Snapshots of a life, lived

Seasons of Love

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've never published on Wattpad before so apologies in advance for any wonky formatting lol.

The miscarriage will be included in this story, the section where it starts and ends is marked.

Also I wrote this before the reveal last night about Autumn having a cat, so alas no Caddie in this story. But he's there in spirit.

* * * * * * * *

People didn't usually run to Winter's defense.

He was used to it, of course. Being a man in childcare was a special kind of challenge, one he had known he was taking when he decided what he wanted to do with his life. His first job out of school had been marvelous, with a great and supportive management and wonderful staff, but when a parent came to berate Winter, he just didn't receive the same support as his female colleagues. Everyone assumed he could take care of it because he was a man, and he didn't need the same reassurances that women did when they were put down. Sometimes that same support would have been nice, but he managed on his own.

Truth be told, he was nervous when he decided to leave his old job after ten years and apply to the Knight Nursery. Part of it, he knew, was that he was abandoning the comfort of familiarity for something new and unknown. But a larger part was absolutely because it was another all-female staff, and he expected a lot of the same treatment. But he wanted to try something new - to go somewhere else and make the same difference he had made over the last decade at his first nursery. And he didn't need any extra support. He was sure the parents were of the same variety as what he had dealt with before. No big deal.

He was surprised when he was given the job nearly on the spot - apparently they were desperate for a new full-time staff member. He wouldn't complain.

"So it'll be you and me in preschool today," Sorscha said, smiling. "We've got eight kids total for the morning and afternoon. Do you think you'd be up for taking four right off the bat? Or you can have two and I can grab six. Or we can switch if we get through some time and you realize you're feeling overwhelmed."

"Four should be fine," Winter said. He appreciated that Sorscha was trying to be fair while still taking ratio into consideration. He looked out the open door and saw a woman checking her phone as he walked in. "Who's that?"

Sorscha looked as well, and grimaced. "That's uh... that's Autumn. The deputy manager. You might just want to avoid her."

"Why?"

"Well... I don't like to gossip..."

"I do!" They jumped as the apprentice appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. "Autumn is the worst. She's really mean and a big stickler for rules and stuff. I bet she's the kind of person who would say men don't belong in childcare. The only reason she even has this job is because her father is the owner."

"Carly, go back to toddlers," Sorscha told the teen patiently. She shrugged and left. "She's not... wrong, though. Like I said, just avoid Autumn. Deal with Marjorie as much as you can. She's way better."

And that was Winter's first impression of Autumn Knight. A nepo-baby bully with extremely outdated views. Excellent. Exactly who he wanted to work for.

His first week passed without much fuss, thankfully. Friday found him in the baby room with Charlotte, which was fun. He always loved working with babies.

"Hey, Winter? I'm going to do a quick nappy change, but Gerald's mother should be in any minute for pickup. Do you mind doing handover?"

"Absolutely. I would love to."