Opportunity Knocks

A few weeks after her newest, and oldest. charge became enrolled, Miss Dart is preparing for the new term at Little Joy Daycare. But first, she has a meeting with his mother...

Opportunity Knocks

Jennifer Dart wasn’t used to early mornings. The cool air flowing through her bedroom was less of a refreshing way to start the day and more of a reminder of the reason for her lack of sleep.

Today was the first day at Little Joy Daycare after the summer break. Her Little Joy Daycare. The first day of a new term, new kids and new plans. Thankfully none of her staff had to focus on anything else this summer or had moved on this year, it was good to have that consistency. She’d had a well earned break over the last few days, but now it was back to the grind.

She moved herself out of bed, putting on her half-moon glasses that sat on her bedside table and started to dress herself for the day. Her neat hair stayed silky smooth at night, a small mercy considering how frazzled she could feel. Her suit, a black and great set that exuded authority and poise, slipped on over her lanky frame with the same comfortable fit she’d had for the last three years in it. Her staff wouldn’t want to wear any of it, not least for the possibility of spit ups, but owning the place let her stay in the back office. 

And if anyone walked in there and saw her in this attire they would know it was her office.

A breakfast bar of granola and a quick glass of iced tea was all she needed to get the rest of her body to wake up. The walk to the car and the steady drive towards her place of work gave her time to think about the plans ahead. Orientation was going to be as interesting as ever. Some of the kids wouldn’t want to leave their parents, some would be desperate to get to play with the toys again. The whole place had been cleaned up and given a bit of a make-over, after all she had a new programme to start this year.

Her summer had definitely been interesting. Turning into the parking lot and finding her space, she pulled out a small make-up mirror and checked her face. Spotless, the fur a little greyed here and there from age but nothing that would distract from her otherwise well trimmed fur. Grabbing her handbag from the passenger foot-well, she directed her heels down into the tarmac, gracefully entering the front door.

“Morning Jenny!” the voice of a vixen came from behind the receptionist desk.

“Good Morning Keri” she responded, smiling a little “All ready for the day ahead I hope”

“Yes Ma'am!” she grinned back “Do you need me to give you the rundown of your morning?”

“Meeting with Jimmy’s mother at eight, orientation at nine-thirty, registrations from eleven until noon right?”

The vixen's face fell a little “Awww, I had it all memorised as well!” she went back to her computer, closing down her calendar app “But yeah! Jimmy's mother will be here in about thirty minutes. Do you want Alexis to get him from upstairs?”

She thought for a minute “Alexis should be changing him right now. Give it a couple of minutes and then ask for him to come down”

“Will do ma'am!” Keri looked back towards her keyboard as Dart moved towards her office. The place was spotless, the corridors perfectly prepared for the influx of parents and students due in the next couple of hours. Opening the door to her office, she took a moment to breathe in. Even after a few days away this place felt like it always needed something to make it hers again. The little bits of dust that had gathered on the corners, the box of files by her cabinet that needed re-organising… all of it was hers and yet had yet to be stamped at such. She walked over to her chair, an ergonomic black affair whose headrest came to just above her head. Comfortable, stylish and imposing. Sitting down and shuffling it up to her desk, she grabbed a file from the drawer and opened it up

“Jimmy Hall - Age 18”  

The next words were “Employee Record” but a red line had been placed through it, and instead underneath, the label read “Childcare and Support Record”. The kid had been a mixed blessing, Jennifer thought. The whole purpose of bringing him in had been to test whether she could trust teenagers with some of the simpler tasks of the day care during its busiest periods. Caretakers were needed elsewhere, some cleaning got missed and some supplies would run out. She’d hoped that finding the one teenager who had to do the job might help.

Instead the opposite had been the case. She’d trusted his mother, but Jimmy had worried her from the start. He’d been rude about the precautions they’d had to take, which were then promptly proven necessary, and went one step further the next day by completely losing control of his functions, right in front of toddlers who should’ve been seeing him as another adult. Nina had brought him into her office in such a state that Jennifer had barely had time to compose herself. Whatever she’d said then she knew it was as much from shock as it was concern. Teenagers, even the worst ones, do not wet themselves without good reason.

She turned the first page over, looking over the official documentation she’d written up to cover the actions that followed. She’d made the decision to essentially enrol the boy, but that had required ticking off several boxes that she’d rather have left open to discussion. At the time, the day-care operated taking care of older children on a very strict and very well managed structure, both for their sake and the sake of the day-care. She’d had to make the decision to do this within a very short space of time. Jimmy was there for four weeks, she’d agreed that much with his mother and nothing had covered the possibility of him being a liability to the progression of her charges.

She looked down the check-boxes she’d ticked when she’d begun to formalise his enrolment, “Needed Potty Training” was the first notable one, but she’d considered the entire list of potential needs he might have. Alexis had informed her pretty soon after the kid had used the diaper he’d been put in as a precaution, so “Overnight Protection” had also been ticked. At some point she’d clearly just come to the conclusion that he’d need some kind of punishment. She hadn’t entirely thought straight at the time, the frustration of having the teenager completely wreck her plans had probably influenced her harshness. A lot more boxes were ticked, “Requires Social Development”, “Requires Behavioural Adjustments”, “No Solid Foods”... These weren’t ones she’d ticked out of genuine concern for his welfare.

But equally, this was her day care. This wasn’t a place she wanted messed up by an immature teenager with a potty problem. Perhaps that in itself justified the treatment, a clear message to his mother if nothing else. She’d been out of contact, by her own request, unless Jimmy was involved in an emergency. She’d clearly wanted a break from him, and while him completely ruining his underwear on the first day could be construed as an emergency, at a day-care, it was par for the course. They’d been equipped to handle it, and now it was time to give him back. She felt just a little tinge of sadness as she folded over the back of the file with the evidence of his various accidents and difficulties. He’d basically given up on trying to assert himself the moment he was put back into the nursery. Jennifer normally didn’t get attached to the kids anymore, her first cohort had hit pretty hard when they left but now, she’d gotten used to it. But Jimmy? Well, he’d shown this place could do more than just keep some tiny tots safe and educated. It had shown it could help some teenagers learn a thing or two as well...

The loud ringing of her office phone punched a hole in the strangely solemn atmosphere.

“Miss Darts Office”

“Ma'am, Jimmy’s mother is here waiting at reception” Keri’s voice came through, her bright demeanour feeding through the phone line.

“Very well Keri, is Alexis on her way down?”

“Sorry, I don’t know. Jimmy might have been difficult this morning” Great. She’d hoped this would be a smooth meeting but a cranky eighteen year old wasn’t something she needed.

“Send her through to my office, and when they come down, send Alexis and Jimmy through, no need to call me”

“Yes Ma'am” the phone line crackled out and Jennifer sighed, rubbing her forehead as she lay the handset back down on its stand. She’d been both dreading and looking forward to this conversation.

A small knock at her door followed a few seconds later

“Come in”

The shape of the middle-aged wolf entering the room reminded Jennifer of the first day she’d arrived. She looked a little more refreshed though, perhaps having time away from Jimmy really had been needed…

“Ah, Miss Dart, pleasure to meet you again!”

“Likewise Miss Hall, please take a seat, we need to talk about Jimmy”

Her face dropped “Oh no, was he alright? I hope he wasn’t too much trouble?”

Jennifer scoffed “Well, I think we need to start on his first day.” she flicked open the file “Can I ask a few questions about him, just so I know…”

“Yes of course! Oh gosh, I’m sorry if he…”

“It’s quite alright Miss Hall” Jennifer resisted the urge to raise her voice at the interruption “Did Jimmy have any problems with his potty training?”

The wolf's eyes widened “I… what do you mean? He potty trained years ago”

Jennifer sighed “Well, I’m afraid that he…” she paused, trying to make sure to try to break this gently “... had an accident on his first day”

“You mean… during the day? But he’s never… Why?”

“I’m afraid we couldn’t work that out. He came up to one of the caretakers to ask for the location of the bathroom and was barely three words in before it was too late”

Miss Hall was visibly stunned. Jennifer could see her hands balling up into fists and releasing as if her thoughts were unsure whether to be angry or concerned. At least she could have sympathy there…

“Well… what did you do? Was he allowed to keep working?”

Miss Dart flipped over to the second page and turned it to face the wolf “We made the decision that, given he’d been unable to control himself in front charges that need to be potty trained, to enrol him here” she let that sink in for a second. The wolf was darting up and down the list of things Jimmy was now required to do, her hand going to her face.

“Are you alright Miss Hall?”

“I just… I don’t know what to say! I’m so sorry for all of this! I never expected him to wet himself! Oh goodness..”

Jennifer leant back in her chair, letting the mother have a second to read through the rest of the file. Eventually, she pushed it back across the desk, giving a sigh of her own.

“Is… is he ok?” Resignation. This was going better than expected.

“I think so, he’ll be on his…”

A loud knock came on the door, causing Miss Hall to jump in her chair. Poor woman was clearly on edge.

“Ah, that’ll be him and Alexis now. Come on in you two”

The door opened, the form of the tigress coming into view. Alexis was grinning from ear to ear, her hand holding onto the charge she’d brought downstairs.

And what a sight that charge was.

Jimmy was dressed in nothing but a onesie and a pair of socks, a large yellow duck adorning the front of a blue background. His thumb was lodged in his muzzle, a short suckling motion happening every second or so as he kept his head low, trying not to make eye contact with Miss Dart. The only sound he was making was the crinkling coming from under the onesie, the evidence of his new underwear selection.

“Sorry we’re late, Jimmy got half his oatmeal down his front. Little guy was such a mess!” Alexis looked over to see Miss Hall “Jimmy look, Mommy’s here to pick you up!”

The wolf's eyes visibly lit up, his thumb dropping from his maw as he looked up to see the face of his mother.

“MOMMY!” his voice broke as he leapt towards her, giving her a hug. Jennifer could see the woman's face, one of complete and total disbelief. This wasn’t even the start of the process they’d have to go through but maybe this shock was needed to even begin it.

“Come on kiddo, give your mommy some space. Can you be a good boy and sit in the chair there for me?” Alexis coaxed the teenager of his mother's lap, hoisting him onto the plastic chair. His diaper audibly crinkled as he was put down, shifting in place to get comfortable as his thumb returned to his mouth.

Jennifer cleared her throat “So, Miss Hall, as you can see…”

“What… what did you do?”

Jennifer once again held her breath for a second “Miss Hall, as you saw from the file we introduced a few measures to ensure Jimmys time here was more representative of his… development”

Miss Hall turned to face her, her eyes glazed “He… he’s just a toddler.”

“Yes Miss Hall, we thought that treating him this way would, at least initially, act as a suitable punishment and correction for the accident he’d had. It’s not dissimilar to how we’d treat any other charge here” she paused for a second. The mother was still taking in the sight in front of her.

“He responded…” Jennifer paused “He responded very well to this. At first I was concerned he might find the adjustment difficult, but his second day here was a vast improvement”

“You… mean he was well behaved? Like, as a toddler?” Jimmy visibly moved his head up to look at Miss Dart. He was seeking her approval...

“Yes Miss Hall. Jimmy has been very well behaved over the last four weeks” He beamed, his legs kicking back and forth and his tail wagging from side to side.

“I… Is he… is he wearing a diaper?”

“Yes Miss Hall, that was already part of the precautions we were taking for him at night. It wasn’t too much of a problem to extend it into the day.”

“Has… has he been using them?”

Jennifer grimaced “Yes Miss Hall, exclusively. I don’t think he’s used the potty since he got here, has he Alexis?”

The tigress stood to attention at her name being called “No Ma'am, I’ve been checking him as regularly as any of the others. He’s never expressed the need to me since we made the adjustments”

Jennifer looked back at the mother. She was leaning back in the chair, still clearly trying to fit her thoughts around the situation.

“Miss Hall, I feel like I need to be blunt. I think we need to discuss future plans for your son” she knew this was the point where things could start to get difficult. Hopefully the wolf wouldn’t…

“Mommy can I stay?”

Jennifer turned to face the teenager, his thumb now removed from his maw as he looked his mother in the eye. He was serious.

“Stay… stay at the daycare?” his mother muttered to herself “I… don’t know”

“I wanna stay, I like Alexis” the wolf smiled at his caretaker, who responded by grinning widely, pulling her hands together as if cooing at the boy.

“Awww, thank you Jimmy! But you can’t stay here all the time, Mommy has to take you home with the others”

The wolf looked back towards his mother “Can… Can I come back?”

She looked back at Miss Dart. Her face was barely readable, but there was a noticeable improvement. Jimmy might have done her job for her…

“I think… I think that’s a good idea” she turned on her chair to face Mrs Dart directly, sniffling a little as if to catch the emotions before they spilled out onto the desk.

“I agree,” Jennifer added, pulling out a folder from her desk “This is our registration folder. We’ve already enrolled Jimmy to ensure we were covered from a planning and legal standpoint, so we can skip a lot of this, but we do want to make you aware of what…”

“Alexis…” Jimmy got up off the chair, moving back towards his caretaker “Can… Can I have Alexis please?”

The tigress ruffled his head fur. Miss Dart sighed, the boy naming that plush after her own members of staff had caused no end of confusion “Sorry kiddo she’s in the playpen, do you need her for…”

As if someone had punched him in the gut, Jimmy grasped at his stomach. His thumb went to his mouth, the reassuring suckling continuing as a small grunt came from his muzzle.

“Uh-oh, I think we’re gonna have a little stinker on our hands” Alexis drew Jimmy into a hug “It’s ok kiddo just…”

“Alexis, can you please take Jimmy to be changed, I need to talk things through with his mother.”

“Yes Ma'am” she put her arms under the teenager, lifting him up and supporting his weight by wrapping his legs around her waist “Come on Wuffster, you silly little stinker” she opened the door and let herself out, leaving the two middle-aged women left in the room.

“So… he’s just a baby now?”

“For all intents and purposes” Miss Dart replied “He’s very well behaved though. Certainly nothing like how rude he was when he arrived”

Miss Hall breathed deeply. Whether something was clicking into place in her brain, or she’d finally got a complete handle on the situation, she was starting to visibly control herself.

“What do I need to do?”

Jennifer smiled. Looks like she’d get to keep her favourite charge around a little longer...