Kristin's POV:
We'd had a quiet weekend all in all. The boys slept a lot, in fact we all slept a lot and I got ready to go back to work properly on Monday. I'd been in on my school's inset days but the kids got back on Monday and that's when work really got stressful. But, the extra few days of holiday were the perks of working in a private school, even when you're just a teaching assistant.
Tubbo wasn't feeling well and the painful migraines he'd been having less and less of, were back in full force. We made an effort to get Tommy out on lots of walks whilst the weather was nice so that it was easier for him to stay quiet when he was home. But even he sleep a lot, so much more than usual.
"Last piece of homework bud and then you're all done," I said, stealing one of his crisps out of his bowl. He frowned at me and pulled the bowl closer. He was a lot less protective over his food than a lot of kids in care but Tubbo said how he'd made every effort to keep Tommy fed, even if it meant he went hungry.
"What's left on the list mate? What's the last one?" Phil asked from the kitchen where he and Wilbur were doing the dishwasher. Tommy checked his 'homework to do list' that we'd written out and followed his finger down all the ones that were crossed out until he reached the last one.
"Can you get the book?" I prompted, pointing to the shelving we'd set up in the dining room which housed all of his school supplies. It made it easier when he had to do his homework supported by someone anyway.
He grabbed his history book and I helped to pull out the crumpled sheet that had found it's way to the book. "Wilbur? Do you know if we have any of those plastic folders left?" I asked.
"Uh, I think so." He said, going out to the garage where he thought they might be. When he returned with a red one (which he knew would make Tommy happy), I stuck a label on it and grabbed a sharpie.
"So this is your homework folder Tommy. When you get a piece of homework, you put it in here to keep it safe okay?" I instructed.
"I'll send James an email so he knows." Phil said, getting out his phone. Tommy looked at the folder with a much less interested expression than when he had seen that it was red.
"Last piece then, you give that sheet a read for me whilst I go get a drink." This was another thing we were practicing, the ability to do at least some level of work independently. His reading ability was assessed last week and it proved that it was just above the average for his age group. He struggled with a lot of other things, but reading was not one of them. He was still being supervised (with both Phil and I in the kitchen, nothing could go drastically wrong) but it encouraged him to start and keep himself focused on a task independently.
When I sat back down he handed the sheet to me and sat back in his seat. "If you need a break, you can ask for one." He shook his head and tapped the sheet, waiting for me to read it.
His homework task was to create a poster about roman soldiers and highlight key parts. Wilbur read it, leaning over my shoulder and laughed. "I remember when I had to do this, one girl in my class did like a full presentation on it, it was so extra!"
"Well, Tommy how would you like to do it?" He just shrugged his shoulders.
"Can I help Tommy?" Wilbur offered.
"Wilbur, have you finished all of your homework first?" Phil asked.
"Yes! I have actually cause I like barely had any. Plus, no offence, but Tommy is probably sick of you two hanging around."
"Oooooh sorry!" I said, and Tommy just giggled.
"To be fair, we do really need to do a food shop for packed lunches this week." My husband said, smiling at me sweetly.
"Well cool, you two go food shopping and Tommy and I will do this poster." Our two boys high fived and Wilbur gestured for me to get out of what he now perceived as his seat.
I sighed and went to get my shoes on. Wilbur was right, parents were lame.
Wilbur's POV:
As soon as the front door closed, Tommy and I high-fived and I got my laptop from upstairs. "Can you get a couple blank pieces of paper?" I asked.
I got the felt tips and loaded up power point on my laptop. "Right, do you want to find some facts about the roman soldiers and then we can type them up?" He half nodded and found safari on his iPad.
Time skip:
"I'll print them off now and then you can cut them out." He didn't acknowledge me but was very busy trying to colour in a very poorly drawn Roman soldier that I'd done for him. He had slowly become more and more interested in the poster and was now very engaged.
I put the printed out facts in various colours on the table and went to get a pair of scissors and a glue stick from the side. Tommy finally looked up from his colouring and handed the sheet to me.
"That looks good! Let's print it out and stick it down." I handed him the scissors.
"Break." He signed.
"Okay, what would you like to do." He pointed out into the garden. "Trampoline?" He nodded with a smile. "Go get your crocs then." I said, getting my own crocs back on that I had dumped at the back door.
After 10 minutes of bouncing ourselves silly on the trampoline, Tommy was feeling regulated enough to finish his homework and rushed back inside to get started on the cutting and sticking. I made sure to watch carefully even though the scissors weren't that sharp because Tommy's small movements (Mum and Dad call them 'fine motor skills' or something like that) aren't very well controlled. It means he can cut himself a lot easier than most people.
When each part was cut out to the best of his ability, I helped him add glue to the back and place it down in the right place on the plain piece of paper. First the title, then each of the facts and then finally the big drawing of the roman soldier that went straight in the middle. At the end, Tommy wrote his name on the back of the paper and I tucked it into his homework folder which we put back in his school bag.
"Carrot." I heard from the robotic voice of Tommy's iPad.
"Uh yea okay," I said, moving towards the kitchen, "you want to watch some Doctor Who on the TV?" I asked, secretly enjoying the show the more I watched it with my little brother.
I handed him the plate of carrots and his water bottle before showing him how to bring Doctor Who up on the TV again. We hoped that the more we showed him how to do it, he might eventually be able to do it himself. I slipped down the hall and poked my head around Tubbo's door: he was still asleep so I left him. Then I rushed upstairs quickly to check on Techno.
"Hey Will, you alright?"
"Yea, just checking on you."
"You checking on me? Jeez, you're fully in carer mode. How's Tommy?"
"Good. We're watching Doctor Who, want to join?"
"Maybe in a bit, I've got to finish this english homework."
"Since when did you care about your homework?"
"Since I got into year 13 and realised A-levels were real."
"Well enjoy, you want a fanta or something?"
"Nah I'm alright." He paused and span his chair back round to his PC. "Hang on," he span back around, "are you okay?"
"Yea I'm fine."
"Then why are you being so... nice?"
"Because everyone is fragile."
"Fair enough. Mum and Dad back soon?"
"Probably, but you know how long food shopping can take."
"Mhm. Well then, see you later."
"In a bit." I replied, closing the door behind me.
When I returned downstairs, Tommy wasn't sat on the sofa. The downstairs bathroom light was on but the door was closed. Tommy was gain independence in using the toilet, but as far as I was aware, he hadn't quite got there yet. I knocked on the door gently, "Tommy? You alright?"
"Yea." He said.
"Okay, I'm here if you need some help." I sent a quick text to Techno explaining what was going on because even though I was acting like carer extraordinaire, I really had no clue what I was doing and now felt insanely out of my depth. Techno came plodding down the stairs. "Maybe he's just built up to going by myself."
"But when I asked Dad he said they were still working on it."
"I don't know, just wait until he comes out!"
The toilet flushed and the tap began running.
"Tommy, can I open the door?" Techno asked.
"Yea."
"Okay." Tommy was stood by the sink, washing his hands with a little too much soap. Techno helped him dry them and untucked his t-shirt that he'd got stuck in his trousers.
"Nice job Tommy!" I said proudly.
"Yea, well done you little gremlin. Mum and Dad are going to be so proud when they get back."
"Ma?"
"Yep, Ma is going to be super proud of you. But come on, let's rewind this episode and watch some Doctor Who." Techno walked him back over to the sofa and I stood in a state of shock. My little brother was growing up so quickly.
Tommy's POV:
James, Phil and I had been really working on me understanding what to do in the toilet by myself. And when I needed to go and then Wilbur was busy, I decided to just go by myself. In my head, I said each step over and over, trying my best to do it right. Wilbur kept asking me lots of questions and I didn't understand why but Techno made it okay. We watched Doctor Who afterwards and that was all I really cared about after a day of doing homework.
When Ma and Phil got home, they were both really proud and Phil said that I could get a new book. Techno helped show me how to order it online and Phil said it will come on Tuesday. It's the next one of the series of unfortunate events series and I'm really excited to read it. They are my favourite book ever!
A/n Hey! Thanks for reading, hope you all enjoyed!