Heal My Heart

T h i r t y - E i g h t : S c o t t

A/N: Comment & Vote

The sound of glass hitting the tile made me groan.

It was my fault really--I'd let him alone with a breakable dish. I was seriously considering just giving up and investing in purely plastic. It'd be cheaper and safer. "Puppy," I called, setting the neon green straw back on the shelf.

In the dining room the shattered blue mug was in a pool of rapidly cooling coffee. I looked around for Puppy--he needed to clean up his mess. He wasn't in my room or his and I frowned.

"Puppy?"

I searched both upstairs and downstairs growing increasingly annoyed. "Puppy!"

I opened the front door, glancing outside before pausing. I never heard the door open. And Puppy definitely wasn't stealthy enough to know how to close a door quietly.

I paused in the stairwell and spoke loudly. "Puppy I'm not angry that you broke the cup. However the fact you are hiding from me is making me angry. If you come out now you will only have Corner Time."

I paused for a few minutes. I heard and upstairs door creak and I took the stairs two at a time. Puppy was slowly exiting the linen closet, his face flushed red and teary. I crossed my arms and gave him a level look. He sniffled pitifully. "I break all your things!"

I sighed and ran my fingers through his hair. Puppy whimpered and leaned into my hand. I withdrew, aware that Puppy didn't need to be comforted but reprimanded. "You're still mad at me?"

"I wouldn't have been if you didn't hide from me. Now let me see your feet."

Puppy whined. "I don't like when they use the cane on my feet." He whispered.

"I'm not going to do that Puppy. I just need to check to make sure you didn't cut yourself on the glass."

I sat him on the steps and looked down at his pale feet. I ran my thumb over his sole to lightly dislodge any shards possibly in his feet. Puppy giggled, wiggling his toes. "That tickles."

I smiled, looking at the other. I tapped his feet and stood. "You're good. Now come help me clean up the mess."

"And-and then I have to go the corner?"

I nodded my head. "That's right."

Puppy tipped his back and whined. "But Scott," he began to whine.

"Puppy..."

He sighed heavily. "Okay."

I got a rag and passed it to him. I pulled all the glass from the spilled liquid. I dumped them into the trash and returned to Puppy mopping it up. He finished cleaning it up and looked at me. "Did I do good?"

I nodded my head. "Now to the Corner."

"Scott can't I just go to my room?"

"I'm not rewarding your poor behavior Puppy."

His tears returned and I sighed heavily. "Puppy please."

He dropped his head pitifully and shuffled to the corner of the kitchen. "For-for how long?" He asked turning around with a pout.

"Every time you turn around I'm adding time." I replied evenly. "You're at fifteen minutes right now."

Puppy groaned and rested his forehead against the wall. "I didn't mean to," he mumbled quietly.

"Sixteen minutes."

"You said turning around not talking!"

"Seventeen minutes." I went to the counter to brew another cup of coffee. Lately it'd been significantly easier to stay calm with Puppy. While he was still whiny and at time resistant to follow directions he wasn't outright defiant.

I think the tutor was helping. Christoph was coming twice a week now and Puppy was writing his own name along with some other short words. He was quite proud of himself and enjoyed showing off his new skills.

I sat down my cup of coffee and pulled the blue and orange schedule from its place on the wall. Puppy had been working more independently as of late and seeing his day laid out for him in pictographs was helping immensely.

My therapist said it was a good idea and so far he was right.

I rearranged his day and put it back up. "What are you doing with my board?" He asked worriedly. "I won't know what to do if you take it away!"

"I'm not taking anything away and don't yell at me Puppy."

He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry."

"I know you are."

***

"Bailey and Kyle are leaving tomorrow," I told Puppy as I pulled back the blankets in my bed.

He had decided to stay the night with as opposed to his room. He pulled on one of my tee shirts and crawled into the bed. "I wish I could have a baby."

I sighed. "No you don't Puppy."

"Uh-huh I do. At the baby shower Bailey got all those little cute clothes and-and he was all smiley."

I sighed and plugged my phone into the wall. "It's a big responsibility Puppy. We talked about this."

"But-but you said we'd start with Cheddar Cheese and he's happy and I take care of him good!"

"You take care of him well." I corrected. "I know Christoph has been working on grammar with you but you need to practice it to get it."

Puppy looked at me. "You're older than me."

I nodded my head. "That is true."

"Is that why we can get a baby?"

"Puppy my age has nothing to do with you."

"But you're like...65 and--"

"65? Puppy I'm not 65! I'm 42! Jesus!"

He winced a bit. "Was I off a bit?"

I took a deep breath. Puppy had only worked his way up to 35 so far so he was just pulling out random numbers. It still stung. "You could say that."

"You don't look old."

"Thanks for that."

Puppy cocked his head. "That's not a real thank you! It's what's it called...sarcasm. You were being sarcasm."

"Sarcastic."

"Are you sure?"

I held back a smile. "Quite."

Puppy hummed. "I think you might be wrong."

I arched a brow. "So I'm 65 and don't know what words mean now?"

Puppy flopped back onto the bed with a huff. "Yes."

I smiled. "I love you Puppy."

"I want to have sex tonight. For real."