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IT'S MY TURN, chapter seven! ━━
THEY all unloaded from the car, psyched to see the outside world again. "yes! dad can we go look around?" wilbur and techno asked. "uhhh." phil began before looking back into the car.
tommy and tubbo stayed sat in their car-seats, tommy getting fussier by the second; while tubbo sat waiting to get unbuckled. he had a tire to fix and he knew how much tubbo wanted to collect flowers and how much tommy would cry if he couldn't go along with them.
"i don't know boys, if you go you have to take the little ones." phil sighed. "even tommy?" wilbur asked. "yes, even tommy." phil answered. wilbur laughed, "but he's a horrendous child!" techno smacked wilbur. "we'll take good care of him, dad."
wilbur stood up straight and agreed with his big brother. "are you sure boys? a toddler is a lot to handle." phil reminded. "i handle him at home all the time-" phil cut techno off, "he's fussy right now. he'll want to walk on his own." techno began to feel reluctant. he knew how energetic tommy is and he knew how upset he'd be if they left him.
phil noticed the sudden shift in his body language and couldn't help but feel bad, "you know what, tommy will stay here with me, he's too tired anyway. take tubbo to get some flowers-" techno cut him off.
"no, we can take tommy, and we can go look for a picnic spot." phil smiled at his boys. "you guys sure you want to have our picnic here?" he asked while looking around the forest ahead of them. "yes! we can find a mushroom to settle on top of!" wilbur replied excitedly. "c'mon karl, get out of the car!"
phil completely forgot about about karl.
the 9 year old boy popped his head out from the back seat, "i think i'll stay with philza, ya know, keep him company." phil laughed as he unbuckled tubbo and handed him to will. he unbuckled tommy and gave him a boop on the nose.
will and techno basically melted at the sight. no matter how annoying tommy could be, it didn't change the fact that he was so lovable.
techno stuck his arms out for the tiny child and was immediately rejected by tommy. "i don't think he wants to go with you, techno..." phil answered honestly as tommy began to fall asleep in phil's arms. "he's going to sleep!" techno yelled, obviously upset that he had wasted so much time on a child.
it made phil laugh that tommy had caused so much ruckus over wanting to be held, but understood it nonetheless.
techno rolled his eyes and grabbed tubbo's hand, "whatever; let's go pick some flowers, tubbo." and with that the three boys wandered off into the nice dark oak forest to find a large mushroom tree they could have a picnic on.
phil stood there watching his three oldest boys walk away; pride written all over his face. he turned back to karl, "wanna help me?" he asked. karl nodded excitedly.
phil laughed as he placed tommy back in his car seat. he knew it'd be minutes before he woke up again, so he went to the trunk and took out the "baby holder" as techno called it. he placed the sleepy boy into the stroller and helped karl out of the backseat.
"tommy was fussy because he was tired?" karl asked confused. "well, you'd be upset too if you were tired." phil reminded. karl agreed and stood beside tommy.
no one knew how he was able to raise four boys while going through such a major loss. bad, skeppy, sam and puffy always tried to help him out with the kids when kristin passed. but phil never let them. he did all he had to do for them, he stayed strong for his boys, worked hard every single day to make sure they had what they needed. he did everything a father should. everything a parent should.
he was there for his kids. every waking second of his day, every fight, every near death experience, every penny saved, was for his sons. everything he ever did was for them. every thought he ever had was about them, about what was best for them, about what they'd think, what they'd do, how they'd react. his sons are his world.
karl grew bored watching the man change a tire, frequently looking at tommy in hopes he'd wake up and he'd have something more to do. it was frustrating just passing tools to phil and waiting until he asked you to pass another one.
phil could feel the boredom radiating off the child as he wiped his hands and walked towards the kid.
"do you reckon you could find me some honey? i know how much you like honey with your tea, and i happen to be low. so would you mind finding a hive and collecting some?" karl's eyes lit up at the request. he ran to the trunk and grabbed a glass bottle. "i'm on it! do you think wilbur and techno are too far gone?"
"i don't think so, they left only 15 minutes ago, i'm sure you can catch up. if not, you know how to find me." he laughed while pointing at his large wings.
karl laughed with him and ran after his cousins.
phil stared at tommy, sometimes feeling a guilt as he wished his wife was still with them.
he didn't understand what he meant when he wished for her back, he just, wanted to hug her once more, tell her how thankful he was for everything she did.
to make his past self acknowledge how much he took for granted. he looked at tommy and sometimes wished it was him and not her. he loves his sons, believe him, but, he couldn't help but have that thought. he never actually meant it, it was always in the heat of the moment, but, it doesn't change the fact that he had those thoughts.
and overtime he'd think back to them, it always tore him apart. tommy would've loved her, tubbo would've too. she would've loved to see them grow up.
phil fixed the tire and grabbed the picnic basket out of the trunk, placing it in the stroller and locking the car.
he found the boys and they sat on a large mushroom, laughing as tubbo attempted to eat yet another flower. they laughed harder as karl showed off his ability to change eye color and continued to laugh as techno crossed his eyes to look at his snout.
"hey dad, look at karl's eyes!!" wilbur yelled excitedly while as karl blinked his eyes would switch to a different color and or pattern. "it's so cool!" he gawked.
phil smiled and flew up to the top with tommy held tightly in his arms. "i need to go back down for the basket." he stated while handing the sleeping tommy to techno.
once he had came back up tommy was awake and crawling around in the circle the boys had made with their legs. phil laughed at the scene and placed the basket down in front of them.
"we got sandwiches-" karl cut him off. "and tea!!" he excitedly exclaimed. karl was the only one out of the bunch to LOVE tea, they all drank it, but karl loved it.
it reminded him of late nights with his mom and early mornings with the entire family. nothing brought him more comfort than a cup of tea with an abundance of honey.
they all sat there that day, enjoying each other's presence and telling stories until they no longer could think of any. a happy day for what once was, a happy family.
