Their Marked Baby Boy

8

I sat quietly at the table, working on a drawing of a tree I'd started a few days ago. Occasionally, I glanced behind me and saw Dan getting food.  It was strange that I felt so much comfort knowing he was there, I'd only met the man this morning, but it was nice having someone there looking out for me.

I set my pencil down as Dan returned. He placed down two plates of food, one in front of me and one in front of him.

"Bon apatite." He said in a bad French accent, making me giggle.

I turned to the plate of food. It was a ham sandwich and a cut-up apple served up on a blue plastic plate. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was the nicest meal I'd had in a while. Dad didn't keep much food in the house. He mostly ate when he was at bars, so I was stuck with the few things he bothered to stock the cupboards with.

I began eating the first half of the sandwich as Dan explained that the canteen normally has more food, but because it was past lunchtime, this was all they had left.

"Everything alright?" He asked, noticing I'd stopped eating.

"Yeah, I'm done." I push my plate away slightly to illustrate my point.

"What?" He frowned."You've hardly eaten half."

"I'm full." I mumbled, looking at my lap.

"You missed breakfast. You must be hungrier than that."

"I never have breakfast." I shrugged, I was getting nervous, and it showed. I dad want him to get mad and lash out at me.

He sighed. "It's alright, we'll work on it. For no,  can you just try and eat some of the apple?"

"Alright." I answered, picking up a slice. I managed to eat about a third of the apple before I had to stop.

Dan ruffled my hair as he stood up to take the plates away. The contact instantly helped me calm down.

"I need to check some work emails so we're gonna head to the playroom." He explained as he picked up his bag and handed me my sketchbook.

"Playroom?" I wondered aloud as we began walking.

"It's just a place where caregivers can let littles have fun without having to be as careful watching them. There are toys, and there might be other littles, but you don't have to play if you don't want to. There's books so you could read or just draw for a bit whilst I work."

"Oh." I was glad that I wouldn't be forced to play but anxious at the thought of other people.

Dan squeezed my hand reassuringly before opening the door.