giggled at that. "Like Tubbo and Tommy?" he asked.

"Like Tubbo and Tommy," Sam agreed. "They're your friends, aren't they? And they're not bad for not having a Mama, are they?"

Quackity gasped loudly at the question, as if it had personally offended him. "No! They're very good people!"

"Exactly," Sam smiled. "So you don't have to worry, alright? The next time Mother's Day comes, we can pretend it's another Father's Day, and I can play with you all day."

Quackity laughed, light and happy. "Yeah!" he agreed. "And we can have Tubbo and Tommy over too?"

Sam pretended to think about it, fully aware of Quackity showing his puppy eyes at him. "Well, I'll have to ask Schlatt and Wilbur about it..."

"Please," Quackity pouted. "I wanna play with Tubbo and Tommy too!"

Sam chuckled. "Alright, ducky, I'll see what I can do."

Quackity cheered, and his happiness spread to Sam too. "Yay! Thank you, Papa. Can we go watch the television now?"

Sam quickly checked the time. He had enough time to spend at least an hour with his son, and he was already ahead in his work anyways, so why not? "Sure, lead the way."