The Boy From Firehouse 81

0.6

"Boys, this here is Zayn. He's going to be staying with us from now on," Benji says with a smile as he lightly pulls Zayn forward so that he could be seen. "Everyone can do proper introductions later today during quiet time and lunch, but for now we're having a snow day! Everyone go get your warm clothes on and then meet back down here."

As Benji spoke, all the boys immediately cheered as they rushed past Zayn and the older man which only caused Zayn to shrink back as he clung to Benji's leg. Once the last person ran by, though, Benji immediately lifted Zayn up yet again and placed him on the once occupied sofa. It was then that Zayn realized a few more adults had entered the room at this point and they were all looking at him with soft eyes.

"Bud, these are some of the other workers that work here. I am here almost every day, however, when I'm not you'll always see one of these faces," Benji explains before going on to introduce each worker by name. "We also have some volunteers that come in, so you may become familiar with them as well. For now, though, do you feel like introducing yourself to everyone?"

"M'Zayn," Zayn mumbles as he brings one hand towards his mouth, thumb dangerously close to entering his lips.

"And how old are you, Zayn?" One of the workers Zayn can slightly remember being named Carly asks.

Rather than replying, though, Zayn simply holds up three fingers as his thumb now slips past his lips with wide eyes. A few of the volunteers coo at the gesture, however, Benji is quick to remove his thumb with a small nod.

"That's yucky, buddy," Benji chastises, yet Zayn only whines in turn.

So with a small sigh Benji stands up and exits the room only to return back a moment later with a small packet. Being the curious boy Zayn is, he immediately sits up on his knees to try and look at what Benji had in hand, however, he only ends up more confused. Well, that is until the man lightly presses it to Zayn's lips.

"There's no thumb sucking here cause that's yucky. Every time you suck your thumb you're gonna get a pacifier," Benji explains, however, having never really seen one of these things before Zayn doesn't recognize it as something to be slightly embarrassed by.

"Alright I think it's time we go over rules. If some of you guys want to go take the other boys outside that would be great," Scott says as he talks to the other workers, which five nod at as they get up to go address the other children.

"So Zayn, the rules here are fairly simple," Scott says as he crouches in front of the toddler. "You listen to everything the workers say, you pick up any toy you take out, and you do not lie; we don't tolerate lying here. Understand?"

"Wha's tol'rate?" Zayn mumbles around the dummy which has the staffers cooing as Scott chuckles a bit.

"What I meant to say was, lying is a big no-no. We'd rather you tell us the truth right away even if you think it may get you in trouble," Scott corrects and Zayn nods. "Very well then. How about you go find something to play with for now, yeah? I'll go join you in a minute."

So quickly Zayn runs over to the cupboard he saw filled with toys. Immediately the little one's eyes widen at all the options he has to choose from, but eventually he decides on the blocks. When Scott saw that the boy was situated, though, he quickly turned back to the other workers to give them the brief run down on their newest member.

"Obviously he's much younger than our other boys, so he's going to have a bit more restrictions," Scott hears Benji explaining to the group. "Nap time is a mandatory thing every day unlike how we're lenient with it with the five year olds, and he's going to have an earlier bedtime. Playtime will need to be more monitored as well as the strike system will need to be more lenient, so like remind him to pick up his toys before giving him a strike."