I'm A What?!

What Will They Be?

     Tim was breathing and sweating hard. The coach had them do a few extra laps around the gym. Since he was the captain, the coach pushed him extra hard.

     After a quick shower and change, he was ready to go pick up Gatlin. He was running a little bit late, but he was sure the gym teacher would understand, him being the captain of the team and all.

     He held onto his bag handles as he ran down the hall. The rest of the Caregivers had just finished up with the gym teacher and he saw the last student walk around the corner in front of him. He walked into the room and saw Gatlin sitting on the benches. He didn't look so good. He was pale and breathing almost has hard as Tim had been.

     "Are you ok?" He asked as he got closer.

     "I'm ok." Gatlin tried to smirk. He got to his feet, just to faulter and fall back down onto the bench with an 'oomph'.

     "He wore himself out." The teacher sighed in disappointment. "It was slightly my fault. His friend wanted him to play with the older kids. I caved in when I saw how happy Gatlin looked."

     "What did they play?" Tim kneeled in front of Gatlin and looked closer at him. His eyes were drooping, and he was slowly swaying. It reminded him of the zoo.

     "Since he joined them, I changed it from tag to freeze tag. He didn't really run around as much as the others. I should have been watching him closer. It's a good thing nap is next."

     Tim wasn't really paying attention to her anymore. All he wanted to do was get Gatlin out of there. He didn't want to just pick him up and carry him, both him and Gatlin would be embarrassed if he carried him on his hip... and he didn't think Gatlin could walk back to the classroom.

     "Gatlin? Are you still with me?" Tim was starting to really worry about how quickly he was falling asleep.

     Gatlin suddenly sat up and looked at Tim. "Don't let me... sleep." He tried to stifle a yawn. "Night...mares..." Gatlin's eyes fluttered and closed against his will.

     "Gatlin? Gatlin!" He tried to wake him.

     His eyes slowly opened, but he was still not entirely responding.

     "Gatlin, I'm gonna need you to put your arms around my neck, Ok?" Gatlin nodded slightly.

     Tim turned around and took Gatlin's arms up over his back and onto his shoulders. Gatlin seemed to realize what was going on. His grip tightened just enough that he was holding on. Tim stood up and took Gatlin onto his back. He grabbed his legs and hoisted him up. This way of carrying him seemed to be the best choice.

     "Looks like someone couldn't wait to start their nap." Mrs. Desini cooed when Tim walked into the room. "I really wished you could have given him his bottle first. He needs to eat several times a day."

     Tim just rolled his eyes as he headed for the beds. He didn't want to put Gatlin in a crib. Luckily, there was a single normal bed left. As he sat Gatlin down, he noticed that one of the cribs had been taken away and the floor underneath had been cleaned. He wondered if they were just cleaning the room or maybe they didn't have enough Littles to have that many beds? Did they put it into storage?

     "Is he ok?" A small voice broke Tim's thought. He turned to see Cole in the bed next to the one he'd just set Gatlin down in. The only difference was that Cole's had a small bed rail around the top part, turning it into a toddler bed.

     "He'll be fine. He just needs sleep. He didn't get much last night." Tim gave a soft smile. He wondered if Cole was the one who had asked Gatlin to play with them. Cole seemed to be the only Little there that wasn't a brat.