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Lambert’s hoof taps on the ground as they wait near the gates. Parents mill about, waiting for their children to come pouring out of the building shrieking and laughing.
Lambert is waiting on their own kids as well. Well, not really their kids. But they are children they take care of? Sure, close enough. Narinder had hesitantly asked them the night before if they wouldn’t mind picking up the twins from school.
They agreed before he could finish talking.
They didn’t mind doing things for Narinder but he sometimes seemed so quiet and nervous to ask, it worried them but they tried not to press. They especially don’t mind when it’s about Aym and Baal. The two kits had been welcomed easily into a comfortable spot in their heart. Lambert has always had a soft spot for children and the two were no exception.
Except, well, they kind of are, aren’t they?
Loud cacophony of noise cuts through their thoughts. Lambert adjusts their sunglasses and peers through the crowd of brightly colored clothes.
“Hi there, don’t think I’ve ever seen you around before, you lookin’ for your kiddo?” A red parrot siddles up to them, eyes crinkled in a friendly smile.
Lambert turns away from the crowd and smiles back at her.
“Ah, two kiddos, they’re actually not—”
“LAMBERT!”
They swivel just in time to catch Aym when he jumps at them, Baal is behind him, following at a much slower pace but with an excited grin on his face.
They laugh and heft him up higher, uncaring of the way his shoes dig into their back. Baal reaches up and takes hold of their free hand. Lambert smiles and turns back to the parrot, mouth open to introduce the kids before the look on her face makes them stop in their tracks.
The parrot's eyes are wide and she’s gripping her bag so hard it looks painful.
Lambert frowns in concern. “Miss? Are you—”
“ They’re yours?”
Something about the way she says they’re, has their eyes narrowing in suspicion and their guard raising. Part of them says they should say no and leave it at that, another part of them says they should say yes, that part of them feels like something bad may happen if not. They weigh their options.
They opt to lie.
“No, is that a problem?”
Baal’s tail flicks against their leg and they squeeze his hand in assurance.
The parrot relaxed and laughed slightly.
“Oh, no not at all, hah! I’d much prefer you over the other guy.” She leans forward with a conspiratorial tone. Lambert resists the urge to lean away from her.
They raise their brow instead and note distantly that both twins have tense in their hold. Interesting.
“The other guy?”
The parrot nods. “I’m assuming you’re their nanny right? It makes sense, you seem real sweet and their father seems like he’s rather wealthy. He can probably afford to hire such a kind nanny if he’s always so busy working and all.” She says the last part with an eye roll and another smile, like this is all so funny and they’re gossiping about a shitty boss together.
“We all agree that he barely seems to care, he’s always rushing them out and never asking them about their days or even making small talk with the other parents.”
Lambert glares further, wariness growing hotter into annoyance at this parrots assumptions. Before they can reply she butts in with something that makes their blood boil.
She continues snidely, “I mean, just because he’s not their real father doesn’t mean he should get a pass out of raising them!”
Lambert stiffens and feels the kits crowd closer to them. The only reason they haven’t immediately given this lady a piece of their mind is because of the kids occupying their hands.
“We’re leaving,” they say finally, voice cold.
Their tone seems to shock her and she turns to them with surprise in her eyes.
“Wha—”
“Goodbye Miss.” They turn away sharply before they can do anything they’ll regret.
……
The next time they hear anything similar to what the parrot was saying it was from a different person. Three different persons to be exact.
They’re in the school’s gymnasium/auditorium for a school fundraiser, there are baked goods and school merchandise littered around the room for purchase. Narinder had texted them a few minutes ago, apologizing profusely for running late, Lambert had chuckled softly at the message and assured him it was alright. They weren’t the only one who noticed his absence however.
The parents gossiping in the corner send them pitying and knowing glances. They tried to drag Lambert into chatting with them several times, to “give them a chance to talk freely about their terrible boss”. Lambert didn’t bother correcting them, they likely wouldn’t listen anyway.
Instead they staunchly avoided the attempts and passive aggressively brushed them off with strained smiles. Unfortunately because they are rather good at seeming overall friendly (a necessary effort considering their profession) the parents only really seem to notice the passiveness and have only doubled down on their attempts.
Lambert rubs at their temples and leans against a nearby table.
They aren’t really sure how much of this they can take.
A hand tapping their shoulder has them whirling around, hackles raised and hands fisted.
Narinder raises his brows at the stance.
They relax and smile awkwardly. “Oh. It’s you, hi.”
“Hi,” he murmurs, head tilted and eyes squinting in amusement. He reaches for their hand and tugs them closer when they grip him in turn. They hum into the light kiss he presses on their lips and chuckles when he kisses the apples of their cheeks with exaggerated noises.
“Everything alright?”
They try not to close their eyes and relax too much. They are in public after all.
“Ah, yeah just, people. Y'know?”
It’s not eloquent and it hardly makes sense, but understanding is in his eyes nonetheless. Which makes sense, his job is literally to deal with people and their problems.
He pulls them into a hug and they go easily, nuzzling his cheek after they settle into his arms.
“Yeah, I get that,” he hums softly, turning his head to press a kiss to their ear, it twitches in a ticklish fashion.
Lambert understands that it’s a wise idea to be in good graces with the school, but frankly if they have to sit through five more minutes of the principal going on about the school's history or whatever else they may actually rip their own head off.
They lean over to whisper such to Narinder who has to duck his head to hide his laughter, the action makes something giddy bubble up in Lambert.
Finally when the principal is done speaking, they get up. Lambert grabs Narinder’s hand and tugs it.
“Getting antsy?” He murmurs with a sharp grin.
They roll their eyes and tug his hand again.
“ Yes, now come on, I want to go.”
He laughs quietly and his eyes are soft, almost besotted when he looks at them, it makes them stop in their tracks to stare.
In those 2.8 seconds of breathlessness a group of parents has rushed up towards them. Lamb’s previous feelings dissipate and heated annoyance takes its place as they recognize the parents are the adults gossiping earlier.
A turtle with burnt orange scales glares at Narinder and turns to Lambert with a slightly kinder expression.
“Dear, you needn’t stay with this.” She gestures at their cat.
“If it’s for fear of a lack of income I assure you we would all be more than willing to pay you double or even triple that he is paying.”
The only thing Lambert is aware of in that moment other than the red haze that has settled over their vision is Narinder’s hand tensing in their grip. They wait for him to say something, to defend himself and tell the parents where they can shove it.
He stays quiet. When Lambert turns their head they see him looking down, other than the tight grip on their hand he is relaxed, and that alone is what makes them snap.
“How dare you,” Lambert seethes at the parents. They blink in shock as if genuinely not expecting their reaction.
“How dare you make assumptions about a stranger, how dare you try to tell another stranger what they should do.”
They let go of Narinder’s hand and stepped closer to the turtle who was starting to look uncomfortable.
“Do you think saying these things about Narinder makes you look better?”
The turtle frowns. “Surely you’re not defending him.” They sound uncertain.
Lambert scoffs. “Oh yes, because it’s so horrible to defend the cat who hasn’t done jackshit to deserve this kind of treatment.”
Another parent, an eagle with striped feathers, steps forward, a dash of pity in her eyes that makes Lambert’s anger spike dangerously.
They cut her off before she can get the chance to speak.
“You all are presumptuous pieces of shit.” Several gasps erupt from the group and mouths around them drop. Lambert ignores them and continues on.
“ Yes , Narinder is busy, yes, he is often rushing around, and yes, he isn’t always eager to socialize. But he is an incredible father who works very hard to take care of his kits. He is not always sociable because of his work, it is long and tedious and demanding. But it’s important. And even though his job is important to him, he never, ever, lets it get in the way of taking care of Aym and Baal. For you to even insinuate that is disgustingly rude and inconsiderate.” The uncomfortable glances in the crowd show that they are not unaware of the lamb’s meaning, they are shame-filled, Lambert notes with a cold satisfaction, as they should be.
They glance behind themselves at Narinder, mostly to check if they had overstepped but also if he was alright. They expected his gaze to be glued to the floor, or, worst case scenario, looking horrified at their words. Instead his eyes meet theirs. His face isn’t horrified, with pupils blown wide and mouth slightly agape, his face is most easily described as adoring.
Lambert flushes a little, but turns away from the tempting sight of a taken-off-guard Narinder.
They take a deep breath and their voice lowers to a softer, almost conversational tone. “But most of all it is just sad how quickly you all were to jump to assumptions. Quick to assume Narinder didn’t care for his kits, quick to think he paid a nanny to do the child rearing for him, and quick to assume that the only possible reason I had for being around him was because I was being paid to do it.”
“What?”
Lambert turns their head to Narinder who has just broken his silence since they began their tirade.
Before Lambert can respond the eagle from before beats them to it.
“We… assumed , that uh,” she trails off for a moment, gaze darting to Lambert for half a second.
“Dr. Ewe,” they fill in for her, voice hard.
She flushes under her feathers at the title, embarrassment weighing down her gaze.
“We thought that you were paying Dr. Ewe to take care of your children,” she rushes out, then promptly backs away from them to return to the group of parents behind her.
For a moment everything is quiet. Then Narinder takes Lambert’s hand in his.
“Dr. Ewe is not my nanny.” His voice is firm, his words aren’t shaking with fury or thinly veiled with any kind of anger, they are exact and no nonsense.
“They are my partner.” He pauses, then clarifies, “in a romantic sense.”
The silence of the people crowded around them somehow feels louder than when they were all talking at the same time.
“We’ll be taking our leave.” He looks down at them for confirmation and they nod, a small smile creeping onto their lips.
“Great.” He smiles back and presses a chaste kiss to their lips, Lambert thinks they hear someone choke in the background and has to refrain from grinning smugly.
They turn and begin to walk away. They don’t need to bother shoving their way through the crowd because it parts easily for them, no one in a hurry to upset them after their impressive, if a little theatric, speech.
All of a sudden Narinder stops them both and looks over his shoulder.
“Oh, and just for future reference, if any of you tries shit like this again I will be informing my siblings and their associates of your names, they are quite close with many city attorneys you see, it’d be a shame if your lawyer decided to drop you because of a conflict of interest.”
The chatter that had risen up moments before fell to a stark silence at the blatant threat.
Narinder grinned sharply and tugged on Lambert’s hand.
“Let’s go home my love.”
Lambert rolled their eyes but allowed themselves to be pulled away.
“Not interested in making friends?” They tease.
Narinder makes an exaggerated gagging noise in response, making the two of them snicker with laughter.