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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 23: Little Teddy Bear

Well, today starts with a new mission.

Normally I would be the one having to 'babysit' the shop while Shin and Naerie were off to either go on a date or babysit the girl's little brother, but this time around I was the one that has been asked to take care of little 'Sirio' by Ambar.

The woman had contacted me through Zip, requesting for me to take care of this business. I was quite sure neither Shin nor Naerie were busy with any activity that could prevent them from handling this task, but she mentioned something about 'testing a curiosity of hers'. I wasn't sure what the High Prime meant with that, but I decided to nonetheless go and see what this was all about.

Describing the manor owned by the woman would take a whole book considering how big it was. What I could say while remaining in the generic details was that Ambar's home was the biggest in Prism: the 'villa' had three-to-four gardens with a couple of those being culturally-unique such as the Japanese and Chinese ones, a large lake on the side to visit through the boats and the yacht tracked on the small port connected to the manor, multiple bedrooms, a few kitchens, several living rooms, a couple of libraries and... hundreds of servants lurking around.

To my surprise none of these was assigned to take care of Sirio. In Ambar's own words: she preferred for her children to not grow accustomed to being left to potential strangers. Yet that was the case for me since I wasn't really someone that should be tagging along like that. Yet, I didn't complain.

She offered to pay me a fair bit, and I saw no reason to skip work again after I had gone two full weeks after I got together with Hope. We had gotten in a good and stable schedule for our relationship, deciding to adopt a more 'loose but still present' step-by-step program to try and spice up our dates and 'alone but together' time. So, I was able to conciliate this with work and got back to 'normal' once again.

Things have changed, but not to the point I felt like I was changing on a personal level. And thus I had no issue resuming my job with the same eagerness and peace I had before I confessed to Hope. It was all going good and... I finally met the little kid that Shin and Naerie had told me about. The meeting went as one would expect, with Ambar standing tall and smiling as her 'baby boy' peeked from behind her. Sirio was just four years-old and yet he sported one of the most inquisitive looks a child his age should be able to muster.

He had inherited his mother's fur color (which matched closely to Naerie in shade) but also the small lighter circle around his left eye. Differently from Naerie, the boy was also more emotive with his expressions, thus showing that maybe Naerie had been like that once too. When his mother was done introducing him, I crouched down a bit and smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Sirio. I am John."

"..."

Tough crowd, gotcha.

"I will not be a permanent babysitter, so there's no need to worry about me replacing anyone. Your mama just wanted me to see how I would fare with you. Also, I was quite anxious to meet you since they told me you were quite the cool kid and that you were also a big guy too."

Something flickered in his eyes as I slowly flattered him into finally approaching me. I had studied this while being a babysitter when I was younger- kids liked being treated with a degree of respect and familiarity. It had to be a tame form of the latter, either using a sense of 'I have met you before so I can understand you' or, in this case, 'I know someone who you are familiar with, and I know from them who you are so I will deal with you with the respect and care you seek'. And it was working from the looks of it.

"Really?" The child asked, eyes wide open in surprise as I nodded.

"Yep. You see, Naerie didn't probably tell you this, but she has this habit where she just goes through lengthy explanations of what you, her and maybe Shin do when you are together when someone mentions you. In fact, she told me that you and her went recently to the beach. I think that was about a week ago?"

"Hmm, yes!"

"And that you found so many seashells and also... three crabs!"

"Yeah! I found three, she told you that?"

"Well, of course," I said, still smiling. "And you also told her you were the king of the Sea?"

"Oh, is that so?" Ambar quipped mirthfully.

"Yep! I got three crabs with ease, so that makes me their king!"

The Bear Prime patted her son's head and sighed. "Now, I am leaving John in charge of watching over you. Will you behave while I am not here?"

"I will!" Sirio promised with a cute and serious tone.

The woman chuckled and gave her child a hug before leaving. I was given a list of things to generally be aware of. In particular, I had specific hours where the child would need to eat, rest and even some activities to tire him out if necessary. There was much for us to do, and yet I allowed Sirio to take charge early on to see what he favored the most.

He opted to rush at the 'Chinese Garden'. From what the boy could tell me about it, this place was specifically chosen by her mother because it 'reminded her of home'. The setting looked familiar and it took me a while to realize it was styled after Disney Mulan's original film, the garden where the protagonist used to live near to. I was quite sure the reason those two settings looked so similar was because Disney made some effort in getting the right sort of garden for that part of China, but it sure felt odd being in a real garden mirroring the one from the cartoon.

The games we played were initially tame. He wanted to use some baseballs to hit some small 'targets' in the form of plushies he had set in some empty pedestals. From there, there was an escalation of what sort of stuff we would end up playing. We moved to one of the flatter gardens where there had been set a small goal and some footballs to play with. Sirio wanted to initially play the goal-keeper, but I told him that wouldn't be fair on him since he couldn't cover the full goal by himself.

He whined a bit about it, but eventually realized how silly of a plan that was. It was a small bump in the road of fun, and the rest of the day went on smoothly. Activities were interrupted in proper times right before meals so Sirio could rest and then be ready to eat without having a troubled stomach. He also mentioned his dad around Lunch, saying that he would play with him like I was, keeping him entertained and never forcing him to stop so many times.

It was a compliment for sure, one that the boy handed out unconsciously, and also a small detail about his and Naerie's father. I had heard some stuff about him, but I didn't see him at home. Sirio quickly explained through what Ambar had told him in that regard as we rested by one of the living rooms. I lied on the couch while he happily sat on my upper chest. Eventually the talking brought up a detail I wasn't expecting for the boy to be aware of right now.

"John, Naerie told me you like Hopey."

I blinked at that comment, surprised that Naerie would have told her lil' bro about it. "Yeah, what about it, squirt?"

"Does she like you too?"

I nodded. "It took a while to talk with her about it, mostly me being shy and silly about it."

"Hmm, is it so difficult to talk with pretty girls?" The little Bear inquired, quite taken by the topic from the looks of it. "Shin looks so shy around big sister."

"That's a good question. I think it's not exactly someone would have as a problem most of the time. The real issue with that case was tied to me loving her."

"And love is... tough?"

"Sometimes."

Sirio pouted. "Yes or no?"

"Would you believe it if I said one can't answer it with either yes or no?" I asked mirthfully, ruffling his hair and stealing a smile at the gesture. "Trust me when I say most of us guys, and definitely a lot of girls would like that to be the case."

"Really?"

"Yep. That's why it's the sort of thing it's better to be older to deal with."

"...Like where the babies come from?"

"Hmmm, I wouldn't put it on the same level, but I would say it's the kind of answer which would leave you confused and mostly annoyed," I pointed out, spotting a landmine in that counter. "Trust me, adults are silly and the answer to that question isn't that important to you right now."

"Okay. Also, do you really like Hopey?"

I nodded at him in this sudden topic-shift. "Yep. She is quite pretty, right?"

"Yes! She's prettier than mom."

"Hush now," I quietly chided, smiling nonetheless as I poked at his cheeks. "Your mommy may not like that sort of comparison."

"But mommy is old."

"And Hopey is also old compared to you, isn't she?" I argued and he pouted. "Also, your mommy holds well for her age. Which is not that easy for people."

"I guess..."

"Hmm, there's no need to be this picky. Girls are girls, and trust me when I say you will have your hands full of them."

He frowned, a curious look flashing on his face. "Why?"

"Well, you're a cutie now, thus that means you will grow up to be one of the most handsome Kings of the Sea this world has ever known."

He grinned at that notion, but rather than say something else, he just... yawned and leaned down to rest his head onto my chest.

"Tired?"

"Yup."

"Well, good rest."

He offered a tame nod before closing his eyes and literally falling asleep on the spot. Ah, to be a child that little and be able to call forth sleep with that ease. It really puts things in perspective when that isn't feasible as a young adult or older. Still, I kept awake until it was time for dinner and... Ambar was already back.

She explained her early return was due to the fact she would manage it and that she wanted to check on us. Sirio at this point was quite awake and very chatty with his mother about how the day went for him. Ambar was pleased, and she gave me a tip for hard work. I accepted a small bit of it, she looked surprised, but the Bear Prime just rolled with it and thanked me for watching over Sirio.

All in all, an interesting experience, and since Sirio looked unwilling to let me go when I had to leave, I could tell I was going to be asked to be there to check on him again in the near future. It wasn't that strange of an experience but... oh boy, that would end up opening a few interesting routes for me when it came to Ambar and Naerie.

Very interesting routes at that.

AN

...I don't have much to say. It's a bit of a 'cute chapter', next time there might be some lewdness and... it's not about Hope! Gasp!