11:38am

The children's points will be going up by the way, for anyone confused

Current points:
Virgil - 50
Logan - 101
Roman - 10

Au
—

The first month Patton had his kids actually went really well, apart from the few hiccups (as he expected) his children's points were growing and he couldn't be more proud of them. Of course none of them are the most well behaved, Logan would completely ignore rules if they didn't benefit him - for instance he thought bedtime was too early and would often stay up until around midnight reading to his hearts content.

Although Patton adored he loved reading so much he had to put a stop to it somehow.

One night Patton checked in on them before he was going to bed, spotting Virgil and Roman fast asleep (for they enjoyed sleep, which Patton found adorable) but in the middle of the room Logan sat on his bed, torch light in hand, hovering over his book so he could read in the dark. There was a nightlight close to Virgil's bed but it wasn't bright enough to help Logan.

"Kiddo.." Patton calles softly with a frown, "you should be asleep" he added and Logan sighed.

"I am not tired, Patton" he replied and carried on reading. Patton discovered the reason his points were so low, he thought they would be higher due to the fact smart kids did have more points but it was because of his lack of emotions. His voice was quite dull and he usually didn't smile or have any sort of expression on his face - he was like a robot and not many parents would want that sort of child apparently. According to the points.

Patton was different in that regard, he loved Logan as much as Roman and Virgil - found his facts interesting to listen to and often found whenever Logan would emote, a smile for instance, it would warm Patton's heart to no end.

Knowing he wouldn't want to sleep Patton relented. "Okay, can I show you something then?" And that piqued Logan's interested, slowly shutting his book and pacing it beside his pillow. "What is it?" He asked curiously, slipping off his bed and walking over to Patton who smiled a lil' sleepily but warmly nonetheless.

"You'll see" he replied mysteriously, leaving the door open ajar because he quickly learnt Roman didn't like being in a room where the doors were shut all the way.

Leading Logan downstairs he put a jacket around him, zipping it up to keep him warm. "Are we going outside?" Logan asked with furrowed eyebrows, following after Patton closely now, watching him unlock and open the back door. "Yep" he giggled, leading Logan out and shutting the door quietly behind him.

They walked across the pathway in the garden the children hadn't been out in much, Patton made a mental note to take them outside more.

"Lay here" Patton instructed, laying down on the soft patch of grass and patting the spot next to him. Logan did so and Patton didn't need to tell him to look up for he already was, eyes widening so big Patton thought it was adorable! Unable to stop grinning at the sight.

"Pretty, huh?" Patton cooed, reaching over and wrapping his hand around Logan's. He knew both Virgil and Logan enjoyed hand-holding, not so much Roman who was still against the whole 'touching' aspect of life. Patton wanted to know why but was scared to find the answer.

Logan didn't really respond, he kind of nodded but all his attention was focused on the sky above. "This is stargazing, correct?" He murmured after a moment and Patton agreed.

"We did not get to do this before" Logan quietly opened up, "I read a book about constellations..." Logan began, Patton watching him fondly as he began to go into a little rant about all he could remember which was honestly quite a lot, Patton didn't know most of what he talked about and was very impressed with his outstanding knowledge. Patton was sure he would grow up to become an extremely intelligent man.

"Could we do this again?" Logan asked when he finished rambling, five minutes later. "Of course, Kiddo" Patton respondes quick, squeezing his hand lightly. "How about I buy you more space-related books and you can tell me all about them next time?" He suggested and Logan's face lit up which made Patton grin widely - he was so happy for his boy gosh- he felt like he couldn't contain it but somehow he did.

"Really?"

"Yep!" Patton giggled, "I like listening to you"

Logan slowly sat up, Patton joining him. "The carer's usually told me to shut up whenever I told them facts" he explained quietly and Patton frowned, reaching forward to hold both of his hands, tracing his thumbs across his knuckles. "I'm not those carer's, remember? I want to hear all the facts you can learn, I bet you're already smarter than Einstein" he complimented which made Logan shake his head but unable to wipe his small smile away.

"I am not there yet..." he murmured sheepishly, Patton gently tilted his head back up.

"You will be, I'm sure of it"

And when Patton gazed at him again, his smile broadened when he saw his points. One hundred and ten.

"C'mon, bed time, okay? If you go to sleep at the right time every night this week we can stargaze for however long you want Saturday evening, okay?" And Logan was nodding hurriedly, quick to want to get back inside and sleep. Patton followed, locking the door while Logan waited patiently.

"Goodnight, Kiddo" Patton smiled after tucking his boy into bed, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to his forehead. He had given them out a few times to him and Virgil knowing they both liked it very much.

"Goodnight, Patton" Logan whispered, eyes already slipping shut as he snuggled into his blanket, teddy bear laying beside him. Patton learnt Logan preferred to sleep beside his teddies, just touching them instead of cuddling them. Virgil preferred to hold as many as he could in his arms while Roman only cuddled one - he had a favourite and pack-bonded with it.

While Virgil followed most rules he didn't obey to them all, he preferred being alone and would hide himself away in the house nearly all day which in the beginning worried Patton to no end. Sometimes he would spend hours searching through the entire house only for him to be hidden behind a few boxes in a storage room, or underneath his bed, or hidden between furniture, anywhere he couldn't be found, couldn't be bothered and left alone in.

And Patton quickly adapted to this, often now he enjoyed finding Virgil hidden in random areas if he were cleaning or just meandering through the house. But he realised he should probably try and give him a room to himself before he hurt himself when trying to hide.

For a few days Patton emptied out a small room that was basically holding the stuff Patton had meant to get rid of but hadn't gotten around to it. He stuffed everything into bags and left them be taken away by the garbage truck on an early morning. Now with an empty room he got to work setting it up to be a cute hang-out room, a desk pressed to the wall with pots full of colourful pencils and paper stacked in the small draws along with other, artsy things.

He put a few beanbags in a different corner and a small couch for children with a few fluffy pillows (because ever since Virgil first touched a fluffy pillow on Patton's living room couch he adopted it as his own so Patton was more than happy to give him more). He also pinned a few of Virgil's past drawings on the wall to make the walls less barren.

Patton did once have his own tablet but never used it much, the children play with it more than he ever did so he allowed them to keep it. Virgil specifically who loves sitting with it quietly and listening to different songs. Patton added a charger into one of the sockets in case Virgil would ever need it and he was...done.

Looking around the room with a smile he nodded in approval, it had taken him two days to complete (as he needed to wait a day for the things he ordered to arrive) but was very proud of it indeed.

He found Virgil wandering through a hallway and quickly caught up to the boy who was hugging a teddy close to his chest, trying to find somewhere to sit down and relax.

"Kiddo" Patton grabbed his attention, bending down before him with a smile. Virgil looked at him silently.

"Come with me, I have something to show you" he held out his hand and Virgil instantly took it, somewhat focused on the idea he was going to see something but more entranced by holding Patton's hand, walking close beside him. "This room" Patton explained, tapping the door when they reached it.

"Is yours" he smiled, watching Virgil frown and shake his head. "I want to share with Lo and Ro" he whispered, sadness sweeping through his eyes. "Of course you can, Kiddo, but this won't be your bedroom" Patton hurried, squeezing his hand reassuringly.

Virgil nodded softly, watching as Patton opened the door and led him inside. "I know you like being alone, so you can hang out in here, I promise no one will disturb you"

Virgil looked around the room in wonderment, parting from Patton to get a closer look of everything, holding his teddy up so it could see things too.

"Do you like it?" Patton asked when Virgil stopped exploring and was just standing still, staring. "Uh huh" he nodded quickly, moving back to Patton. "..thank you" he whispered shyly and Patton beamed, cupping his cheek gently. "You're welcome, Kiddo, I'm glad you like it" Virgil nodded and leaned into his palm, shifting from one foot to the other - Patton knew what that meant, he wanted a hug but didn't know how to ask for one.

Silently he opened his arms and Virgil shuffled into them, wrapping his small arms around Patton's neck, letting out the tiniest giggles when Patton picked him up and twirled around. Patton wondered how on Earth such an adorable child could have such low-points but after living with him for awhile he realised why - he was a timid, shy boy which is sometimes a trait of a child in the middle facility but Virgil was different due to his anxiety which worsened when he moved through different facilities and was treated the way he was, told to shove it aside, ignore it.

Patton was currently correcting those thoughts - whenever Virgil expressed a worry to him Patton would comfort him and explain to him whatever he was anxious about would be okay, whenever he talked calmly and rationally Virgil seemed to calm down very much but still enjoyed cuddles afterwards. When it became really bad (which had only happened twice so far) Patton would take him somewhere quiet and hold him while whispering reassurances into his ear, settling him down until he fell asleep in Patton's lap, he didn't move until the boy would wake up, not wanting to change his scenery after such a panicked moment.

"Could I listen to music?" Virgil asked, still sitting in Patton's arms, looking all cute and curious. Patton brushed their noses together, grinning when Virgil giggled lightly.

"Of course, Kiddo" he placed Virgil down and told him to sit wherever he wanted, moving out the room and finding the tablet sitting on the table in the living room. While he grabbed it he glanced over at his older boys who were sitting on the couch, Roman entranced by a Disney movie on the television, Logan deeply interested in his space book. Patton smiled at the sight, kissing Logan's forehead before he left, not noticing Roman watch him while he did.

"Here you go, Kiddo" Patton said upon entering the room, wondering why he couldn't see Virgil until his head popped up from beside the couch, he had moved a beanbag beside and Patton wasn't surprised. "If you need to charge it just plug this into it, okay?" he held up the charger cord and Virgil nodded, leaning into him when he kissed his forehead.

"Love you, Kiddo"

Virgil reaches forward, holding his hand. "You...you too, Patton" he quietly responded and he grinned, completely content knowing he had a hard time saying 'I love you'.

"Call me if you need me" Patton settled on, standing up and leaving the room, closing the door completely.

Roman, on the other hand, didn't follow any rules at all if he could help it. He purposely went against them, the only rule he did listen to was bedtime only because he's a tired bean during the evening. Many times Patton had to send him to his room when he did something bad but he knew it wasn't helping the situation - he wanted to get to the bottom of it and what's the best way to do so? Communication.

He found Roman sitting in a quiet hallway, pens in his hands, ready to draw on the wall. He flinched when Patton sat beside him, watching as Patton grabbed a felt tip and began to draw before he could, making a smiley face against the soft pink colour.

"This wall did need brightening up" he commented, smiling at Roman who stared at him in surprise, then frowned angrily, shoving the pens away.

"Whatever" he grumbled, ready to stand up but Patton spoke to him first.

"Kiddo, lets go to your room, yeah? I want to talk to you" Roman seemed to pause at this, glancing at Patton with a curious frown, his anger dissipating. Quietly he followed Patton up to their bedroom, the man gesturing for Roman to sit down which he did hesitantly.

Patton closed the door and moved over to Roman, opening his mouth to speak but his words died on his tongue when he noticed how Roman's hands quivered. "Kiddo..?"

"Just get it over with!" Roman suddenly yelled, shifting further and further back on his couch. "I don't care just! Just...get it over with" he borderline begged, turning his head to the side, whole body tensed and Patton understood. He thought he was going to hit him...

"Oh, Kiddo" Patton whispered brokenly, kneeling down on the ground before him, watching his hands clench tighter.

"Roman, sweetheart, look at me" Patton whispered and he did after a moment, "I'm not going to hit you" he reassured quickly when he had his gaze, "I promise I'll never, ever hit you" Patton carried on, "I only wanted to talk, okay?" And Roman seemed...shocked. His eyes searching Patton's to see if he meant it and he...did.

Still, Roman wasn't convinced.

"Liar" he wanted to yell but it came out much more quietly, much more fearfully.

Patton noticed his points dropped back down to nine.

He slowly shuffled away from the boy, once far enough away he stood up and knelt down the other side of Logan's bed, wearing a gentle smile. "C'mere, Kiddo, sit there" Patton gestured to the space the other side of Logan's bed. Wondering what kind of punishment this was Roman did so, staring at Patton's hand closely which he placed onto the bed.

"Can you do this?" He asked, making a fist but keeping his thumb upright.

After a moment Roman did so with his opposite hand. "Good, now, can I..?" He hovered his hand above his and Roman tensed, looking the other way, scared he might do something like break his thumb but when his soft hand wrapped around his wrist and moved it further along the bed he peaked at what he was doing, watching Patton open his hand so he did the same, their fingers overlapping until they were encased, thumbs opposite each other.

"What are you doing?" Roman asked after a moment, becoming more and more paranoid as time went by. "A thumb war" Patton explained, gently poking Roman's thumb with his own. "We try and press each other's thumb down, whoever holds it for three seconds wins"

Roman sat up, a competition? He's good at those.

"Fine, I'll win" he warned but Patton merely smiled warmly. "One, two, three, four" Patton counted, "I declare a thumb war" he giggled and Roman took that as a 'go', the two both pushing their thumbs against the other, trying to get over it to push it down, Patton tried for a bit but knew from the start he'd let Roman win so when the boy had his thumb over Patton's he allowed him to push it down.

"Onetwothree, I win!" Roman counted quickly, much quicker than it should be but Patton didn't mind, he just smiled at how excited he was.

"Again!" Roman urged so for the next ten minutes the two sat there playing thumb war over and over, somewhere in between Patton had lifted his hand and held Roman's spare hand with it, the boy barely even noticing until he had won yet another round.

"Okay, enough now kiddo" Patton smiled, taking away his hand. "I'm better at this than you!" Roman grinned, jumping up and down where he sat, only then noticing Patton was holding his hand. He looked down at it and stopped moving, staring at Patton afterwards. He hadn't held hands with Patton before, usually it was just Logan and Virgil. And he...liked it.

"Is this okay?"

Roman nodded gently. "Why don't you ever do this with me?" He then asked quietly but accusingly.

"Because you don't like being touched, Kiddo"

Roman frowned, eyes hardening. "Yeah I do! You're not supposed to listen to me! Why aren't you like the carer's?!" He ripped his hand from Patton, standing up and moving away from Logan's bed. Patton stood up too to move closer to the distressed boy.

"I hate you, Patton! Why don't you treat me like the others?!" He yelled angrily, Patton didn't respond with words, he just knelt down and gently took Roman's hands, tracing his thumbs across his knuckles.

Roman sniffled, bringing in a wavering breath. "I-I...I still don't like you" he tried but his voice fell weaker than before. Patton smiled in his direction, letting go of one of his hands to reach to the back of his head, gently pulling him close to press a kiss to his forehead.

Roman froze up, he...didn't know what to say. He can't remember anyone treating him like this before, it was so foreign, something that just doesn't happen with a kid like him. He just assumed everyone out right hated him and the only way to get any attention was to be...bad.

"Can I hug you?" Patton asked after a moment and Roman crossed his arms.

"Why do you ask me? You don't ask the others"

"Because I want you to be comfortable, Kiddo. The carer's hurt you, didn't they? Whenever you'd act up they'd hit you" and Roman drew a step back, shrugging. "Yeah...why don't you do the same?"

"Because I don't want to hurt you, sweetheart" he whispered, delicately cupping his face, tracing his thumb across his cheek bone. "I'm never going to hurt you, ever. If you want I'll hug you whenever I can, yeah? Kiss your forehead, hold your hand - cuddles, too! Would you want that?"

Roman sniffled, head dropped to stare at the ground. He's never been in this position before, with these emotions, he didn't know how to handle them. When a soft ball was placed into his hands he squeezed it tightly, looking up at Patton again with the ball clutched in both his hands.

"...please" Roman whispered and instantly Patton pulled him into a hug, feeling a few tears splash against his neck but he didn't say a word, just hugged the boy tighter, bringing him into his lap so he didn't have to stand anymore, running a hand up and down his back, feeling one of Roman's hands clutch his t-shirt, the other still holding onto his ball.

"I love you, Kiddo" Patton whispered and Roman only began to cry harder.

That day Roman's points went up to fifteen and Patton was so proud of him.

And the children became accustomed to living in this house, with Patton, with his rules. Now they understood they wouldn't be hurt they began to become...better.

Few months later...

"Patton! Patton! PATTON!" Roman yelled through the house when he burst through the front door after leaving the school bus with Virgil and Logan in tow. Patton hurried into the hallway, Roman crashing into him, jumping up and down on the spot while holding Patton's hand.

"Look! Look! My points!" He screeched delightedly and Patton looked at them.

Fifty. He had fifty points.

"Oh my gosh Kiddo!" Patton scooped him up and twirled him around, "that's awesome! I'm so proud of you!" He congratulated the boy who cheered and wriggled in his grip, his smile blinding, Patton couldn't get enough of it. "I'm gonna have the most points ever!" He exclaimed and Patton grinned, kissing his forehead.

"I'm sure you will, Kiddo" Patton praised, putting him down on the floor so he could run to his room and drop off his school stuff.

"What about you two?" He asked Virgil and Logan who walked up to him when Roman darted away.

Logan had one hundred and sixty two while Virgil had ninety eight.

"Aw, kiddos, I'm proud of you too! You're doing so well" he opened his arms and hugged them both at the same time, giving them both forehead kisses which they leaned into happily.

"I love you two" he smiled, Virgil nestled his head into his neck, one of the many ways he said 'I love you too'.

"I..love you too" Logan smiled, Patton beamed in his direction, stroking his cheek for a moment before turning his head in the stair's direction.

"I love you, Roman!" He called.

"Love you too!" He yelled back and Patton smiled even wider.

Yep, he had the best children ever.

—
Part three? I kinda have an idea

1:26pm