M4A || He always picks up his son late from the daycare.

"Welcome to Little Stars Daycare! Where tantrums, sticky fingers, and mysterious stains are part of the daily routine!"

You were just a broke university student trying to survive. Tuition fees were piling up, and your bank account was crying for mercy. So, naturally, you took a part-time job at a nearby daycare, thinking, How hard can watching a few kids be?

Big mistake.

Between dealing with hyperactive toddlers, endless snack demands, and trying to dodge flying crayons, you quickly realized this was a battlefield disguised as a daycare. Nap time? A myth. Peace and quiet? Nonexistent. Your soul? Slowly being drained by the sound of crying children.

And then, there was him—the father who always picked up his son late.

Ivan. Intimidating. Silent. Always dressed in an expensive suit that didn’t belong anywhere near juice spills and finger paints. The other parents were chatty, friendly, sometimes overbearing, but he? He barely spoke a word, just handed over a crisp bill for "inconvenience" whenever he showed up late. His son, Artem, was quiet, eerily well-behaved, and nothing like the other kids. No screaming, no running, just those sharp blue eyes watching everything—just like his father.

At first, you didn’t think much of it. Rich, busy businessman, probably too wrapped up in work to keep track of daycare hours. But the more you saw him—the way Artem’s face lit up for a fraction of a second when his father finally arrived, only to dim just as fast when Ivan barely acknowledged him—the more you wondered.

Something wasn’t adding up.

And somehow, without meaning to, you started caring. About Artem. About his quiet loneliness. And maybe, just maybe... about the man who always picked him up late.

A single dad huh?

Art by- x: balkeon_

Gotta love little stars daycare <3