(COMPLETE) The Teaching Elective - A Logicality Fanfiction

Chapter 3 - Mom's Judgement

Summary: Patton helps at his family's daycare, especially helping a little boy that he adores to the moon and back.

BTW Patton discusses Logan's autism here. Logan doesn't ever say he's autistic himself, but that's purely because - at least as an autistic person myself - I either come out with it straight away in a self-depreciating joke or if they get the vibe I don't bother actually saying it XD. I think Logan is the latter in the case of his friends.

Patton loved his family's evening routine. He was an only child to two loving parents. He was the only one lucky enough to call them Mom and Dad when everyone else called them Dot and Larry.

In the evenings before dinner, the first thing on the list was cleaning up the day-care. Dad was a serial complainer when it came to physical activity, so he usually organised all of the notes and reports for each individual child that came in that day, adding them to a big spreadsheet that recorded all their progress. This left Mom and Patton to clean the day-care of all the paint and toys on the ground and tables, and they could chat about work and school.

"How are you finding that class with the elementary school Pat? Is it still as exciting as you thought?" Patton's Mom started, giving her son a kiss on the cheek as she passed to put the paint pots in the cupboard. It was officially the end of week two of junior year, and so far, Patton liked all his classes - although one was still his favourite.

"It's amazing! The first graders are so cute and excitable and being called Mr Baker is the best thing in the world!" Mom chuckled as she shut the cupboard door and got out the vacuum cleaner for later use.

"Sounds like Roman might like that class too, huh? Wasn't it second grade he only wanted to be referred to as 'Mr King'?"

"The full title was 'Mr King, the King of all Kings, especially Remus King The Peasant'." Both family members got a chuckle from that remembering old memories. "But he isn't taking that class, I actually have a new friend in first grade with me!"

Dot raised an eyebrow to gage her son's reaction. Patton liked making friends in all his classes, but only a few were allowed in his small circle. And she only really knew of the small circle group of friends. "What's their name?"

"His name's Logan, he/him pronouns, and he's super nice! He's a little introverted like Virgil was so we're warming up to each other, and he's warming up to the kids. He's not the biggest fan of kids in general." Dot paused cleaning for a while to watch her son's behaviour. He was wiping a table and babbling on about his new friend like a toddler would babble about their new puppy. Patton talked about his first meeting with Logan as if it were all just one sentence, taking breaths to giggle and joke and his cheeks unknowingly went pinker. As a Mom - Dot knew Patton's feelings surrounding Logan even if he hadn't realised them himself yet.

"Patty, do you like-like him?" Mom taunted as Patton turned around to place some abandoned dolls in the dollhouse. His nose immediately scrunched at the idea.

But Dot noticed her son's cheeks get pinker at his denial. "No, Mooooooom! He's just a new friend! He's most likely straight anyway so even if I did like him there would be no use to it!"

Mom didn't look persuaded but continued cleaning, letting Patton continue talking about his new friend. "Anyway, when we met on the first day, he seemed really stressed about something. He wouldn't tell me what, he just said 'a lot' was happening, but it seemed kind of like he shut down for a few minutes. I would really like to know how to help him."

Patton often asked his Mom for advice when it came to helping his friend through panic attacks and things similar. She had a major in psychology so was an expert at that stuff and encountered little lives with diverse brains every day. "What happened before the shutdown sweetheart?"

"Well, he pinched himself a little and fiddled with his clothing, and he was tapping his foot. He didn't want to be touched either, even by the teacher."

Mom smirked and nodded to herself. "He could be autistic sweetheart, or at least it sounds like he stims a little when he's overwhelmed." Mom said gently, and that did make sense in Patton's eyes. It wouldn't change how Patton treated his new friend. "But that doesn't change how you view your friend, does it Pat?"

"Of course not, he's just Logan to me!"

Dot walked over to her little boy and gave him a hug and another sloppy kiss on the cheek just as he enjoyed in his toddlerhood. "I'm so proud of you Patty, and I'd love to meet Logan someday."

Logan will fit right into Patton's friendship group, and Patton's parents will treat Logan as their own son as soon as they lay eyes on him. And when Logan's comfortable – those events will definitely happen.

*******

During the weekends Patton was either with his friends or helping at his Mom's day-care. They were perfectly safe without his presence, but Patton just adored being an unpaid employee. The children were getting ready for outdoor play in the garden, and it was sunny outside, so the adults were armed with Wellington boots, hats, and sun cream.

The employees of the day-care had gathered most of the children into their groups, Patton was just helping the stragglers. One of the children Patton was focusing on was called Theo, he was a shy boy with a speech delay undergoing an autism diagnosis. He was the sweetest two-year-old in the world. "Cat! Cat!" Theo cheered as he spotted the cat-themed sunhat his mom bought for him. Theo was obsessed with cats at the moment, it was the only word he could say.

"Yeah, cat hat!" Patton cheered as he tried placing the hat on Theo's head, singing a small song basically just repeating 'cat hat' to calm the excitable boy. His arms were already waving as quick as a helicopter. Eventually the hat was secure, and the pair were ready. "How about we find some twigs outside?"

While neurotypical children were throwing or catching a ball, or chasing each other, or blowing bubbles, Theo and Patton were slightly away from the crowd gathering twigs in the corner of the garden by the tree and making the twigs into the shape of a cat. A few children were interested in the game and joining in, but Theo wasn't interested in playing with them. He loved making his own cat in the corner.

This was what Patton wanted his future to be. Surrounded by young minds working and calculating, creating forever memories. He wasn't exactly sure how he was going to achieve that future yet – his parents weren't pushy on college – and he was happy to just inherit his Mom's business. Although teaching was still relatively high on the list of possible career options.

Being a dad was also one of the things Patton really wanted to do in life, although that could wait a few years. He was lucky to live the white-picket-fence life and didn't want change – someday he'll find a cute person to settle down with and have a kid or two to call him Dad or Papa. Unlike what Mom thought though, there was no high school sweetheart in the horizon. The perfect person will likely pop up in adulthood.

"Cat! Cat!" Theo shrieked as he dragged Patton to see the cat he made out of sticks, before running off to the toybox that had plentiful cat toys, letting Patton chase after him to make sure he stays happy. Yeah, Patton hoped he'd encounter kids as cute as Theo in the future.