Running • Iggy

Babysitting

MINI CHAPTER. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ORION AND HAPPY 2 YEARS TO RUNNING! 04/04/2023

Yes, I did leave my gaggle of human friends to look after my one-year-old son.
Yes, this did end in disaster.

Orion is one and a bit now - meaning I'm quite close to turning 19 years old. It's been a wild ride, trying to juggle a full-time job, an avian baby who can't go to daycare and school. I rarely ever got a break, so when Miss Owen, my former art teacher and now form tutor called me and asked if I wanted to walk around town with her, my first thought was how I was going to get someone to look after the little rambunctious one-year-old.

You see, Orion seemed to develop a lot faster mentally than normal kids. He could already understand some insane things for a one-year-old and was even speaking semi-decently for a one-year-old. He could also write his name and a few other things. Mello volunteered to raise him as his own son, and had been teaching him emotional control - though, he was still a one-year-old. A one-year-old who wanted to run around and scream and throw tantrums.

So, Mello volunteered to look after him with the rest of my friends on their precious Sunday. I told him, as he held the 1-year-old spitting image of Iggy in his hands, to call me or message me I'd anything went wrong before I left the house and went to go meet up with Miss Owen.

She was waiting outside a café, carrying an art set that was similar to mine. "Hello, Miss Owen." I spoke with a smile, sitting down next to her. Miss Owen chuckled. "None of that, call me Brooke." She gestured vaguely with her hand. "We're not in school, dear."

"I know." I leaned on the table, watching the passersby. Miss Owen smiled and we began a nice little chat. We ordered some nice food and a drink and talked about life. About my new promotion at my job. About my life with Mello. About Orion. Then, she told me about Iggy and the others.

"James, Max and Nick are getting on alright. They've become... quite the popular bunch. They act out a lot in class, y'know." Miss Owen sighed. I sat up, interested in the topic at hand. "Oh? Are... Are they at least happy?" I asked quietly, squeezing my bag strap a bit tighter.

Miss Owen chuckled. "Oh, they're happy. I still don't trust Jessie and her family. They've been threatening to sue any child's parents who talk about any behavior Jessie exhibits. Obviously they can't legally do that, but the threat is enough to put off lots of people. Everyone wants to be her friend because she has money, but she's getting even more selfish by the day."

I felt my shoulders relax slightly. I didn't know if I should be happy, relieved or worried. "... As long as she's not hurting them in any way, then I'm serving my purpose right." I mumbled under my breath. My phone buzzed on the table, a message lighting up the screen to show a screensaver of me taking a photo of Orion and I as a selfie on a swing, his sky blue eyes so bright as he did out his arms like an aeroplane.

"Wow, he really looks like James." Miss Owen lips parted slightly. "I can see your jawline and lips, and a bit of your nose and eye shape, but he's almost the spitting image of James. I wonder if James looked like that when he was younger."

As I opened the image, I began sketching on my page. Using muscle memory and my usual memory, I drew Iggy around the same age as Orion.

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marssssssh.mello

Orion ate an entire tub of icing
without us realizing.

HUH???

He is bouncing off the walls.
He's not sick, don't worry.

BRUSH HIS TEETH BEFORE
HE NAPS
HOW DOES A CHILD GET A
TUB OF ICING WITHOUT YOU
SEEING???