Archive of Our Own ^beta

It's an off week before the final few races of the year and Franco is bored. It's been a bit chilly out and he historically doesn't handle the cold well, so they've been cooped up in the apartment. Now Lando loves Franco, and loves taking care of him but hearing; "daddy, I'm bored" every five minutes does something to a man.
So after the umpteenth time of hearing Franco's new catch phrase, Lando swipes his phone off the coffee table and texts the group chat.

'R u guys around tomorrow, Franco needs friends' - Lando.

'We should be able to make it' - George.

'Us too' - Max.

'Let us know when and where' - Charles.

'Sounds like fun' - Mark.

'We will be there' - Fernando.

'Lewis and Nico have a new little, they should join us' - Carlos.

"Baby, what do you think?" Lewis asks as he reads the texts.

They know that Arvid probably won't be able to play like the other littles, he's too young for it. He's also still getting better after going through a nasty withdrawal period and regulating hormones, so he sleeps most of the day. Once he's more stable that will probably change and he could maybe not keep up at a super fast pace, but at least do a little something to make friends.

"It's up to you, but it might be nice to have a change of scenery." Nico says.

Lewis looks fondly at them, Arvid asleep on Nicos chest, one hand holding his dragon, her rainbow scales and blue fur not yet worn from love, but it will get there, and the other hand holding Nicos shirt. Arvid's been asleep for maybe a half hour now after having had a nap after breakfast as well.

"Alright, I'll let them know we're coming."

—

Lewis is in the process of bundling Arvid up in warm clothes to face the winter weather while Nico packs a diaper bag. They don't plan on staying long at the park, but just long enough to give a chance for everyone to meet and get out of the house while giving the littles some social time. Really it's a thinly vailed guise for the other caregivers to meet the newest little of the group who will most likely sleep through the entire encounter.
Arvid has successfully knocked Kimi off as youngest little, coming in swinging at roughly four to ten months old, so he can't play like the others do. Still, it will be nice to see everyone and ask a million questions to make sure they are doing the best they can for the boy.

"Ready?" Nico asks.

"Yeah. We're going to be late." Lewis says, checking the time.

"Darling, they'll understand if we are running behind, you know." Nico says.

"I know, I just hate being late." Lewis says.

Nico hums and kisses him once. "I'll text the group chat to let them know."

Lewis nods and they head towards the door, the little in arm. He puts his shoes on with one hand, leaving Arvid in thick, warm socks, then heading out the door. Nico has a stroller set up and ready for its first use just at the bottom of the steps, and Lewis takes him down. Arvid whimpers and huffs behind the pacifier firmly planted in his mouth as he's lowered into the stroller. Lewis coos softly to him to sooth any nerves about being detached. He likes to be held close, but Lewis is fairly certain that if he does this right the stroller will have the same effect.
Lewis buckles the harness to keep him secure, then passes over his dragon, that gets hugged tightly to his chest. Lewis then tightly wraps a blanket around him, making the inside of the stroller like Arvid's on little personal cocoon, bringing the hood down to amplify the effect. Immediately, Arvid’s eyes droop as the warmth seeps into him. Then they start moving and he can't stay awake any longer. It takes less than a minute into their five minute walk for Arvid to be completely asleep, pacifier hardly moving in his mouth and his breathing even.

"Such a sweet boy." Lewis coos.

Nico hums, kissing his husband's temple just as the sound of high pitched laughter and shouting carries over to them. The park is coming into view and they can see the other six littles all bundled in coats laughing and chasing each other.
The group of caregivers have set up on the long picnic table, chatting amongst themselves while watching their children. Nico steps onto the hard grass first, then helps Lewis get the stroller moving on the changed terrain.

"Hey, glad you could make it!" Daniel exclaims when he notices the couple.

"Thanks for the invite." Nico smiles.

The group moves down so Nico and Lewis can sit at the ends of the bench due to the stroller Arvid is still sleeping in.

"This is him, then?" Fernando asks as Lewis sits next to him.

Lewis hums as he fixes the blanket, pulling it a little further up Arvid's body to keep him warm.

"Oh what a sweetie." Lando coos.

Everyone has mostly gotten up now, just to take a little peek, nothing that would disturb his slumber.

"I never would have guessed he'd be a little." Max says.

He's followed the kids career for the most part up into F2, and from everything he's seen his guess would have been a neutral, maybe even a caregiver, but definitely not a little.

"It was a pretty well kept secret for sure." Nico chuckles.

Arvid huffs softly and shifts under the harness holding him in the seat, his face scrunching monetarily before relaxing again.

"Oh my god, he so cute!" Charles exclaims, but not too loudly.

There are a few more coos and fawning over the new little of the group before attention shifts over to the littles running around in the grass. Ollie has stripped himself down to a tshirt while the others are still in the thick sweaters that their caregivers wrestled them into. Of the six, Ollie is the one who handles the cold best after growing up in the damp weather of the UK.
Carlos sighs, just because he's used to the cold doesn't mean he should be taking off his sweater in this weather.

"Oliver! Sweater on bud!" Carlos calls to him.

Ollie's head snaps up, eyes wide. He doesn't get called Oliver often, only in situations he's not allowed to argue about. But his attention shifts, his eyes going from wide guilt at being caught to curiosity of the stroller. He starts to come over before getting stopped.

"Sweater! Then you can come." Carlos instructs.

Ollie grumbles but snatches his sweater up off the ground then makes his way over. Kimi perks up, coming to a dead stop when he notices Ollie leave causing Franco to run right into the back of him, sending them both toppling over. They don't look any worse for wear, Kimi gets up and follows Ollie, his own curiosity peaked by the stroller as well.

"Just a second sweetie." Charles says as he gets the sweater back on a wiggly Ollie.

He wants to see in the stroller, but the hood is pulled up and the back of the thing is facing him. Kimi then walks past him and peers in, his face not changing at all, just observing. Then finally when Charles lets him go, Ollie comes trotting over, stopping next to the younger little and looking in.

"Know him." Ollie looks up to the group.

"Yeah, he drives in F2, bear." Carlos says.

Ollie looks back down, trying to recall on the name.

"Sleeping?" Kimi asks Lewis.

It's a bigger question than just the word but sometimes sentences are too big.

"Yeah, little one, he sleeps a lot. He's only little." Lewis explains, pulling Kimi into his lap.

"Daddy!" Franco yells, running over to his caregiver.

People are leaving the game and they were having fun! Lando stands up and catches Franco before he can run into anyone, or anything, worst of all the stroller. Unfortunately Arvid really hates loud noises and he fusses under the blankets, a small cry bubbling up in his chest then past his pacifier.

"Oh, oh, ok. It's ok, I've got you. Shh, shh. I'm right here." Nico says softly, returning to the volume Arvid is comfortable with.

Nico quickly gets up, moving blankets around in the stroller, unbuckling Arvid and lifting the little up to sooth the fussing. Lewis sets Kimi in George's lap and grabs the blanket, wrapping it around the pair to keep Arvid warm.

"Daddy? Whos that?" Franco asks.

The other three littles have joined now, equally quizzical about the new little before them.

"Thats Arvid, sunshine, he's uncle Lews and uncle Nicos baby." Lando explains.

Ollie's mouth forms an 'O' shape as the name comes back to him. He just couldn't place one to the face, and it makes sense considering how much of a 180 Arvid does while regressed. No one has ever really seen him so soft before.

"Can he play?" Franco asks now.

He will always be excited to have a new friend to run around with. Unfortunately, Arvid will not be that friend for him.

"I'm sorry buddy, he can't. He's too little right now. And he needs to feel better first." Lando explains.

Naturally it was the first question anyone asked of how did no one know. Nico and Lewis gave them a brief rundown of the situation, of the suppressants, of the withdrawal. It's made him so sick, which is also part of the reason he sleeps so much.

"Sick?!" Oscar freaks out.

Any and all sickness he catches absolutely wipes the floor with him, so he's become a little bit of a germaphobe with good reason. Arvid cries at the volume of his words though, trying to burrow away from it all. Nico shushes him softly, trying to help him calm down.

"No, koala bear, not something you can catch." Mark reassures him.

Then Gabi looks questioningly at Fernando, searching for an answer as to how he's sick but they can't get it. Fernando pulls Gabi into his lap, arms wrapped around his waist to keep him there.

"You know how when you have to take medicine, daddy, or another adult has to give it to you?" Fernando starts.

All the littles nod, patiently waiting for the explanation.

"Well, Arvid was taking medicine that an adult wasn't giving him and so when he had to stop taking it, it made him sick. So it's nothing any of you will catch, it's just this specific medicine doing funny things." The Spaniard finishes explaining.

"What was it?" Ollie asks.

"Nothing good, and nothing any of us will ever let you have." Carlos says.

"He gonna be ok?" Kimi asks.

"He will be, but just like when you got sick this summer, it will take time to get over." George says.

Lewis is glad everyone is so understanding about this. Littles in withdrawal are not always treated kindly, often met with ridicule and unkind doctors who don't know how to deal with littles in crisis and so treat them like adults with the same mindset. What truly helps them along is good regression time—hence pulling him out of the Mexican FP1 session—and lots of care.

"Can we go play again?" Gabi asks.

He was having fun with the game they were playing. Franco is jumping and ready to go, tagging Gabi and running away, grabbing Oscar's hand on the way. Then Ollie and Kimi are up and running to join their friends.

"He ok?" Mark asks.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. He just doesn't like loud noises." Nico says.

He sits, cradling Arvid in his lap, rocking softly. His eyes are falling shut again, his breathing evening out again until he falls asleep again.
Lewis reaches across and pushes Arvid's pacifier back into his mouth.

"You know, Kimi was about that age when he was in his stress drop." George comments.

"What did you do? To help him, I mean." Lewis asks.

"Kept him close mostly, and tried to stimulate his brain. He liked to be in the wrap most of the time, and soft toys helped. Bit of tummy time to keep his muscles alive." George says.

"There wasn't much more we could do, he had to heal a bit, we just had to provide support." Carmen adds.

It was a scary time, but that's where the couple will live now, minus most of the scary because thats just Arvid's typical headspace.
Arvid starts fussing again, shivering a little bit, his eyes cracking open, looking for the caregivers.

"Still here, liebling." Nico promises, placing a kiss to the boys forehead.

"I think we should probably take him home now." Lewis remarks.

"Probably a good idea." Nico agrees.

"Well, it was nice to see you guys, and meet this little one." Max says.

"Thank you for invite. Maybe when he's feeling better we can get together again." Lewis says while Nico settles Arvid back in the stroller.

"Sounds great. You have our numbers if you need anything." Carmen adds.

The couple smiles and they say their goodbyes. Nico unlocks the wheels of the stroller and starts moving, Arvid falling asleep yet again.
Once they are about halfway home Nicos phone buzzes in his pocket. Lewis silently takes over pushing Arvid while Nico pulls his phone out. He reads the name and snorts.

Retired dad squad-

'Just in case;)' - Daniel.

'lol, I love this' - Mark.

'This is ridiculous' 'it's perfect' - Nico.