little king | agere

three. shopping

"play with clay?" king tilts his head to delilah, boredom had consumed the teenager and he wanted to play.

"you've ran out of clay, king" lilah sighs. this was the first time she'd noticed king in his headspace after being here a week.

she couldn't explain how nice it was having a little to take care of again, it had been countless years since she'd done so.

"'tore?" king walks closer to the taller lady, grabbing her hand and attempting to pull her to the front door- with no luck of course, the boy was just too small.

she was busy, working from her computer. she didn't want to upset the boy but she couldn't leave it unfinished. "not yet, little one. come sit" she hums, not taking her eyes off of the article she was reading.

he whines at her, and instead of sitting on the engraved wooden chair beside her, he crawls onto her lap, his arms around her neck. "mm comfy" king giggles, positioning himself on the babysitter.

delilah blushes, the unexpected warmth of the little boys body eliminating the stress from work. she ignores the feeling, ruffling his blonde hair and getting back to work.

#

"little king" she whispers down at the little boy asleep on her chest, attempting to wake him from his slumber to tell him the good news- they could finally go to the store.

"mm- lilah" he whines, burying his head further into her chest.

"wanna go get clay?" she softly speaks, not wanting to put the teenager in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

he perks his head up, his brown eyes sparkling in the light as he nods. king loves clay- even more than he loves playing on his swing-set sometimes.

"can we make garlands?" he excitedly jumps off of her lap, pulling his shoes on.

"of course we can, little one" she noticed the faint blush on his cheeks after she said that, and in return she pats his head.

#

"so, king, what do you want to make out of clay?" the elder asks the boy, the two sitting in the backyard with three blocks of clay and countless tubs of paint.

paintbrushes we're littered throughout the grass, king decided he would throw them to the floor when he sat.

"mm- mushrooms! mushroom g-arland!" he struggles with his words, but she understood what he meant.

"perfect, love! they're gonna be so pretty." delilah coos at the small boy and his good ideas. he was very creative, it was cute on how he decided on things no one else would think of.

delilah says "let me grab us some snacks king, have you ever had cupcakes?" she had snuck some in her purse when they went to the store, not wanting king to see her surprise. she paid for them, of course.

"uhh- not had for long time! i want- i want!" he beams, his contagious smile making the elder giggle. she was aware he shouldn't be having any candy, but he behaved so well, one cupcake surely wouldn't hurt an eighteen-year-old.

delilah pulled her purse from the grass to her lap, unzipping the black leather and pulling out 4 double chocolate chip cupcakes, secured in a brown paper bag. although he was being treated, she made sure the cupcakes were vegan and low in sugar. she didn't know how his body would handle normal cupcakes.

she looks up at the boy who is now clapping his hands in joy. starting at the cupcakes, he starts to make grabby hands for one. delilah opens the packaging and pulls one out, taking the case off of it and handing it to the little. she didnt want him to accidentally eat the paper securing the bottom of it.

she hands it to him, and he says "th-ankies! looks 'ike mushyroom!" he giggles at it and compares it to a mushroom he'd picked from the grass. delilah nods and takes a bite of her own cupcake. humming at the taste.

"nummy!" the boy squeals, a mouthful of cupcake. he looks so happy. he continues painting his clay mushrooms while he eats it, delilah got him a paper plate after he'd put it on the grass.

"'nother?" he gives her puppy eyes, his smaller frame scooching closer to delilah to ask for another. she huffs, knowing she cannot deny him. they are low sugar, so surely it will be fine?

#

delilah was wrong. she was so wrong.

"king. off of the swing. its ten in the afternoon!" she scolds, attempting to grab the boy who is swinging higher and higher on the swing, giggling at the top of his lungs. he was experiencing a sugar rush, and delilah didn't know what to do.

she'd never dealt with such a hyperactive little before. this had been going on for the last four hours and she was exhausted.

"lilah!" king bites her arm to get her attention, not drawing blood but leaving a mark.

"king! why would you do that?" she hisses at the pain, moving away from the boy to pick up their mess. "we're going inside now. you do not bite" she growls at the boy, and instead of listening, king giggles, and runs away towards his swingset.

"only i-if you cat-ch me first!" he screams at the top of his lungs, delilah sighing and stopping with the clean-up.

she never did get him in. apparently the teenage boy with the mind of a toddler had running skills. he had run around the two acre back garden more than once. it was impressive, but fueled delilah's anger.

she decides to stop the nice-guy, and pull him off of the swing.

she walks right to the swinging boy, grabbing him by his waist and pulling him into her arms, landing a sharp slap to his butt as she does. "bad boy!" she scolded. she knew it was her fault for giving him the cupcakes, but he had been disobeying her for hours now, that wasn't due to his sugar-levels, but he was sure using them to his advantage.

she stops in her tracks when she hears sniffling. she looks down at the now crying boy, his thumb in his mouth and his eyes closed, silent tears falling down his cheeks and to his clothes.

"oh, king, i'm sorry buddy!" she puts him onto the grass and kneels to his level, petting his blonde locks and giving him a soft smile. "you're okay bubs, you just really upset lilah, yeah?"

he nods, a sob escaping from his lips as he runs back into her arms, the waterworks worse as tears soak through her shirt. she kisses his forehead and comforts the toddler. she didn't mean to upset him and promised herself she would never do so again.

"hold my hand, puppy. we will go inside and watch a movie, yeah?" he shakes his head and pushes himself further into the woman's chest. she understood what he was asking of her and pulled him into her arms.

it never failed to amaze her how light he was. he wasn't overly skinny in any sense, but he had a shorter stature. she loved holding him.

he grunts and relaxes onto her chest, resting his head on her shoulder as his cries stop. she smiles, grateful that the boy was calm again. "sshh baby" she rocks him slightly and stays in place for a few moments, waiting for the boy to relax further, ultimately falling asleep.

she had noticed as he got limper that he started blabbering, he had noticeably fallen into a smaller headspace and she loved that, but she didn't love the reason why.

she felt really guilty for spanking the little.