After filing his company for bankruptcy, Kyle's wife leaves him and his three-year-old son. Now a forty-two-year-old divorcee with no parenting skills or money, Kyle decides to move back to the small home town he grew up in.
He should have lost all...
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Chaska was flipping through a book when the sound of running feet and squeals made him raise his head. He rolled his eyes when he noticed that Kyle was pretending to chase Otis through the aisles.
"This is a library," Chaska muttered, pressing his pointing finger to his lips as he made a shushing sound. The toddler paused in his tracks, mimicking Chaska's shush gesture before looking behind him and squealing again. He ran past Chaska, trying to avoid Kyle who was still pretending to be ten times slower than he was to give Otis a head start.
"Don't entertain him," Chaska said when Kyle was in earshot.
Kyle chuckled, moving to stand beside to taller man. "How couldn't I? He's so cute," he muttered, making Chaska smile.
"I guess," the younger man said, feeling his stomach twist up when Kyle reached out to help him tuck his shirt in his jeans. Chaska needed to borrow a few books from the library, and Kyle had wanted to tag along with Otis, so here they were in the small underfunded town library.
It was a public holiday, so most people were at home taking a rest instead of running errands or doing an outing.
"Have you found what you're looking for?" Kyle asked, moving his hand from the belt of Chaska's trousers to hold on to the man's shoulder.
"No, but I'll ask them if they can order it," Chaska muttered, squinting down the aisle. A part of being a teacher, even for a small daycare, was trying to get books and learning material.
"Alright then, we should go and find Otis if we're leaving," Kyle said, letting go of the man's shoulder before walking away to look for his son. Chaska smiled as he watched him leave, and he only turned his head towards the bookshelves again when Kyle was out of sight.
When the toddler was found hiding under one of the many desks in the reading area, the trio left the library and headed in the direction of the parking lot. Fall was slowly passing away, giving way to colder temperatures and the need for heftier outerwear. Sometimes, the mornings would mean seeing a thick fog or ice frosting and sheets on grass blades. It didn't snow in Newfront often—which made it ideal for farming, but the way the current fall season was going meant there would be at least some snow in winter.
"We should go and get ice cream," Chaska said after convincing Otis that he had to sit at the back.
"Ice cream?" The toddler asked, perking up as his gaze moved to look at his father up in front. "Strawberry?" he asked, as Chaska got into the passenger seat and closed the door behind him.
"Anything you want," Kyle muttered, adjusting the driver's mirror as he looked at his son. A smile touched his lips, wondering why he had been so harsh on him when they had started living together by themselves. He was glad that he was getting closer to his boy.
"With sprinkles?" Otis asked, squealing a bit when his father nodded his head. Like the two men, the boy was wearing a padded jacket and thick socks to fight off the cold, but it did look like he was drowning in his own clothes.
