Ending 3 - Anon and the Dino-Tykes

Ending 3 - Anon and the Dino-Tykes
Title: Ending 3 - Anon and The Dino-Tykes
Status: Complete
Characters: Anon, Fang
Rating: SFW
Classification: One Shot
Author: Anonymous
*After Ending 3*
It’s been one week since I returned to Lucy; one week I made good on our promise. The two of us have been inseparable nearly this whole time I’ve been back, it feels like a dream. Seeing Lucy again… Something inside of me just feels… complete. It’s all I can do to let her go in the mornings, to look after the gaggle of kids at the church’s day-care. Though, Lucy seems at-ease around the kids, more than she is when we’re out on our nearly nightly dates. She tries to be strong, but I can see the pain and fear in her eyes when she walks near the places we used to go to as teenagers. Lucy nearly broke down in tears when we passed her old favorite guitar shop yesterday. While I’ve tried to get her to take up music again, it’s still too much, too fast. I know I’ve got to take this slow, and savor every moment.
Today, we’re having dinner with her parents. Her family has been a big help, getting me set up with an apartment in a much nicer part of town than I lived in before. Ripley even offered to take me golfing, although I’m not sure if I’m ready to take him up on that offer just yet. For now though, any chance I can get to spend with Lucy is fine by me.
Standing outside the day-care room, I wait for Lucy to get ready, browsing the pictures on the wall, each a poorly drawn symphony in crayon. The kids are out right now: Lucy said something about them getting their last psalm lesson for the day before their parents pick them up. A lot of the other staff at the church have been helping out, giving Lucy and I more time to get re-acquainted. Secretly, I think they just want us to get married as quickly as we can. I can see the half-hidden smiles when I talk to Lucy’s church group, feel their eyes on our backs as I walk her home. Clearly, these people think Petro Estrus season is in full-swing, and I must be taking advantage of it!
…Not that they aren’t wrong, though…
Should I be thinking about that in a church?
A small cough and a tug on my pants legs snaps be back to reality. Turning away from the crayon scribbles, my face blushing, I have to re-adjust my gaze slightly before I can take in the interruption: A dozen or so dino-kids, none older than 6, stand around my ankles, each pair of eyes as big as saucers as they stare up at me.
Apparently all that training in special-forces doesn’t amount to crap when faced with a horde of dino-tykes.
One such tyke, a bespectacled steggo boy of maybe four, gives my pants leg another tug, his small backpack gently clasped in his other hand.
“Are you Mister Anon?”
His question immediately opens the flood gates, as the others pile on their voices.
“He’s scary!”
“Missus Wucy said we can’t talk to stwangers!”
“Are all humans like him?”
Smiling, I move to crouch low on my heels, sending the kids shuffling back with barely-contained gasps. The little steggo boy holds his ground however, his glasses amplifying his wonderous gaze as he now stares at me face-to-face.
“Yep, that’s me,” I say, holding out my hand. Somehow, the little boy’s eyes go even wider as he reaches out his hand, mine own dwarfing it several times over as I give it a little shake. “You must be Ms. Lucy’s class?”
That seemed to have loosened them up a little. Kids aren’t afraid of anything for long, and now that I was officially “not a stranger” in their minds, they began crowding around me once more, small scaly hands measured against mine, little budding horns fingers as they gazed wondrously up at my chrome dome.
“Wow!”
“You’re sooooo cool!”
“Why don’t you have any horns, Mister Anon?
“Why are you scwales all soft and pink?
Laughing, I let them clamber around me, pulling at my clothes as I struggle to answer their questions. “No, humans don’t have horns, we have hair. No, no scales either. Yes, I am fully grown. No, not everyone has hair. No, I don’t loose my hair-horns every season. Okay, maybe cool it with the hair questions, okay?”
Undeterred, the kids continue their verbal onslaught, poking and prodding me like I’m the most interesting thing to crawl out from under a rock they’ve seen all day. Just as I’m starting to wonder what’s keeping Lucy, a little girl at the back of the pack speaks up, her squeaky voice silent up until now.
“Do you wuv Missus Wucy?”
The dino-tykes stop their badgering, settling down expectantly. I can feel my muscles clench slightly, a shiver of… something, running down my spine.
Sensing my weakness, the little girl chimes up again. “Missus Wucy said she wuved someone, wonce. She, umm, said she felt com-fort-uh-bull wonce before, and now she says she feels, uh, the same way now.”
I never thought the one who would take me down like this would be wearing a pink frilly tutu and matching Dino-Pals sweatshirt.
I’m silent for a while, as I consider the little tyke’s question. Finally, I smile once more, hoping to through this little assassin off her attack.
“Ms. Lucy has had a some really tough times before, you know? I only knew her a short while, when we were big-kids, and I hoped I could help her through those rough times. See, she meant a lot to me back then, and she means maybe even more now. Love is a really… nice thing to have, for grown-ups, and I hope I can give her thiiiiiiiis much!” Spreading my arms out wide, I attempt to indicate just how much love I hoped to give Lucy.
There wasn’t enough room in the world to display that amount, however.
Immediately, the dino-tykes are on me once more, each squeaky voice crying out their acceptance for me, letting me know how nice “Missus Wucy” was, and how much they were glad she could have someone again. I caught some of them reaching their arms out wide, mimicking my display, showing me just how much they loved Lucy too.
“Wow, that’s a wot!”
“I wanna be like Anon when I grow up!”
“Missus Lucy is cute! CUTE!”
Glancing up, I caught sight of Lucy through the open day-care door, having finally gathered up her things from the church office on the other side of the building. Quickly, I shushed the dino-tykes as best I could, holding up a finger to my lips until they all copied me.
“But this is our secret, okay? We can’t let Ms. Lucy find out, it’s a surprise!” The dino-tykes were eager to agree, shushing each other in turn as I sprang quickly to my feet. Lucy cocked an eyebrow questioningly as she entered the day-care, meeting me half-way as I moved towards her.
“What’s a surprise, Anon?” Lucy asked as I took her hand in mine. Giving it a little squeeze, I just smiled, pressing my finger to my lips once more. The still-assembled dino-tykes did the same, nearly shushing Lucy in unison. Laughing, Lucy shook her head, smiling at her assembled class.
“Okay, well then it can be a secret! Kids, your mommies and daddies are here to come get you, so why you don’t run over to Ms. Sarah so she can release you, okay?” A cacophony of cheers greets Lucy’s discharge, the little kids scampering around us to re-join their families. The little girl from before hesitates in front of us for a moment, looking up at us and nodding astutely before giving my leg a big hug and running off to join the rest of the class. Lucy’s amber eyes catch mine, a look of utter bewilderment on her face.
“What was that all about, Anon?” As we step out of the day-care, Lucy wraps her arm around mine as we head out to dinner. I can’t help but smile as I glance down at her, drinking in the beauty of her face as we pass through the halls of the church.
“Oh, you know how kids are, right? Sometimes, they’re just who you need to talk to.” I hold open the door, Lucy pausing for a second before turning to leave.
“You’re still such a dweeb, Anon.”