The teacher's baby

24.

Owen

"Okay, thank you. Good day." I say and end the phone call.
I just informed my workplace that I will have to take the rest of the day off. It was either that or leaving Hayden alone again, and that wouldn't feel right to do in his current state. I probably shouldn't have left him alone from the beginning. That was a total mistake from my side, and I should have known better. I mean, I couldn't possibly have known that he would break down like this, but still.

It took a lot of time and effort to calm him down. I was shocked and didn't know what to do in the beginning, but eventually took action and tried my hardest to console the poor boy. All my efforts felt useless at the start because he wouldn't respond to anything I did. It was just crying and even more crying. What made things worse was that I had no clue what was going on. What could have possibly made him like this? That thought never left my mind, and I still don't know the answer.

However, I must have done something right, either that or Hayden's energy was starting to run low because he finally stopped crying after a while and let go of my arm. Then he looked up at me with his big puppy eyes, which were red after crying so much, and I immediately took him into my arms.

Now he is sitting on my lap with his head on my shoulder while sucking on his thumb.
My plan was to stop babying him, but now I'm not sure if I can, not when he acts like this.
I put my phone away, and while keeping my left arm around his waist, I begin to stroke his head gently with my right hand.

Suddenly, someone knocks on the front door. Who can that be? I'm not expecting anyone. I stand up from the bed with Hayden still in my arms and readjust him so that he is now placed on my hip. To my surprise, he doesn't whine or protest in any other way. He just stays calm and keeps sucking on his thumb, like the good boy he is.

I smile at his cuteness and walk over to the hall. There, I try to put Hayden down on the floor so that I will be able to open the door for whoever is out there, but that's when he starts to become fussy. So, I immediately cancel the mission and let him stay on my hip. Anything to keep him happy for now.

"Who is it?" I ask the person on the other side of the door.
Normally, I would just open the door right away, but now there's a special circumstance that makes it a bit harder.
You see, Hayden is an eighteen year old boy who's right now wearing nothing but a t-shirt and a diaper. And I'm holding him in my arms while he sucks on his thumb, just like a baby.

So, when I open that door, he's gonna
get exposed in front of whoever is out there, and I have a feeling that he wouldn't be so happy about that. That's why I was trying to put him down on the floor. Just to keep him from getting embarrassed and to keep him safe.

"I'm here to deliver a package to someone called Owen Nelson." a manly voice says from outside.
Okay, so it's a postman. At least that's better than if it would be someone we know. But that doesn't really matter anymore because I just thought of another way.
"You can just leave the package by the door." I tell him.
"Okay, I'll do that."

When a minute has passed, I open the door and pick up the cardboard box that the postman left there. Then, I close the door and walk over to the living room. Over there, I put the box on the coffee table and sit down on the couch, with Hayden on my lap once again.

It's a little tricky to open the box, especially when I'm also holding Hayden at the same time. But I  manage to eventually get it open.
The box contains a yellow pacifier, a sippy cup, a baby bottle, and a blue onesie with a panda on it.

I first take the pacifier out of the box because that's the one thing that I think Hayden would be the most okay with. I mean, he already sucks his thumb, so an object that has the same purpose wouldn't make much of a difference. I take the pacifier out from its packaging and hold it towards Hayden. "This one is yours. You can have it if you want." I tell him.
He takes his thumb out of his mouth and just looks at the pacifier for a moment, and then he looks up at me with a skeptical look.

"What do you think, hm? You can at least try it out, and if you dont like it, you don't have to keep it. So, do you wanna try it?"
He looks at the pacifier once more and then up at me again, and then to my surprise, he nods.
Is he really gonna go through with it?

"Really? Are you sure?" I ask, and he nods once more.
"Can you use your words, sweetie?"
I really need to be sure that he truly wants this and that I'm not forcing anything on him. So, I want to hear him say it, just to be clear.
"Yes, I wanna try it." He says shyly.
"Okay, good. Now, open up." I say and bring the pacifier towards his lips, and Hayden does as told. I put the pacifier in his mouth, and he immediately starts to suck on it, as if it's the most natural thing for him.

"You like it?" I ask, and Hayden nods and then immediately turns his head away in embarrassment.
"Aww, it's okay. I'm glad that you like it." I say and smile while stroking his back a few times. That's when I also take the opportunity to check his diaper, and it's soaked. So, it's probably for the best if I change him and at the same time check his temperature. He's probably also very dehydrated, so I better get him something to drink, too.
"Now, Hayden. Let's take care of you." I say before lifting him up and taking him to the nursery.