Zephaniah // z.m

Seventy

Zayn

"Baba! Baba! D-daddy, daddy, baba!" Zephaniah cried out, successfully startling me as I had just gotten back to my office.

Hannah couldn't be here on time, but when I asked her why she couldn't be, she hadn't been very clear about it. I had simply shrugged it off, letting it be as I knew Hannah wouldn't take advantage of things and she'd be here soon.

She would help Zephaniah with his homework, and therefore I had simply put on a movie for him so he could relax first while I would continue to work. It'd be fine, right? Wrong.

Shoving my desk chair away, I jogged over to the living room where I saw Zephaniah in pure distress as he ran over to me, burying his face in my stomach as he was crying hysterically.

"Zephaniah, what's wrong?" I asked quickly, an uneasy feeling appearing in my guts as he wouldn't talk and only continue to sob. "Zephy, hey." I said softly, untangling him from me and crouching down in front of him, my eye level reaching his.

Zephaniah gagged and I quickly brought him over to the sink, holding him up so he could let go- but nothing came.

Frowning, I sat him down on the kitchen counter and stood between his legs, swiping his tears away with the pads of my thumb. "Zephaniah, use your words, okay? What's wrong?"

He hiccuped second after second, working himself up completely. His hands flapped rapidly, his tongue moving around his mouth quickly. I wondered if he had touched something he didn't like, as this was his usual reaction, though he was never that hysterical.

"M-mmy.. m-mm-" Zephaniah shook his head, hands flapping even harder but he wrapped his arms around my neck and cuddled me close to himself.

I simply rubbed his back and kissed his cheeks, continuing to whisper things in his ear in order to calm him down. Once his loud crying had turned into sniffles, his fast hiccuping to an occasional lost one, I pulled away and stared at his teary face, running nose and red, puffy eyes.

"What happened, Zephaniah?" I asked, making eye contact with him.

He simply whimpered and blew his nose as I retrieved a tissue and held it up to his small nose. "Feel n-nnot good, daddy."

"Why not? What made you so sad?" Or more like scared. I wondered, observing his expressions.

Zephaniah gagged again, starting to cry softly. He simply pointed at his teeth, and as I took a closer look, I saw it was loose.

A wide grin appeared on my face and I pecked his forehead, laying my hand down on his cheek. Finally! I thought, wondering why it had taken him so long to start losing his milk teeth.

I had informed the dentist about it before, and though it was not usual that children lost their first tooth at the age of eight, as that was rather late, it did happen. Eventually I found out his underdevelopment and epilepsy played a role in it too.

Though, I couldn't be more excited as this was another big milestone in his life, but secretly also in mine. "Your first tooth is loose, Zeph!" I smiled.

Zephaniah sniffled, looking at me with a small frown on his face. "It's getting out, b-baba I do not- I w-wwant it in, baba." He started crying again, gagging after that.

I wondered why he gagged, but when I tried to touch his loose tooth and carefully wiggle it, he became more upset and gagged more, making clear that he was not pleased with the feeling.

Sensory issues.

Obviously, he would react differently to all of this. "Oh, Zeph." I sighed softly, stroking his warm and wet cheeks. "You'll get one in return, I promise!"