the biggest 'ok hear me out' yet (what if Shiro ran a daycare?)

Berries and Cream, Berries and Cream

I led the moms into the living room so the kids weren't completely unattended at the table. They both sat down. Lance's mom was tapping her foot on the floor nervously. She hadn't caught a glimpse of Lance yet. Keith's mom just looked like she was ready to hear the worst.

"Okay... so this morning, Lance and Keith were the first two here. I, uh... I did leave for a minute. Please have mercy, it's my first day. I was just in the restroom. When I came back, Lance was crying. At that point, he had a bruise on his forehead."

I continued to relay the story. Lance's mom's eyes widened as I recounted the tale, but Keith's mom looked like this was normal. For her, this probably was normal.

When I finished, Lance's mom stood up and hurried to the table. She went out of view, but I could hear her audibly gasp. In my defense, it wasn't that bad. There were only a few bandaids and a couple of bruises. But she is the mom, and so, of course, she'd be upset if her child got hurt. I would too.

I turned to Keith's mom. "There's actually more--" but before I could continue, Lance's mom stormed back in, holding Lance's hand. "No! Mom! I want to stay here!" Lance was pleading with her.

Lance's mom shook her head. "No, mijo, we have to go. It's for your safety."

I saw Keith follow the two out, still holding his now-empty plate. "Ma'am, I didn't mean to cause any trouble. Please let him stay."

Why did Keith want Lance to stay? I thought he didn't like Lance. Nevertheless, Lance's mom stared at him. "Didn't mean to cause any trouble? You attacked my baby! Now, come on, Lance, we're leaving."

I stood up. "Ma'am, I promise it won't happen again. I have full eyes on the kids now, and Keith, it won't happen again, right?" Keith blinked. I cleared my throat, "Right?"

"Right, right." He smiled. I realized Keith just wanted to avoid trouble. He didn't actually care if Lance was there or not. Lance's mom sighed. "Okay... fine. One more incident involving this one--" She gestured to Keith, "and I am taking my child out of here. This is absurd."

"I know, and I apologize," I said. "Nothing like this will ever happen again."

She sighed again, and I could see she really wasn't angry. She was just upset. She didn't want her kid to be harmed. Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations. Once we concluded our conversation and she left, I turned back to Keith's mom. "You were saying?" She asked.

I told her about everything else Keith had done today. Trying to escape the daycare immediately after the fight. Riling up the other kids and causing them to destroy my kitchen. Pickpocketing my wallet and taking $30. I still hadn't gotten it back.

His mom apologized many times and walked to the table. I peered around the corner. Keith looked up at her from the table, having grabbed a second piece of cake. She asked for the $30 back, and he actually handed it to her.

She handed me the money and wished me a good day. I said the same to her, and she left.

I watched the kids from the kitchen. They were actually having a good time, and everyone was getting along. I smiled to myself.

Everything was going great.

***

Everything was NOT going great. The kids definitely had a sugar overload-- I mean, at this point, the entire cake was gone. I had eaten a piece, but there were like twenty pieces total, so those kids had eaten nineteen pieces of cake. They were literally bouncing off the walls from hyperactivity.

Keith and Pidge were arguing over who got to use the Xbox. Hunk was actively trying to end the argument. Lance was literally trying to climb the walls. The other three were chasing each other around the house, avoiding the upstairs this time.

It was chaos again. I remembered what the delivery guy said about berries. I just so happened to have some in my fridge and just started passing them out to the kids aimlessly. I was just trying to calm them down. I would put around six in one kid's hand and move on.

Keith stopped me. "I don't like those." He said. I sighed. Keith was being the least hyper anyway, so I just moved on. I finished passing out the berries and put them away. Keith followed me.

"What do I get?" He asked. "What?" "You gave everyone else something. I get something." He stated. "Well, you didn't like it, so you don't get any. That's what you told me." I closed the fridge.

"But then I get something too. That's not fair to me." He crossed his arms. "Fine. What do you want then?" I asked. He looked at me blankly for a moment. "ICE CREAM!" He shouted before smirking at me. Crap. I knew exactly what he was doing.

All the children ran in. "Ice cream?" "We're getting ice cream?" "I want ice cream!" I could hear them excitedly murmuring to themselves. Great. Now I had to give them ice cream.

I glared at Keith before opening the freezer. His smug expression remained stuck to his face. I did happen to have some ice cream, so I grabbed it. Luckily for Pidge, it was dairy free. I didn't know why I even bought dairy-free ice cream. It must've been an accident, but it was a good one, apparently.

I portioned it out and added some berries to it in hopes of mellowing them out, with the exception of Keith's. They all sat down at the table, chatting to each other. Even Lance and Keith seemed to be getting along, which was great.

I smiled. Seeing all of the kids there together was so sweet. They were just kids being kids.

Wait.

What?

I didn't like kids.

Never had.

Once they finished eating the ice cream, they went back to doing whatever they were doing before. I guess it did mellow them out a little, though, because they were mostly silent.

I realized I had to text the directors about the beach trip tomorrow. I needed to give out permission forms today if that was the case. I messaged one of them. The conversation went as follows:

Me: Hey! I need seven permission slips for the beach tomorrow, I promised the kids I would take them.

Director: Why?

Me: So they would calm down.

Director: Well, I guess, but remember you can only do two trips in the summer.

Me: I know.

The director emailed me the permission slip template, and I printed it. The kids were still having fun. Eventually, it was time for them to go. Miraculously, not another incident happened.

As they left, one by one, I handed their parents the permission forms. Except for Lotor, his parents didn't come to the door. I told him to give it to his parents, and he looked a bit off taking it. I didn't question it though, as he was probably just tired.

Hunk's mom stopped me. "Uh... are we sure this is safe? Nobody is allowed in the water right now because of the riptides... what if my baby gets hurt?"

The ocean was closed? Oh, thank god, I hated it. Listen, nobody knew what was in ninety-seven percent of it. But that wasn't the point. The children could become injured at the beach.

"Uh, I wouldn't worry, ma'am. I don't think your son is one to swim tomorrow." I smiled.

"What's that supposed to mean??" She asked. I paused, "...What I mean is, he's a rule follower. Hunk's a good kid." She thanked me and said she'd turn it in tomorrow morning.

Once all the kids left, I locked the door. I began cleaning up the kitchen, which was still wrecked from the cake ransack earlier that day. I then cleaned up the living room. Pidge had taken the Xbox with her, but there were still Cheeto Puffs all over the floor and furniture.

I also had to get all of the blood off of the bathroom sink, which took a bit. I finished by washing the dishes and taking a shower. I checked my watch. It was only six o'clock, but I was ready to crash.

I trudged up the stairs and opened the door to my room, preparing to sink into the bed. I was met with more mess-- I had forgotten three of them had gotten in here earlier.

I sighed before putting everything back on the bed and organizing my room again. I was finally able to go to sleep. I didn't even get under the covers, I passed out the second I laid down.