Chapter Text
Wilbur silently cursed to himself as he pulled into the first visible parking spot. He didn’t care to check if he was in the lines or not. His main priority was to retrieve his son who had missed the bus. School hadn’t even started a week ago and his son had already missed the bus. Wilbur wasn’t sure why or how, but the kid had developed a habit of sneaking off to the library when he was supposed to go with the bus line.
He slammed the door to his car shut in frustration before marching towards the school and heading straight for the office. When he arrived inside, he saw Fundy sitting on the floor with his back pressed against the reception desk next to the Librarian that Wilbur had spoken to a handful of times. Fundy looked up at him and gave an innocent smile.
“Hey, Wil.” Fundy greeted.
Wilbur couldn’t help but smile fondly at his son. “How’s my little champion doing?”
“I got two more books!”
“That’s nice.” Wilbur wasn’t exactly sure what the appropriate response was.
Fundy’s excitement visibly decreased, which made Wilbur feel slightly bad. The librarian seemed to notice and he placed a hand on Fundy’s shoulder. “Why don’t you tell your dad what they are about?”
Just like that, the kid was smiling again. “Well, I got one that is a big comic book thing about superheroes, but I told Karl that I finish them super fast and he said I should try a chapter book. Isn’t that cool, Wil? He says I’m a high reading level, which I think is good.” Fundy paused to pull the book out of his backpack, quickly holding it towards his dad expectantly. Wilbur took it and flipped it over to read the summary. “It’s about a girl named Junie B. Jones,” Fundy began again. “Karl says it’s a book a lot of kids like. Have you ever read it, Dad?”
Wilbur’s shoulders tensed as he handed the book back to Fundy. “I’m afraid I haven’t.” He saw the way Fundy was waiting for more. “I’m sure it’s a great book, especially if a librarian recommends it. You’ll have to tell me about it. Who knows, maybe Tommy read it?”
Tommy definitely hadn’t read that book. No one on his side of the family read unless they had to. It was probably just another thing that came from his mother.
“Will you read with me later?” Fundy asked with a hopeful voice as he had done many times before.
“Maybe.”
Karl stood up, which promoted Fundy to stand up as well. “You really should. Parents reading with their kids has a lot of benefits.”
Wilbur hummed in response, opting to ignore the suggestion. What could a librarian know? They are just book-nerds with the ability to organize in alphabetical order.
He clapped his hands together. “Well, thank you, Mr. Jacobs, but Fundy and I do need to get going! I really do appreciate you watching him.”
The librarian smiled, “it’s not a problem. Fundy’s a good kid. It’s hard to find a kid who likes reading. Lil’ dude is pretty chill.”
“Still, he shouldn’t be taking your time and making you stay after school, Right?” Wilbur placed his hand on Fundy’s backpack. “Right, Fundy?”
Fundy looked down to his feet. “Sorry…”
“It’s seriously okay.” Karl offered a supportive look to the boy. “If I didn’t enjoy hanging out with kids then I wouldn’t work in a school.”
Wilbur inhaled sharply before placing his hand on the door to leave. “Well, thank you, Mr. Jacobs. We are still going to try to not miss the bus as often. Come on, Fundy. We’ve got places to be.”
Before anyone could respond, Wilbur pushed open the door to the office and then the exit door that followed. Fundy kept up with him as they made their way back to his car. The walk was silent. Not that it was tense, there was just nothing to say. It didn’t matter though because soon enough they were at their car with Fundy standing by the passenger side door.
As he dug around his pocket for keys, a new voice caught him off guard. “You know that’s a staff parking spot, right?”
“What?”
“You parked in the staff parking spot. That’s reserved for staff. And you don’t look like staff.”
Wilbur turned around to see what this loser looked like. He had expected a teacher who had a shitty day or some Karen with a minivan and out-of-date hairstyle. Instead, he was met with the sight of a nicely dressed man who looked like he belonged in an office. “How would you know?”
The man’s eyes scanned over him. “You tell me,” he paused and squinted at something, “Wilbur from Bladez Burgerz.”
Oh. He read his name tag. Wilbur was still in his work uniform.
He huffed and crossed his arms so his name tag wasn’t visible anymore. “It’s not like you’re staff either.”
“That's why I didn’t park in one.”
Wilbur rolled his eyes. He didn’t really have the time to be standing in a school parking lot fighting with some rich asshole. “If you aren’t staff, you shouldn’t care so much. No one stays here this late, so I think I’ll be leaving now.” He turned back around and went to unlock his door.
“Most of them actually do, asshole.”
The man sounded way more serious than Wilbur had expected considering what a minor offense it was. He was planning on ignoring the stranger, but his plan got stopped but the confused voice of his son. “Wil,” the boy dragged out, “can you unlock the door?”
He sighed and hit the unlock button on his key fob, watching as Fundy eagerly swung the door open and hopped in the passenger seat.
“You let him sit in the front?” The man sounded shocked. He was probably a helicopter parent or something stupid like that.
Wilbur shrugged. “He’s old enough.”
”That's fatal for a kid like him. It’s based on weight, not age.”
“It’s a car,” Wilbur stated amusedly. “It’s not dangerous unless the driver makes it.”
“I feel sorry for your kid then.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Wilbur had turned back to face the stranger, puffing out his chest in an attempt to assert his dominance.
The stranger didn’t react, instead giving Wilbur a cocky smile. “Nothing. Just an observation, you wouldn’t get it.”
“No. You don’t get to be a nosy bastard and insult my parenting skills and then act all smug about it! No, you tell me what the hell you meant by that!” Wilbur jabbed a finger into the man’s chest and the man just looked up at him amused.
“I never insulted your parenting skills. You made that assumption all on your own.” And with that, the man turned around and walked over to the driver's side door, and got in. As he slowly backed out he maintained strong eye contact with Wilbur, who could practically feel the anger rising in his throat.
The audacity of some stranger to stick his nose into his business. He hadn’t even been parked in the spot that long. And the car seat? Fundy was six, he would be fine. It’s not like he was a reckless person. Who did that person think they were? Just driving off like that after starting a fight. If he wanted to start something with him, then he could’ve at least fucking finished it. Wilbur turned back to his car and yanked open the door before practically throwing himself into the driver's seat. He slammed the door shut behind him and moved his hands to grip the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were turning white.
“What happened out there?” The boy next to him asked.
Wilbur took a deep breath in before exhaling and looking at his son with a crazed look. “Just some entitled dickhead. Don’t worry about it, kiddo.”
Fundy didn’t ask any more questions after that, looking back to the book in his lap as Wilbur backed out of the parking spot. He looked back at his son and bit his lip, thinking of what to say.
“How was school today?”
The boy looked at him like he was insane. “What?”
“How was school today? Y’know, just how did it go?”
“It was fine I guess?” Fundy closed his book with a huff. “Ms. Nikki made us play a get to know you game, but I didn’t like it.”
“Why didn’t you like it?”
He huffed again. “I don’t know, Wil. It was just boring.”
“Did anything important happen today?” Wilbur was having to dig for questions at this point and it hadn’t even been much of a conversation yet.
“My Teacher said tomorrow is parent orientation, but it’s not like you’d go, so,” he trailed off and looked out his window.
Wilbur winced before briefly looking over at the kid. “If you want me to go, I will.”
“Even if you could, you wouldn’t.” Fundy shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “It’s not that important.”
“Do you want me to?”
“Yeah, but you have work. Just forget it.”
“Oh, come on,” Wilbur took a hand off the steering wheel and used it to ruffle Fundy’s hair. “You know Techno doesn’t mind me taking off early every once in a while. I’ll text him when we get home and I’m sure he’ll say yes.”
“Yeah, but-“
“Fundy.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want me to go or not?”
“If you went it would be nice.” Fundy quietly admitted, holding eye contact with his lap.
“Then I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Wilbur smiled and turned his full attention back to the road. “Anything for my little champion.”
He heard Fundy mumble something under his breath, but chose to ignore it by turning on the radio and continuing the drive back to their apartment.
***
When they got home Fundy immediately went to his room and shut the door, leaving Wilbur to his own devices. He didn’t want to work on the growing pile of dishes waiting in the kitchen, so he headed straight for his brother's room, hoping that his brother was home. He took a deep breath before gently knocking on the door.
He heard a loud thud and some cursing before the door was yanked open, sending a gust of air past his face. “What’d’ya want dickhead.”
Wilbur smiled and pushed past the teen, stepping over a pile of clothes and sitting down on the foot of his bed. “Do I need a reason to want to spend time with my baby brother?” He asked in a voice drenched in sweetness.
Tommy scrunched his face up in disgust while shutting the door and walking back over to his desk. He picked up his office chair which explained what the loud thud had been earlier. “Yes. I am a very busy and big man. I do not have time for my dumb and ugly brother.”
“Love you too, Toms.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Tommy paused to swivel his chair to face his brother. “Why’re you home right now, anyways? You don’t get off until six usually.”
Wilbur sighed and leaned back against the wall. “Fundy missed the bus again, so I had to leave work early. Again.”
“Well next time you should change before you come annoy me.” The blonde made a disgusted face. “You still smell like burgers and grossness.”
He glared at his brother who just stuck his tongue out in return. “I do not smell like ‘burgers and grossness’. If anything, you do. You gremlin child.”
“Oi, dickhead! I smell perfect and great. It’s why women flock to me.”
Wilbur laughed and rolled his eyes. “You aren’t even friends with any women. Unless Tubbo and Ranboo count as women now.”
“Whatever. You are stupid and dumb.” Tommy did a full spin in his office chair before speaking again. “That reminds me, can Ranboo and Tubbo come over tomorrow?”
“You’re babysitting Fundy, remember?”
“Why can’t he go to work with you? Just let him stay in the play area until you’re off shift. Dad used to do that with us.”
“You know he doesn’t do well with other kids,” he mumbled. “Plus, I won’t even be at work.”
“Then why do I have to babysit?” Tommy groaned with frustration.
“I have to go to a parent orientation at his school. I’ll probably be back before it’s even dark out.” Wilbur needed something to convince Tommy. He thought for a minute before giving his brother a smirk. “I’ll buy you McDonald’s for dinner.”
Tommy’s eyes widened and he leaned forward, his interest piqued by the offer. “Well, why didn’t you just say that, Wilbur? I love watching Fundy so much! It is my favorite thing to do and my friends love it too!”
“Saying that won’t get you more McDonald’s, king.”
He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Fine. Now get a move on it. I’ll take a nugget happy meal. So will Tubbo.”
“Tubbo? Tommy, Tubbo’s not here.”
“He’s been in the bathroom this whole time,” Tommy explained nonchalantly.
Wilbur got up with a sigh and began to exit the room. “I hate you. I’ll be back with your food in twenty.”
Tommy said something else, but Wilbur had already shut the door behind him. If he needed something else he would just text him.