In Which Berwald Loses Peter at the Office
(Peter is 5)
Both Peter and Berwald had looked forward to this day for months. It was the first time Berwald had a child to bring to work and Peter had a parent who wanted to take him. Tino thought their excitement over "Bring Your Child to Work Day" was endearing.
To his delight, Tino dressed Peter in a similar fashion to his Papa; crisp white button down shirt tucked into navy pants, complete with a red tie. Peter also insisted on wearing his blue sailor hat and carrying his little pack like a briefcase.
"I want to be just like Papa!" he explained as Tino helped tie his shoes.
Berwald blushed with pride and mumbled, "V'ry good."
With a quick kiss, Tino waved his boys out the door, face beaming. The two walked hand in hand with Peter nearly bouncing with excitement. At the front desk, Peter was introduced to Feliks, who fussed over him like an old woman.
"Toris, isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen?" he exclaimed as he bended over to greet the little guest.
"Sure Feliks," Toris answered quickly as he busied with his own little brother.
Feliks ignored his desk mate's lack of enthusiasm and offered his hand to the little one. Peter absolutely adored the attention and politely returned the greeting, remembering what his Mama had told him about his manners.
"Oh Berwald, I totally can't believe you have such an adorable kid!" continued Feliks as he looked up at the taller man.
Berwald was torn between feeling like the greatest father in the world and being shocked that Feliks wasn't too scared to look at him. Before they were able to leave, Feliks insisted on asking Peter's name and age and what he liked to do. Every answer Peter gave was returned with 'awwww' or 'so cuuute'.
Finally, Toris interjected with a reminder that Peter needed a name tag. This gave Berwald the chance to finally escape, after Peter received a sticker with his name and a heart drawn on it. Berwald helped Peter stick it to the front of his shirt and they continued to Berwarld's cubicle.
Other coworkers seemed equally interested in Peter. Most didn't even realize that Berwald liked children, let alone had one himself. Suddenly, his coworkers were more friendly than they'd ever been. Unused to so much attention, Peter became more chatty than usual and skipped beside his father.
Gilbert was already at his desk and working when Berwald pulled Peter into the small enclosed space the company called 'cubicles'. Peter stopped short when he saw the wild silvery head of hair and deep burgundy eyes that stared at him questioningly. He instantly clung to his father's leg out of intimidation.
"Didn't know you had a kid, Berry," Gilbert noted as he turned back to his desk.
"Mama and Papa adopted me. And my name is Peter, not kid. And I'm five years old!" he explained adamantly.
Gilbert turned in his chair with his trademark smirk and questioning look. "Mama?" he asked incredulously. "Does he mean Tino?" he questioned with a laugh.
Once again, before Berwald could respond to his outspoken cubicle buddy, Peter jumped forward. "Are you laughing at Mama?" he demanded. "Just because Mama's a boy, doesn't mean you can laugh at him."
His pack had dropped from his hands, which were now clenched in tiny fists. With eyes wide and mouth slack, Gilbert stared at the little accuser. He glanced at Berwald, who was also surprised and feeling very proud.
"Well isn't that little guy feisty?" Gilbert suddenly broke the silence with a laugh. "He must take after Tino." He turned his chair back around with a, "Cute kid. Reminds me of my brother."
The next few hours passed easily, with Berwald typing away at his computer and Peter sitting beside him, coloring. His boy was well behaved, only making quiet humming noises or interrupting his work to show him a drawing. The little tie he wore was abandoned after about an hour and his shoes after two. Berwald had worried that Peter would find his work disappointing and dull. But Peter seemed to be very amused, chatting with Gilbert or any coworker who stopped by.
However, at hour three, Peter began to grow a little restless. Sweet as he was, he tried to contain himself the best he could. But as he became more fidgety and messed with more of his father's things, both Berwald and Gilbert became too impatient and distracted to work.
"Berry, the kid's adorable- but god, I can't get any work done with him climbing all over my desk!" Gilbert complained loudly.
"I wasn't climbing on his desk!" Peter cried defensively, turning to his father.
Retaining a sigh, Berwald pulled off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. He wanted to tell Gilbert to shut up and that he was hardly better behaved than his son. Unfortunately, Berwald was never aggressive enough to say something like that. Though he was sure Tino would have no problem telling Gilbert off.
"I wasn't, Papa!" Peter cried desperately. "I'm sorry."
"'S okay, Peter," Berwlad replied calmly. "We're not angry. It's just time to take a break."
Peter noticeably relaxed and nodded in understanding." Is it time for lunch?" he asked, his excitement renewed.
It was actually a little bit early for Berwald's liking, but he figured it would be as good a time as any to go eat. Together they left Gilbert to mess around in peace. Berwald though that because it was a special day, he would take Peter to the Little Red Tomato. He hadn't been in a while as he only ever went with Tino and they hadn't gone together since Tino quit working at the company.
"Pet'r, would you like to go someplace special for lunch?" he asked as they reached the elevator. "Somewhere your Mama and I like to go?"
Peter bounced with delight. "Can we please?"
Berwald smiled at his excitement and led him back down to the entryway. On the way, they passed Ivan Braginski- Berwald's interdepartmental rival and former cubicle partner of Tino- and a young girl holding his hand. Upon passing them, Peter slipped out of Berwald's grip and hid behind him.
"Hello Berwald," Ivan greeted with his soft voice. "Your child is very cute."
Berwald wanted to ignore him and continue on, but Ivan continued speaking and said something that made him stop short in his retreat.
"How is your lovely Tino doing?" he asked sweetly.
Slowly, Berwald turned back around. Ivan had also stopped and was standing a few feet away, with an innocent smile on his face. Berwald tightened the grip he had on his child's shoulders.
"Tino's fine," Berwald answered.
A small, disturbing giggle escaped Ivan's lips. "Good. I'm glad my dear Tino is alright."
Gratefully, Ivan took that moment to continue walking on, hand in hand with the little girl beside him. As they retreated, Peter's grip on his father's leg tightened.
"What's wrong," Berwald asked as he brought himself down to his son's level.
Peter's eyes watched Ivan and the pretty young girl as they continued down the hallway. "I don't like that girl," he answered quietly as his gaze continued ahead at her.
With a quick glance, Berwald saw the girl's head turn towards them. Her long platinum hair swooshed around her face and blue eyes focused on Peter. Berwald was disturbed by the strange girl, but was not surprised to see her with Ivan, a generally unsettling person. Before Berwald could ask why, Peter seemed to shake himself out of it and asked that they go to lunch.
The rest of the trip to lunch went without incident. Feliks cooed over Peter as they passed the front desk, just as Antonio and Francis did when they arrived at the café.
"He's très mignon, non?" Francis observed to Antonio as they both crouched before Peter.
"Si! He's as cute as his Papa Tino!" Antonio agreed exuberantly. He turned his head and called behind him. "Lovi, don't you think Mr. Berwald's son is the cutest?"
The Italian glanced up from his work, "Sure. Didn't know he had a kid," he replied dryly as he turned back to his work. "Get back in the kitchen Francis."
Reluctantly, the Frenchman returned to his post, but the Spaniard continued to fawn over them. Peter loved all the attention. He was used to the quiet love of his Papa and the gentle love from his Mama. But this open and audible adoration from another stranger was new and exciting.
"Mr. Berwald, we hadn't seen you and Mr. Tino in so long! We're glad to see you, right Lovi?" Toni asked as he led the two of them to the cashier.
"Whatever Toni," Lovino replied with a sideways glance.
He watched as the Spaniard hopped back over the counter. As usual, the Italian had a grumpy frown on his face. But as he watched Antonio taking their guests orders, Lovi's expression softened into something akin to affection. When Antonio caught him staring, he smiled back enthusiastically. This caused Lovino to blush, turn away, and gruffly tell him to get back to work. Berwald observed the interaction with amusement, but as was his nature, refrained from saying anything (but reminded himself to tell Tino about it, as he would find it amusing).
Peter, who was very used to his father's silence, filled the air with his own observations: the café was so cool, those guys were so friendly, why did they sound funny?, was this the place where Papa fell in love with Mama?, and so on. Berwald replied with a "mmmh" or a "hmm" to the constant and enthusiastic stream. The food came, they both enjoyed it, and as they headed back to the office Berwald felt confident Peter would be able to sit through the rest of the day.
When they passed through the revolving front door, the pair found themselves in the midst of chaos. Feliks was talking frantically to both the PA of the head of Sales and to someone on the phone. Toris was also talking on the phone and wrestling with his sandy haired little brother. The whole room seemed to tense as Berwald entered. Then everyone started talking at once.
"Berwald! Thank god you're here!" Feliks cried with relief, immediately hanging up the phone.
"We've been trying to contact you," Toris stated with mild annoyance.
"If you could please come with me, Mr. Oxenstierna," the PA began, his voice very soft.
Berwald blinked with surprise and felt his face scowl with embarrassment. He hated knowing he had cause such an inconvenience.
Once the room settled down, the PA tried speaking again. "Mr. Jones would like to speak with you Mr. Oxenstierna. There's an important client that wishes to see you."
Now, Berwald felt annoyed. This was something that should have been scheduled in advanced so that Berwald could be prepared and it certainly shouldn't be happening on "Bring Your Child to Work Day" either. But the head of Sales, Alfred F. Jones, was a very impatient and impulsive man.
"Feliks," he said, taking a step forward, "Would ya look after Pet'r for me."
Peter looked worriedly from his father (concerned about the sudden change in his demeanor and worried he'd gotten Papa in trouble) to the other adults in the room. He wasn't the only one who seemed suddenly frightened of the imposing Swede before them.
"We can look after your boy," Toris answered finally, snapping out of it first. "He's around Raivis's age. Maybe we'll go to the activities scheduled in the break room."
"Very good," the PA murmured, clutching the clipboard in his arms tightly to his chest.
He had a soft face framed with soft wavy golden hair and soft violet eyes framed with glasses. He was tall and fairly thin and looked overall a very soft, gentle person.
"If you would follow me," he gestured towards the elevator.
Berwald handed Peter to Feliks over the desk and followed the PA out of the room. He heard a "Bye Papa!" called out behind him, which he acknowledged with a wave.
"I'm sorry Mr. Oxenstierna," the soft spoken man muttered. "Mr. Jones can be very impatient and demanding. But he's good at what he does and always seems to get his way."
Berwald grunted in agreement, though he still felt Jones was very annoying.
"What's yer name?" Berwald asked, breaking the silence.
Berwald had talked with the PA on multiple occasions, but couldn't seem to remember his name. He wasn't sure if the PA was surprised by the question itself, or the broken silence, but he jumped at the words.
"Oh! I'm- I'm Matthew Williams," he replied, "Thank you for asking. Not many people remember my name. Or bother to find out."
They reached the Sales and Marketing department office soon after. Berwald impatiently sat through Mr. Jones loud bumbling. The Very Important client sat beside Berwald and seemed very intimidated by his presence. Jones went on about strategy, something that seemed irrelevant to Berwald, a member of the Engineering department. Berwald began to wonder if Jones had confused Berwald with his husband Tino, a common enough mistake.
Jones also seemed immune to Berwald's intentional glare, or perhaps he was too oblivious to notice. Alfred F. Jones was a very charismatic and unintentionally obnoxious man who seemed to think he was the most important part of the company. His hair was always a mess, with one hair sticking straight up in the front. His blue eyes were framed with glasses and he always had a goofy grin.
Eventually, Jones stopped talking long enough for Berwald to get a word in and the meeting ended quickly after that. He was anxious to get back to Peter whom he had to abandon so quickly. He'd been left with people that he'd only met that morning.
But when Berwald reached the front desk, the only being present was Feliks, who was busy connecting a call.
"Where's Pet'r?" Berwald asked in concern.
"Oh! Mr. Oxenstierna! He's right here-" Feliks responded, gesturing behind him. But he stopped short when he saw no little boy.
"He was totally here! Like, two seconds ago!" Feliks claimed anxiously. "Toris went with Raivis to the break room, but Peter stayed here with me and, um, I answered the phone. I didn't lose him I swear!"
But Berwald was already searching for his boy. The surrounding entryway was empty, so he immediately headed for the break room. Maybe Peter had followed Toris to the break room after all. But, at the break room, though there were many children with their parents or aunts or uncles or brothers, there was no Peter. Many of his coworkers watched him with concern as he frantically scoped out the room. The children all seemed wary of him.
Next, Berwald checked his cubicle. But he only found Gilbert, who said he hadn't seen Peter since they'd left earlier. Gilbert did mention seeing a boy who looked similar to Peter being led by a man with blond hair. Berwald's mind began to race with franticness as he checked the rest of his floor. The rows of cubicles were filled with a few other children, but not Peter.
'Tino's going to kill me,' was Berwald's only coherent thought other than his worry over Peter's wellbeing.
It wasn't that he felt Peter was in danger necessarily. But the building Berwald worked in was large and there were many people working there who he didn't know. He was even uncertain about employees he did know. Like that strange Greek man who supposedly did something (Berwald wasn't actually sure what his job was) or Ivan.
Ivan.
Suddenly, Berwald's thoughts were fixed on him. Berwald knew that Ivan had liked Tino and that Tino had rejected his advances. It had always been obvious that Ivan was jealous of Berwald. The meeting they had this morning had done nothing but make Berwald more suspicious. Did he have any ill intentions towards his boy?
Frantically, Berwald ran to Ivan's cubicle. He was sitting innocently at his computer, surprised to see Berwald's sudden intrusion. The little girl that was with him earlier was sitting in the corner playing with a doll.
"Is there something wrong?" Ivan asked with confusion. Berwald tended to avoid Ivan at all costs.
"Where's Pet'r?" Berwald demanded, ignoring that part of his brain that told him that he might be being a bit unreasonable at the moment.
"Peter? Is that your boy's name?" Ivan asked softly. "Have you lost him? That's too bad."
Everything from the tone of his voice to the small smirk on his face showed Berwald that Ivan was not sincere. The knot in Berwald's stomach clenched even tighter and he felt his temper rising. Berwald didn't get angry very often- he was scary enough without it- but when he did get angry, it was terrifying.
"I should hope nothing happens to him. Tino would be so upset…"
Without realizing what he was doing, Berwald jumped forward and grabbed the Russian by the collar. The little girl in the corner cried out in fear.
"Do you know where he is?" Berwald demanded menacingly.
"I don't know what makes you think I know where he is, but I assure you, I have done nothing to him," Ivan responded with equal darkness.
His sweet demeanor was gone which told Berwald he was being serious. Realizing his rashness, Berwald released the man and hurried away before anything more could be said. Agitatedly, he began pacing to help calm himself down. 'Need to find Peter. Where to look next?' He started to wonder if he was going to have to call Tino. He'd been looking now for over an hour and he didn't know what else he should do. Panic suddenly struck him, what if Peter had left the office building.
This was now more than Berwald could handle. Unsure of where to look next and worry reaching irrational levels, Berwald headed to his supervisor's office. He hoped Ludwig would be able to help him, or give him some guidance. He rushed to the other side of the floor and let himself into the room without knocking. But the scene before him caused Berwald to stop short, his chest heaving with effort.
Sitting cross legged on the ground was Mr. Beilschmidt's PA Feliciano, who was receiving a paperclip necklace from Peter. Ludwig sat at his desk behind them, working away with a paperclip chain already around his neck. At the sudden intrusion, all three of them looked up in surprise.
"Hey Papa!" Peter greeted excitedly, "Look at the pretty necklace I made!"
Berwald could feel himself sag with relief. He dropped to his knees before Peter and pulled him into a tight hug. All his worry and frustration melted away. He couldn't even bring himself to be upset with his son.
"Papa!" Peter cried with annoyance as he struggled to get out of his father's grip.
Feliciano's head bobbed to the side, "Is this adorable boy yours Mr. Oxenstierna?" he beamed at Peter brightly, "Mr. Beilschmidt and I have been looking after him, right Ludwig?"
At this point, Ludwig returned to his work before absently replying, "Yes."
After it was clear that Ludwig would not be offering an explanation, Feliciano began to tell him what had happened.
"Mr. Beilschmidt and I found Peter alone near the break room. He said he was waiting for his Papa, so Ludwig thought it would be a good idea to look after him," Feliciano explained with his voice as cheery as ever.
"I felt Mr. Vagras would be good at taking care of him. He works well with children," Ludwig stated factually. He glanced quickly at his PA with a warm expression.
"Ve! Thank you Ludwig!" Feliciano answered as he blushed with pleasure.
Berwald felt a small tug at his sleeves. He looked down to Peter, who wanted his attention. "They're really nice! Even Mr. B- Bi- Bellsmith. He looks scary, but he isn't!"
With surprise, Berwald looked to his supervisor who was focusing very hard on his paperwork and blushing deeply. Berwald had never seen him as anything other than strict and hard working. But it appeared that he was very gentle with his PA and that gentleness had extended to Peter. Berwald was very grateful.
Feliciano laughed. "He is nice, isn't he?" he exclaimed before reaching out and tickling Peter's sides.
Peter shrieked with delight and wriggled out of his grasp and back to his Papa.
"Aren't children wonderful Ludwig?" Feliciano asked wistfully.
The department head cleared his throat before replying, "Yes, Feli. They are."
It felt as if Berwald and Peter were now intruding, so Berwald took it as a chance to leave. "Thank ye for lookin' after Pet'r," he spoke finally.
"No problem! He was a perfect little angelo," Feliciano replied, his gaze not breaking Ludwig's.
Berwald stood up and beckoned for his son to follow him. His little hand slipped easily into his own. Peter waved goodbye to his new friends and skipped beside his father.
"Is it time to go home to Mama?" Peter asked.
There were still a few hours until five, the time that Berwald usually went home. But Berwald doubted that he would be able to get much more work done. It had been a busy day for both of them. So Berwald agreed.
"Yes. It's time to go home to Mama."
AN: This was the first chapter I ever wrote for this story and I've been really excited to add it! I hope you guys enjoy it.
From now on, the timeline won't be as exact (I might jump around, I'll try not to, but it might happen) and Peter will be getting older pretty fast. There's still plenty more fluff to come though!
Once again, thanks to my wonderful and supportive readers! You guys rock.
Love,
Allie
