Mialotte: Eternal Sweethearts

43. Mind that child

A/N: I thought this was an original idea, till I remembered I had definitely read something similar recently. Which was written by none other than my lovely friend Leo! I literally text Leo almost everyday and send snippets of my upcoming chapters to, so I'm really giddy to have written this. I will be writing more chapters by Leo's influence in the future fingers crossed so keep your eyes peeled lol. You must read Leo's work @Leo_0902 if you haven't already (I hope the tags work, they haven't recently.)

Alsoooo the chapter is such a good play on words imo, I was proud of it 😭 I hope someone gets it... Maybe only the brits will? Eeek.

= Char finishes her shift, Mia is enroute to pick her up. She stops by an ice-cream van outside the nursery and is presented with a slight problem.

After a tiresome day, Charlotte had finished her shift. She stepped out of the nursery, searching for Mia's car. Once it was nowhere to be seen, she decided to check Mia's location. Hm? Bit strange. Her car was nearby, but it was stationary. Instead of walking to get to her lover, she decided to call just in case there was something she was unaware of.

Mia had stopped by an ice-cream van, she was a bit early to collect Charlotte just yet and it was conveniently very close to the nursery so the sweet treat wouldn't melt before it reached Char. Mia patiently waited in the short queue, reminiscing over her holiday with Charlotte, she couldn't believe they had been dating for so long now. It'd now been years since she first worked at the Knight Nursery as cover. The redhead was spiralled out of her thoughts by the sound of a soft rustling once she reached the front of the line. It was ever so faint but it definitely wasn't there when she was queuing earlier.

She stepped away from the van as the man took her order, and noticed a blanket, almost blending in with the colour of the pavement, covering an obscure shape. Much to Mia's utter shock, there was a wailing noise, and now no-one around, but her and the ice-cream van, calling her order. She took the ice-creams and went back to the area where the blanket was.

Mia lifted it gently, and noticed a small baby in a car seat. The baby was fussing, little arms flailing and cheeks flushed with distress. Mia's heart went out to the tiny tot. The baby couldn't have been much older than 20 months. Mia felt a pang of panic. She'd worked in childcare, but this was different. The baby was all alone, and there was no adult in sight. Glancing around and seeing no one coming to claim the child, she took a deep breath and decided to act, the few civilians around just looked like they wouldn't be much help, and seemed ignorant of the situation anyway, so Mia decided to head back to her car with the baby and ice-cream in both hands.

"Okay, Mia come on, you got this," she whispered to herself, trying to recall all her childcare training. She crouched down and made gentle shushing sounds, trying to calm the baby.

The baby's cries continued, and Mia felt her heart race. She fumbled to find her phone, realising she was probably now late to collect Charlotte. She was hoping her sweetheart would understand and not jump to any worries. Mia was still panicking, trying to figure out how to calm this baby before she took him to the nursery. But then, she noticed the baby's gaze fixed on the shiny bracelet on her wrist.

Mia had an idea. She slowly unfastened the bracelet and dangled it in front of the baby's eyes.

"Look at this, isn't it pretty baby? You like it hm?"

she said in a sing-song voice. The baby's sobs slowed, fascinated by the sparkling accessory. Babbling for it.

Encouraged by the baby's reaction, Mia continued to distract them with the bracelet, shaking it gently and making it catch the light. The baby reached out with chubby hands, trying to grab it. Mia laughed softly, feeling a wave of relief as the baby's tears turned into giggles.

Just then, Mia's phone buzzed. It was a call from Charlotte. She answered it with one hand, still entertaining the baby with the other. She was just amidst fastening the baby in and getting ready to pull up into the nursery,

"Mia, are you on your way? Is everything alright?" Charlotte's voice was filled with concern.

"Hey, love. I ran into a little situation," Mia began, glancing at the baby who was now cooing happily. "Is Marjorie around?"

Charlotte's tone changed instantly. "Mia, are you getting into trouble with Marjorie again? You know how she gets. I asked you to not agitate her!"

Mia sighed. "No, Char, I promise. I'm not trying to get under her skin. It's just... I found a baby, alone in a car seat with a note that I can't read."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line before Charlotte responded. "A baby? Alone?"

"Yes, and I'm trying to calm them down. I might be a bit late. I'm very close-by though."

Charlotte's voice softened. "I know, I checked your location earlier. Be safe, Mia. Just take your time and handle it. We'll sort it out. I can hear you're worried, it's okay my love."

Mia smiled, feeling a rush of gratitude for Charlotte's understanding. "Thank you, Char. I'll see you soon. I got you ice cream!"

After securing the baby properly in the back car seat and placing the ice cream in the cupholders, and drove off. Mia had carefully juggled everything to the car. It was a comical sight, her balancing everything with determination, but it was also a sight to melt hearts.

When Mia quickly arrived at the nursery, Charlotte was waiting outside. She saw Mia approaching, arms full with ice cream and a baby seat, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"You can go wait in the car if you're tired, love," Mia said with a smile, handing Charlotte her ice cream. "But first, meet my new little friend."

Charlotte peeked into the car seat and saw the baby, now happily gurgling and playing with Mia's bracelet. "Oh my goodness, Mia. You weren't kidding."

"I found the baby next to the ice-cream van. I didn't want to leave him alone, don't know how so many bystanders just left the poor thing." Mia explained.

Charlotte nodded, her heart swelling with pride for Mia's kindness. "Let's take the baby inside and see if we can call the authorities, Marjorie knows how to handle this stuff."

"Let me get the little mister some toys, but it seems your bracelet is doing the trick!"

Once inside, Charlotte went to the baby room to find some toys while Mia stayed with the baby, trying to keep them entertained in the office. Marjorie walked by and raised an eyebrow at the scene.

"What have we here?" she asked, her tone as dry as ever. She was still warming up to Mia, and was frankly confused by the situation.

Mia grinned. "Found this little one outside. Charlotte's getting some toys. You wouldn't believe how cute this baby is. Seems like he's been abandoned, came with an illegible note which proved my suspicions."

"Oh bless him, he must be absolutely petrified."

Mia responded, "Yeah, he was babbling at me, and attempted to speak but I think he was boiling under that blanket, and is in a bit of shock, he is responsive though, so he'll be alright for now I think."

"Oh Char has just gone to get him some toys."

Marjorie talked back, "That's a good idea, we might be here a while."

"That's alright, if you let me know what to do, I don't mind staying and dealing with this with Char... I assume you've had a long day too Marjorie."

The manager looked at Mia with an undecided look, surprised at the warmth coming from Mia's voice.

Mia huffed, "Come on Marjorie, I'm serious, I have worked in childcare as you know!"

"Thank you for... the 'kind' gesture Mia, but I'd rather stay, I have a duty as a manager, I don't want to go home without knowing this little one is okay."

Marjorie looked at the baby, and despite her best efforts to be cold towards Mia, a small smile tugged at her lips. "Well, he does seem to have taken a liking to you, which is good. I guess."

The two women looked at the baby with adoration as he babbled and solely focussed on Mia, completely ignoring Marjorie.

"Don't know what he sees in you, to be honest."

Tone still cold as ice. Typical Marj.