Just us- SBI adoption story (Just me and him book 2)

Chapter 46: theme park

TW- swearing, mentions of throwing up

James' POV:

I did my best to keep Tommy still as we waited outside the house for the rest of his family. Techno was outside with us, but busy opening the main gate so that everyone could get out in the cars. I tightened my grip on Tommy's hand tighter, hearing those gates open and realising just how close we were to the road.

Kristin, Phil, Tubbo and Wilbur were are still inside. Tubbo was struggling with his first experience of a theme park being with limited mobility and despite everyone's best efforts to promise him he would have a good day regardless: he still wasn't sure.

Tommy was getting antsy. He knew his brother was upset but couldn't help. He knew we should have left already and were now late. And he knew he was doing something new and that no one truly knew whether he would enjoy it or not. I was not a massive roller coaster fan but I did enjoy them. So, my day was going to be enjoyable whether or not Tommy liked them himself. That was why I was there. To make sure everyone's day (including Tommy's) was enjoyable, no matter what happened. But right now, Techno and Tommy were both getting restless and fidgety.

It was clear, sometimes, if you knew what you were looking for, and could see it replicated a little louder in Tommy, how Techno took in the world. He was pacing up and down by the gate, tapping his fingers together and squinting up at the house every now and again.

I stuck my head round the front door, making sure to keep a grip on Tommy's hand still. Tubbo was sat in his wheelchair in the living room and the rest of his family would stood or sat with him. I could see him wiping tears and then he span round in the wheelchair. "F-f-f-f-ine." He mumbled, but it was barely audible.

"Hey Tubbo," I said cheerfully, hoping that acting my normal self around him would be helpful, "you know if you don't enjoy it, and Tommy doesn't enjoy it, I can bring you both home again?" He gave a half-smile, his form of acknowledgement and then came down the ramp. Phil and Kristin thanked me. A get out card meant that Tubbo wasn't be as stressed about ruining the day.

I got in my car, with Tommy and Techno, because I wasn't comfortable having Tommy up front and it made sense for someone to be sat with him in the back. Plus, Techno was keen on staying with Tommy for reasons I did not make an effort to learn. I was close with the Watsons, but I wasn't part of their family and not everything going on with them had to be my business. I passed the aux cord back to Techno; he immediately connected it to Tommy's iPad and we listened to some of his favourites on the way there.

Once there, we parked at the accessible parking and went in at the accessible entrance. I was surprised the theme park had so much to offer but having talked through it all on the phone with Phil, I realised the world had starting making efforts to actually be more accessible in recent years. It was 2019 for goodness sake, you would think people would know better by this point, but most just don't, hence why it was so surprising.

This quieter entrance meant that although we'd arrived slightly late, we were not bombarded with queues and Tommy's backpack could be searched whilst we kept him calm in the quieter area. He had his ear defenders on anyway; he was happier with them on and it wasn't worth the fight to keep them off. He'd have to take them off for the rides of course, but we'd brought some ear plugs with us and he might wear those on the rides instead, if he wants to.

I placed my hands on Tommy's shoulders and guided him as he walked. He liked the deep pressure this provided but it also meant his brain didn't has to concentrate on where he was going as much, and that helped him to relax. Tubbo was wheeling himself around the park, whilst Wilbur held his crutches and both Kristin and Phil seemed on high alert. Similarly to Tommy, Techno had elected to put his noise cancelling headphones on and seemed much happier and calmer once he'd done so. We did get some looks, but people stare when they don't understand and that wasn't our problem today.