Chapter Text
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"You're the cutest baby I've ever seen!"
Anne was holding a small, six-year-old Dipsy, who was squirming with slight annoyance, eager to go and play with his brothers.
Anne chuckled, dropping the green tubbie to the ground, who quickly escaped into the yard and jumped onto Tinky's back, laughing and pulling his ears.
"Leave your brother alone, Dipsy."
A voice came from another room, looking at the child with a frown and dark circles under his eyes like a panda's.
Anne had thought it was sweet at first; she knew that if those children fell into the hands of social services, they would probably be separated, but then White came to their defense, assuring them that he would be the one to take care of all four of them.
They had found the infants on a mission, specifically in an emergency intervention in Canada, Quebec; a small clinic in an equally small town, where they had found the children.
The intervention aimed to remove as many people as possible, since, according to the report, there was a slight suspicion that the clinic was a point of illicit substances.
Everything went well and they were able to arrest the owners, but amidst all that chaos, four children had appeared, hidden in a closet; they searched among the criminals and witnesses for the names of their parents, but the only thing they got was a statement from a girl there, who had apparently been taking care of them.
"Them? Nobody knows, they just showed up at the clinic one day out of nowhere. The boss kept them because the green and purple ones were stealthy, so they'd be good for continuing to sell the merchandise."
Anne was extremely worried about the children at that time; usually, in these kinds of situations where the parents didn't appear, the children were handed over to social services. It wasn't a scandal, but it was a different situation when there was more than one child involved.
When they were found, the eldest, Tinky Winky, was protecting his brothers in a hug with his small, seven-year-old hands, his eyes red from crying but with a determined and fierce look, ready to kill someone if they dared to touch his brothers.
Anne was deeply moved, but even she couldn't do anything! She already had her baby with Miles, and he was completely against even thinking about adopting the children. It pained her, because they would surely be separated and sent to some orphanage.
Then White said he would. He would adopt all four children.
It was exhausting. Almost a full year of paperwork, organizing documents and meetings, social services visits, many visits to psychologists to prove that White was mentally fit to raise children, constant monitoring of the visits he made to the children.
White endured all of that, and after a year, the four children were officially White's responsibility.
Anne was very happy at that moment, supporting White always until it finally came true.
But clearly, his friend might have been all set for fatherhood, but reality always surpassed any preparation.
He had been a father for a month, and already his hair was disheveled and huge dark circles covered his eyes.
Anne had been going on weekends, along with Lenny, but clearly, the two of them had their own lives; Anne had to take care of her baby and Lenny... Whatever Lenny does.
Suddenly, Rosa the tubby had an idea that made her jump out of her seat, causing Lenny, who was drinking coffee on the sofa holding little Po, to turn and look at her with a raised eyebrow.
White was in his backyard, trying to stop Dipsy and Tinky from fighting over a stuffed rabbit. Laa-Laa was watching them from White's head, holding his iconic hat and playing with it.
Anne approached him, excited. She held Laa-Laa and sent Tinky and Dipsy to watch TV with Lenny, which the children reluctantly did.
"My friend, I have a great idea!"
White stood up, brushing the dust off his pants and trying to tidy his disheveled hair. His tired eyes looked at her with confusion and intrigue.
Anne turned her head, looking at Lenny.
"Do you remember Ron, Lenny?"
"The engineer? Yes, I remember something, but what about it?"
White seemed lost, tilting his head in confusion.
"Who is Ron?"
Lenny approached, leaving Po with his brothers on the sofa.
"He's a friend of mine. He used to work with me, but he had an argument with a high-ranking official or something, and he was fired."
Anne nodded, following Lenny's story:
"He's been looking for work, and I ran into him by chance at the supermarket. He said he'd do anything for money. Keep his number in case I can get you something."
White still didn't seem to understand, and Anne and Lenny sighed. Despite being one of the best soldiers at the Base, the acclaimed Guardian was still dense and a bit dim-witted.
"I'm saying I could work as your babysitter, White."
Lenny opened his eyes in concern and reached out to stop Annie, but the girl kept talking, interrupting him.
"I don't know if he's good with children, but he could definitely use some money, no offense... I think it's a good idea!"
Lenny looked as though he'd lost all color from his face, but he decided to stay quiet in a corner. He wouldn't ruin his friend's chance of getting a job, even if it turned out to be a disaster in the end.
White seemed to think about it for a moment.
He loved those four, he'd loved them since the first time he saw them; Tinky had distrusted all the soldiers involved in the operation at the clinic, except for him. White knew how to approach him, and when Tinky felt comfortable with him, his brothers also began to approach him.
White had never felt anything like this before, but she knew she would give everything for those children, for her own children.
Sure, White could love his babies as much as he wanted, but that didn't change the great fact that being a father was still quite an adventure, even more so if you're a single father.
The truth is, he could really use a little help.
The white tubbie nodded to his friend. Anne excitedly pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her purse. She handed it to White, a satisfied smile spreading across her face; this could definitely help her friend's situation!
The guardian examined the number, as if Ron might jump off the paper just by looking at it.
"Thank you, Anne. I'll call him tonight and see how it goes."
Anne nodded excitedly, when suddenly a notification popped up on her phone. Rosa glanced at it and sighed, putting the device in her pocket.
"I have to go; Miles needs his wife and Amy needs her mom, haha."
Pink Tubbie left, saying goodbye to her friends and the four children with a kiss and a hug. When she approached Lenny, he gave her that "What the heck did you just do?" look. But Anne pretended not to see it.
A short while later, Lenny also left, arguing that he still had a lot of work to do; not that White didn't either.
I would call this Ron guy later; now I had to take a bath and prepare dinner.
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The rain fell gently from the sky onto the rooftops, leaving a light, peaceful, and chilly atmosphere, which gradually made people hide in their homes, trying to warm up.
Beneath this peaceful downpour was a blue-furred Tubbie wearing a cap, wrapped in a leather jacket that had seen better lives, with a half-finished cigarette in his hand, under a bus stop.
Nighttime was Ron's favorite time; unlike the busy nature of the day, night was the complete opposite, silence and tranquility, the only sounds that mattered on those dark nights were the crickets and the distant conversations from the houses.
Ron lost himself for a moment in that tranquility, until, of course, the sound of the arriving bus brought him back to his disgusting reality.
Ron sighed, annoyed. With nothing much to lose, he boarded the bus, greeting the driver (who knew him by heart) and paying his fare. This time, he'd been lucky; the bus was practically empty.
I hear the driver say, "It's all yours, kid!" That made him laugh, as he sat down in a random seat by the window.
There was something familiar about watching the raindrops fall on the windowpane, the buildings and streets whizzing by, just as life itself passes by so quickly. It was interesting.
But Ron is a grumpy person, so once again his peace was broken by the sound of his cell phone ringing. His brow couldn't furrow any more; he'd gotten rid of his cigarette, since the old man didn't allow them on his bus, so there was nothing to relieve his stress.
When he picked up the phone, he noticed it was an unregistered number. He sighed.
He clicked accept.
Ron had to turn down the volume, because the first thing he heard wasn't exactly peace and quiet. The other person seemed to be in a trench on the other end of the line.
I hear children's laughter and a television playing in the background, showing a typical children's program. I hear someone, presumably the one who called, scolding someone named Tinky for eating Dipsy's dinner... Who is Dipsy?
Ron thought he had dialed the wrong number, so he was about to hang up, when suddenly the voice from before spoke again.
"Hello! Sorry for the late hour, seriously, but are you Ron?"
The aforementioned remained silent for a moment.
"Yeah...?"
"Oh, great! I thought Anne gave me the wrong number, haha."
Ron remained silent. The stranger, seeing that he wouldn't speak, laughed and continued talking.
"I'm White, nice to meet you! Anne and Lenny told me about you, you know them, right?"
Yes, but right now, I wish I could say no. Anne was more of an acquaintance than a friend, but they still talked from time to time. Lenny, on the other hand, was a very close friend; after all, they'd worked together before all the shit.
"Yeah..."
He can't understand what that has to do with this stranger.
"Okay, fine! Um... Hehe, I'm a little nervous... Well, they said you were looking for a job, right?"
Ron couldn't deny it.
"Aha"
"Awesome! Look, I... I'd like to offer you a job."
"Ah... What about?"
"As a babysitter."
Ron almost killed someone from laughing so much, obviously, he muted himself before.
Him? A babysitter? What on earth was Lenny thinking? He couldn't even take care of himself, and he's going to be babysitting someone else's kids? No way.
"I'll pay you, ummm... How about 40 dollars an hour?"
Ron's face went blank. The laughter stopped.
"Including lunch... or dinner? Excuse me, what hours are you available to work?"
While the other was talking, Ron was frantically doing calculations in his mind.
Nannies in the United States are typically paid $24 an hour. But White wanted to pay his $40.
" ...How many hours?"
"Well, I need help more in the morning; that's when I work and arrive in the late afternoon/evening, depending on the amount of work. But anyway, you could go in the afternoon; I have a neighbor who loves to play with children and look after them, you can leave them there until I get there."
Ron was fine with it. God, was he really considering being a babysitter?
"I'd like to get to know you first, where can we meet?"
Ron swallowed his pride and dignity; after all, he can't eat pride.
"Yes, Café Kitty; I know it, the owner is a friend. How about tomorrow at 8?"
"... Alright."
"Great! Thanks, Ron. See you tomorrow."
And the other person hangs up, leaving Ron once again in the deathly silence I so long for.
Well, that could be interesting.
