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There’s something poking at his cheek. Sunny whines, as he tries to push said something away.
“Bunny booo…” A sweet voice coos out next to his ear. Lips find their way onto his cheek to leave a kiss.
Finally Sunny opens his eyes, only to be met with a wonderful sight. His boyfriend Kel, was sitting up in his bed, waiting for him to wake up. Sunny whined, and stretched his arms out, while making grabby hands. The blinds had been opened, and Kel was still in his pajamas. He looked like he was ready to bounce up at any moment.
But Kel smiled, and dove back down into bed, as he wrapped his arms around him and held Sunny tightly. “There’s my little sunshine, all cuddly-wuddly this morning huh?”
“Mhm. ‘M seepie…” Sunny mumbles. The words feel heavy on his tongue, as he nuzzles into Kel’s neck and breathes in deeply.
“Thank you for using your words Sunny. But you did sleep a full eight hours, little bunny. It’s time to uppies and start the day.” Kel says sweetly, his hands moving to stroke through Sunny’s hair. A finger suddenly gets caught on a knot and he whines. “Yikes, we gotta brush your hair little one.” Kel mumbles to himself. “C’mon Sunny bunny, can we get uppies?”
Sunny takes another deep breath. As much as it’s tempting to stay in bed with Kel all day, he knows he can’t. He spent four long years in bed, alone, away from the world. He’s trying his best not to revert to that. And Kel is helping out too. Being little makes everything easier. In his smaller mindset, he can let himself be taken care of more willingly and easily. Kel cooing at him and doting on him makes rejoining the world, and healing so much more enticing when he’s there to encourage him. “Mhm. Up.” He gathers himself, and manages to sit up on his own.
Kel follows, and hops out of bed. “Ready?” He asks, stretching for a few moments and basking in the morning sun.
“Mhm.” Sunny agrees, as he scoots out of his bed, and his feet touch the floor. He stands, and waits for Kel to guide him. When he’s tiny he doesn’t have to make any decisions. He just has to listen and be led. After a few moments more, Kel leads him to the bathroom.
“Do you need to go potty?” Kel asks. Sunny shakes his head yes. “Can you go on your own or do you need my help?”
Sunny shakes his head no, indicating that he can do it himself. Kel leaves the room, and once Sunny is washing his hands, he can hear the toaster going. Kel has never been the best cook compared to Hero. But it’s nice that he can do the basics. He carefully heads down the hallway to the living room and kitchen, where he sees Kel making toast. He goes closer to see that there’s jam on the table, as well as orange joe, and milk. He seats himself at the table, as Kel puts the few pieces of toast on the table.
Kel pours a glass of orange joe for himself, and in a clear sippy cup pours him a cup of milk. Sunny blushes. It was still hard to get used to seeing all the baby things that Kel had bought. They keep all of Sunny’s little items in his room, in a box under the bed. Kel must have gone in there to get his sippy. He reaches for the knife on the table to scoop some jam, when it’s taken from his hand.
“Nuh uh, Sunny bunny, knives aren’t for little ones. Let me do it, you’ll hurt yourself.” And so, Kel spreads jam on both his pieces of toast, then on his own pieces. He places the knife in the sink, and sits down. “There we go! Now eat up ok sunshine?”
Sunny has always been a slow eater, but Kel on the other hand absolutely inhales his food. Faster than Sunny can even finish one piece Kel has finished both and has made a noticeable dent in his orange joe. Sunny is happy though, Kel always waits for him to finish while he eats. He eats slowly, then takes a break to drink from his sippy, then takes a breath and repeats this process until he’s finished.
Kel gasps with a big smile. “Good job Sunny! I’m so proud of you for finishing all your breakfast. Go head to the bathroom while I do the dishes.” Once again Kel is up and keeping busy. Sunny smiles, he loves how energetic Kel can be, but how genuine he can be as well. There are many sides to him, all which Sunny loves.
He finally makes his way to the bathroom and stands. Once again patiently waiting for Kel to come. After little while of drifting in his headspace Kel made his way to the bathroom once more. “Sit sunshine, I gotta brush your teeth.” He obliges and sits on the lid of the toilet. Soon Kel holds his toothbrush to his mouth. “Say aaaahh!”
“Aaaah.”
Kel brushes his teeth gently, making sure to get every inch of his mouth. He whines with a mouthful of toothpaste and Kel just laughs. “I’m sorry! But I know you won’t do a very good job. It’s easier if I just do it myself.” He smiles, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “There, see? Over before you know it. Go spit and rinse.”
Sunny spits out the yucky mint toothpaste, and rinses his mouth of the strong taste. Kel then leads him to the bedroom. “What are we gonna wear today…” Kel mumbles, mostly to himself. Kel rummages around his drawers, while he takes a seat on his bed.
Kel settles for a pair of khaki pants, and a black long sleeve to beat the chilly fall air. “Okay, let’s get you all dressed!”
Sunny lets himself be moved like a doll, as Kel gently changes him. “Sunny, I need you to remember our rules, ok?” Kel tells gently. “I was thinking we go to the park and we walk the nature trail. How does that sound?”
In Sunny’s new town, there was a park in walking distance, as well as a walking trail along with it. They moved not far from Faraway town, only about a half an hour drive.
Sunny nods a yes, indicating that today’s plan sounds good.
“What are the rules?” Kel asks.
“Mhn!” Sunny whines. He doesn’t wanna talk! He doesn’t want rules! Kel is being mean!
“Sunny, c’mon. If I don’t hear the rules then we can’t play.”
“Nnfh!” Sunny kicks his legs and wiggles about. Refusing to give in. He doesn’t know why he’s feeling this way, he doesn’t really care to figure it out.
“You’re being very fussy right now little Mr. Do I need to put you in timeout? I reaaaaaally don’t wanna.” Kel sighs.
Tears well up in his eyes, as he pops his thumb in his mouth.
Kel frowns. “Do you need to cry it out?”
Sunny nods, as he makes grabby hands again. Kel sits on the bed, and holds him in his lap, rocking Sunny all the while. He takes some deep breaths and tries his best to calm down.
“Sometimes words are hard huh sunny bunny? It’s ok. Take your time.” Kel soothes.
“Rules.” Sunny starts, when he’s finally calmed. “Nice.”
“That’s one of them! We gotta be nice. What’s next?”
“Stay.” He replies after another pause.
“Yep, you gotta stay with me. Can we think of one more little bunny boo?”
Sunny blushes, and hides his head. “Tell potty..”.
Kel squeezes him. “Good job Sunny! Yes, that’s the most important rule. I’m so proud of you for using your words! Are you ready for a fun day?”
He nodded, as Kel held his hand, and led him to the front door. Kel helped him put on his boots, then zipped up the sides. After he put on his own sneakers. Kel then grabbed the house key from the hook, and off they went. The walk to the park was only five or so minutes. On the walk they were quiet. Just enjoying the breezy fall weather, and the pretty afternoon sun.
When they finally reached the park, Sunny let himself smile. He squeezed Kel’s hand, and pointed to the swings.
“Ah the swings, great choice.” Kel hummed, as Sunny ran over to sit himself on a swing. He wiggled his legs about, and pointed at Kel. He needed Kel to push him! Kel chuckled, and made his way behind the swing. “Ready?” Sunny nodded, and off he went. He giggled, as he went higher and higher in the air.
After the swings, he noticed a hopscotch board made of chalk. He cautiously looked around to see if anyone else was playing here. When he finally determined that it was empty, he looked to Kel.
“You can play!” Kel encouraged. Even picking up a small rock from afar and placing it in Sunny’s hand.
Sunny lightly threw the pebble, and it landed on four. He hopped, and finally landed on four, one leg held in the air. He bent down to pick up the rock and throw it again. He then caught a glimpse of Kel, who was waiting for him. Sitting right above where the ten had been drawn. He tossed it gently, and it landed on seven. He hopped to seven, getting more eager to see Kel. Finally with one more toss it landed on ten!
He hopped his way to ten where Kel was holding his arms wide open. He collapsed into the other’s arms with a giggle. “Good job! I’m so proud of you.” Kel says sweetly, hugging him tightly.
The air was getting colder as theh started their walk towards the trail. Sunny clamped his hand tightly around Kel’s as he let the other lead. “What’s your favorite thing about the fall sunshine?”
Sunny hummed, as he jumped on a fallen leaf. It crunched underneath his boot. What was his favorite thing about the fall? He wasn’t the biggest fan of halloween so he couldn’t say that. He did enjoy the cooler weather. But probably his favorite thing had to be…
“Snacks.” He could feel himself salivating already. The warm hot chocolates and tea, the sweet potatoes, caramel apples, not to mention all the candy!
Kel let out a loud laugh. “Sounds about right.”
Sunny then looks to Kel. “You?”
Kel sighed happily, as he stops their movement. He turns to Sunny and wraps him in a big hug. “Getting to snuggle with you of course.” He admits. They stay wrapped in a hug for a while. A chilly breeze passes them by and Sunny shivers. “Ok bud, I think it’s time to head home.”
They arrive home, and Kel once again helps him to take off his boots. “Why don’t you bring your toys down while I order dinner?”
Sunny nodded, running down the hall to his room to get his bin of wooden blocks that Hero got him when he was younger. He brought them down and sat himself on the fuzzy navy blue carpet. He started to build as he heard fragments of Kel’s conversation on the phone. He tries to build a castle, the tallest he can. He imagines him and Kel living in the castle. They rule over the Orange Oasis! Maybe Hero could rule over the neighboring kingdom of the Otherworld! Basil would definitely like the Vast Forest. Aubrey could have Sweetheart’s old palace anyway. Sunny starts building other smaller castles to account for all his other friends. He smiles as they each have a tiny block castle of their own.
“Oh sunshine, did you build those yourself?” Kel gasps. Sunny looks up and nods, pointing at the biggest castle.
“Us.” He says.
Kel smiles. “Oh is that where we live? Are you the little prince of the castle?” He teases, kneeling down and tickling him a bit.
“Mhm!” He giggles.
Kel pulls away, and gets up again. “I love your handiwork with those castles, but it’s time to clean up. We’re gonna have dinner now alright?”
Sunny nods sadly, as he slowly starts to clean up.
“You can play another time, don’t worry! I got us pizza.” Kel says, bringing over a plate with two slices, and a plate with one. “Since you were so good today, we can watch tv while we eat.”
Sunny gasps quietly. Kel never lets him eat on the couch! He wiggles happily, as he clambers onto the couch. The pizza is set on the side table, as Kel pops a disc into the dvd player. He makes his way back to the couch, and they get all cuddled up.
Once the pizza is all gone, and the movie is done, they’re all cuddled up on the couch. Sunny nuzzles into Kel’s neck, as he sits on his lap.
“I’m so proud of you Sunny.” He admits. Kel’s eyes meet his own, and the boy smiles brightly. “My little sunny bunny.” He laughs, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“Mhm.” Sunny hums happily. Right now he’s as happy as he could ever be.