It was about 12pm when Sam heard both his alarm & communicator go off. He had nodded off at his desk after doing a few rounds of the prison with Tommy. He turned off the alarm and picked up his communicator. It was Puffy calling. He pressed the accept button and placed it on the speaker.
"Hey Puffy" yawned Sam, as he turned in his chair.
"Hi Sam, I finished up the repairs at the hotel so I'm gonna be on break before heading to the farms. How's the patrol coming along?" replied Puffy, with the sound of distant chatter in the back.
"It's fine, I walked around the place for a bit with a very few issues found. I jogged through the halls with Tommy before coming back to my desk and just chilling" informed Sam, as he glanced down to the blonde kid sleeping in his lap.
"Sounds nice, do you want me to meet you at the prison or are you coming to the hotel?" asked Puffy.
"I'll come by the hotel, it's my lunch break anyway" sighed Sam, as he stretched his arms.
"Alright then, I'll be outside waiting for you" stated Puffy.
"See ya in a bit" said Sam, before hanging up.
The creeper hybrid stood up and did a big stretch. He yawned as he took his helmet off. He unhooked the heavy netherite armor and set it under the desk before switching it out with his lighter golden armor. He put his crown on his head and fixed his gloves. He leaned down to where he laid Tommy. He wrapped the boy into his blanket and cleaned up the floor mat. He put the baby things in the bag and hung it over his shoulder. He cradled the blonde with his arm and picked up the prison switch. He walked towards the portal and activated. He walked through with no issues and reached exit. Once on the other side, Sam covered Tommy once again to hide him and headed towards the path. More people seemed out and about since it was mid-day and it made traveling just a bit more stressful since Sam didn't know how the small boy would take to loud noises or public areas. As he reached the Innit Hotel, he stepped over the gate and headed through the doors. The lobby seemed mostly empty, besides workers moving around luggage and supplies. At the front desk, Sam spotted Nook standing behind it. The robot seemed to be in sleep mode and was a placeholder for the empty spot. Jack had claimed that the robot was "doing his job" but the creeper hybrid knew he was lying. Sam sighed and rang the bell at the counter a few times. Swearing could be heard from the backroom before footsteps could be heard. Niki was the first to pop up, her pink hair tied up into a bun.
"Oh Sam, you're here" she said, surprised.
"The prison isn't too far from the hotel" informed Sam, lifting a brow.
"True I guess" she nodded, looking over her shoulder.
"Puffy called me so I could have lunch with her" added Sam, fixing his hold on Tommy in his arms.
"What do you have there?" asked Niki, pointing to the blanket cluster in his arms & duffle bag.
"It's nothing, just a bunch of-" started Sam, thinking of an excuse.
Fortanely, Puffy & Jack walked to interrupt the awkward conversation. The cyborg carried a pot of what Sam assumed was food while Puffy was wiping dirt and dust off her hands.
"You are here, Sam. Ready to go?" stated Puffy, giving a little wave.
"Thanks for the pot, Jack" she said, as he sat the pot on the counter.
"No problem, I'll pay you properly next time you are over here" replied Jack, as he fixed his glasses.
Puffy nodded and reached over to pick up the pot until Jack stopped her.
"Wait, Sam you carry it since Puffy has worked all day" stated Jack, pointing towards the creeper hybrid.
Sam was surprised and looked down at Puffy.
"He doesn't have to do that, I can carry it on my own" said Puffy, trying to swat Jack's hand away.
"No, I think Sam should carry it since he's been doing nothing all day" huffed Jack, narrowing his eyes at Sam.
"I have been working and I'm already carrying something," retorted Sam, returning a glare.
"It's just a bunch of blankets" interjected Niki.
"It's not just a bunch of blankets" exclaimed Sam, his patience wearing thin.
"Then what is, since it seems so much more important than carrying a pot for a friend" countered Jack.
"It isn't that deep, I can carry the pot for myself" interrupted Puffy, putting herself in front of Sam.
Jack tried to throw another accusation at Sam, but he wasn't paying attention since Tommy was starting to move more in his arms. Sam tried to calm him to stay still but the loud voices of Jack and Puffy were making it hard. The blonde was wriggling more and started whining.
"The fuck" muttered Niki, looking back at the creeper hybrid.
Sam couldn't get a word before what he had been dreading happened.
Tommy's head popped out from under the blanket
And he started to cry.
Not only was it loud, the lobby was empty so it echoed. Tommy's face was slowly turning red, matching his tinted features. Sam panicked at that moment and so did the others. Jack and Niki jumped back and covered their ears in confusion. Puffy scrambled over the counter to Sam's side.
"Puffy!" yelled Sam.
"Sam!" replied Puffy.
"What do I do?" asked Sam, very distressed.
She looked around for a moment as she thought of a plan.
"Hand me the bag!" she stated.
Sam nodded and crouched down to get the duffle bag off his shoulder. Puffy helped too and placed it on the floor. She started digging through it. She stood back with a bottle in hand and Sam turned Tommy over so Puffy could get his attention.
"Mayb, he's hungry?" questioned Puffy, looking up curiously as tried to show the boy the bottle.
"He can't be, I fed him before I put him down for a nap" expressed Sam.
"Um" stuttered the duo haired woman, thinking once again.
She put the bottle back in the bag and grabbed something else. It was the duck toy she had given to Tommy last night to entertain him.
"Tommy! Hey Tommy, look what I got" cooed Puffy, squeezing the plush toy in front of him.
The toy had a squeaker in it, which it did get Tommy's attention. He was still crying but it seemed to slow at the sight of the familiar object. Sam gently swayed the small boy as Puffy started to speak softly to keep him from getting louder. The creeper hybrid glanced up to Niki and Jack who stood afar, watching confused and shocked.He highly annoyed since this could have been avoided if Jack was stubborn about the pot since Puffy was capable of taking care of herself and a pot wasn't gonna harm her. It was just a dang pot. He gave the cyborg hard side glare but turned his focus back to Puffy and Tommy. It seemed she had gotten him to calm down and given him the plush to hold in his small hands. The crying had turned into soft sniffling and cooing. Both Sam and Puffy sighed in union relief.
"What the hell!" stated Jack, as Puffy & Sam turned to face him.
"Where did you get a baby from?" questioned Niki.
"I know you guys missed Tommy but this is weird" remarked Jack, fixing his shades.
Sam and Puffy looked at each other with nervousness.
"Should we tell them?" inquired Puffy.
"We have no other choice" huffed Sam, as he fixed his hold on Tommy.
"What are you two muttering about?" interrupted Jack.
The duo haired woman sighed heavily and walked to the counter.
"I suggest you two should go sit in the waiting room chairs for this conversation" said Puffy, gesturing to furniture lining the wall.
Jack and Niki were the ones to exchange glances this time but they complied to Puffy's request. Sam leaned down and picked the duffle bag with one arm and sat in a separate chair in the waiting room, away from Jack & Niki. Puffy sat beside him, setting the pot beside her. Once they were settled, Puffy began to speak.
"So you guys know how Dream was apprehended a few months and placed into the prison after finding the confrontation?" she started.
"A lot happened that day but yeah we do" nodded Niki, looking at Jack.
"Well, Dream, Tommy, & Sam had shared a few words about an infamous book he had in his possession from Schlatt" explained Puffy.
"Is this about the revive book, thought he was just spitting horse-shit" groaned Jack.
"Well it isn't, and he did have it in his possession" huffed Puffy.
"I wonder how that happened, Sam" stated Jack, giving a nasty look at the creeper hybrid .
"Jack-" mumbled Niki, bumping her companion to shut him up.
"He didn't have the actual book, it was a shitty copy of it from memory" expressed Sam, annoyedly.
"Well then how does this apply to the kid?" questioned Niki, getting back on page.
"Basically said book has different types of revival spells and Dream used the wrong one when Tommy died in prison. And the one he used basically phoenix affected him" finished Sam, wanting to hurry the conversation up.
"Like the fantasy bird," said Niki.
"Yes, so this baby is actually Tommy but rebirthed basically" gestured Puffy.
Jack and Niki were very quiet. A silence that lowkey pissed Sam off. He just wanted to leave and relax for his lunch break. The one to break the silence was the person he didn't want to hear talk.
"No, this is bullshit," laughed Jack, standing up.
"Jack-" started Niki, grabbing onto his sleeve.
"You are fucking with me,you aren't gonna make be beleive this bullshit and make me feel bad" exclaimed eJack, his voice rising.
"I'm not trying to do that, Jack. We are telling the truth" replied Puffy, also standing up.
"You are lying, why would I believe that a prisoner can just bring somebody back so easily?" uttered the brunet.
"Jack, stop," said Niki, attempting to interrupt.
"And as a baby, that is just laughable. Tommyinnit is dead and not this child" declared Jack, his glasses slightly falling off.
"Jack Manifold!" shouted Niki, grabbing her friend by the collaro of his shirt.
"What?!" yelped Jack, facing the pink haired woman.
"You are going to the back and finish with the hotel papers, okay?" stated Niki, glaring at him.
"I'm not done talking" interrupted Jack.
"YES, YOU ARE" proclaimed Niki.
"Do you understand what I said?" she said.
This time it was Puffy & Sam's turn to just sit in silence. Jack glared at Niki before sighing and swatting her hand.
"Yeah yeah" huffed the cyborg.
"I'll see you guys later" he waved, before walking out the room.
"Later Jack" said Puffy, trying to wave back.
Niki let out a heavy but annoyed sigh.
"Sorry about that, but when did you guys find out about this situation?" stated the pink haired woman, rubbing her temple.
"Just last night, this is a pretty fresh situation for us" explained Puffy, as she looked over at Sam.
"And because it's pretty new, we didn't want to tell anyone just yet" added the creeper hybrid, standing up from the chair.
Niki looked down at the small boy in Sam's arms. Tommy was completely calmed down and was fiddling with the duck toy, giving a small glance towards Niki. Sam doesn't know how long the pink haired woman has known the blonde but it seemed she had conflicting feelings towards him that she subtly expressed on her face. She then took a quiet breath and turned to face walking to the door.
"Well, I leave him to you two. I won't say a word to anyone about this and I'll tell jack not to either" she said, looking back over her shoulder.
"Thank you Niki" smiled Puffy, giving a small smile to her friend.
Niki returned it with a sympathetic look before going behind the desk. Once she was out of sigh, Sam and Puffy grabbed their things and headed out the door. The creeper hybrid covered the blonde boy once again but leaving an open that only showed his face. As the duo walked down the prime path, Sam started up conversation since things felt kind of tense.
"Well, that went better than expected" huffed Sam, looking up to the sky.
"You could say, sorry about Jack. I didn't think things would escalate the way it did" apologize Puffy, fiddling with the pot her hands.
"It's not your fault, this is probably gonna be hard for everyone since Tommy had made an impact on everyone" said Sam, giving Puffy a small nudge.
"True, which means we'll have to take more steps before introducing others to Tiny Tommy" stated Puffy, glancing down at the covered boy.
"Let's head to my office. I closed it down for a few days so no clients" expressed the duo haired woman.
"That's fine, peace is quiet is what the three of us need anyway" shrugged Sam.
The two companions walked towards the small office building and headed inside to settle down.