Part 3 is finally ready!! =D Once again I got the awesome picture from  myoti which you see here and can find the original here http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7538807/ =3 he's an awesome artist when it comes to cute and adorable things.

Anyway here we continue Petie's daring adventures through the orphanage... this time with him encountering the older children! What will happen? Will Petie's talents work another miracle? Read to find out! =D

Please enjoy, fav & comment, and have a great day! ^_^

All mentioned characters owned by me

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PCA – Petie in Safe Haven Prt 3




“I… hate… cloth… diapees! … er… diapers!”

Petie was slowly toddling along through the halls of the orphanage, trying not to think about how he must have looked. Wearing a blue onesie with a pacifier clipped to it that was stretched taunt over a huge and thick cloth diaper, little blue booties on his feet, one arm clutching his victini plushie and the other clutching his blanket as he kept it on the wall so he wouldn’t lose his balance thanks to how thick his diaper was. Oh he could just imagine what people would say if they saw him like this… but right now he was more focused on finding Leanna before somebody found him. He didn’t want to know what the punishment would be for…

“Oh, oh , oh? Looks like we’ve got an escapee from the nursery here.”

Petie eeped in surprise and ended up tumbling back onto his bottom with a bounce before trying to whirl around to see the source of the voice… only to be scooped up by two blue, webbed claws before he could. He prepared to panic but instead found himself cuddled as he was gently rocked to help calm him down. “Easy there little one, no one is going to hurt you.” He blinked in confusion for a moment until he recognized the voice and the golduck lady it came from. Jenaveve smiled warmly to him as she cradled him in her arms.

The shapely golduck adjusted him so he was sitting up in her arms before lightly tapping the end of her bill with one claw “Hmmmm… I’m wagering since you managed an escape, in diapers this thick I might add” she said poking the thick cloth around Petie’s middle and making him blush “That Emily finally got her chance to monitor the little ones alone during nap time, yes?” he stared at her in surprise for a moment before nodding and lisping out “How did yu knu…?” making Jenaveve chuckle “Oh it was a fair guess, she’s been asking to have more responsibility and so far has proved unable to handle it… though I’ll trust you not to repeat that to her.” She added, tickling Petie’s chin softly making him blush and smile.

“So I’m na in twouble?”

“Hardly, you might get a talking too but Emily will be the one in trouble over this… but I should return you to the nursery.” She said before noting the miserable expression on Petie’s face “Hey, hey, don’t make that face. I can’t keep you with me, my breaks almost up.” She said gently before waving a chastising finger in front of Petie as he started to make puppy dog eyes at her “Nope, don’t bother making that face either. I’m quite immune to it by now.” She frowned softly as Petie put his paw to his mouth and dialed up the charm several degrees “Though I must say you’re rather good at it… look, I monitor the few older children we have. You can’t honestly want me to bring you with me.”

At this point it was better than going back to naptime with that patronizing kangaskhan so Petie pushed the charm even farther and managed out an absolutely precious “Pweeeeeeease?” making the golduck sigh in frustration “Fine… but I expect you to be on your best behavior, understood?” she said, snapping in a serious, no-nonsense tone that made Petie immediately nod in agreement to keep from angering her. She smiled and bounced him lightly in her arms “Good… and who knows, maybe the kids will like you. They usually don’t interact with the younger children too often.” She commented before starting to carry him down the hall.


*****************


“Everyone, this is Leanna’s nephew Petie. He’s visiting for the weekend so please make him feel welcome.”

“D’aaaaaaw! He looks like a baby doll!”

“Isn’t he kinda big to be in diapers?”

“I wanna play with him! Can he talk yet?”

“He’s kinda chubby isn’t he?”

Once again Petie immediately found himself regretting his decision as he found himself looking at a large room with about ten kids ages five to eight, most ages five and six though he only saw one or two older ones, in it. Like most kids that age they’d immediately turned their attention to Jenaveve when she walked in and noticed the unfamiliar baby in her hands. Since he was something new he immediately had their focus, more so when they found out he was Leanna’s nephew. Petie whimpered as he realized he’d just trapped himself. With him dressed like this the only way to avoid further humiliation was to play along with them thinking he was a toddler. Man he sucked at planning ahead! … and who was that kid calling chubby!?

“Now, now then everyone don’t over stimulate the little one.” Jenaveve said as all the questions immediately stopped. Petie was in awe at the amount of authority she seemed to carry as she gently sat him down on the carpeted floor “And play nice, remember he’s younger then you are.” Petie internally groaned at how wrong that statement actually was but he just kept up his “Shy baby” act as he hid behind his blanket and plushie, hoping It’d discourage any of them from pouncing him or coming close. Suddenly he found himself nose to nose with a happiny girl and realized that this had to be a record for how fast one of his plans had failed.

“Hiiiiii there!” she had a squeaky, cheerful sounding voice and tone that gave Petie horrible flashbacks to a certain togetic. If this girl said her name was Kimmie or any variation of it he was making a break for the door “My names Cindy!” Well that was a small relief… a least until she started tickling him. He squeaked and babbled and tried to roll away as her little pink fingers danced over his exposed legs, arms, and even ears. “D’aaaaaaaaw! You’re soooooooo cute! Just like a little baby doll!” she cooed as Petie squirmed and giggled his head off “you even got the big diapered bottom!” she added poking it and making Petie blush.

“Hey!”

“Huh?”

“That’s not how you’re suppose ta treat a baby!”

“Says who?”

“Says me!”

Petie lay there panting softly as the tickling finally stopped and a vulpix girl came into view, her five tails swishing as she walked over to Cindy as the happiny pouted “Well I dun’t remember ASKING yu Gigi!” she said as the two girls engaged in a little stare off. Petie slipped his pacifier into his mouth, the less chance he had of talking and blowing his cover the better, and was about to crawl away when Gigi suddenly grabbed him and pulled him up on his feet. “Yu got to be NICE with a baby!” the vulpix said as she hugged Petie and he had no choice but to hug back to keep his balance “Yu can’t just jump em! It’ll scare them!” she had the tone of a kid trying to act way older then she really was but Petie didn’t get to think too much about that as his tail was suddenly grabbed.

“Says yu! Give him back! He likes me!” Cindy said giving a yank as Petie squeaked and tumbled back on his bottom as Gigi grabbed one of his paws and shouted “Nu he doesn’t!” as Petie suddenly found himself being used as rope for their little tug-o-war. They weren’t strong enough to actually be hurting him, really being a teen from a battle academy had its advantages, but he’d be lying if he said this was comfortable. He whined and sucked hard on his pacifier trying to figure out how to get out of this… when he heard a familiar voice clear her throat. The two girls immediately let go of Petie’s paws in favor of pointing at the other and shouting “She did it!!”

“Noooo. you BOTH did it.” Jenaveve said, standing over them with her arms crossed “This isn’t what I meant by making Petie feel welcome.” Both the girls hung their heads and said in union “We’re sowwie Jenn.” Petie could tell they were purposefully making their voices sound cuter to try and keep from getting punished, a trick he had used more often than he wanted to admit. Jenaveve shook her head “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to you know.” She said motioning to Petie. As if on cue the two immediately spun on their heels and bent down to the teddiursa “We’re sowwie Petie.” They said as they gave him a kiss on either cheek, making him blush and suck harder on his pacifier. Less than five minutes in this room and he was already the designated “Little brother” not his best record to be honest but still up there.

“Good, now you two can go to your rooms for five minutes and think about what you’ve done. I told you Petie was younger then you.” Petie looked away a little at hearing that again “You could have hurt him!” Both girls hung their heads but nodded, Jenn’s simple argument enough to make them understand what they did wrong as they both turned and went into one of several doors in the walls… which Petie was just now noticing. As the two tugged it open he saw a flash of bunk beds and a dresser and figured that they must lead to the bedrooms for the older kids which must make this like the common room at the dorm. As he looked around at the various kids laughing, shouting, teasing each other, and generally being kids he nodded to himself. Definitely like the common rooms at the dorms.

Looking around he finally got his chance to get the lay of the land. The room was long and had the same soft carpeting and colored wallpaper as the rest of the place but unlike the nursery it didn’t look as… well babyish was the word that came to mind. There were a few tables and chairs properly sized for kids, a small bookshelf with picture books and simple reading, and some various scattered toys and games for older children. Besides the doors to what Petie assumed were the bedrooms there was another one at the end of the room that was partially open that looked different for some reason. Before he could bother to think about why he suddenly felt a shadow fall over him.

“Hey little guy!” Petie flinched, he was used to being called that but to hear it coming from a squeaky pre-pubescent voice stung. He looked up to find a tauros boy, probably somewhere between six and seven. He didn’t have that thick ruff of fur grown in and his horns weren’t as long or curved as they were going to be yet but he had the kind of smile that kids only get when they’re talking to somebody decidedly “Younger”. The fact it was being directed at him annoyed Petie but he didn’t let it show as he just looked up to him and sucked on his pacifier. “My names Jace!” he said, ignoring Petie’s lack of response “I’m gonna be your big brother!” Petie prayed he didn’t hear that right as the tauros smiled stupidly at him.

“Yu sure this is a good idea?” a quiet voice came from behind the bull as Petie noticed a skarmory kid who looked about the same age as the tauros. His metal body still looked a little soft and his wings weren’t as large… more importantly he was giving Jace the same “Are you nuts” look Petie was at the moment. “Come on Able! This is a good idea!” Jace said, making Petie immediately know how bad things were about to get, as he grabbed the teddiursa’s paws and pulled him to his feet “See? If I’m a good big brother to him I bet they’ll let us have a pet!” he said grinning proudly of having come up with this as he let go of Petie’s paws… and the teddiursa fell back on his bottom making Jace’s grin falter.

“… maybe teaching him to walk isn’t a good idea…”

“Shut up Able!”

“But…”

“No!”

“He’s..”

“No!!!”

“He’s crawling away!”

“Huh?”

Petie had decided to get out while the getting was good and was crawling as fast as his thick padding would let him… which unfortunately was still slower than Jace as he heard the Tauros kid catching up to him. He was expecting to be caught any moment now and as he felt himself leave the ground he realized he was… just not by Jace. He squeaked as he was scooped up with a surprisingly stretchy and durable cloth, ending up finding himself swaddled in it and cradled in the arms… of a delibird girl? It turned out his swaddling cloth was her sack like tail that she’d used to scoop him up with. The girl, one of those older kids, looked about eight years old, with a pudgy build that made her cute enough to wonder why she hadn’t been adopted by some nice family yet… then she started talking.

“Jace! How DARE you pick on someone so much younger then you! This little baby didn’t do ANYTHING to deserve you bothering him so why don’t you just LEAVE him alone! Or do you want me to tell Jenn on you again like that LAST time you…”

Petie would have groaned if his pacifier hadn’t been in his mouth, the girls voice was grating on the eardrums… not to mention she somehow seemed to be able to skip the whole “Pause to Breath” part of talking as she continued to chew Jace out. The tauros kid took it in stride as the two got into what Petie had to assume was only their latest argument. Squirming Petie desperately looked for a way out… and got it when the bird girl, apparently named Ginger according to Jace, set him down to add angry gestures to her argument. He immediately crawled for the nearest door, which turned out to be the partially open one at the end of the room. Nudging it more open with his head he crawled in, his thickly padded bottom catching for a moment before he managed to squeeze in.

He found himself in what had to be a storage closet. It had stacks of various board games, puzzles, and simple toys in shelves like the one he’d been in earlier, unlike the storage room for the nursery though this one was much smaller since they probably didn’t need to keep as much stuff readily on hand. He crawled a little ways in and plopped down, pausing to look around a little more. Maybe he could do a puzzle till Jenaveve came and found him… but Petie always hated puzzles and the ones he could actually reach were way too simple to hold his interest. While he was mulling this over he realized he was hearing somebody crying and… muttering threats?

“Stupid jerks…” sniff “they don’t know what it’s like…” sob “they don’t…”

Yep, it was definitely somebody muttering under his breath and trying to keep from bawling his eyes out… by the sound of it one of the kids, most likely a boy. His curiosity peeked Petie started to crawl through the storage room. It was small but the shelves made it a mini-maze and thanks to how low to the ground he was he couldn’t really tell where he was going. At best he just tried to follow the sound of the voice and the tears “I wanna go home… I wanna go home… why did dad do it… why… stupid… stupid, stupid, stupid!!” the sniffling got worse as Petie felt a tinge of sadness over hearing this. It was definitely one of the kids here and by the sound of it things weren’t going well… which was understandable. Petie couldn’t begin to imagine what being an orphan had to be like.

He finally rounded one more shelf and found the source of the noise. Curled up in the corner was a sneasel boy. He looked about eight and was wearing a pair of worn jeans and a t shirt… but the first thing Petie noticed was that it looked like the long red feather thing on his left ear had been torn short. Petie was praying it didn’t have anything to do with why he was an orphan as he just looked at the boy who was still curled up sniffling. Thanks to the thick carpet muffling his approach he hadn’t noticed Petie yet. Petie suddenly got the feeling that this was probably something he shouldn’t be interrupting or seeing and tried to back up out of view… only to bump his padded butt against the shelving.

The thick diaper muffled most of the noise but it was still enough. The boys head jerked up as he glared hate in the direction of the sound “LEAVE ME ALONE!! YOU STUPID…” but he cut off mid-sentence when he noticed who he was shouting at “… baby?” he blinked as a look of absolute confusion broke out across his face. Though Petie could understand why since the younger kids weren’t even supposed to be in the older ones room let alone crawling around the supply closet. All the same he went rigid and whimpered softly when the kid yelled at him on pure reflex.

The boy’s face immediately softened, which honestly surprised Petie, as he got up “Whoa there, I didn’t mean to yell at you…” the sneasel said in a much gentler tone as he walked over, letting Petie get a better look at his face. He immediately winced. There was a long set of three scars across the boy’s face, apparently from some kind of claw attack, that stood out white against his dark fur. Seeing Petie flinch the kid groaned softly and gently reached out to pat the teddiursa on the head “Hey now, don’t be scared of me. I’m not a monster.” Petie wasn’t sure which of them he was trying to reassure about this as the boy picked him up under the armpits “Now then, how’d you get in here?”

By this point Petie had pieced together a little about this boy from what he’d been saying, his scars, and the whole crying in the corner thing… but he was honestly confused by the sudden change of heart here. By the sound of it this kid was ready to rip the first person who disturbed him apart. Did he really have such a soft spot for little kids? “Not much of a talker huh?” Petie blinked and snapped back to reality, realizing he’d just been dangling and sucking on his pacifier the whole time “Well you can’t stay in here anyway…” he said, starting to reluctantly carry Petie in the direction of the door. At this point Petie was too curious about this kid and too reluctant to go back to that madhouse so he did the first thing he could think of to stop him.

The kid immediately froze on the spot as Petie reached out with one soft chubby paw and lightly touched his scars. Petie realized how bad an idea this had been when the kid’s claws automatically extended the moment Petie’s fingers brushed against the mark going across his face. Considering Petie was currently in his grasp it was just dumb luck that it didn’t cut him. Petie went wide eyed with terror again that he was gonna have to blow his baby cover to try and defend himself but the attack never came as the kid started taking deep breaths before sitting down and setting Petie down in front of him.

Petie blinked and looked at him in confusion as his pacifier fell out of his mouth “Aaah?” he babbled out as the kid kept looking down, hiding his face from him. Finally he looked up and gave Petie a shaky smile that didn’t do anything to hide the tears brimming in his eyes. “Hey now… a kid who isn’t even potty trained yet shouldn’t worry about these, okay?” he said, sounding like he was choking on the words as he patted Petie on the head “You’re still little… don’t get mixed up in stuff… stuff like this…” he popped Petie’s pacifier back in his mouth and tried to make his smile more convincing “So don’t worry about it or me… o-okay?”

Petie just stared at him for a moment, taking this little display in and thinking it over… okay not so much thinking it over. Instead he went with the same gut feeling that had made him see if Cherri was okay after noticing her in the corner and promptly crawled over to the sneasel and threw his chubby arms around him in a good a hug as he could managed. The kid went ridged for a moment before gently poking Petie “H-hey! I said not to worry about me! Let go already… I don’t… don’t need any hugs…” he pleaded softly as Petie just buried his face in his chest and hugged harder. After a few moments he heard a soft choking sound and the dam promptly broke.

The kid wrapped his arms around Petie and begain bawling as he bit down on his lip to try and muffle the noise. He cuddled Petie to him like a comfort toy and cried into his fluffy headfur, rocking back and forth. Petie could barely imagine what he’d been through but he had a pretty good idea how he’d reacted. Bottling it all up inside and lashing out at anyone who tried to help him… Petie was just lucky the kid had a good enough nature not to be able to take out his frustration on a “Baby” which had been the opening he’d needed to get through to him… he hoped anyway. When he got back to Viridian he’d have to actually listen to Vastella’s talks about psychology to actually understand it.

They sat there for a little while till the sneasels crying finally stopped… it was at that point the two finally noticed that they weren’t alone in the closet anymore. Leanna was standing there, a proud and absolutely beaming smile on her face as she looked down on the two. The sneasel boy went bit his lip and blushed, looking away until Leanna spoke up “I see you’ve met my nephew, I hope Petie hasn’t disturbed you too much dear.” There was a brief silence as the kid took this in before looking at Petie and then to Leanna in confusion “Your… Nephew?”

She nodded, still smiling “Yes, my nephew. He’s visiting for the weekend and he’s a bit of an explorer which is probably how he found you…” she kneeled down and gently pulled Petie into a hug, the teddiursa too overjoyed to see her to care about his dignity “Like I said I hope he didn’t cause you any trouble Huang, I know how you like to be alone.” Petie tilted his head a little at that. The sneasel’s name was Huang? Well… he couldn’t exactly comment on unusual names to be honest. Huang meanwhile just blushed more and looked away “O-oh… he was no trouble at all ma’am…” Leanna giggled and smiled “Oh? Well I’m glad to hear that.” She said before holding her arm out to him, inviting Huang to join in on the hug.

The sneasel blinked and fidgeted, obviously having no idea what to do in this situation. Acting on instinct again Petie also held his hands out inviting him in on the hug. Huang blushed more and looked away “W-well… o-one hug couldn’t hurt…” he mumbled, again leave Petie clueless whether he was talking to them or himself, before he shyly walked over and gave Leanna and Petie a hug… and promptly eeped as Leanna scooped him up and gave him an affectionate cuddle. Petie watched, half expecting Huang to try and pull away, but after blushing for a minute he leaned into the hug making Petie smile happily.

“Huang?”

“Y-yes ma’am?”

“I’m going to have to take Petie back to my office… but do you think you’re ready to try and maybe play with the other children?”

“… I don’t know…”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to, but maybe you could come out of this dark closet?”

“… okay ma’am.”

“Thank you.”

Petie found himself placed in Leanna’s pouch as she gently took Huang by the hand and led him back into the playroom, Petie having to blink and rub his eyes thanks to how much brighter it was then the closet. After a few minutes more of gently reassuring Huang Leanna gave him another hug, Petie noticed the sneasel returned it more willingly this time, and Petie suddenly found himself looking into Huang’s red eyes. The sneasel suddenly smiled and gently ruffled Petie’s hair in a big brotherly manner making the teddiursa blush. Leanna stifled a giggle as she gave Huang a goodbye kiss on the head and headed for the door, Petie waving a little paw bye from where he sat in the pouch.

A few moments later Leanna and Petie were walking down the hall of the orphanage towards her office. Petie was just sinking into the pouch thinking over everything that had happened when Leanna suddenly scooped him up and rubbed noses with him “I KNEW you had talent sweetie! I just had no idea how much!” she crowed proudly as Petie squeaked and blushed, his pacifier falling out of his mouth. Looking at Leanna’s face he blushed more at just how incredibly proud she looked of him… the vague memory of Momma having a similar look on her face when she thought she’d finally potty trained him when he was little sprang to mind.

“I was considering how I could test your little talent…” Leanna cooed, gently rocking Petie and tickling his tummy “But then you go and make it unnecessary! You’re a little miracle worker you are!” Petie giggled and squirmed, blushing at how proud Leanna sounded of him. “B-but… I d-didn’t do anyting…” he lisped, still blushing. The kangaskhan giggled and cradled him, his head resting against her warm chest as his sensitive ears picked up her steady heartbeat. It took every ounce of his willpower not to fall asleep right then and there. “That’s just it sweetie…” Leanna cooed, rubbing his back and padded bottom “Psychologists study for years to be able to help children with issues like that… and even then it’s a tricky art thanks to how young they are.” She smiled down to the sleepy eyed teddy “But YOU… you have a natural talent for it. You can win them over and help them without even knowing how you’re doing it… you have a GIFT sweetie!”

Between his sleepiness and the constant praise Petie was hiding his face in her chest to conceal his blush. Leanna gently nuzzled his head and bounced him a little “I really hope you’ll accept my offer sweetie… you could do so much good for the children… now then let’s get you changed.” The last comment made Petie flinch “B-but I’m naaa wet!!” he whined softly making Leanna laugh “Nooo, but do you want to STAY in cloth diapers then? You look precious in them but I think you enjoyed being a big enough boy to walk, right?” Petie nodded, waking himself up a little more at the idea of getting out of the cloth diapers that had been plaguing him all afternoon.

“I thought so… and I hope you’re not too sleepy dear.” She said, stepping into her office and laying him down on the changing table. “Why auntie…?” he asked, blushing and looking away as she unsnapped his onesie. She giggled and rubbed his tummy “Because it’s time for the little ones free play and I think the fresh air would do you some good! After this I’ll get some play clothes on you and take you outside!” she said happily as she changed Petie into his normal disposable diapers (which were still thick but not as bad as the cloth ones). Petie meanwhile had mixed feelings. Part of him was excited at the though of getting to play on the playground… and another part of him was mortified.

This ought to be interesting…


*******************


A short while later Petie found himself being cradled as Leanna carried him out the front door of the orphanage. The teddiursa was still wearing his blue onesie and booties from earlier, though now with a disposable diaper underneath (meaning he could walk with his usual waddle again instead of crawling), but Leanna had tugged a pair of durable shorts up over it. Petie had hoped it’d make him look less like a baby but this way it looked like his shirt was tucked tight into his pants… and the shorts just made his diapered bottom look poofier. He didn’t look any less a toddler… and he honestly wasn’t sure why he was surprised.

As they stepped outside Petie blinked and shielded his eyes from the bright sun as the sound of giggling and playing children reached his ears. When he finally managed to get used to the light his jaw dropped a little. The empty playground they’d come through early was bustling with life as all the children he’d seen from the nursery were there running and playing in that free, innocent way only little kids could manage. Leanna smiled broadly at Petie’s surprised look before cuddling him and kissing his head “Well what were you expecting dear?”

Petie blushed softly and had to admit he probably should have expected this since they passed through the playground this morning. Still that was really early and he’d been half asleep so he hadn’t gotten too good a look around. The playground in front of them was a good old fashioned one made for kids of all ages with swings, slides, merry-go-rounds, teeter-totters, and a huge sandbox… all of which were crawling with kids while the workers from the nursery and a few mon he didn’t recognize kept watch over them. He’s awe struck gazing was interrupted as Leanna sat him down on his feet and gave his diapered bottom a pat.

“Go on and play, Auntie has to take care of some more paperwork but don’t worry, if you need anything the playground monitor will be more than happy to help!” she said as he toddled forward a little. She watched him for a moment, still smiling proudly, before turning and going back inside leaving Petie standing at the foot of the porch. He stood there fidgeting nervously as he watched the kids. Petie didn’t want to admit it but the idea of getting to play on the playground appealed to him… but at same time he was far too embarrassed to even try to take a step out there. He was considering just sitting on the steps and watching when a chipper voice piped up next to him.

“Hey there kiddo! I was wondering when I’d see you again!” Petie immediately recognized the voice and greeting as he found himself looking up at the mareep worker he’d met earlier, Augustus. The sheep had a big and friendly grin on his face as he playfully ruffled Petie’s hair “You look a little lost there… how about I give you the guided tour of our little playground here?” The sheep seemed to radiate an aura of a playful big brother and Petie found himself giggling and nodding at the offer before he knew it. “Okay then! All about the fluffy mobile!” Augustus said as he scooped Petie off his little feet and sat him on his shoulders.

Petie squeaked in surprise but after a moment recovered as he reflexively held onto Augustus’s ears as the mareep gently held onto Petie’s legs to keep him from falling. “Comfy?” he asked as Petie giggled and nodded “Uh huh!” since the soft fluffy wool made for a plush cushion to sit on. “Okay then! Away we go!” Augustus said as he launched off with a brisk trot just fast enough to make Petie feel the wind but not fast enough he’d be in any danger of falling. His real age temporarily forgotten Petie squeak and giggled happily at the piggy-back ride.

As promised Petie found himself being given a guided tour of the playground and all its wonders as Augustus showed him the multiple slides, the merry go round, the monkey bars, and the teeter totters all while providing his own brand of comical dramatic exposition that had Petie giggling the whole while. Finally they stopped for a moment at the swings and Augustus grinned “Wanna try em out?” years of never being fast enough to get to the swings before they were all taken during recess bubbled up inside Petie as he found himself nodding eagerly.

Augustus laughed good naturedly “Well okay then, in you go!” he said as he easily whisked Petie off his shoulders and sat him in one of the swings before getting behind him and giving a gentle push. The only times Petie could remember that he’d ever gotten anyone to push him on the slide had been when his mom or sister had done it… so naturally he giggled and kicked his legs happily “Higher! Higher!” he cried, all pretense of being mature completely forgotten.

Augustus laughed and happily complied as Petie squealed excitedly as the swing went higher. After a little while of this Augustus lightened up on his pushing and the swinging lessened down to gentle swaying. When Petie looked back to him in confusion he just smiled “Sorry, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you.” This got Petie REALLY confused as he just stared at the sheep blankly. Giving another good natured laugh Augustus ruffled Petie hair again “I heard about your little encounters with Cherri and Huang… apparently you’re a little miracle worker from what I’ve heard.”

Petie blushed at this and looked away before a thought struck him “Yu… heard? How…?” it hadn’t even been an hour since he’d helped Huang, how could Augustus’s have heard about that? The sheep just laughed “Word travels fast around here kiddo… that and having a psychic fiancé means I get to hear all the juiciest news as soon as it happens.” He noticed Petie was still giving him a blank look “Jenaveve is part psychic type so she contacted me not too long ago and mentioned a certain little teddy managed to win over one of our more troubled kids… and I’m guessing she meant you!” he added with emphasis as he playfully tickled Petie.

Petie squeaked and giggled at the tickles as Augustus went on “And I heard from your auntie herself about how you won over Cherri.” He gently tossed Petie and caught him as the teddiursa squeaked and giggled “She’s a sweet little girl, so hearing somebody managed to finally bring her out of her shell was great! And Huang is a good kid, so somebody finally lifting his spirits was great too!” he gave Petie a playful noogie for emphasis “So like I said, thanks you little miracle work you!”

Petie squeaked and giggled as he squirmed, a big grin on his face. He’d never had a playful big brother growing up, so this was new and wondrous to him. Not to mention all the praise was making him blush all the way to his eartips. It was overwhelming to the point that he could only think about one particular thing that Augustus had said “F-fi-fia-ance?” he squeaked between his giggles. Augustus grinned more “Yep! In case you’re wonder it means me and Jenaveve are going to be married! We just haven’t managed to agree on how the ceremony should go yet is all…” he said looking up and rubbing the back of his head, the slightest hint of a blush on his cheeks.

Petie smiled, happy for him since the memories of his mother’s own wedding were still fresh in his mind. Augustus grinned and tapped Petie on the nose “Aaaaaaanyway I’m going to have to get back to helping watch all the kids… but I think I know a few folks who’d like to see you!” he said as he started to carry Petie off, making sure to have the teddiursa’s chin resting on his should so he couldn’t see where they were going. Petie pouted but got comfortable, the mareeps wool making for a nice pillow as he was carried off to see whatever surprise Augustus had planned.

“Teddy!”

“Teddy!”

Petie immediately recognized the two different voices as Augustus sat him down in what he recognized as the playgrounds large sandbox. Sitting across from him and grinning broadly were Suzy and Cherri, the little girls carrying plastic buckets and shovels, an attempt to make a sandcastle which had ended up as just a sand mound was in front of them. Seeing the two again Petie couldn’t help but smile back and was immediately greeted by a tandem hug from both girls. Augustus chuckled as he watched the little group hug “Play nice now.” he said before turning to resume monitoring the rest of the playground.

Before he knew what was happening Petie found himself with his own bucket and shovel as he happily played in the sand with the girls. He should probably be ashamed for letting himself slip that easily into acting like a toddler… but looking at how happy Cherri and Suzy seemed to be now that he was playing with them he couldn’t bring himself to care too much. It may have been humiliating beyond all reason… but maybe spending time at Aunties orphanage wasn’t too bad. And maybe he did have a talent when it came to working with kids… but right now he was just interested in seeing how big a sand pile he could make.

Maybe this hadn’t been such a bad day.

To Be Continued…