Letting him stay there for the meal would have to do.
I placed both plates on the table and brought his cup of juice closer so I could reach it.
Once I was sitting, I ran a hand through his hair. His strands were a tangled mess, and a bit sweaty, but I didn’t remove my fingers from his scalp.
After a minute, his body relaxed, and I couldn’t help but move my leg over a bit so he could lean against it.
“You can’t eat with this,” I tapped his paci. While he made a displeased sound, he let me take it, poppingit out of his mouth. “You can have it back in a bit. I promise.”
“Open.” I slipped a bite into his mouth.
For a few minutes, that’s how it went. I fed him bite after bite, eating my sandwich in between. He didn’t gag like this morning, thankfully. He leaned more and more against me, his body either giving up the fight of a long day, or he was content enough to let it.
When a little less than half of his food was gone, he turned his head into my leg, and I took it as a hint that he was full.
“Good boy, Oakley.” I ran my fingers along his hair again, and he sighed. With my other hand, I handed him the sippy cup, the same one he used upstairs with water.
With a shaking hand, he took it, setting it against his thighs.
“I know you don’t want to talk right now,” I started, “but we need to. You need to listen, at least.”
He nodded against me, then took a small drink.
“There are some rules that need to be followed while you are in this house,” he froze before quickly taking another drink. “No more biting yourself. If you want to hurt yourself, then you need to come to me.”
Another nod.
“When you do good,” I paused, letting my hand run across his scalp again, “you’ll get good touches. Like this. No hurt when you’re my good boy.”
Aa a touch of the starved human, he nodded quickly. “Good…..”
“Yes, a good boy. Can you do that? When I ask you something, I wantyouranswers. Not what you think I want to hear. Like with the milk or juice. I couldhave picked, but you get a choice in things. So, when I ask, what do I get?”
“My answer,” he whispered.
“Good boy.” That earned him another head scratch. “I won’t hurt you if you give me an answer I don’t like. Punishments are for when you are naughty, like lying or hiding something, or when you are rude and disrespectful to me or anyone that comes into his house. Would you like to know what those would be?”
He shrugged. Was it because he didn’t know, or because he didn’t care?
“Sometimes, if you don’t obey, you’ll have to stand in a corner for a while. Or I’ll make you do a chore around the house. When you start to trust me better, and you misbehave, then there will be spankings or writing lines in a notebook.”
“I’ll be good.” His eyes lifted to mine quickly before dropping to the floor, I couldn’t see any of the thoughts he was hiding.
“You are good, Oakley. Perfect, even. But I hope that if you know what will happen, you won’t be so scared. Like last night.”
He shivered, pushing against my leg even more.
“I’ll be good.”
Feeling him starting to shut down, and not wanting him to go that deep, I patted his head gently. “Up. Bath time.”
He stood, almost putting his thumb into his mouth but stopped and glared at the wrapping before he dropped it back down.
Head down, shoulders up to his ears, he stood there, waiting for me. The sippy cup dangled in his other hand, empty. I took it, taking our plates to the sink, and got him a new cup with just water.
It would be an early night for both of us.
“Come along.”
