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"Baby?" Seungmin quietly called out, walking into his bedroom. Felix hummed back in acknowledgment and looked up from his phone, smiling at the taller man. "I've been thinking.." Seungmin mumbled, heading into the bed. He crawled to the middle and sat down across Felix, gently taking his hands.
"Huh? What... What have you been thinking about? I promise I can stop regressing if it's too much, just-"
"Lix no, it has nothing to do with that. Let me speak for a moment, baby." Seungmin smiled gently, pulling Felix' face closer to softly kiss his lips. "I've been working a lot, which takes a lot of time away from home... You obviously need more regressing time throughout the week, and it frustrates me that I can't be there to give you that. So... I did some digging. There's a daycare for Little ones like you just a twenty minute drive from here. It's on the way to my work, so it would be perfect. I really mean it when I say I don't want to just drop you somewhere off and leave-I just want to find a solution so badly and it hurts me that you can't regress more often than-"
"I want to. I wanna try it out." Felix cut him off, sitting up excitedly. He giggled and jumped up in Seungmin's arms, knocking the both of them down on the bed.
"Really? You're not upset? Or sad?" Seungmin asked, looking happy but slightly concerned. "I really want to try it... I've been thinking about such a thing too, though I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea.... When does it start?"
"Next Tuesday. It's different days and different times, but the most ideal for you would be on Tuesdays. It's four caregivers with about ten little ones. Saying you'd regress for about 6 hours, it would be perfect from 10 am until 4 pm. I can come and get you at 6pm the latest, or as early as you want. There's also another part in the building where you can be big--for if you don't need to regress more that day." Seungmin smiled widely, clearly excited about all the research he'd done. Felix watched in awe as he listened to his boyfriend talk, gently pressing his lips to the younger's.
"It's perfect." Felix smiled, bending down to hide his face into Seungmin's neck. The younger wrapped his arms tightly around Felix and kept them both touching, cuddling close to his lover.
---
"Ready?" Seungmin smiled to the side, squeezing Felix' hand. The shorter bit his lip and nodded, being led through a doorway that led to a hallway. Seungmin guided him to the end and got into one of the smaller, private rooms, setting Felix' bag down on the bench besides them.
"Gonna be small, huh?" Seungmin whispered, pressing a kiss to Felix' forehead. He could already see the smaller's eyes glaze over and his eyelids blink a lot slower, a clear sign he would be slipping already.
"You feel a bit tiny, love? Can you tell Minnie how old you're feeling?" Seungmin asked, gently taking Felix' hands back in his own and glancing down at the size difference, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He waited for a movement from the smaller one's hands, seeing three small fingers poke up.
"Good job, baby boy. Just gonna meet with the others, yeah? You can play, drink some milk if you want and nap. Does that sound good?" Seungmin asked once more--just to be sure. They had plenty of conversations with both regressed Lixie and Felix, so they knew what would happen and be sure they were on the same page.
"Appa's just gonna take your shoes off, yeah? You can stay comfortable, baby. Do you have your puppy?" Seungmin asked, untying Felix' shoes. He gently slipped them off and placed them in the little cubby under the bench Felix was sitting on.
Felix nodded, pulling his puppy stuffed animal out of his bag. Seungmin hummed softly, closing the bag again before putting it on top of his shoes.
"You gonna be a good boy for Appa?" He asked, sitting down on the bench next to Felix. He pulled the boy on his lap and kissed his cheek, feeling him curl up against his chest. His small hands gripped Seungmin's shirt, face pressed up in his neck.
"You alright, baby? Feeling a bit nervous?" Seungmin softly asked, rubbing his hand along Felix' back. The little whimpered and nodded, his grip becoming tighter on the caregiver's shirt. Seungmin coed quietly, peppering kisses all over his face.
He was glad they had left a lot earlier than needed, knowing it would take a while for Felix to loosen up. He knew the little really wanted to try though, so he made sure to soothe him plenty.
"That's okay, baby. Appa knows you're a good boy . You'll make friends immediately, baby. You're so lovely." Seungmin smiled, his other hand rubbing a thumb over his cheek. "F'iends?" Felix mumbled, looking up at his caregiver with teary eyes. "Ahw, yes baby. You're such a good boy . Everyone will want to be your friend." Seungmin pressed another kiss to Felix' cheek, looking up when noticing a few other people came into the room. He gave them a polite smile, though kept his main attention on Felix, who ducked back in his chest.
"I see there are some little ones here already—hi there guys! I'm Amy, one of the caregivers. Are there some little ones ready already?" The woman kindly smiled, looking around the room. Some littles excitedly raised their hand, a few a little bit shy. The caregiver called them over to the door to follow her, which about 3/4th of the room did.
"You're gonna be so good, baby. Appa knows you'll be the best boy." Seungmin quietly whispered, feeling Felix sit up a bit more to wrap his arms around his neck, nuzzling a kiss to his cheek. "Be good fo' Appa." He mumbled, resting his chin on the caregiver's shoulder.
"Oh I know, baby. You're always so incredibly good for Appa." Seungmin muttered, giving Felix one more tight hug. He could see another woman coming in, looking a lot more calm than the previous one.
"I heard we have some shy little ones in here today. Does anyone want to have some quiet playtime with me?" She asked, seeing a couple of caregivers encourage their littles to step forward' almost all of the little ones were at the woman's side, except for Felix, who held on to Seungmin as tight as he could.
"You're going to be okay, baby boy. Appa's gonna be right back. Wanna have some fun with your new friends? My lovely boy, you'll have so many friends here." Seungmin encouraged him, rubbing his back. Felix whimpered but pulled away anyway, being put on the ground again.
"Paci?" He whispered quietly, biting down on his lower lip. Seungmin smiled, gently pressing the boy's soother between his lips. Felix suckled on it a couple of secondsbefore turning around, slowly making his way a bit closer to the group.
"You guys are such a sweet littles, let's go and see what we can play with, huh?" The caregiver smiled brightly, though not too overwhelming for the shy littles in the room. She got a few hands around her own, pulling the boys and girls through the hallway. Felix looked back once at Seungmin, his little doe eyes still filled with fear.
Seungmin gave him a comforting smile, nodding quietly. Felix gave him a small thumbs up, his other hand clutching his stuffed animal tightly to his chest. The taller stood up from the bench and followed the group, just as the other caregivers did, all waving their littles goodbye. Seungmin stayed a bit longer until noticing Felix was being talked to by one of the caregivers in the playroom, so he waved once more before heading out of the building.
Of course he didn't feel completely comfortable with leaving without knowing his Lixie would be alright, so he looked through the window for a couple more minutes to make sure Felix wouldn't start crying once noticing Seungmin had left. Fortunately Felix did in fact not seem too upset, going towards a less crowder space in the room to sit down and keep himself busy.
Seungmin smiled at the boy, leaving to his car. He felt quite nervous to leave his baby there until he got off from work--though he also knew he would be in good hands, and if Felix felt too uncomfortable staying small he could stay in one of the other rooms as well.
---
By the end of the day it was safe to say Felixie missed his caregiver. Sure, the ones at the daycare were okay, but he couldn't help the immense crave towards hugs and cuddles from his own caregiver. He'd been quiet for most of the day, only nodding or shaking his head when needed. He wasn't being stubborn or bad, the caregivers knew that, he just needed more time to open up without his Appa.
Seungmin was excited to finally have Felix back in the safety of his own arms, quickly driving to the daycare. He was a bit earlier so decided to head to the room with benches to sit down--though heard the familiar voice calling out for him in a cry.
Seungmin immediately turned around, seeing Felix run to the door of the playroom. Heavy sobs were ripped from his throat as he impatiently waited for someone to unlock the door, getting down on his knees besides the door to cry against his puppy clutched to his chest.
"Hey--hey, Lixie. It's okay, here you go buddy, the door's already open." One of the women said, though was cut off when Seungmin was now the one quickly getting in the room to pull his baby on his lap.
"Appa!" Felix cried out in his chest, tightly hanging on to Seungmin's shirt. The caregiver frowned at the pure sadness leaving his boy, lifting him up from the ground. "I'm just going to take him next door." He smiled at the woman besides them, who gave him a warm and comforting smile back, nodding her head.
"Hey, my pretty boy. Missed Appa?" Seungmin asked, feeling Felix rapidly nod his head against his chest. He hiccuped quietly, small whines leaving the back of his throat to make sure his appa heard his misery.
"Appa missed you too, baby. Appa missed you so much. You were so good for Appa, waiting so patiently." Seungmin whispered in Felix' ear, cradling his head to his chest. The boy let out another choked sob, now being able to properly bury himself in Seungmin's arms when they sat down on one of the benches.
"It's okay, my sweet boy. You've been so good today, my love. Such a good baby for Appa." Seungmin quietly added, looking up to see one of the caregivers come inside. "So many tears, Lixie. You were so good today, Lixie." She smiled to the boy, sitting down a few feet away to give the two some privacy cuddling.
"'m--'m sorry." Felix hiccuped, muffled behind the pacifier Seungmin took from his backpack as a backup. The caregiver gently shushed him, shaking her head. "Nothing to be sorry for, Lixie. You were amazing. Your Appa can be really proud of you, y'know?" She smiled, seeing Seungmin nod as well. "Appa is really proud of my Lixie. Gonna get a surprise for sure." He smiled, giggling at the small hitch in Felix' breath at the sound of a surprise.
"Home?" Felix muttered, his voice small and vulnerable. Seungmin kissed his cheek, placing him down on the bench to put on his shoes.
"Yeah, baby. Gonna go home and cuddle, yeah? You look like you need some Appa cuddles." Seungmin smiled, gently wiping away the little one's tears. Felix sniffled and nodded, holding the stuffed puppy animal against his nose to soothe himself.
"I'll see you next time, Lixie. Byebye!" The caregiver smiled, waving to the boy now looking up at her. She got a small, hesitate wave back before heading to the playroom again.
"C'mon, baby. Did so well for Appa. Gonna cuddle, eat yummy food and have a nice story before bed, yeah?" Seungmin grinned, picking Felix up again. The little tightly held on, nodding at the amazing ideas his Appa had.