Abbott Elementary - Headcanons and Imagines

Baby's First Tantrum - Melissa Schemmenti/Female Reader

Summary: A garden carrot and some earth lead the moms to deal with LuLu's first tantrum.
Classification: Domestic fluff
Warnings: None
Word count: +1300

Unrevised

Formula and breast milk were quickly replaced by a variety of different foods, from fruit and vegetables to meat, occasionally light desserts and often pasta. This is Luca's diet and, to his moms' pride, he eats almost everything without hesitation. But that doesn't mean that the couple give everything or let him eat whatever he wants whenever he wants, they don't give sugar, candies, chocolate or anything with condensed milk, the first sweet he tried was a birthday cake in the first year of life and didn't seem interested. The boy has a great interest in vegetables in particular, taking the beans out of the pods, hunting for pieces of zucchini in the rice, eating pumpkins as if they were watermelon, having fun destroying the "little trees" aka broccoli with teeth, which may have helped his teething more than the dozens of silicone toys bought. He also likes fruit, bananas not so much, apples only in juice, but he loves citrus fruits, can devour an orange easily on his own and loves to crush tangerine slices in chubby little hands before eating it. Any pasta on the colorful plate will disappear in less than half an hour, without even needing help. Sometimes Aunt Kristen fills him up with pumpkin tortelli while no one is looking, his favorite and her most favorite crime. In short, since babyhood he has developed a good relationship with food, with different tastes, colors, scents and textures. It's no different with what's planted and harvested. Mel's mother keeps a vegetable garden at the back of the house, full of healthy tomato plants, bright strawberries, long-stemmed carrots, radishes, green beans and a dozen spices that make the Schemmenti's recipes extra special. It's a sunny Sunday after a rainy week, perfect for checking, fixing and taking care of anything the garden needs, and of course the little boy, who has just learned to run and jump, wanted to join in, exploring the environment and the places he couldn't reach before growing a few inches in the last quarter. There are a few toys that the other grandchildren play with too, flowers in different colors, ceramic decorations from gnomes to colorful frogs, but his main interest is to be around his moms.

"LuLu, which color is that?" the teacher asks pointing to the blue watering can in hand, seeing it as a great opportunity to teach him colors and new things.

"Bwue!" he shouts excitedly and shrilly, the way a toddler can "Sky is bwue!"

"Yes, sweetheart. The sky is blue." Y/N agrees, caressing her son's coppery hair, then puts the bucket hat on to protect him from the strong sun "And the trees?"

"Yewow!"

"No, it's green, like grass." she takes some grass from under their feet and shows it to him before putting it in his little hand so he can feel it better "Grass is nice, isn't it?!"

"Green..." he repeats.

Luca agrees, opening a big smile, one very similar to the other mom's, showing teeth. Green eyes sparkle as he plays with the small amount of grass, until a gust of wind snatches it away from him and scatters everything across the garden where it belongs. He looks at the scene with sadness and tears in the eyes, a cute little peck if it didn't mean imminent crying. Not only had he inherited his mom's tough and temperamental side, but also her sensitive side, the one she usually showed with family and friends. They had to be alike in every way, she thinks to herself as she lovingly caresses her five-month-old belly, wondering if their little girl will be like that too. Her wife quickly comes to the rescue, attracting attention by acting surprised as she pulls a carrot out of the ground, it's like magic for LuLu, who quickly forgets about the grass and concentrates on the vegetable, enchanted by it... and the brown thing around.

"And which color is that, bambino?" she asks as he approaches with slow and clumsy steps, there's no answer. Before she can say anything else, the carrot is practically snatched out of her hands, and he immediately tries to put the dirt-filled piece in his mouth, but is stopped by his mom "No, sweet..."

"Mama Mel, mine." the baby protests unsatisfactorily, clenching hands in frustration and frowning in an angry expression "Eat."

"You'll eat, but first we have to wash the carrots, sweetheart." Melissa gets up, putting the dirty gloves in the pocket of her gardening apron, going to the garden tap to do it.

"Mama!" he turns to the younger, pointing to the carrot that's moving away from him so that she can do something about it "Mine carrot!"

"LuLu..."

"No! No! No! Mine!" he now shouts scandalously while he watches the vegetable being washed "Noooo!" and continues as the teacher approaches, kneeling down to offer the food.

His agitation only increases with the gesture, Luca continues to shout more and more, like never before. Both try to calm him down patiently explaining why washing is necessary and that he can now eat. This is completely ignored during the child's tantrum. All the boy wants is the carrot as it was before and to eat the dirt together, no matter how much the moms insist that it might be bad for him, it doesn't matter, it's what he wants at the moment and the only thing that matters, his needs. It's not as if they haven't faced some of their son's scenes before, but never like this, on this scale when the boy starts throwing himself on the ground too. Hands and feet hitting the soft grass hard, hot tears running copiously and shrill screams make up the first official tantrum, with the bonus that he's getting very dirty in the process.

"LuLu, my love, please stand up." Y/N tries to lift him off the ground, without success, considering how chubby and strong he can be, her growing belly not helping at all with the task.

"Bambino, be a good boy! You don't have to cry like that..." Mel is a little harsher in tone, just like the one she uses when her students are making her lose hair or giving headaches "Look, the carrot is here, mama just took the dirt off, you can eat it now, sweetheart." she tries to point out, only making the situation worse.

"I want!" he shouts, standing in front of them "Mine!" and takes it from her hands, staring sadly.

"Earth is bad for your stomach, love." the younger explains once there is a space for it, and the crying stops momentarily.

"Carrots eat." even at less than two years old, he already seems to know how to argue "Me too."

"But earth tastes really bad, you know what it reminds me of? Chocolate, it tastes like chocolate." she tries to argue back, using his aversion to food and how the two things are almost the same color.

"And that's where the worms live, do you want to leave them without a home? We can't eat someone else's home, LuLu." the redhead helps, patting his back with one hand and wiping away the tears staining his flushed cheeks with the other "Right?"

"Right!" the boy agrees after thinking for a second and he smiles at them both, and they sigh in relief, then smile at each other.

He finally gives in and takes a big bite out of the vegetable, not managing to tear off as much as he wanted, but leaving a mark with his teeth and taking just enough to taste it. His eyes close in delight and the toddler flashes a huge smile. Without even remembering that a minute ago he was trying to eat earth, in less than five minutes he totally forgets what he wanted and what has just happened, Luca runs excitedly around the garden exploring every part that his sneaky little legs can take him and hands can reach, all the while eating pieces of his carrot proudly grown by Grandma. A little adventure in the garden on a late Sunday afternoon, the best family time

"Ready for round two?" Y/N asks as she sits on the garden stool, putting her hand on belly.

"Ready for her?"

"Nah, she won't give us any work. I'm talking about making LuLu take a bath, our son is so dirty."