Tʜᴇᴀ's Lɪᴛᴛʟᴇ : Aᴄᴇ Eᴠᴀɴ

[Seven]

Everyone at the office welcomes me with open arms. Greeting and congratulating me, both for joining the Managing Director position and finding a Little of my own. I'm glad to be here, feeling like at home and I know I've made the right decision to join dad.

"How's the little one?" Dad asks when we're on our lunch break, sipping coffee and chatting about.

"He's been very good till this morning. Earned himself a punishment for tonight."

"Thea, go easy on the boy, will ya?"

I roll my eyes, taking another sip from my coffee then putting away the empty mug. I pull out my phone briefly to check if his teachers called or not, sigh in relief when I have no notifications.

"He's gotta learn, dad. I can't always sympathize and let him do whatever he wants."

Dad exhales, leaning on his chair and smiling softly to himself.

"I know you'll do great in taking care of him and teaching him lessons, but don't be too hard on him. He has been through a lot."

Mum and dad have known all about Ace since we've been together for quite some time now. Mum used to love Ace a lot till she found out about his classification.

I smile a little seeing dad's pleading face, it warms my heart.

"You'd be an amazing nana to him."

His face perks up at that. "Do you think he'd like me while in headspace?"

I chuckle. "Kids love whoever gives them love. I'm sure he'd be all over you when he learns how you defend him."

Dad grins sheepishly, a profound sense of accomplishment dancing on his face.

"I'd like to come and meet him soon. When you're mother's out of town."

We both laugh at that.

☃︎•••~~~•••☃︎

I attend my class at 1, thankfully still no calls from Ace's classes, it's a good sign. But whenever I think about our impending punishment for tonight, my heart sinks.

How do I see my baby's defeafed face and not smother him with kisses?

After class, I stand outside of Ace's classroom and wait. I see the other Littles giggling and talking to themselves animatedly, then squeal and jump into their Caregivers' arms the moment they meet outside the classroom. My heart swells in adoration, it's also agitated to have my little one in my arms as well.

When all the kids are drowned out, but still no sign of my baby yet, immediate concern snakes its way into my chest and I enter the room to find it empty.

Before I can further panic though, my phone vibrates and my heartbeat races seeing his teacher's name flashing across the screen.

"My baby's okay, right?" Is the first thing I ask the moment I answer the phone.

"Yes, Ms. Donovan. He's with me in the teacher's room. Kindly pick him up from here."

"I'm coming." I put my phone back in my backpack and rush to the teacher's room, anxiety causing palpitation as train of thoughts cloud my brain.

"Ace!" I find him standing there as expected, looking ashamed and sad, his teacher gripping his wrist. "What happened?" I cup his face, turning it to all angles to inspect if he's hurt anywhere.

"He's fine, he just had a little accident and couldn't say it to anyone, which led him to a mild panic attack. So I brought him out of the class and gave him some space till he relaxed. Then changed him, here's his stuff."