The Sun and The Stars (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 6

"Kai, come on! We have to get going," I call my son as I stand in the kitchen, slabbing peanut butter onto two pieces of bread for Kai's lunch. Once I was done with that, I put it in a plastic bag and when I see that my son wasn't standing next to me like he usually was every morning, I let out a small sigh. I set everything down before rushing out of the kitchen and into his room where he sat on the floor next to his bed with his arms crossed. When he sees me walk in, he turns his head away from me.

"I not going," he says in his angry voice, not turning to look at me anymore. I knew he was in a bad mood as soon as I woke him up because he was usually up before me, but that wasn't the case today. We hadn't done anything too crazy yesterday, so I knew he had enough sleep and he wasn't exhausted, so that couldn't be what was bothering him. I needed to figure out what was wrong soon because I don't think I could handle him having a tantrum this morning. I had so much work to do today because it was getting closer to the Christmas season, so I was already stressed.

"Why don't you want to go?" I ask in a calm, soft voice. Thankfully, I had gotten good at handling tantrums and meltdowns because I read so many baby books when I first got Kai that I was practically an expert on them, but he can be unpredictable at times.

Kai shakes his head, still not turning to look at me. I move over so I was kneeling in front of his face, but he just turns his head the other way so he doesn't have to look at me. I get in front of him again, but he just keeps turning his head away. I notice that after time, his lip starts to quiver and then tears start rolling down his face. I want to reach out and wipe them away, but I also know that this can get even worse if I try to touch him.

"Kai, tell me what's wrong and I can fix it," I whisper to him in the softest voice I could come up with right now.

"Please, Daddy! I want to be with you!" He yells, finally turning to stare at me with a pleading look. It was literally breaking my heart to see him so upset, but I have to work. I know my parents would help me if I needed money, but I couldn't lose this job. I would be fucked if I lost it and would just feel so pathetic if it was out of my life.

"I'm sorry, buddy, but you have to go to daycare. Daddy has to work," I remind him.

His face turns even angrier and he shoots off the ground with his arms still crossed. "I want to stay with you! You always... always working!"

I have to force myself to keep my face passive because if I show emotion, then it'll just give him even more reason to be upset. I nod my head at him before giving him a small smile. "I know, Kai, but I have to work."

He shakes his head, which ends up shaking his whole body. More tears were streaming down his cheeks and he was starting to stomp his feet lightly against the floor. "I want to stay with you! Please, Daddy! I'll do anything!"

"Malakai, I'm sorry, but you have to go to daycare. Daddy's busy today and needs to focus on work. We can hang out once you get home though, just like we do every day," I remind him, but that obviously didn't work. He shakes his head even harder and I let out a small sigh before doing what I needed to do. I wrap my arm around him before picking him up and moving towards the living room.

He starts shaking even harder the second I touch him and lightly kicks me, not enough to hurt me since he knows that being violent won't get him anywhere. He was more so trying to get me away, so when I set him on the couch, I move away from him and hold my hands up so he can see that I wasn't touching him anymore. He starts pounding on the couch and sobbing, squeezing his little eyes shut as hard as he could. "Daddy!"

I just walk away because I know that ignoring what he was doing can work sometimes. Especially with him because he's pretty smart, he's figured out that if he doesn't get his way after a while of screaming, he probably won't get it at all. I go into the kitchen to finish making his lunch and after a while, his sobs start to die down along with him lightly hitting the couch. Ignoring him worked, thankfully. I slowly walk back into the living room to see him leaning back in his spot with his hands by his sides as he sniffles lightly.