We Fell In Love In October - Wintumn Flufftober

Showering/Bathing

It was the worst day Winter had in a long time; just the cherry on top of an awful week. He loved his job, truly loved his job; making a difference in the lives of kids had always been his dream. The only reason he even started at the Knight Nursery was so that he could be back in the rooms, being hands on with the kids again. But sometimes it was just so...hard. This week he had written up more accident reports than maybe ever before. Kids were kicking, were biting, just wouldn't go down for their naps. There was a sickness bug making the rounds resulting in multiple kids being sent home, none of whose parents were very happy to have to come collect their kids. One just didn't answer their phone and they had to keep them away from the rest of the kids. And of course they basically had an extra child to take care of with Jodie in the room; it was basically a second full time job keeping her away from the plastic fruit. It was absolute chaos.

The parents were just as bad. Three children were sent in on their own, their parents not even poking their head in the door to say goodbye. So many creepy dads had hit on Carly that Winter stepped in to take over all the handovers for the day; it didn't matter what kind of mood he was in, there was no way he would let any of his colleagues deal with that. Especially their youngest staff member. Every parent who did walk through the door had a complaint. The daily diary picture of their child wasn't flattering enough to share on social media; their daughter's expensive dress got a speck of dirt on it while they were playing in the garden; they couldn't find their child's favorite dummy so obviously the nursery had lost it, even though they stopped bringing a dummy weeks ago. And of course, it wouldn't be a week at the nursery if a parent hadn't complained that Winter was even allowed in the rooms with the children. No matter that he was the most qualified staff member with his years of experience and extensive training in childcare; he was a man, so he was not to be trusted around the children. He felt like he just couldn't do anything right.

When he was finally able to go home; late, of course, why would he ever expect the parents to respect their time on a Friday of all days; the only thing on his mind was finally seeing his girlfriend again. He had spent the whole day looking forward to the moment that they were reunited, knowing that was all he needed for his mood to improve dramatically. She hadn't gone into work that day. Between her brother and Mia coming back into her life recently, learning that her father was the mastermind behind the worst day of her life, and the fact that she just couldn't shake her recent case of food poisoning, Winter had convinced her to stay home and take care of herself. If they hadn't been so understaffed he would have stayed with her, but at the very least she needed to take time for herself. She more than deserved it.

But she wasn't downstairs when he got home. As excited as Winter had been to see her, he was also relieved to have the time to compose himself before he saw her. His mood was not going to sour their evening together, nothing that had happened that day was her fault, she shouldn't have to deal with it. He figured she was upstairs resting, so he decided to take just a minute before going to join her. He collapsed into the couch; he brought a cushion to his face to muffle a frustrated groan, finally releasing all the emotions he had suppressed throughout the day. It wasn't long before he felt a presence next to him; the calming sensation of nails scratching along his scalp; and a familiar voice, his favorite voice, filling the silence.

"Are you alright, my sweet?"

Winter lifted his head up to meet the worried eyes of his girlfriend. The soft expression that was reserved just for him crossed her face as she continued to stroke his hair, her other hand resting gently on his thigh. He placed his hand on top of hers, running his thumb over her as he tried to muster up a weak smile. The last thing he wanted to do was burden her with his problems; she was going through so much already.

"Fine, my love. Just...a long day."

Autumn raised her eyebrows at him, clearly not buying his excuse; she always could see right through him. But she didn't press the issue; they just sat together in a comfortable silence as she waited for him to be ready to talk. Before long, Winter stood up, wanting nothing more than to