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Spencer's sitting in his living room alone with his cats.
Normally this would be fine.
He loves his alone time, and as an older little he doesn't need supervision.
Today is different.
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He's been neglecting his little side. He’s busy at work and has been continuously pushing it back.
While he normally dropped at a minimum a couple hours a week, it's been just under a month and the headaches were setting in.
He’s reviewing a final edit for a Games video when he's caught by surprise by a jump scare.
Usually, he'd laugh and move past it, today he drops.
He sits there with his eyes clenched shut for a couple minutes before he slowly blinks them open, looking around his apartment curiously.
As opposed to his normal teenage headspace, he was floating somewhere around seven. It's always weird for him when he’s younger. With his normal regression age being so similar to his average self, he never really experiences being fuzzy like this.
Spencer idly pets Cleo, trying to decide what to do.
He glances at his phone and decides he should call Damien.
He loves playing with Damien when he's a teenager, so he decides it's probably just as good when he's seven.
The phone rings and on the last one he picks up.
“Are you alright Spence?” A half-asleep Damien asks
“Why you sleeping, it's early?” He asks curiously, voice sounding obviously younger
“I’m in England, bud” he reminds him, slightly more awake. “How old are you?”
“Seven, I think.” He answers
“What time is it?” he asks and Damien yawns
“2:00am.” He says, “Don't worry about waking me kiddo, I'm glad you called.”
Spencer hadn't even thought about the fact he's woken the man up. He winces.
“Sorry Dames,” he says guiltily, “That mean you can't play?”
He laughs. “Not right now bud, I have a con in a few hours.” He reminds him.
“I think you should call Shayne, Tommy, or Amanda and see if they can watch you for the night.” Damien suggests gently.
“Why?” He questions, “I'm always alone.”
“You're usually thirteen, right now you're seven. Kids need supervision.” He tells him and Spencer sighs.
“I'll call someone.” he concedes
“Thank you Spence, that'll make me feel better.” He praises, “I'll text you when I wake up, and if you're not asleep we can talk again.” He explains, yawning again.
“Gnight Dames.” Spencer mumbles, “Sorry again.”
“Don't worry about it buddy, Good night.”
Spencer pouts when the phone disconnects. He really wanted to play with him. Deciding Tommy is his next best bet he calls him.
Tommy picks up quicker than Damien, but is clearly out somewhere, loud music fading as Tommy moves away from the source.
“Hey bub,” says Tommy, clearly intoxicated, “You decide to join us?”
“Damien said to call you.” He responds and Tommy makes a surprised sound.
“Well aren't you cute sounding,” he coos and Spencer scoffs.
“Not a baby Tommy, I'm 7.” He tells him petulantly.
“Sorry sorry,” he says, “I'm guessing Damien’s trying to find you a babysitter?”
“He wants me not alone.” He explains
Tommy hums, “I’m intoxicated, bud.” he tells him gently, “Try Shayne, he's home with Court. I'd send you to Amanda but she's here with me. If Shayne can't, I'll come over, I just don't like being responsible for a little while drunk.”
Spencer groans “Fine” he mutters, “Tired of calls.”
He laughs at the little. “Just a couple more buddy.” He assures him, “Keep me updated, alright?”
“Ok, gnight Tommy,” he responds
“Goodnight Spence”
Spencer sighs as he starts his third phone call of the night
“Hey Spencer” answers Shayne followed by a distant “Tell him I say hi!” from a little Courtney
“Hey guys,” he responds and Shayne hums in understanding.
“How old are you, bud?” he asks curiously and Courtney squeaks excitedly.
“Seven, Damien said call you,” he tells Shayne
“Are you alright with a sleepover? You and Court can play with their toys and you can sleep in the guest room,” he suggests, Courtney making more excited sounds.
“We can play?” he clarifies hopefully,
“Dinner first, but we can play for a little bit,” he confirms and Courtney cheers,
“Sleepover!” they yell excitedly, running away from the phone.
“We’ll be over there as quick as we can to pick you up,” he continues, “Try to pack a bag and I can help when I get there.”
“Ok Shayne,” he responds, “See ya”
“Bye Spence, call if you need anything before we get there.”
He hangs up the call, and texts Tommy and Damien before looking around his apartment.
Time to pack
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He opens his front door to reveal Shayne and a clearly little Courtney dressed in their usual mismatched little style, a rainbow skirt and a shirt that looks like Woody’s from Toy Story.
Spencer has a backpack on, ready to walk out the door, but Courtney bounces inside to pet Cleo as Shayne double checks with him that he has everything.
“Pajamas, clothes for tomorrow, toothbrush?” he lists and Spencer nods along.
“Feed the cats?” he asks and he nods again,
“Alright then,” he states, “Time to go Court!” he calls and they rush back over.
“Bye Cleo!” they say as they grab Shayne’s hand to walk back to the car.
They hold their other hand up to Spencer and he shyly takes it.
The trio walk to the car, and the littles climb in the back. “This Vroom,” they tell him holding up a stuffed rabbit, “They live in the car,”
“Why?” he asks curiously as Shayne pulls out of the parking lot,
“They like goin fast!” They explain, “Papa got him so I always have a friend in the car, cuz he doesn’t like leavin it.”
“Horsey doesn’t like outside, he only goes to friends' houses sometimes and hotels.” they continue, “Papa says he likes stayin home”
Spencer nod, “I don’t have any stuffed animals,” he admits and they gasp.
“Papa!” they shout, “Gotta get Spence a friend.”
“No yelling in the car, Court” he reminds them and they mumble an apology, before he continues.
“How about we quickly swing by the store to look and then we drive through somewhere on the way home?” he suggests and they turn to look at Spencer.
He shrugs, “Don’t have to,” he mumbles self consciously and Shayne makes eye contact with him for a second through the rear view mirror.
“I know I don’t have to buddy, but every little deserves a special friend, even if you’re normally a big kid.” he assures, pulling into the parking lot of the store.
Shayne lets the two out and Courtney bounces on their toes. “Can I sit in the cart?” they ask excitedly. They almost never do things like shopping while little, so they want the full experience.
He nods, holding his hands out for the other two to take, “You can, this is a quick trip though baby, in and out.”
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Shayne sticks to word as he powers through the rest of the store to reach the toys, Court pointing at things excitedly from the cart as Spencer holds on to it as instructed.
The trio arrives at the stuffed animals and he drifts away from the cart to look at all the choices.
He doesn’t really know what he wants, he’s never really thought about it before, even when he’s younger like this. He usually just cuddles his cat, and that’s good enough, but he’s excited to pick something out.
The challenge is actually choosing.
The easy choice would be a cat, but he disregards it, deciding it would never be as good as his actual ones.
He gravitates towards the water animals, running his hands over them until he feels something super soft.
Pulling it out he sees it's a sea lion, or at least he thinks it is. It’s dark grey and super soft, but not fuzzy.
Spencer walks back over to the cart, holding the sea lion in his arms and petting it.
“This the one?” Shayne asks and he nods, holding it out to him.
He shakes his head, “You can carry them to check out bud, I won’t take your friend.” he assures them.
They walk towards the check out, but Shayne takes a detour in the art supplies, grabbing a pack of glitter pens and handing them to Courtney.
“These are for being a good friend and not begging for toys,” he tells them and they beam.
“Thank you papa! I want these!” they say excitedly and he laughs, continuing through the store.
“That’s why I grabbed them, baby,” he tells them.
He makes another detour into the freezer section.
“Can you two agree on a box of popsicles?” he asks and they nod, both immediately pointing at the same package of Spiderman popsicles.
He chuckles, “That was easy,”
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It’s about 30 minutes later when the group finally arrives back at Shayne and Courtney’s apartment.
Shayne ushers the littles to the table and pulls their Taco Bell out, placing everyone’s orders in front of them.
“Court, you want water or juice? What about you Spence?”
“Water” they respond at the same time, both giggling.
Shayne laughs and goes to the kitchen, returning with two normal cups and a sippy cup of water.
“What do you wanna play?” He asks Spencer as they all start eating.
“We play a video game?” He asks hopefully and Shayne nods.
“Don’t win Mario Party?” He suggests and Courtney cheers.
“Never played for fun before!” They say excitedly, “Please papa, promise no fit.”
He sighs, “As long as you can try your best to not get upset if you win, we can play.” He decides and they cheer again, Spencer smiling softly as he eats his food.
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The trio play a long turn game of Mario Party, planning to go to bed after.
It's a competitive match, last place constantly switching as well as the wildcard of the CPU making everything even more random.
At the end, Spencer loses, which means he wins, with Court in the middle and Shayne somehow beating the CPU and getting first place.
“You super lost dude,” Spencer laughs as Shayne pretends to be upset.
“Toad cheated somehow.” He declares jokingly and Courtney giggles.
“You do better next time, papa.” They say reassuringly.
“How about some victory popsicles?” He suggests and both littles hop to their feet, basically pushing him into the kitchen.
Shayne looks between the two of them in front of the freezer.
“You like this shirt,” he reminds them and they pout.
“Fine” they grumble, holding their hair out of the way so Shayne can put a bib on them to protect the shirt from the popsicle.
He turns to Spencer, “You're older and wearing black, you good?” He double checks, and the little nods, so he opens two popsicles and hands them out, then grabbing his own.
The three enjoy their popsicles, Shayne explaining his plan for the rest of the night.
“I know tonight's different for both of you, so I'm gonna tell you the game plan.” He starts, Courtney interrupting.
“Not football papa.” They joke
Shayne laughs, “It's not, now let papa finish,” he says with a smile.
“It's later than usual, so Court we can skip bathtime if you want and watch a movie all together.” He explains.
They look at Spencer, “Movie?” They ask him and he nods, so they nod as well.
“So after this we'll all change, then we can watch a movie on the couch.” He says, tossing his popsicle stick in the trash.
The other two agree and when they finish their dessert, Shayne grabs Spencer’s bag and takes it to their guest room with the littles trailing behind him.
“We'll meet in the living room ok?” He asks and the little nods, so the two split off towards their room, leaving Spencer to change.
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Spencer's already sitting in the living room, his new stuffed animal in his lap, when Courtney barrels down the stairs with Shayne following behind them.
Both he and Spencer are in sweats and a T-shirt but Court’s wearing a full Spider-Man costume onesie.
They hop onto the couch, stuffed lobster in hand. “Spider popsicle, spider pjs, spider movie?” They throw out and Spencer hums
“Spider-Verse?” He suggests and Courtney nods excitedly, picking up the remote to find the movie.
“Hey Spence?” Shayne asks, sitting on the couch in between the littles.
He hums so he continues, “If you fall asleep, is it ok if I put you in your bed?” He questions and the little nods hesitantly
“I know you probably won't,” he continues, “ I just didn't want to move you without asking”
Courtney finally finds the movie and presses play, cuddling into Shayne.
It takes Spencer a bit longer, slowly moving towards him. By the halfway point, he's leaning his head on his shoulder, and by the end he's cuddled comfortably into his side.
Shayne smiles softly at him. “Are you set for bed?” He asks and the little nods.
They both stand, Shayne holding a sleeping Courtney as he walks the other little to his room for the night.
“Goodnight Spence, come wake me if you need me, alright?” He says with a smile
He grins back, “Gnight Shayne, see you in the morning.”
Shayne leaves and he closes the door behind him.
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Spencer slowly does his nighttime routine and climbs into bed, clutching his new stuffed animal to his chest.
He picks up his phone and checks his texts.
Tommy: good 2 hear bub have fun
Damien: I'm up for the day if you wanna say goodnight.
He grins, calling Damien who picks up on the first ring.
“Hey buddy!” He says cheerfully
“Dames!” He calls back
“How's it going with Shourtney?” He asks genuinely and Spencer laughs at the nickname.
“We watched Spider-Man and had popsicles and played Mario party and had taco bell and Shayne bought me a toy,” he rambles excitedly.
“Follow up questions.” He says, his smile audible in his voice. “Which movie, who won, and what toy?”
“Spider-verse, was don't win so I lost so I won, and my first stuffed animal.” He answers
“Your first one?” he asks surprised, “What animal is it?”
“Think it's a sea lion” he tells him, "still not 100% sure.”
“You'll have to send me a picture when you wake up, right now it's bedtime.” He tells him
“I will” he promises, “Gnight Dames”
“Good night Spence”
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Damien comes back from England, and on his first day back at work he leaves a present at Spencer's desk.
He opens it and inside is a small stuffed lion and a note.
“Now you have 2 stuffed animals”
-Damien
P.S. Did you know the national animal of England is a lion?
Spencer rolls his eyes, gently placing the lion in his bag to bring home to his sea lion, Fred Barks.