Little Lion Man

"He is," June agreed. She smiled and waved to Ollie, who moved to hide behind Mason and she shook her head. She liked kids, but totally got it that some where more shy than others. "I'm here to get clothes too. Never know what cool stuff people will thrift. Last week I got a really cool looking bolo tie. What will I do with it? Who knows," June said with a shrug and smiled.

"Don't worry about him, he'll come around." Mason said as he watched Ollie for a moment before turning back to June. "I used to live here as a kid, basically. I mean my mom and I shopped her a lot." He shrugged. It was the only place his mom could afford to get him any clothes and anything else that could be used as decoration. "A bolo tie? I'm sure you could find some sort of use for it."

As Mason voiced some of his worries, Liv looked over from Ollie toddling around in the distance with surprise. If the toddler's happiness was any testament to Mason's parenting abilities then that was volumes louder than his worries. Liv let her neighbor vent, though, listening patiently. She cocked her head at the sudden apology. "It's okay, if I didn't want to talk I would have left the toy on your front step with a note. Do you have pictures of his birthparents? If you haven't already maybe sitting them out will help Ollie in the long run -- sort of like for as long as he could remember you were there and you were never hiding them from him."

"Thanks." Mason said and looked over towards Liv, offering a small smile. "There are plenty of pictures of them, I even put some hanging in his room. I never want to hide them from him. In a perfect world, he would still be with them, you know? That would have been the perfect ending for Oliver. I just don't know why they thought I was the perfect choice to take him if anything happened. I never thought anything would you know?" He said, doubting his own parenting abilities.

"Then you need to get out more, Mason." She smirked, "I'm kind of shocked Ollie doesn't ask you to swing with him. Roux used to love sitting in my lap swinging, he hated the baby swings." She laughed watching the boys take to their idea they had dreamt up. "So, hows it been? You two adjusting okay? You need anything?" Her brows raising as her attention turned back to him.

Mason laughed and looked over towards her. "Oh I get out plenty, it's just usually Ollie in the swing and not me." He said as he shrugged. "I tried but he wants to do it on his own so I just let him. I think I'm in trouble for later with all that independence." He looked over and shrugged his shoulders. "Things have been...interesting. I'm still trying to settle into a routine, get the office running, my mom's stuff settled, and then with the whole diagnosis stuff...it's been a little crazy."

@whiskeyflatsstarters Location: The Dance Studio

Ollie had been asking about a dance class since he had seen some youtube video at daycare and Mason had been so busy at the vet clinic that he hadn't realized he was late to go see about signing the toddler up for one of those kids classes. He quickly picked Ollie's sleeping form up from the chair in his office and got him to the car and to the studio, walking into the building even though it definitely looked closed. He felt bad as he realized he might have scared the person inside. "Hi, yeah sorry, I can come back tomorrow or something..."

open || the empty playground in the park || @whiskeyflatsstarters

Mason had promised Ollie that they would be able to go to the park that day and get some time in on the playground and he intended on keeping that promise. He made sure the clinic was all set up to riun without him there before grabbing the excited 3 year old's hand. "Ready buddy?" He asked, eyebrow raised as if he didn't already know the answer to his own question. What he wasn't expecting was to get to the playground to see an adult stuck going down the slide head first.

As Ollie retrieved his toy with a squeal of excitement, Liv grinned. Years ago, any child that wasn't related to her made her uncomfortable. They were all too impressionable and for someone who didn't trust themselves to not mar the canvas that made her keep her distance. Over the past couple of years, though, Liv found awe in the newness of children and all of their potential. It also helped to realize through the ER that children were surprisingly resilient. "You're welcome-," she said after the boy and then looked over to Mason, "- he's such a cutie. You're doing a good job with him."

"I really hope I am doing a good job with him. I honestly had no idea what I was doing when I took him on." Mason said as he looked to Liv. "And I still don't think I'm as good as his birth parents would be for him. Some day I'm gonna have to tell him what happened to them. I don't know how to explain that. He never knew his mom and he was six months when his dad passed." He said with a sigh. "Sorry, didn't mean to put all that on you." He said as he ran a hand through his hair.

TJ stepped out of his truck and headed to the front porch with a smile, "hey you two, you know got a noise complaint filed on you right? Heard the neighbors talking about it." He laughed stepping up on the porch and ruffling Ollie's hair, "hey kid, you the noise they complaining about?" He smiled before looking at Mason and smirking, "I'm only kidding I hope you know that. You alright?"

"Oh yeah, you know that Liv, definitely complaining about the noise." He said with a laugh. "Oh trust me, I know you well enough to know you're kidding." He said as he looked at Ollie who was waving at TJ. "Hiya TJ." He said, his toddler voice still barely able to pronounce the t and j which Mason found to be one of his favorite things. "Maybe, I was playing pirates!" He shouted before wiggling out of Mason's arms and continuing to run around the yard. Mason shook his head as he looked to his friend. "I swear he has endless energy." He said as he leaned against one of the posts on his porch, exhaustion filling his body. "How've you been?"

starter for @masoncollins at the shed —

Mason had been fairly busy with still trying to get the office set up how he wanted it and doing some changes to the policy, all while settling into the house, getting Oliver set up on a schedule, and still trying to get his mother's house ready to sell. It was a lot going on at once which is why he hadn't noticed that Ollie had outgrown just about all of his normal clothes. He took the day off work and headed to the Shed with the three year old, walking in with him as he looked around, spotting a few things before he heard a familiar voice. "June, hey." He said and looked down as Ollie waved. "We are. This little guy is growing like a weed. Way too fast if you ask me."

@masoncollins Location: Playground

Oliver had been begging Mason to go to the park with Roux and he had finally been able to take the 3 year old to the park as promised. He walked up after getting to the playground, smiling as he saw the familiar mother and son sitting on the swings. He took Ollie over towards them as watched as the boys ran off to another play structure and he waved towards Leya. He would be forever grateful that Ollie had Roux in his life. He was worried about the move and he knew Oliver didn't want to leave his friends so to have the friend in Roux let Mason relax a bit. He moved to sit on the swing next to Leya. "I don't think I have been on a swing since I was in grade school."

starter for @masoncollins at Outpost (between their homes) —

Mason had been working hard trying to get settled in at the house, get Oliver onto a schedule, and get the office just how he wanted so he could better sort out his time. All that meant was that he was tired, all the time. But when his son asked to go play outside, he just didn't have the heart to say no just because he was tired. He would do anything for Ollie which is how he found himself outside, running around the yard before he heard someone call out and he looked over and smiled, picking Ollie up and going over to his neighbor. "That does look familiar, Ollie, is that yours?" He asked and laughed as the little boy nodded and squealed with excitement, grabbing the toy. "Thank you miss Liv!" He said as he wiggled out of Mason's arms and ran off to play with the toy. "I'm good, been super busy. Younger? That's can't be possible with the 2 hours of sleep a night I've been getting. What about you?"

“It’s garlic, but don’t tell me you believe in that shit,” Paxton said with a laugh. She knew it was a joke. Both of them were probably way more scared of rabies. At least, she was. Paxton bit her lip as she watched him do his job. He’d know better than her, and she slightly softened when he said the bat was probably just dehydrated. “You don’t think his little wing is broken?” She couldn’t get the thought out of her head. Their wings looked so flimsy, and wasn’t sure. Glancing to his desk, she noticed a few pictures on it. “Cute kid. Don’t tell me you grew up and procreated, I’m not sure I can handle that and my little naked buddy being broken.”

"Oh definitely." Mason said with a grin before turning to focus on the bat. "He could have a broken wing but we would need to get an x-ray for that but I don't know enough about anesthesia to get the bat to stay still to feel a hundred percent comfortable to do that unless I have to. Best to at least get the rehabilitator in to tell me a bit more about them." He said as he closed the box up and let the front desk person know to make the call before coming back in. He turned to face the picture of Oliver and smiled. "Technically I have not help make a single baby....that I know of. But that is my kid. He started as my godson and I had to keep my promise, unfortunately. It's just me and him now."

Rina was watching the little animal which she either assumed was a rabbit or baby fox when she picked it up with her sweat shirt and put it into a old box she had at the back of her car. It looked hurt and it was making an awful noise so the best place for it was the local vet, she figured. Pulling up into the parking lot, she grabbed the box and pushed the door open with her back. The nearest person that looked in charge was who she bee lined for in fear that the animal didn't have a lot of time. "It needs your help. Here, take it."

Mason was reading over a chart of the cat he had just sent home, making some last minute notes on the aftercare instructions when he heard the door of the clinic open and he looked over towards the door. He looked down at the box that was in the person's arm and raised his eyebrows. "What is it anyway? Is it yours?" He asked as he took the box from her and brought it back to one of the rooms.

"Yeah I think most of us growing up - were always nagging to get some kind of candy. I knew I was." The male quickly agreed. Though - most of the time he had to do some kind of chore to get rewarded with that. That lesson was also quickly learned. "I still believe they need to have somebody retake that test every few years. Most I think would fail. But that's just my opinion."

"Oh, always. Were you ever really a kid if you didn't beg for candy when you were dragged to the store?" Mason asked with a laugh. "I think I asked two times during each trip to the store, I was never successful though." He shrugged his shoulders. As a kid, he never knew why his mother always said no but as he got older, he realized that they didn't have the money to buy anything outside of the bare necessities. "Very true. Some of these old ladies that I swear were old when I was a kid are somehow still allowed to drive."

"That always helps -- they make it easy when they're babies," Raina said with a slight smile. Watching Ollie play made her think of her own kids when they were little. She remembered Hudson toddling through tall grass. She remembered watching Knox catch horny toads. She remembered Faye putting blankets on the calves during the winter. Those were some of her most precious memories. So, when Mason talked about his momma missing out on memories with his son, Raina thought of her own momma. Then, she thought of herself and all the things Knox and Paxton missed with their baby, and all the things she missed with her grandbaby. Raina took a breath and smiled as Mason crouched down towards the beagle. Tiny Tim immediately rolled onto his side, distracting her from the flash of sadness. "If it helps, I worry about that with my own momma. We lost touch after my first was born, and she's passed since," Raina shrugged, "No one makes it through life without regrets, but I 'suppose the best thing you can do is to decide whether those regrets will keep you from surrounding Ollie with all the love and making memories with as many people as possible."

Mason nodded as he looked down at Ollie. "I wish he would stay a baby forever. Just about everything is easier when they are babies. You can put them where you want, there is usually only a few options on what is wrong, and they don't just randomly take off while you are out in public, forcing you to chase after a toddler before he gets away from you." He said with a laugh before giving Tiny Tim a few good belly rubs and a pet behind his ears. He stood up, arms crossed as he turned to Raina. "I suppose. I just wish I had given him the chance to meet her in person you know? He doesn't have any grandparents left. It's just me and him and I'm just scared that I'm not enough."

Leya laughed and nodded, "a sleepover could be fun. Probably. better at your place than mine. I feel like there would be a fall waiting to happen with two little boys in a loft." She smirked knowing how children period could get. Especially Roux with his imagination, there had been quite a few instances of boo-boos from playing with others happen. "Downtown, it's pretty great and close to the shop I work at so it doesn't really bother the work schedule." Her brows raised and she nodded, "thanks, same goes to you. I think the hardest thing about this is not having the extra hands. Before we came here I did have some help on the boat but now it's like a whole other ball game. Especially working two jobs. Literally all you have to do is give me a call and I'll do my best to help out."

"My place would be fine, I have a play pirate ship coming as a surprise for Ollie since he has been putting up with the move and all that I am sure the boys will love playing on." He nodded. "I'll have to go check it out. I definitely need to get him into something soon. He needs routine and I need to work." He nodded in agreement. "I get that. Consider my hands extra. Same here, even just a walk down the street, whatever you need."