"Today, we are going to do a group activity," Arthur announced to his students. "We have a new student with us, and we should make him feel welcomed, yes?"
"Oui!~" Millie agreed, the events of the day before completely forgotten. "Matthieu's brother seems so nice!~"
"Indeed he does, Millie!~" Arthur replied with a smile. "So, the activity we're doing today is an art project!~ Once we're done, we will hang it up for all of your parents to see!~ How does that sound?~"
"Magnifique!~" Matthew answered excitedly. "Papa will be so happy to see it!~"
"Oui, so will maman!~" Millie told him.
"A-and mama...." Davina smiled shyly.
"Great!~" Arthur nodded with approval, spreading out a long piece of paper on the floor as well. "Then let's get started!~ Choose a colour of paint, and then let your imagination run wild!~"
The kids nodded back enthusiastically, choosing their brushes and paint before decorating the paper with an explosion of beauty.
Arthur grabbed his own brush and some blue paint, choosing a spot near Alfred as a tactic to try and get closer to him.
Matthew can handle himself now, he decided, so I can focus on Alfred more today.
"What are you going to paint, Alfred?" he asked the younger blond.
"I'm going to make spies!~" Alfred cheered. "And airplanes!~"
"Sounds wonderful!~" Arthur answered happily. "Do you want to be a spy when you grow up?"
"Yeah!~" Alfred told him. "I want to beat bad guys!~ Oh, and have all sorts of cool weapons!~"
"And save the world, right?" Arthur replied, hoping that Alfred was just too excited to mention that part.
"Mmm...I guess so," Alfred hummed with a shrug. "Fighting bad guys is more fun, though!~"
Arthur frowned, and he looked at Alfred seriously.
"Being a hero doesn't mean just fighting your enemies, Alfred."
The young boy looked up at Arthur, confused.
"It's...it's not?"
"No," Arthur shook his head. "A hero saves people, most of the time without being asked to. They fight off bad guys, yes, but they do it to save others. Not because it's fun."
Alfred was silent for a few moments, and he looked down at his painting.
"Then...then I want to be that, Arthur," he spoke softly, looking up at Arthur again as well. "A hero."
Arthur smiled softly, sitting beside Alfred with his own paintbrush.
"Then let's paint our heroes together!~"
"Okay!~" Alfred agreed excitedly.
The two of them got to work immediately, and Arthur couldn't help but feel proud of Alfred's talent!
He's such a smart boy, he thought with awe. He will do well in anything that he chooses to do in his life. I have no doubts about it.
~~~~
"Dad, dad, look at what did today!~" Alfred said to Francis, pulling him towards the large paper mural as well. "We got to paint together!~ Here's what I made with Mattie, here's what I made with Millie, here's what I did with Davina, and here's what I did with Arthur!~ We made spies together!~"
Francis felt like he was going to get dizzy from the way Alfred was vigorously pointing at the pictures, but he did his best to ignore that feeling as he smiled happily at Alfred.
"It's amazing, mon cher~"
"Oui, it is!~" Matthew agreed happily. "We had so much fun today!~ I hope Alfred can stay here forever!~"
"Yeah, me too!~" Alfred replied. "That would be awesome!~"
"Okay, okay, calm down you two!~" Francis laughed. "Let's not make any plans yet, okay? I will have to talk it over with your maman first."
His laugh is so beautiful, Arthur thought sweetly. I wish I could hear him laugh like that all of the time!
"Aaawww!" Matthew whined, crossing his arms and bringing Arthur out of his thoughts as well. "That's not fair!"
"Sorry," Francis apologized, "but she deserves to see you two as well."
"Well, at least I'm still here for the rest of the week!~" Alfred grinned, trying to cheer his brother up. "So we can still have lots of fun together!~"
"Oui, right!~" Matthew nodded. "And I'm really happy that we can!~"
"Me too!~" Alfred replied.
"Me three." Francis added, his smiling widely as well. "Just like always!~"
~~~~
A/N:
Hey, sorry for the short chapter, but I have a whole lot planned for the next one, so I wanted to end this chapter here in order to prepare for Chapter Nine!
Also, I just wanted to thank everyone who has read and commented on this story so far! It already has 106 reads, and I'm SO HAPPY! It honestly means SO MUCH TO ME, so thank you once again!
Well, I'll see you in the next chapter, everyone! Have a good day/night/afternoon!
~ With love,
Wolfy
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A Teacher's Heart
FanfictionAfter getting into a divorce and getting custody of only one of his sons, Francis struggles to make his and Matthew's life as good as he wants it to be. That is, until he meets Arthur, a teacher and the owner of his own daycare. Can Francis keep hi...
