I have gotten bad about properly maintaining my prompt list. I really need to update my Google Docs sheet. But in the meantime, I know someone asked for TK to have an accident at work. Also, multiple people wanted to see more of the 126. I do prefer to write about TK and Owen, but it's nice every once in a while to write about the crew! So, while I probably won't do playdates or anything, I'll try to show work scenes every now and then.
This takes place 2 days after the previous chapter.
"Does it hurt?" Mateo asks, examining the stitches that line the younger Strand's chin.
TK shrugs. "Nope." Even though they still kind of do. Especially when his dad cleans them. But he's not about to tell Mateo that. "This is nothing. I've had worse scrapes."
"Just looks deep as all." Mateo hangs up his bag in his locker. "How'd you get it anyway?"
It hits TK that while word traveled fast that he was in the ER a couple of days ago, very few are aware of the why.
"You should see the other guy," he replies with a cocky grin.
A deep southern voice comes from behind him. "The other guy, huh? Is that what we're calling the sidewalk now?"
The tips of TK's ears tint pink. He groans as he turns around. "Really, Judd?"
"Advice, kid," Judd replies as he hangs up his own bag. "Maybe don't assume your dad didn't tell some people what happened."
"Well I knew he didn't tell Mateo," he mumbles under his breath.
Mateo snorts. "You tripped and got that?"
"I was saving my dog from getting hit by a car. Really, it was an act of heroism."
Judd laughs. "Was that before or after you put yourself and Buttercup in danger by texting and walking?"
"Thank you, Judd!" TK throws his hands in the air.
"Hey, I'm just letting it serve as a lesson for my own kid." He fixes Mateo with a look. "This is what happens when you text and walk. Or text and do anything. You want your face to look like that?" He jerks his thumb to the stitches.
Mateo shakes his head, clearly holding back a laugh. Judd clears his throat and he straightens up. "No, sir."
"That's what I thought."
Judd shuts his locker and starts to walk away. TK sticks out his tongue.
"I saw that," Judd calls over his shoulder.
"You were meant to!"
Mateo allows the laugh once his caregiver is well out of sight. TK shakes his head.
"I miss the days when Judd and my dad didn't get along," he announces as he shuts the door.
"I don't. Those early days were tense as hell."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ready for briefing?"
"Gonna hit the bathroom. You gotta go?"
Mateo arches a brow. TK makes a face. The two of them regress to the same age, more or less. Though, due to TK's developmental delays from his first childhood, he acts a bit younger. Both are potty trained in their younger spaces. Yet, they still wear pull-ups at night. Mateo can get away with not doing that when he's in an older space. TK isn't so lucky.
But it's early morning and he hasn't regressed. He doesn't need a pull-up nor to be reminded. Especially by Mateo of all people.
"I'll be fine. I'll meet you down there."
They don't even make it through the entire briefing before they're off on a call. It's a car wreck only a few blocks from the station. The jaws of life are required and the passengers from both cars are sent off to the hospital. Still, no casualties.
They're nearly done with the call when TK realizes he has to pee. He ignores it. It'll just be another 10 minutes, 15 tops. He can hold it. Besides, they're about 5 minutes from the station.
The urge intensifies once they hop back on the truck and are on the way. TK's leg bounces up and down. Thankfully, his dad and Judd are up front, too distracted to notice. Marjan, Paul and Mateo are chatting. He contributes a word here and there to keep them off his trail.
When they pull back in, he's ready to jump and run in. But then he thinks about how that'd look. He is not about to do a potty dance in front of the entire 126. So, he tries to be casual about it. He strolls back slowly, as if he's not about to burst. TK only books it when he's safely inside.
He throws open the door to the bathroom and dives into a stall. TK yanks on his belt with great urgency. Why isn't it moving?!
By the time he finally releases the noose from around his waist, he feels his briefs grow wet.
TK whimpers, tipping his head back.
"Don't cry, don't cry," he whispers.
He listens as the commotion of the team flows back into the station. There's no way he can grab his backup uniforms. They're in his dad's office. The patch on his pants is too obvious, even with the dark coloring.
TK touches his pocket. Empty. His phone sits in Owen's desk.
"Crap."
Somehow, this is all his dad's fault.
Owen leans against the fridge, taking a long sip of his espresso. "Where's TK?"
Mateo shrugs, shoving a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. "Dunno, t'nk w'nt…" He starts to cough a little. Judd smacks him on the back.
"Chew first," he demands, not entirely unkind.
Mateo chews then swallows and shoots his dad an apologetic look before turning back to Owen. "As I was saying, dunno. Think he went to shower but it's been like over an hour. And we all know he's not you in the bathroom."
Owen chooses to ignore the comment, along with the snort it brings from Judd. He walks away from the two and heads for the bathroom. It's empty as far as he can see and there's no shower running. He's about to leave when he sees a pair of duty boots beneath one of the stalls.
"TK?" Silence. "TK, is that you in there?"
Another brief silence. "Dad?" His voice comes out cracked. Not as if he's been crying, but almost as if he's embarrassed.
"Is everything okay in there? Mateo mentioned you've been in here for over an hour."
"Did we get a call?"
"No, you would've heard it even in here."
"Right."
"What's going on?"
Another beat of silence. Owen sighs, leaning against the door.
"TK, whatever it is, you can tell me."
"No, I can't."
"What can't you tell your dad?" Owen shuts his eyes when he still doesn't get an answer. "TK speaking of calls, we could get one any second. So if this is serious, we may not have long to sort it out."
"Is anyone else out there?"
"No. Most of them are eating. A couple taking a nap."
"Alright, fine. I need you to please get my bag."
"Why?"
"Dad, can you just get my bag? Please?"
"That's why you've been here for an hour? TK, you know you can always go in my office to grab it."
He doesn't add that TK always seems to go through his office. Probably the only one of the crew to steal gum from the captain's desk.
"I can't…I can't go out there."
"Why not?"
"Dad, as you said, we don't have time for questions. Can you just grab the damn bag?!"
Owen is about to lecture him for language when a pang of realization hits his chest. How stupid could he possibly be?
"I'll be right back," Owen whispers, just loud enough for him to hear. "I'll lock the door too."
"Someone else might need the bathroom."
"As I said, they're all busy. I'll be right back, bubba." He cringes when he remembers TK's rule about nicknames at work. His son doesn't even reprimand him. "Just hang tight."
Owen beelines for his office and grabs both TK's bag and the discreet diaper bag he uses at work. He takes a brief glimpse around the station. As suspected, everyone is busy with one task or another. Owen just has to pray a call doesn't come in for the next 20 minutes. He ducks back into the bathroom and shuts the door, locking it behind him.
"You can come out now, Ty," Owen says. "Door's locked. It's safe."
A moment later, TK slowly steps out. He's in uniform. At first glance, he looks no different than the team assembled outside. But when Owen zones in, he focuses on the wet patch at the center of TK's pants. His son's cheeks are bright red and he keeps his eyes on the floor.
"Hey, Monkey," Owen whispers. No one can hear them, even with the bathroom's echo. "It's okay."
"Just…here."
TK grabs his duffel and begins rifling through it. He finds the wrinkle prevention bag containing his spare uniform pants. He pushes through the rest of the clothes, his eyes widening.
"Shit," he mumbles.
"TK…"
"Now is not the time, Dad. I…I forgot to pack extra briefs."
Owen nods. He had reminded TK a million times to double check the bag to replenish it. Not that he'd ever say that to his son, especially when he's so upset. A bit of guilt hits him for not doing it for myself. It's not unlike TK to forget these things. He's the dad, he should've thought ahead.
"Look, it's not the end of the world," Owen says, trying to keep an optimistic voice. "You can just…"
"No!"
"TK, it's alright. A lot of Littles…"
"I'm not little and I don't do that. I can get to the bathroom on time! I just…it was a longer ride…and I should've gone before we got that call…"
"You couldn't have known it was coming."
"I should know my own body well enough."
"These things happen to…"
"I'm not feeling Little right now!"
Owen takes a deep breath. He really doesn't want this to escalate to a tantrum. "I understand that. But your body is wired differently. No one is going to be able to tell. They won't know."
"But I'll know."
TK's biting his lip as he sways nervously. Owen frowns. He checks his watch. It's been an hour and a half since the last call. There truly is no way of telling when another can come.
"I know this is embarrassing, but we really don't have time right now," Owen says. TK ducks his head. "We've gotta tackle this now. Can you please do this for me?"
TK's face screws up. "They're going to know."
"No one will know unless you tell them or make it a big deal. You know uniforms for Littles are designed to not hide it. Please, Monkey."
TK looks down at the diaper bag. He takes a deep breath.
"No one knows?"
"Cross my heart."
His son reluctantly picks up both bags.
"Do you want help?" Owen asks.
"I can do my own pull-up. Let me just…I'll be right back."
"You can't change in the stall. There's not enough room."
"Can you…"
Owen doesn't point out that he still changes his pull-ups, and sometimes diapers, when he's dropped. He isn't going to make this worse.
"I'll guard the door."
Owen kisses his forehead and squeezes the back of his neck before slipping out the door. He leans against it, trying to look as casual as possible as he observes the station around him. A moment later, Judd appears in front of him.
"There a reason you're guarding the bathroom like a bouncer?"
"Do you have to go?"
"No. Do you?"
"No."
Judd stares at him, squinting. Owen folds his arms. He said he wasn't going to tell anyone. That doesn't mean he won't allow Judd to connect the dots on his own. He's got a Little of his own. He'll understand.
It takes a couple of minutes for the recognition to hit Judd's eyes. He nods.
"Thus the hour in the bathroom."
"And I just realized he couldn't have texted me earlier because his phone is in my desk."
"Five bucks he finds a way to blame that on you."
Owen chuckles slightly. "Likely." The smile quickly fades. "I'm sure it goes without saying…"
"It does. So don't say it."
"Thanks."
"Of course. Is he going to be okay?"
"He'll be dry. As for his ego…we'll have to work on it."
Judd nods understandingly. He squeezes Owen's shoulder before walking off.
Owen resists the urge of going back in to see if TK needs help. He knows his son. Stubborn as all get out. It's been the same since he was a kid and insisting he could dress himself, even though he always got his shirt inside out. He wore it that way for a year as it wasn't worth the battle to convince him otherwise.
It's a father's instinct to help. Well, at least Owen's. He knows some would encourage their kid to figure it out on their own. Then, Owen's instincts are always to help in every situation. It's gotten him in enough trouble over the years.
Eventually, the door opens and TK steps out, holding both bags. He's in fresh uniform pants with no evidence of the pull up. His eyes are a little red. Owen frowns. He leans forward to hug his son but TK backs up.
"I'll throw this in your office."
He walks off before Owen can argue. Not 5 seconds after TK steps back out of the office does the siren signal another emergency.
"Shut the door on your way in," Owen says once his son finally enters his office.
TK avoided his dad for the rest of the afternoon. They got called on a third call as soon as they got back from the second. Of course they worked around each other, but it was easy to focus on the actual job and not have to talk to him too much. Once they returned, he went about his tasks but eventually, Judd told him he was wanted upstairs.
Once the door is shut, he takes a step forward. Owen tosses him a plastic bag, which he catches effortlessly. TK peeks inside the bag. A simple package of white briefs.
"They're not entirely regulation," Owen says. "But we can ignore that for one shift." TK bites his lip. "Just make sure you pack the right ones when we get home tomorrow."
TK nods. "Um, yeah. Thanks."
"Of course."
"Where did you even get them?"
"Postmates doesn't just deliver food."
"I don't even want to know how you know that."
TK ties the bag up. It's nearly time for bed anyway, meaning he'll have to change his pullup. But at the very least, he has these for tomorrow.
"Sorry about earlier," TK says, swaying on the soles of his feet. "It truly was an accident."
"I'm not mad, Monkey," Owen says with a small smile. TK makes a face, which is ignored. "These things happen."
"Yeah, but I wasn't exactly nice after."
"You were embarrassed. Even though you have no reason to be, it's a valid emotion. I'm sure it can't be easy to have some parts of your younger headspace seep into your older."
"That goes without saying," TK mutters. "But you didn't deserve me being a brat. So, I'm sorry."
"I appreciate that, but I wasn't hurt."
He gets up from behind the desk and walks over, squeezing his son. The bag dangles behind his back as TK returns the hug. Somehow, this is enough to ease his guilt. Something as small as a hug, letting him know his dad isn't upset with him. Owen kisses the side of his head before pulling away.
"Go get ready for bed," he says.
For once, TK doesn't argue. "Alright. I'll come say goodnight before I do."
"Remember, I need to clean your stitches."
TK tilts his head, remembering something from the morning. "Did you really have to tell Judd how I got them?"
Owen smiles. "Why? Try to lie to Mateo about how you got them?"
TK groans. "How'd you know I was going to do that?"
"Call it parental intuition."
"You know, this whole thing is your fault." Owen arches a brow. "You took my phone." His dad merely reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet. After retrieving a bill, he heads for the door. TK makes a face. "Where are you going?"
"I owe someone $5."
Let me know what you think! As always, feel free to leave prompts or ask me questions! I am on Tumblr and love communicating on there, as well as in the comments.