The teacher's baby

31.

Hayden

When we start to play, Mr Nelson joins us too. He borrows William's stuffed alligator Olly, and every time Mr Nelson talks as Olly, he changes his voice in a way that makes William and I burst out laughing. But after a while, Mr Nelson has to go and take care of some other stuff. So now, we are left to play by ourselves.

A few more minutes pass by where we are playing and having fun, and then out of nowhere, Grayson gets snatched directly out of my hands.
I look up at William in shock.
"I wanna pway with him a wittle while." he says.
"No." I say and reach my hands towards Grayson, but William quickly turns away so that I can't reach him.
"Give him back, pwease."
I move closer and give it another try, but William just moves further away from me.
I can feel myself getting frustrated while a lump is forming in my throat.

"Pwease... just for a minute." he begs. " Here, you can even pway with one of my stuffies."
He puts his stuffed dalmatian Dizzy on my lap while holding Grayson behind his back.
I quietly look down at Dizzy before tossing her to the side.
"Nooo!" I yell, now with tears in my eyes. "I want to pway with Gwayson!"

I throw myself on top of William and use all my strength to pull Grayson out of his grasp. Then, I quickly get off of William and stand up with Grayson tightly in my arms.
"Meanie..." William says and pouts.
"No, y-you a meanie." I say with a shaky voice.
"I..." I pause and let out a sniffle before continuing."I don't wanna pway anymowe..."

When I turn around to walk away, I find Mr Nelson standing there.
"What... is going on here?" He asks.
That's when I lose control and start bawling my eyes out. I walk up to him and make grabby hands without letting go of Grayson. I won't risk him getting taken away from me again.

Mr Nelson looks at me with concern.
"Hey... what happened?" He asks, almost as a whisper, and picks me up.
He holds me close to him and starts stroking my back as I bury my face into his neck.

Owen

It made my heart melt when I saw them get along so well. To see your two babies playing and having fun together is one of the greatest joys as a daddy.
If I could, I would watch them like this forever. But I unfortunately had other things to attend to. So, I left them by themselves for a short while, and I felt safe doing so. I really believed that they would behave.

But now I realize my mistake, and can't believe what I'm witnessing.
Everyone was happy just a second ago, and now it's the total opposite.

While consoling Hayden, I walk over to William. He is sitting on the carpet with his head down.
"Are you okay?" I ask, and he looks up at me with a sad expression.
He doesn't say a word.
"Can you tell me what happened? Why is Hayden crying?" I try again, still keeping my voice calm.
Now, William's sad expression changes to a look of guilt.

"I... I twook Gwayson, and Hayden got mad and twook him back..." he explains.

"So, you took Hayden's toy without asking. Is that correct?"

"I'm sowwy..."

"Yeah, that's not okay, William. You can't take someone's toy without their permission." I tell him.

"I'm sowwy..." he says again, but now with more desperation in his voice, almost as if he's on the verge of tears.

I give him an empathetic smile for reassurance.
"It's great that you apologize for what you have done. But you should apologize to Hayden, not to me. Okay?"

He nods slowly and turns his gaze over to Hayden.
"Hayden... I'm sowwy..."

"For?" I ask, encouraging him to continue.

"Fow taking Gwayson..."

"Good job, William. I'm proud of you." I praise and give him a pat on the head. Then I turn my attention to Hayden, who is still crying with no sign of stopping.

"Hayden, did you hear that?" I whisper to him while starting to bounce him gently in my arms. But there's no response.
"Aww, sweetie. What should I do for you? You got Grayson back, didn't you? So, there's no need to cry, hm?"
I readjust him in my arms to get a better grip, and then I tell William to stay put.

I have an idea.

I take Hayden with me to the bedroom and take the pacifier from the bedside table, and bring it to Hayden's mouth. He latches on to it immediately, and the crying stops the same moment he starts sucking.

What a relief.

Suddenly, I notice that his eyes are closed, and his breathing becomes heavy.
"Aww, someone seems to be tired...
Maybe it's time for a nap?"

I carry him over to the nursery and change him into the onesie I bought for him. I think that the best thing would be to let him rest in something more comfortable. And now that he is in little space, the onesie is the most fitting option.

I kiss him on the cheek and lay him down in the crib, with Grayson right beside him.
Then I take the baby monitor with me before turning off the lights and returning to the living room.