Hello everyone, here is another chapter
This is a couple scenes which were requested. If you want more, tell me and I will make them in my One Shot series
Also, there is a poll on my profile about the next story I will write. Feel free to leave a vote
Hope you enjoy
Read and relax
Whitebeard watched as Marco moved to Ace, and Marco looked at the kid. "Ace, I want to teach you something, okay, yoi?" Ace nodded. "Okay, what?" Marco nodded. "When you feel you're going to have a meltdown, I need you to do this for me, okay?" Ace nodded and Marco held his hands out in front of himself. "Hold your hands like this." Ace did, and Marco continued. "Then you move your hands to your elbows, yoi." Marco did it, Ace nodded and did the same, making Marco nod as he continued. "And this is your safe space. You're safe in this circle. This is your safespace, yoi. Nothing can harm you in it." Ace nodded. "Okay. I will try." Marco smiled. "Good. Good. It might not work, but I believe in you, yoi." Ace nodded, and he was sure Ace would try this if he could. Ace then went off to do his things, and as he did, he looked at his oldest son. "Where did you learn that?" Marco chuckled. "Horror movie." Whitebeard felt a bit shocked by that. "You watch those?" Marco shrugged. "At times, yoi. When nothing else is on tv." Made sense, and he hoped this would work for Ace.
When Saturday came, Whitebeard looked at his children. "Who wants to go to the park?" Thatch and Haruta raised their hands immediately, Ace doing it a bit more reluctantly. "I do!" Said Thatch and Haruta. It was Saturday, so there would be some in the park. He hadn't had Ace in the park yet, so this would be interesting and he hoped it would go fine.
When they got to the park , the children ran to different things, and he noticed Ace running to the sandbox, Thatch to the jungle gym, Haruta to a set of swings, and Namur headed to a basketball court where some other children were playing and joined them. This would be good, they needed the air and fun.
As he was overlooking everyone, he saw Ace sitting in the sandbox, making a castle, when another kid moved to sit beside Ace and joined in. It had Ace frown, before he stood up and moved away, sitting down a bit away and starting a new castle. It had him frown a bit, but got that Ace didn't like to play with other kids. Even just playing with his brothers and sister was hard for him at times. As he was making his second castle, another kid came and joined him, which had Ace frown again, before he stood up and headed to the swings, starting to swing instead. It had him sigh. Ace had looked happy making sand castles. But, he didn't want to be close to other children. Ace prefered to play by himself.
As he was swinging, Thatch came and joined him and the two spoke as they swung. But as they were swinging, a kid moved to the sandbox and took the shovel. Ace had used and started to play with it as he built something with the sand. But, it had Ace move down from the swing and move over, taking the shovel back, making the other kid frown. "That's mine!" Yelled the kid and Ace shook his head. "I had it first!" The kid shook his head. "It's not yours!" Ace shook his head as well. "Not yours as well! Mine!" The child whined. "But I used it!" Ace shook his head. "I used it first!" Whitebeard decided he should go help, and noticed another parent heading that was as well. He got to the two kids at the same time as the other, a mother. The mother spoke first. "Trevor, what is it?" The child, Trevor, pointed at Ace. "He took my shovel!" Ace shook his head. "I had it first!" Whitebeard then spoke. "Ace, you weren't using it." Ace looked at him, shaking his head. "But I used it!" Whitebeard sighed. "You were swinging." Ace didn't look like he wanted to hand the shovel over, which had the mother speak. "Maybe you can share it? When you're done swinging, you can play together and take turns?" Ace didn't look like he liked that idea, but before he could voice that, Trevor spoke. "I like that idea!"
That had Ace unsure looking. "But it's my shovel…" Whitebeard gave a comforting smile to Ace. "Ace, son, sharing it would be the best." Ace gave a small sound, before he shook his head. "But I used it! Why do I need to share?!" Whitebeard gave a comforting look. "I know, but you didn't use it. I like this sharing idea." Ace gave another sound, before he gave a small nod, sitting down with a frown. But as he handed the shovel over, Trevor started playing with a smile, and after a few seconds, it had Ace smiling. Probably reflecting Trevor as he was unsure what to do. He then headed a bit away, so they could play in peace, him glad Ace was playing with another kid.
As he was a bit away, he noticed the mother heading to him. "He seems a bit stubborn, or he did. He looks happy now." Whitebeard nodded. "Yeah, he has autism, so some things are hard for him, especially social interactions." The woman nodded. "I see. I know a small bit about autism, I work at a school. I'm Moira." Whitebeard smiled. "I'm Whitebeard." Moira gave a curious look. "What an odd name." Whitebeard chuckled. "My real name is Edward, but I like Whitebeard." The woman nodded. "I see. They seem to have fun now, though. He seems well for having autism." Said Moira as she looked at the two kids. Whitebeard nodded. "Yes, but it is only mild. But he still has some issues." Moira nodded. "I can imagine. I've had one kid with autism. He was more affected I believe, but I only saw him at school. And I've heard that can be a tough place for some." Whitebeard nodded. Ace had had some issues with school, but it was going better. "It is going better for him." Moira nodded. "I know they have issues finding friends, but when they do, they are usually good ones for a long while." Whitebeard nodded, he could see that. "I hope they will be friends." Moira nodded. "I do as well. We're here usually each weekend. Hope I will see you again." Whitebeard nodded and said the same, and he hoped for it.
They then headed home after half an hour, needing to get home for dinner. But, they would head back next week. So when next week came, Ace played with Trevor again, who was there. Ace seemed to like the other kid, who seemed to maybe be a year older or something like that. He was glad Ace was playing with someone outside the family.
They stayed longer this time, and Trevor left before them. But as they were thinking of leaving, He saw Ace blinking, before he smiled. "Dog!" Ace then ran towards a man with a dog. And when he was close, he stopped and looked at the man. "Is he friendly?" The man nodded. "He is." Ace smiled with that, really smiled, and went over and petted the dog. Ace looked really happy as he did, more so than what he had seen before. He was also alone with the dog, meaning he didn't reflect anything. Ace was genuinely happy. He walked over to the three, and Ace looked at the man. "What's his name?" The man hummed. "Tiko." Ace nodded. "Tiko! He's really cute!" The man smiled. "Thank you." Whitebeard was now next to Ace and gave a smile to the man. "It is a nice dog. I'm glad he's friendly." The man nodded as Ace petted it. "Yeah, he wasn't at the start, he's a shelter dog. But I've had him for 2 years now, so he's calm." That was good to hear. Ace petted the dog for a bit more, before the man needed to head on, and he left, and Ace gave a smile as he looked at him. "I like dogs." Whitebeard nodded. "I saw." Whitebeard did get an idea in his head, but would speak it over with Marco.
They then enjoyed a couple more hours in the park, before they left home. And when they were home and the children had gone off to their own things, he went to Marco, and looked at his oldest son. "What do you think about getting a dog?" Marco hummed. "Why do you suddenly want a dog, yoi?" Whitebeard chuckled. "We met one in the park, and Ace really liked it, he was so happy as he petted it. I think it would be good for him." Marco nodded. "Maybe. We can go check the shelter tomorrow maybe, yoi?" Whitebeard nodded. "We should. Ace will be so happy." Marco nodded. "I think the others would too." Whitebeard hoped that.
When the next day came and they were eating breakfast, he brought the idea up, and it had Ace blink before he smiled. "Yes! I want a dog!" Thatch and Haruta nodded too, same with Namur. They all wanted a dog. So, after lunch, they headed to the shelter, and looked at dogs, all his children joining in. They then looked at dogs, finding the shelter had 17 dogs, and everyone was different ages and breeds. But as they were looking at dogs, Ace found a husky he seemed to like, and Whitebeard headed over to him. "Do you like this one?" Ace nodded. "Yes, he's white. I like that. And he got one blue eye and one black." Whitebeard blinked and looked at the dog, and Ace was right, it had two different colored eyes. That was a nice quirk. Ace might like it since it was a bit different, like Ace was. He then looked at his other children. "What do you think about this dog?" Everyone headed over and seemed to like the dog, Haruta especially liking the eyes as well.
They then got the attention of one of the workers, and asked about the dog, and the worker said its name was Stefan, he was 3 years old, and abandoned since he was too much to handle for his last family. A husky needed a lot of trips and workouts, but it would go fine as Marco jogged almost every day. They were then told the dog was nice and was friendly. So, after speaking and doing some paperwork, they took the dog home. Everyone was excited for the dog, and played with it. But as everything calmed down and the children went to their things, Ace was still with the dog and showed it around the house. The dog followed Ace around. He had a feeling Ace and the dog would be friends.
As the day moved by, Ace mentioned the dog needed a name, and after speaking with all his children, it was decided that the dog's name would be Stefan. It was a nice name. Ace then used the day to play with the dog, and when evening came and the children went to bed, Stefan went with Ace and slept in his room. Yeah, Stefan and Ace would be good friends. The next weeks, Ace and Stefan were together all the time, Stefan waited for Ace by the door when he was at school, and when he got home, he was by Ace's side all the time. Ace often joined on the walks, as he wasn't allowed to walk Stefan alone as Stefan could drag Ace with him or make him fall and Stefan could run off. And Ace seemed to accept that. The only trip he didn't join was when Marco jogged with Stefan. Ace really loved the dog. He should try and take Ace and Stefan to a dog park.
But the next week, while they were making dinner, he had Haruta help him do it, but as he was cutting something she had turned up the heat on the stove, making it smoke, and he turned it off as quickly as he could, but not before the smoke alarm went off. It was very sensitive. He then quickly walked to the living room, needing to get to the hallway to turn it off as the main system was there. But as he walked in, he saw Thatch blinking as he looked to his left, and when he looked there, he saw Ace, who had his hands out and one hand on each elbow, breathing hard, eyes closed. That was what Marco had taught him. He quickly went and turned it off, before he returned to the living room, where Ace still had his hands on his elbows and was breathing hard, eyes still closed, now hearing him repeating what Marco had said, which was; "This is my safe space, I am safe here. Nothing can hurt me." He walked over to Ace and moved a hand to his shoulder, making him jolt and look at him, making him smile. "I'm sorry, it was just the smoke alarm." Ace nodded, still breathing hard, but didn't have a meltdown. That trick Marco thought of really did help.
The day went by fine after that, Ace seeming to be a bit on edge, but it was fine. The trick was a neat trick and it worked, but not always, Ace still had meltdowns now and then, but it was better, somewhat. It worked if it wasn't too much, but when it got too much, he had a meltdown, like when loud noises were heard, something happened and someone touched him or hugged him at times, and other things like that.
But things were going fine for Ace.
And that's the chapter
It is known that pets have a positive effect on people with Autism, so Ace getting a dog fit
As I said at the start, if you want more of this, tell me and I will use my One Shot series to make more
If you have any scenes you would like to see, don't be afraid to leave a comment, or send a PM
And I love feedback too; it is what keeps me going!
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