Chapter Text
"GIMME THAT NOW!" Coach screamed at the knife wielding five-year-old.
"NO, I FOUND IT!" Nick screamed back insolently, completely unaware of danger he was currently posing to the rest of the household. Meanwhile Ro was on the floor screaming at Ellis, who was currently in the process of eating her lego spaceship. Of course it wasn't a real lego spaceship, being little more than three-to-four blocks 'expertly' stacked to make a 'spaceship'. It was small.
The absolute perfect size to be a choking hazard.
Ro whacked him on the back of the head, making him spit it out. And wail at the top of his lungs. Setting off Keith from the garage.
Coach held his breath as Nick went stock still, half-dropping the knife, half-clutching it to his chest. His entire demeanor changed in an instant, from stubborn child to cornered animal. Coach almost missed the sound of the knife clattering to the floor and the frantic thundering of footsteps as Nick rushed upstairs as he attempted to cease Ellis and Ro's crying and shut Keith up.
Once the dog had quietened down, Ellis and Rochelle included, and the knife put away, he sequestered Ro into her playpen and went upstairs with a sniffling Ellis in his arms for his mid-afternoon nap. He figured getting Ellis to sleep first would make it easier to calm Nick down. It never took much to get Ellis to sleep. But he had to have Keith under his crib. One of the few reasons as to why Ro and Ellis shared a room, and not the two boys together.
Out on the landing, he made sure Nick's room was shut tight before he went to fetch the dog, knowing that just seeing him would probably set off more than just waterworks. Had done the first time. Still couldn't get that stain outta the carpet.
Keith had to have been the ugliest dog he'd ever seen. Some mangy mutt mix with a torn ear and a lot of scar tissue. He'd never wanted a dog. Signed up to be a foster parent not no dog sitter. But he'd come with Ellis. And from what the home said, Ellis could not go to anywhere without screaming for him. So without thinking, Coach agreed to take the dog in. It was only when Nick was faced with Keith that Coach was forcefully reminded of the boys chronic fear of dogs.
That was when he realized he was caught between a rock and a hard place. He was the last hope for that boy and his dog to stay together, some doctor prattling on about the psychological impact that separating them would cause the him, yet he already had a kid too scared of dogs to even watch Paw Patrol. So he came up with the compromise that they wouldn't be in the same room as each other.
Easier said than done when all the blasted mutt wanted to do was follow Ellis around, and all Ellis wanted to do was follow Nick around.
Checking on Ro, giving her a snack to keep her busy and grabbing anything that could class as a choking hazard, he quickly got the dog upstairs, where he took his usual mantle and turned his attention to finding Nick. Kid only had three hiding places and all of them were in his room. Under his bed, in his closet, or in his clothes hamper. He really hoped he wasn't under his bed. His knee was playing up from all that running up and down stairs.
Nick usually gave signs as to where he was hiding, whether he meant to or not. Clothes strewn around the hamper, toys at the foot of the closet, or no comforter on his bed. He groaned inwardly, making a pained face when he saw the missing comforter.
"Nick?"
A sound. Barely there. So muffled he could've missed it if he wasn't looking for it. Getting onto his knees slowly, he looked under the bed, and sure enough, there was the comforter. The face of a distorted pikachu looked back at him.
"You okay?"
Another noise. Louder, but still so soft. A very clear 'No'.
"You know I'd never let Keith hurt you right?"
Silence. Pikachu shifted. A tiny hand poked through the mass of blanket. Coach reached out and grabbed it, squeezing gently. They lay like that for a moment, until Nick started shifting closer, dragging the comforter with him. Eventually he rolled out from under the bed, and found himself sitting in Coach's lap, comforter still wrapped tightly around him. Coach could feel him shaking as he hugged him.
He murmured comforting words as he gently lifted Nick into his arms to move the two of them back downstairs, the comforter falling to the floor as Nick buried his face in his shoulder. Once back downstairs, he took the snack wrapper from Ro to put in the trash, setting Nick on the couch as he did so. Nick immediately buried his face in one the the throw pillows and curled inward on himself. Ro seemed to be watching him intently. She looked up at Coach, wide eyed and asked;
"Is Nicky sad again?"
"I'M NOT SAD!" He yelled back, voice muffled by the pillow. Coach grimaced a little. He lifted Ro out of the play pen and set her on his hip, but she wiggled about, immediately wishing to be put down again. Coach could do nothing but comply with her wishes unless he wanted to drop her and she made an immediate B-Line for her older brother, dragging her stuffed dragon with her. She climbed up next to him and tried to hand him the dragon to no avail.
Coach put the tv on and started flicking through the channels, sitting next to him. The jingle for some cartoon Coach never really payed to much attention to played. He was going to flick past it when he felt a hand on his arm. He didn't need to glance to down to know it was Nick's. Kid either loved or hated the show depending on what episode it was. Ro loved it either way, seeing as she settled down to watch along with. Coach couldn't understand it personally. When he was their age, he was watching Spongebob, not 'Zombiland' or whatever it was called. Ro swayed a long to the beat quietly, and about half way into the program Nick actually started watching, still clutching the pillow and Coaches arm like a lifeline.
There was a knock at the door. Coach moved to answer it, but Nick didn't let go. Taking the easy way out and scooping Nick back into his arms, he opened the door to find his next door neighbor, Bill standing there, with his own kids in tow. Nick gasped delightedly, spotting Francis peeking out from behind Bill and indicated he wanted to be put down. The two boys then proceeded to run off into the back garden together, as if Nick hadn't been shaking like a leaf almost half-hour earlier. It seemed Francis had gotten at the markers again, his arms covered in squiggles.
Louis followed after them as fast as he could go on crutches. Fell off some monkey bars a few weeks back. Cut the play date short. Coach smiled fondly at the red cast cast covered in names.
Zoey was being held by Bill, a giant washed out red hoodie obscuring the majority of her form, though he could make out the beginnings on a sunflowers on her shirt underneath. He learned the hard way what happens if you try to make her wear anything else.
"You alright?" Bill asked. Bill himself was a crotchety old 'Nam vet who moved to the neighborhood from Philadelphia of all places. He too had become a foster father not too long after he was discharged, after passing all the checks, and had seen many foster kids come and go over the years. He recent lot had been very much unintended, however, since he'd been planning on retiring from that kind of life. But life doesn't always go to plan and he found himself saddled with a six year old, a four year old and a two year old.
Coach sighed. "Been a busy morning.