Our Little Bumble Bee || Poly Losers

chapter three

warning: hints of barely eating much

richie was on his phone, playing a sanrio game when he heard two pairs of gentle footsteps walking towards the door. once the knob was turned, and the door was open, richie was waiting patiently on the bed. his pacifier was hidden under a blanket and he transferred his app to youtube.

the two people in the room were beverly and ben. they were sent by stan to try and get ahold of richie, trying to see what works and what doesnt.

'it's like parenting.' beverly thought, before looking at ben with a small smile.

ben walked closer to richie, in which the smaller boy scooted back further on the bed. "what do y'all want?" he asked, trying to keep his voice on the low, normal scale rather than the childish high pitched scale.

beverly shook her head "rich- baby we just wanna spend some time with you." she said in a soft, gentle voice. which confused richie. ben went to one side of the bed and held out his arms for richie to hug. "cmon, baby boy. let's go downstairs with the others."

richie was still confused, but he wasn't complaining. spending time with his boyfriends and girlfriend? AND being called by two of his favorite little space nicknames? he isn't complaining. he isn't questioning how they found out either. all of his worries just seemed to disappear as soon as ben scooped him up in his arms.

richie happily latched himself to ben's hip, taking his pacifier and phone with him. he put the pacifier in his mouth and rested his head on bens shoulder, while beverly rubbed his back.

they made their way downstairs and got to the kitchen, where bill was. bill saw the adorable sight and just had to join in, running his hand through richies hair, he picked him up, out of bens arms and held him close. jesus, richie was fairly light. "hey, r-rich... do you wa-wan-want some snacks?" he asked, softly. like stan had taught him too.

richie nodded his head, and bill sat the slightly shorter boy on the counter, before going to the refrigerator. he opened it up and grabbed a fruit roll up, and the milk jug. he wasn't sure what to do with the beverage, since stanley told them that richie used bottles and sippy cups. he didn't want to mess up and have richie get fussy because he was drinking out of a normal cup.

richie saw the hesitance in bills eyes, hopping off of the counter. he waddled to the pantry and dug through the lower cabinet, reaching his arm to the back, where he pulled out a green and purple sippy cup.

"here, daddy!" he smiled, handing it to bill. he then, sat on the floor, with his legs crossed as he watched bill.

"thank you, bbbb-baby." bill took the sippy and opened it and poured the milk into it, then closed the cap. he handed it to richie, along with the fruit roll up, and picked rich up.

richie held onto bill and took a sip of his milk, as he was carried to the living room, where now, ben, beverly, stan, mike, and eddie were. and that made richie squeak. he buried his face into bills shoulder and whimpered, overwhelmed from everyone looking at him.

stanley cooed and sighed, pursing his lips "richie, it's okay. you can look up, you're fine.." his tone was soft and reassuring. it quickly convinced richie to slowly look up at the others in the room.

mike was the first to speak up "do you uh..." he looked at stanley, in which stan nodded his head towards the tv. mike caught on and looked back at rich. "do you wanna watch tv rich? while you have your snacks?" he asked, with a caring smile.

richie was hesitant to answer. god he was embarrassed. he loved when everyone looked at him but honestly, when he was regressed he hated it. he hated all of the awkward tension that could potentially build up. richie nodded anyways. mike chuckled, trying to depart the awkward tension "okay then, guys let's do that!"

and with that, beverly, ben, mike, bill, and stan were watching tv, and eddie wasn't sure what to do.

throughout the day, they did multiple things. beverly colored pictures with richie, bill and mike read richie a story before nap time, stanley gave richie a bath, (A/N: a bath👀) ben made richie chicken nuggets and fed him apple sauce with the 'here comes the airplane' trick, and now it all came down to eddie.

eddie was awkward. he didn't know how to take care of kids, even when his mom always took care of him. but it wasn't a healthy take care of. it was one that left him afraid that he was going to slip up and become too overprotective or under protective. leaving richie hurt even more mentally or physically. he was afraid of that happening. it caused ben to pull him to the side.

"eddie, why haven't you said anything today? richie asked me about you before he ate.." he asked. "he asked if you were mad at him."

that made eddies heart sink. "no- what no- i'm not mad at him. how can you be mad at someone like that?" ben shrugged in agreement. "but- i just,, ben i'm scared. i don't know how to take care of a kid. i can't- i just cant turn out like my mom and i know that he's not a real kid but he's exactly like a child and i can't like— i can't be like my mom."

bens eyes were full of understanding. he sighed and pat eddie on the shoulder. "if you're scared that you're going to be like your mother,, then just remember everything she did and do the opposite. i'm not saying full blown neglect but i'm saying be the better version of what she was like. okay?"

eddie scrunched up his nose "but then i'm under protective and she was always telling me that if my kids didn't have certain times for medications then i'm not being careful enough and-.."

ben was quick to cut eddie off. "edward. stop. it takes some getting used to but it's a quick fix.. okay? like i just said. be the better version of your lard mother."

eddie took a hit of his inhaler and nodded, "... thanks ben."

"okay,, now go show richie that you aren't mad at him. you are the only one he hasn't gotten to spend time with today.."

and with that, eddie got up and headed towards richie. he reached the kitchen and saw richie sipping on his sippy cup while sitting in the middle of the floor. that made eddies heart melt. he cooed, and covered his mouth with a smile 'god this is precious..' he thought.

"hey rich.." he whispered. his tone was quiet, gentle and light, but loud enough to hear much like everyone else's. "you wanna come with me and watch tv?" he asked, hoping for a good answer, in which he received.

eddie picked richie up, settling him on his hip. he gave himself a mental note about richies weight. very light and worrisome.

richie clinged to eddie like a koala. eddie took him to the couch and sat down, settling richie on his lap. he grabbed the remote and asked, "what do you wanna watch, baby?"

"paw patrol.." he mumbled, before he smile and started to giggle and squirm. "marshall is my favorwite and he's so fwuffy and adorwable."

eddie was fucking shook. he covered his mouth and hugged richie close to himself, almost starting to cry. that was so fucking adorable. "oh my god, you are precious.." he flipped the channel to paw patrol and kept richie close to him, and richie was happy like this.

now eddie knows how everyone feels about this. richie was so fucking cute like this. squirmy, playful, and just,, genuinely happier than they've ever seen him. yes, when he isn't regressed he is happy, and he is genuine with his emotions most of the time, but in little space, he's just all sunshine's and rainbows unless something is sudden, like the night with stanley. cause, then again, all light moments have their dark moments.

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thank you for reading! i think this is the longest chapter so far lmao. have fun! hope you enjoyed and stick around for the next chapter! 💓💓