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Alice was walking past Jimmy's room on her way downstairs when she heard something she wasn't expecting to hear from his room. She paused and she heard it again. Her brow wrinkling in concern, she pushed his door open all the way. She paused before stepping all the way into his room. “Jimmy,” she said, keeping her voice calm and friendly, “what exactly are you doing?”
Jimmy looked up, grinning widely. “Playin' with mah toys!”
Alice relaxed slightly, maybe she'd just heard him enthusiastically bashing them into each other again. “What were you playing?” she asked with an interested smile. Her interest was mostly natural, she did like hearing him chat about the things he liked.
“We was just talkin’,” Jimmy said cheerfully, pushing his toy train into a stuffed bear.
“Oh yeah?” Alice leaned against the doorframe. “About what?”
“Well, Jonathan–” Jimmy waved the teddy bear at Alice. “–is mad at Super Cow–” Jimmy pointed at a tan shaggy yak that was clearly not a cow. “–for stealing Fish’n’Chips’ train.” The stuffed lobster perched on top of the train took that moment to slide off and hit the floor, but Jimmy didn't notice. “And do y’know what I said to everybody?”
An amused smile touched Alice's lips. When it became clear Jimmy was impatiently waiting for her to respond, she did. “What?”
“FUCK!” Jimmy announced gleefully. “HAHA, what a funny word. FUCK! AHHHA!”
Alice pressed a hand to her head. Really..? Really.. “Jimmy..” she started slowly, “that's not a very nice word to say.”
Jimmy wasn't listening. “This is Mr Fuck!” He lifted up a stuffed duck. “What sound do you think he makes?”
“Quack?” Alice tried weakly.
“FUCK!” bellowed Jimmy. “Mr Fuck makes the FUCK sound. He says the ocean is- is gonna shrink when global freezing happens and- and that there's gonna be seven planets. ‘Cause.. cause when Mummy kisses Daddy that- they make babies and- and…” he trailed off. “I want iPad.”
“Daaaad?” Alice called, stepping into the hallway. “You need to have a talk with Jimmy..”
John David took the steps two at a time. “Yes, Laura?”
“You need to have a talk with Jimmy.. he's…” She shook her head. “You'll understand..”
John stepped forward, confusion flicking over his expression as he replaced Alice at Jimmy's door. “Jimmy..? Wh- what are you doing?” He asked slowly, unsure what to expect.
“Talkin’ to mah toys!”
“Oh?” This didn't seem so bad. “What are you saying to them?”
“FUCK!” Jimmy beamed up at his father.
John pinched the bridge of his nose. This was going to be a long conversation…