Playdates

Sensitive Topics and Strange Comfort

It's now a little past seven and a bunch of kids had shown up. You've counted sixteen of them, from a ten-month-old infant to an eight-year-old girl. You give the baby Cheerios as you sit on the ground at the end of a tiny table where toddlers and younger children are seated. Sunny's entertaining the kids that have already eaten.

The little kids are going crazy for you. You guess they're just excited because you're new. They ask simple things like "What's your name?" "Will you stay here forever?" "Can you play tag with me later?" 

You try to answer the kids' questions all at once. The baby flails her arms and gets her cereal everywhere. You later find out her name is Claire by a six-year-old. "Uh ooooh!" She coos innocently.

When breakfast is over and after you clean Claire off, a gaggle of kids keeps coming towards you. They sit next to you and lean on your shoulder while you sit. One five year old that's named Mason, asks if you're a robot just like Sunny. You guess they think that because of your lack of expression. Sunny always has a smile on his face. "No..." you attempt to explain, "I'm human just like the rest of you." 

You give them a tiny smile of reassurance. Mason gives you a big smile back. They're missing front teeth. Sunny stumbles over to you with a toddler on his shoulders and two other kids holding onto his legs. "Awww, why aren't you having fun with the rest of us? There's so much to do!" 

You nod your head towards Claire: She's playing with the big foam blocks. "I don't want to leave this little tot by herself. She needs someone to watch her." 

"Claire?" He acts as if he's thinking, putting a finger under his chin, "Oh I know! How about I watch the little angel whilst you play with the other kids! Everyone deserves to have fun here!" 

You shrug at him. He reaches a hand down to you to help you get up. You take it. His hand is smooth and metallic. "Go play with Y/N everybody, Mr. Sunny's going to play with Claire!" 

You go across the daycare with a bunch of kids following you like you're playing follow the leader. Mason runs in front of you and dumps a big bag of jumbo legos out. "Can you help me build a castle?" They ask. 

You get on your knees and begin to build a platform for the castle. A couple of other kids join you. Whilst you are doing this, the little's are smacking their gums. "Everyone seems to love Claire...but I don't understand why she looks so different from any other baby." Mason states then gasps, "Is she an alien?" 

You understand the kid is genuinely curious and is ignorant. You begin to build a wall. "No, Claire isn't an alien. She's different because she has down syndrome. She was born that way." 

You never know you were going to have a talk like this with a five-year-old. But, you gotta tell the truth, you guess. "Oooooh. What's a down syndrome?" 

"Down syndrome is something you're born with. It can delay growth and people may have speech, hearing, and seeing difficulties."  

"That's sad." The child frowns.

"But, she'll be okay. I promise." Honestly, you have no idea if she will or not. You just say this to reassure the kid. 

They smile a little and continue to build the castle. The two other kids, who are identical twins, begin to build a tower to the lego castle. "You know," You start, "just because Claire is different than the rest of us it doesn't make her less special than the rest of you. Everyone is equal." 

Mason nods, they probably ignored what you said. You hear a beaming sun, "OoOOOOOO! Are we making a castle? Let me help!" 

Sunny places down Claire next to a stray pile of the jumbo legos, who grabs a couple and smacks them together repetitively. Sunny begins to work on the other tower of the colorful castle. The kid whom you were talking to earlier looks up at you, "You said you weren't a robot, right?"

You feel confused. "Yes..?" 

"Then why do you talk like one? You talk so quietly and you don't sound happy or anything!" 

You feel a little shame. You should work on sounding human if you're going to work with children. "It's just how I speak..." 

Everything is coming back to you. You remember when you were in school, people would make fun of you because of your monotonous voice. How they would call you emotionless and a freak. You're parents said stuff like this wasn't a big deal, they're just kids and kids are mean. This was a big fucking deal. They try to stuff you and lockers and shove your face into a toilet. You never had anyone else to talk to this shit about because you weren't social and if someone did try to talk to you, you didn't know what to say back. You were always the outcast. You were the autistic freak show. You pinch at your thighs and try to fight back tears. You think it's stupid that a kid can make you cry. 

It's like Sunny can sense your emotions or maybe sees the tears forming because he rubs your back reassuringly and blurts out, "Hey now, Mason, how about we talk about something else like...You're favorite game or...animal!"

Mason smiles a big goofy grin and shouts "I like tigers. They have stripes!"

Then the kid talks about tigers for the rest of the time. You turn around to look at Sunny who's crouching. You mouth 'Thank you to him. He nods back. 

Sunny stops rubbing your back, assuming that you feel better now. After you don't feel his hand on you anymore, you realize that you're cramping in your back like crazy. You feel embarrassed for what you're about to ask. "Sunny..?" 

"What's up?"

"Can you...uh...rub my back again? Like...massage it? It's...hurting pretty bad in the shoulders and lower back." You ask awkwardly.

His smile seems to grow, "Sure! Anything for my new buddy pal friend!"

You shift from your knees onto your bottom.  You sit up straight so he can get to every spot. He begins to press circles deep on both of your shoulders. It hurts but hurts in a good way. You continue to add on to the Lego castle, which is now almost complete. You feel the muscles in your shoulders pop and loosen up. You then feel Sunny's hands slide down your back. For the slightest moment, it's like he caresses your waist. It sends electric shivers down your spine and makes your face heat up. After that, he begins to do the same pattern on your lower back that he did to your shoulders. It feels good. You shutter. 

After he finishes, he places his hands on your shoulders and gently rocks you back and forth. "Feel better, Y/N?" 

You nod slightly at the joyful robot. He stands up and looks at the castle, which is now complete. "WOWSERS! Good job, guys. This castle is looking dapper!" 

The kids that were making it all smile great grins. One of the twins that were making it (her name is Ruby) asks, "Can we destroy it now?" 

"Of course! Your build, your choice!" 

Ruby, Mason, and the other twin, Katie starts to pretend they're monsters and tear the lego castle down. Claire notices what they're doing and begins to help them by flailing her arms and knocking the towers over. You hear Sunny's mechanical giggle, "They're just little angels, aren't they, Y/N?" 

You stand up next to him and realize how tall he is compared to you. You nod at him again and give him a half-ass grin. He giggles again and then shouts, "Okay everybody, Storytime in five minutes!" 

You can tell already, that you're going to love this job. 

(1329 words) 

Lmao sorry, this took a bit. I also forgot to mention that these bitches' faces are going to move since it would be kind of weird to just be like that. Hope you enjoyed it.