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„My dad thinks you’re cute.“
It took Newt exactly two seconds to find out where the squeaky voice was coming from, accompanied by a pair of big brown eyes, reminding him of a fawn that was ready to explore the world around it.
“Sorry Misha, what was that?” He looked down at her with a warm smile, turning around to get a better look at her. Making the kids feel like the adults around them cared about what they have to say was always one of Newt’s highest priorities and to his dismay, most of his colleagues didn’t agree with him on that.
Well, maybe that was the reason why most of the kids in the daycare liked him the most. He never treated them like they were worth any less than the adults around them, something he had learned from his mother.
His mother, who loved her job as a kindergarten teacher so much and who made Newt want to take the same path in his life. A decision he never regretted.
Well, okay. Maybe sometimes.
But not because the kids were too loud or his back hurt since the kids wanted to be carried around on his shoulders all the time (he was the tallest one after all). The only thing that really bothered him about his job was its negative impact on his love life.
Which was, to be quite honest, his own fault to some extent. He never left on time, always staying longer than most of his colleagues, while also arriving first in the morning. And when he’d finally get home after a long day, exhausted and fulfilled at the same time, he’d usually eat a quick meal before collapsing on the couch, trying to finally continue the book he was currently reading and then falling asleep after getting through two pages.
And that was basically Newt’s life from Monday to Friday.
The weekends were reserved for catching up with family and friends, leaving no space for any new acquaintances at all. And falling in love with his best friend Minho was definitely, definitely, not an option.
(Sorry, Minho.)
So when the little girl in front of him spoke to him, eyes wide and full of sunshine, Newt didn’t think much of the words coming out of her mouth. It was not the first time that one of the kids tried to set him up with their moms and Newt would always decline politely and tell them that-
Wait.
Did Misha just say dad?
“I said that my dad thinks you’re cute,” the little girl confirmed a second later, looking at Newt with a glimpse of offense as if he didn’t fully understand her on purpose.
“Uh, that’s, uh…nice. Tell your dad thank you, will you?”
“He’s over there, you can tell him yourself!”
When Newt looked over to the place Misha was pointing to, feet tapping in excitement, he was met by two deer eyes widened in absolute horror.
At least now he knew where Misha got her eyes from.
The gears in his head were turning and he was finally able to recognize her father’s face, having seen him pick her up regularly. They never talked much though, only short small talk about upcoming events or the shenanigans Misha had been up to lately. Newt didn’t know much about him other than the fact that he was a single dad.
“Michaela! Don’t, uh- That’s not, uhm- Hi, I’m Thomas!” Her father finally blurted out, sticking out his hand in an awkward attempt of a casual greeting.
A failed awkward attempt, since Newt was not standing close enough to shake this guy’s – Thomas’ – hand without having to step closer anyway.
So to release this poor man from his internal pain of embarrassment, he took the few steps and shook his hand with a warm smile.
“Hey, I’m Newt.”
“Yeah, I, uh, I know. Misha keeps talking about you.”
“Dad, will you ask him on a date, like you wanted to?”
Newt didn’t think it was possible, but Thomas’ cheeks turned even redder than they were before, and he couldn’t help but break into a smirk at the sight of it.
Thomas, on the other hand, looked like he was ready for the ground to split open under his feet and make him disappear off the face of the earth forever.
“Michaela,” he finally said while pulling his hand away, slightly shaky as Newt noticed, “How about we stop by McDonald’s on our way home? Sounds great, right? Okay let’s go!”
But his attempt to grab his nosy little daughter by the hand and vanish from the place as fast as possible failed yet again. Misha might look small but she has the force of a thousand little girls who want to get their will inside of her.
“Only if you ask Newt to come with us,” she chirped in the sweetest voice, throwing her favourite kindergarten teacher a grin that Newt would almost categorize as mischievous.
“I will not,” Thomas hissed at his daughter, voice full of desperation and the sweet undertone of ‘If I don’t get out of this situation immediately I will die of embarrassment’.
An undertone Newt was too familiar with.
And he didn’t know which subconscious part of his brain took control of him when he took another step forward, blurting out the following words with so much more confidence than he even knew he had:
“You’d have to take me to a fancier place anyway.”
There was a short painful second in which none of them moved and Newt was already mentally cursing himself for trusting a five-year-old and falling for her trap, when Thomas finally turned around again, looking at him with a sweet yet reluctant smile. Now Newt also knew where Misha got her dimples from.
“Are you…are you free at 8 pm tomorrow night then?”
The happy and triumphant squeak coming from Misha put a wide smile on both of their faces.