Little that likes art/coloring made a picture for a past "caregiver" and they ripped it up infront of them. Now they hardly draw anything for anyone even though it was their love language.
Now, present-day established relationship with whoever (you can pick caregiver)
They nervously gift a colored picture for them, caregiver knowing how important this is for them comforts them from feeling scared/silly/stupid for coloring for them and makes the gift feel important/ valued
A Place On Daddy's Wall (CG! James Wilson x GN! Reader)
Summary: Your past caregiver was never happy with your drawings, but Wilson surprises you.
Warning: Trauma, past emotional abuse and age regression
The way you showed appreciation had always been a little different from most people.
You loved making things for your caregivers. Little paper flowers folded from brightly colored origami sheets. Friendship bracelets made with slightly uneven knots because your little hands always got distracted halfway through. Tiny beads strung together into necklaces that never quite matched. And, most of all, drawings.
You had always had a wonderfully creative little mind. Every crayon scribble, every glitter sticker you pressed onto the page, every messy heart you drew felt important. Drawing someone a picture wasn't just arts and crafts to you, it was your way of saying I love you.
It was how you spoke when words didn't feel big enough.
Your very first caregiver had never understood that.
No matter how much time or love you poured into a drawing, it always seemed to end the same way.
Or quietly disappearing without a trace.
Every single drawing had been made with her in mind.
You knew she loved lilies, so every picture somehow included them. Sometimes they framed the page like a little border. Other times you'd draw a giant bouquet almost as big as the people in the picture because you thought she'd smile when she saw them. If she mentioned liking a certain color, you'd use it as much as possible. If she complimented a cartoon character once, you'd draw them too.
Because that's what little you did. You paid attention. You remembered. You loved.
Then you'd run over with the biggest smile imaginable, proudly holding your artwork out with both hands.
"Look wha I mawde for you!"
Sometimes she barely looked.
Sometimes she'd tell you it was childish.
She simply ripped it apart right in front of you.
You could still hear the sound if you thought about it for too long.
Your tiny hands instinctively reaching forward to save it.
Your smile disappearing. Your watery eyes following every colorful little piece as it fluttered onto the floor.
You never understood why.
You cleaned up your toys.
You never wanted expensive presents or constant attention.
You simply wanted your caregiver to feel loved in the only language you really knew.
Eventually, making gifts stopped feeling exciting instead, it became terrifying.
Whenever inspiration struck and you finished another drawing, you'd quietly fold it in half and hide it underneath your bed instead of showing anyone.
If nobody saw it, nobody could destroy it.
Years later, after finally cutting contact with her and blocking every possible way she could reach you, you began realizing something.
Maybe there had never been anything wrong with your drawings.
Maybe she'd simply been too insecure, too emotionally unavailable, too wrapped up in her own problems to recognize genuine affection when someone offered it freely.
That realization didn't erase the hurt.
James Wilson couldn't have been more different.
Your second caregiver was patient in a way that almost felt unreal. Kindness seemed to come naturally to him.
He never made you feel like an inconvenience. Never rolled his eyes when you asked for reassurance. Never sighed when you wanted another story or another hug. If anything, he always made room for you.
He accepted every part of you.
Even the days where regressing felt confusing and difficult.
Regression had always been hardest whenever you didn't feel emotionally safe.
Wilson understood that without needing it explained.
He always made sure you had somewhere comfortable to regress without worrying about curious stares or judgmental comments. Sometimes that place was the quiet privacy of his office after clinic hours, curled beneath a blanket while he finished paperwork. Other times it was his apartment, where he'd turned one corner of the living room into a cozy little space just for you.
A basket overflowing with crayons and markers because he'd noticed you always reached for them first.
Wilson had always been good at noticing little details.
You genuinely couldn't have asked for a better daddy.
Which made the stupid little voice in the back of your mind even more frustrating.
Because despite everything...
Despite knowing Wilson wasn't like your old caregiver. You still couldn't bring yourself to hand him a drawing. The wall in your mind felt impossibly tall.
What if he only smiled to be polite?
What if he secretly thought it looked awful?
What if he threw it away when you weren't looking?
He wouldn't do that, would he?
Wilson's warm voice gently pulled you back to reality.
"You've been staring at the same page for about five minutes now." His lips curved into an amused little smile. "That's usually the point where the crayons start filing complaints."
Normally that would've earned him a giggle.
Instead, you just looked down.
"Is there something bothering you?"
You shook your head almost instantly.
Wilson caught it immediately.
The response reminded him less of reassurance and more of a reflex, automatic and practiced.
The same way a patient's knee jerked when tapped with a reflex hammer.
His smile instanly faded into quiet concern.
Closing the oncology journal he'd been reading, Wilson placed it neatly on the coffee table you'd been using as your art station.
He leaned forward, resting one elbow against his knee while his chin settled into his palm. His reading glasses slipped slightly lower on his nose as his full attention shifted entirely toward you.
He wasn't going anywhere.
"Come on," he murmured gently.
"You don't have to protect me from your feelings."
Your shoulders curled inward.
Another tiny hum from Wilson.
Wilson had long ago learned that if he gave you enough silence, you'd usually find the courage to fill it.
You stared down at your coloring page.
Rainbow Dash looked wonderfully chaotic.
Instead of only coloring her mane rainbow, you'd decided she should be entirely rainbow.
Every inch of her was bursting with bright colors that wandered well outside the lines because rainbows weren't supposed to stay inside lines.
Your fingers tightened around the green crayon.
Slowly and carefully you wrote two tiny words in the bottom corner.
Your heart hammered against your ribs.
Showing him suddenly felt terrifying but you wanted him to have something you made.
So, after taking one shaky breath, you stood and shuffled across the room.
Holding the page with both hands, you silently offered it to him.
Wilson accepted it with remarkable care, his fingertips brushing softly against yours as though he were afraid of wrinkling the page.
He adjusted his glasses before studying every inch of the colorful masterpiece with complete sincerity.
Not pretending, he was actually looking.
His eyes wandered over every rainbow scribble, every enthusiastic line that escaped the borders, every little heart hidden in the corners.
Eventually he noticed the uneven green letters.
Wilson's expression melted.
His voice came out barely above a whisper.
"Kiddo, you made this for me?"
You gave the smallest nod imaginable.
Wilson looked back down at the drawing, smiling in a way that reached his eyes.
"Y/N, this is beautiful."
The knot in your stomach didn't disappear. Not yet.
"'Really." Wilson echoed immediately, looking almost offended you'd think otherwise. "Sweetheart, I mean that."
He carefully smoothed one corner of the paper with his thumb.
"You noticed Rainbow Dash is my favorite?" he teased lightly.
That finally earned the tiny laugh he'd been hoping for.
"I don't love this because it's perfect. I love it because you made it."
Your eyes immediately started watering.
Wilson understood. He always understood.
He stood, closed the distance between you, and wrapped one arm gently around your shoulders before kissing your forehead.
"I think.." He murmured into your hair. "I already know exactly where this belongs."
Your head lifted in surprise. He really seemed to mean it!
Your mouth fell open in disbelief. He was so happy with the gift you had made for him..
"House is absolutely going to make fun of me."
A grin tugged at his lips.
"He's also going to have to listen to me tell him my kid made it."
Another tiny laugh escaped you through your little tears.
Wilson smiled softly before brushing a few strands of hair away from your face.
"And just so we're perfectly clear..."
He looked directly into your soft eyes.
"I'm never throwing away something you made for me."
The knot you'd been carrying for years finally unraveled.
You buried your face against his shoulder, tiny arms wrapping tightly around him.
Wilson simply held you close, one hand rubbing slow circles across your back while the other carefully kept your rainbow-colored drawing safe, as though it were one of the most precious things he'd ever been given.
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