ATP Kindergarten (Chapter 2)
Title: ATP Kindergarten
Main pairings: Djokovic/A. Murray, Gasquet/Gulbis, Nadal/Del Potro
Other characters: Ancic, Roddick, Federer, Querrey, Tursunov, Ferrero, Henman, Monfils, Ljubicic
Rating: G
Warning: Possible destruction of innocence
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and this is a fiction.
Summary: Richard hears some worrying news about Ernests while coach Andy realizes that getting Roger isn't going to be easy.
Author's note: As always, very special thanks to jeu_set_match for the adorable banner and drawing :)
From the previous chapter:
Andy and Novak had celebrated their one year anniversary while Juan Martin had stepped on Karlis’ foot as revenge. Ernests had found comfort in napping with Richard while Marin found the kindergarten much noisier than he had expected.
Chapter 2: Richard's little angel
R-ring.
"Yay! Football time!"
Novak and Andy raised their hands in the air and high-fived as if they had scored a goal in the Champions League. The first two periods of the day had gone quite smoothly which meant that the students weren’t in a bad mood.
Every Wednesday, the kindergarten had a special class where all the students played a sport other than tennis. The children got a chance to enjoy a team sport such as football, baseball and basketball and it was also nice for the teachers to spend some time out of the classroom with the kids.
"Waaa!"
Kids ran out of the building, heading to their own team. Only the new students from Class T were looking around, rather lost. They had already chosen their sport when they had talked to teacher Tim and Coach Roger during their entrance interviews but that didn’t mean that they didn’t need help.
"Football kids, over here! Football!" Roger shouted with a football in his hands and some of the new students walked over to him and Juan Carlos.
"Baseball kids, over here! Baseball!" Andy shouted with a baseball in his hands while Dmitry bent over to laugh.
"What? They need help." Andy glared at his friend.
"I know. But that doesn’t mean that you have to shout the exact same words as the 'Oh, you’re so beautiful, please come here and die in my arms' coach." Dmitry stuck out his tongue.
"Shu…" Andy took a deep breath, aware that he couldn’t afford to swear.
The last time that he had said shut up in front of the children, Juan Carlos had asked to him stay after school and he had to read out loud a three paged handout about how abusive language could affect young children in a very negative way. Andy certainly didn’t want to do that again.
It was pure torture; whenever he mispronounced a word, the Spanish form of the devil would ask him to read that paragraph again. Even though English was his mother tongue, Andy had to read certain paragraphs several times again, thanks to some awfully long psychological terms and complicated medical terms.
'No. No way I’m going to let that happen again.'
Andy shuddered at the dreadful memory and tried to forget about it as he welcomed the cool kids that had chosen baseball.
"You guys made the right choice! This calls for a serious high-five."
Andy and Dmitry high-fived all the baseball kids while Mario and the new cook Ivan gathered the boys who chose basketball.
"Oh, you guys chose basketball? Cool!" Gael welcomed Ernests and Juan Martin who looked at each other in shock. After what had happened to bunny Karlis, they weren’t back in good terms.
"Ah, great! We’ll have so much fun together!"
Of course, the French had no idea what had happened in classroom P the other day or what had happened in the hall at lunch. He vaguely remembered Ernests sobbing in Richard’s arms but he had been too busy with his yummy potatoes.
"Okay, kids, let’s split into two teams." Mario, the physiotherapist, counted the number of kids and soon the children were divided into Mario team and Ivan team.
"If anybody wants to dunk, give me a sign. I’ll lift you up." Mario winked at his teammates and the boys went crazy.
"Me, me!"
"Doctor Mario, pick me!"
"No, me!"
"Haha, kids. We haven’t even started yet." Ivan looked at the adorable kids.
He had always loved children and these two days had been like heaven for him. He got to live in the dormitory with his wife so that they could serve breakfast and dinner to the students who couldn’t live with their families. Kids were lovely in the morning, lovely in the afternoon, and still lovely in the evening. It was a dream job.
"Watch out, Ivan. We’re on the attack!" Mario woke up his new colleague by dribbling the ball with speed.
"Go, Mario! Go!" Ernests cheered for his team leader who had been so helpful, making Karlis heal in only a few hours.
For once, even Marin was having fun. He was the new catcher of Dmitry’s team and he was actually smiling behind his catcher’s mask at the funny poses that Dmitry was doing. Of course, other children were almost rolling on the floor, laughing, but the Russian teacher was pleased just to put a smile on the Croatian boy’s face.
'Oh, I thought everyone was laughing.' Dmitry pouted and looked over at his friend whose mouth was open in awe.
"Andy, Jesus. Close your mouth or even a basketball could fly in it."
"Huh?" Andy didn’t really let his eyes leave Roger’s legs.
The Swiss coach was pretending to have a hard time intercepting Rafael’s ball with a bit of Andy’s help. Rafael was good, giggling all the way to the goal, kicking it as hard as he could.
"I got it!" Novak flew to his right, caught the ball in his gloves and rolled on the ground.
"Wow! You got the ball! Yay!" Andy ran to help his boyfriend get off the ground and kissed the Serbian boy’s cheeks.
Since Sam was too busy -running to third base- to see the kiss, everyone was happy.
Lunch time had been peaceful without any drama and teachers were now busy, checking if the children were taking their naps properly.
"Hum… teacher Juanqui…"
Juan Carlos finished tucking the already snoring Juan Martin under a blanket and turned around. Ernests was standing there with his pillow and Karlis.
"Yes, Ernie."
"Um…" Ernests’ cheeks turned a little bit redder than it already was, and he looked up at his teacher with hopeful eyes.
"Oh, you want to go see Richie?"
Ernests looked away quickly and nodded as slightly as possible.
"Awww."
The teacher couldn’t stop himself from giving a peck on the boy’s forehead and picked up his blanket.
"Let’s go, then!"
Ernests smiled and followed Juan Carlos out of the classroom. He liked Richard. He had been very nice to him since day 1. He liked people who were nice to him.
"Psst, Tim."
Tim looked up from his book, just like yesterday, and smiled as his fellow teacher brought the cute boy into the classroom.
"Ernie, look who’s been rubbing his eyes, waiting for you." Teacher Tim pointed a finger towards one of the mattresses and Ernests saw Richard wave his hand at him.
"Hi, Ernie."
"Hi…"
Richard was happy that he had made the right decision to wait for his little angel. His mom, Mirka, always told him bedtime stories with cute fairies and pretty angels whenever he spent time with her on vacations. He had pondered all evening yesterday to figure out whether Ernests was a fairy or an angel but something told him that he was more of an angel, so angel it was.
The Swiss boy saw Ernests walk towards him and felt butterflies in his stomach. The boy was so pretty everywhere and he even liked his calm voice.
"Hehe, sleepy?"
As Ernests let out a small yawn, Richard chuckled and took the pillow from the baby boy’s hand and put it right next to his.
"I’m sleepy too." Richard let out an exaggerated yawn and Ernests giggled.
"Get in."
The six year old made sure that the four year old was safely wrapped in the soft blanket. Ernests hugged Karlis and Richard hugged Ernests. All three of them were good. It was time to fall asleep.
'Huah… I wish I’d dream about bunnies and kittens.' The Swiss boy’s eyes were closed and soon, his wishes came true.
However, Richard’s peaceful dream didn’t go on for too long as one of the kittens bit him on the toe.
'Ouch!'
He fell out of his dream, eyes still closed but ears picking up the sound of two people talking.
"How’s Ernie doing?"
"He’s doing fine so far. His mother... Even when a boy… doll, he could still..."
"Well, his mother said… when… dad… Doctor said that there wasn’t a magical..."
Richard could only pick up words like "Ernie", "doll", "dad", and "magic."
'Huh… does Ernie’s dad do magic with Karlis?'
Puzzled at the realization, Richard pricked up his ears.
"I read about it on the... But isn’t selective mutism usually… at home?" Juan Carlos wasn’t sure if the diagnosis was right.
"Well, I heard from his mom that it’s some sort of a rare case. Apparently, he feels better with his classmates than with his father."
"It could be worse than being physically sick."
“Don’t worry. Ernie will get enough love. He’s cute and talented. I heard that his dad is trying hard so maybe we’ll see some results. Our job is to keep him feel safe and happy here.” Tim patted the worried teacher on the arm.
'Ernie? Sick?' Richard’s heart stopped.
'What is select… mute? Angels can get sick?'
Richard moved closer to the younger boy and put his head near Ernests’ neck. If the boy needed more love, he could certainly give him more.
He didn’t feel like taking a nap but he was too weak to fight against the powerful drowsiness. A couple of minutes later, Richard was off to play with bunnies and koalas with little tears in his eyes.
"Rafa! Rafa!!"
As soon as Richard sent Ernests back to his classroom, he picked up his tennis bag and ran out to the hallway.
"Richie?"
Rafael looked at the Swiss boy, puzzled. He had thought that Richard would wait for Ernests and go down for tennis class together, so he had left the class without him.
"What’s wrong?" He could see that something was bothering his friend.
"Ernie’s in trouble!" Richard didn’t know how to tell the tragic news.
"Why?"
"He’s sick! He has… select mute!"
"Huh? What’s that?" Rafael wriggled his eyebrows.
"I don’t know. I heard the teachers talk! I thought you’d know." Richard was desperate.
Rafael dropped his bag on the floor and thought for a moment. "Select mute? Hmm… I know that word."
"You do? Oh my god, you’re the best!"
Encouraged by his best friend’s words and hopeful face, the Spanish boy thought harder, trying to come up with the right meaning.
"Where did I hear it? Hmm… Oh! It’s about TV, no? You press mute when you don’t want the noise."
"Mute?" Richard rubbed his chin. "Oh, that’s right! Daddy presses mute when the phone rings!"
"So Ernie doesn’t like noise?"
"Yes! I heard teacher Tim and Juanqui say that! He needs more love!"
"Oh. What happens if he hears noise? He’ll become a tennis player, no?"
"I don’t know. But I’ll give him many many love before he grows up." The Swiss boy was determined, feeling sorry for the cute, little boy.
"Ah, maybe Mario can help him, no? He can help anybody." Rafael thought about their mighty physiotherapist. He was like God.
"Boohoohoo, Ernie…" Richard couldn’t help his aching heart and burst into tears.
"Aww, don’t cry, Richie. He’ll be okay." Rafael hugged his best friend and felt sad too. Ernests looked quite healthy in his eyes.
"But but but… the school is noisy! He will… he… boohoo…"
As Richard had his face buried in Rafael’s shoulders, a small hand tugged at the hem of his T-shirt. Richard stopped crying for a moment and turned around.
"Why are you crying?" Ernests had his huge tennis bag on one shoulder, frowning at the crying boy.
"Ernie…"
The four year old tried to think of a good reason to cry. Then, suddenly, his eyebrows shot up as he gasped. "Did someone hurt your doll?"
Richard thought about the question. In fact, yes, someone hurt his angel. "Yes! Someone did!"
"Oh… take him to Mario. Karlis got well."
Ernests’ smile made Richard feel better. As both Rafael and Ernests suggested, he was going to take the boy to Mario and ask him for help.
"I will. My doll should get well too."
Richard gave the angel a peck on the cheek and offered some help. “Your bag looks heavy. You want me to carry it for you?”
Ernests’ eyes grew wide and he shook his head. "No. I’m a big boy."
"Ahahaha…" Rafael couldn’t stop himself from chuckling.
The Latvian boy pouted at the laughing boy but Rafael just smiled and patted him on the head.
"I’ll take it." The strongest boy quickly took the tennis bag from Ernests’ shoulder and Richard held the baby boy’s hand.
R-ring.
"Ouch, the bell’s ringing! We should run! We’re late!"
At Richard’s cry, the three ran down the stairs.
"Wow!"
"Great!!"
"Awesome!"
Children were watching the demonstration session of the top players of the kindergarten, all gathered around the court. It was to encourage the newcomers and to show them how well they could play after getting trained in the school.
Boys were currently admiring the beauty and power of Richard’s one-handed backhand. Rafael had already showed off his forehand while Novak had impressed the kids with his two-handed backhand and an impersonation of their coaches Andy and Roger.
"You’re up now, Andy. Give us some dropshots and lobs." Roger shouted from the other side of the net and the Scottish boy nodded.
Andy knew how much his boyfriend loved his backhand dropshots. It was a good chance to show him that he had got even better during the summer.
"Go, Andy!"
Hearing Novak’s voice put a pleasant smile on his face, and when his dropshot landed beautifully on the other side of the net, the smile became cocky.
"You saw that?"
"Yes, I did! You rock!" Novak was excited.
The smile became even cockier and the students were treated to a marvelous amount of nice shots. As the crowd got louder, Andy even showed off how he could keep the tennis ball off the ground with his feet. He was in the football team for a good reason.
"Okay, one last shot, Andy." Roger said with a smile and when Andy played a dropshot, he ran to the net to get the ball back in play.
Andy lobbed and Roger bent his knees, pretending that he couldn’t reach the ball. "Ah, my arms are too short!"
"Ahhahaha!"
"Coach Roger got lobbed!"
Kids were busy laughing at Roger and cheering for Andy, but it was Coach Andy who had the biggest grin on his face.
'Damn, he’s absolutely great with kids. No wonder. He’s a father after all.'
Andy sighed, wondering how he got to like a guy with a kid. It wasn’t like Roger was unavailable since he had divorced years ago, but having feelings for a father somehow bothered him even if Richard was smart and cute.
'Since when am I into super serious relationships? Brooklyn and I were serious and things didn’t go too well.'
Andy couldn’t help wondering if he would’ve had a son like Richard too, if his ex-fiancée hadn’t found him in bed with another guy.
'Well, what’s the point thinking about her now? It’s not like I want her back. I want that guy over there.'
The American coach fixed his cap and came up with an idea.
'I should talk to his son. Richie’s the one who spends the most hours with him. He might be able to tell me what Roger thinks about me.'
So Andy waited patiently until the class was over and pulled Richard close to him as he saw Roger talk to one of the kids.
"Richie, I have to talk to you at snack time."
"At snack time? But I have an important thing to do." Richard answered, taking off his wristbands.
"But I’m going to buy you more delicious snacks."
Richard frowned. "You don’t understand, Coach Andy. I have a really important thing to do."
Andy’s jaw dropped. 'How could a six year old possibly have such important stuff to do?'
But he was aware that he had to be on the good side of this golden boy. "Okay, when do you have free time then?"
Richard finished packing his bag and answered. "How about tomorrow’s snack time?"
"Fine. See you then, kid. Oh, by the way, don’t tell your dad about this. It’s going to be our little secret."
The Swiss boy immediately frowned again. "Are we going to do something bad?"
"What? No, of course not."
Richard narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"No, Richie. We’re not going to do something bad. I just need to ask you a very important question. Can you keep this a secret for me?"
'Did I just beg?' While Andy bit his bottom lips in frustration, Richard nodded.
"I got it. Don’t worry, Coach Andy. See you tomorrow."
The boy left in a hurry and Andy took a deep breath. Getting Roger wasn’t going to be easy.
Knock-knock.
"Come in." Mario put down his thick book and let his eyes glance at the door.
"Hi, doctor Mario." Richard let Ernests into the room first and closed the door behind him.
"Hi, boys. Who’s hurt?" The physiotherapist couldn’t see any kind of injuries on their arms and legs.
"He is." Richard pointed at Ernests and both Mario and Ernests looked at Richard.
"You are?" Mario asked the younger boy while getting up from the desk to check on him. He looked fine; no bruises, no suspicious marks on the skin.
"He has select mute." Richard whispered into Mario’s ears while Ernests thought if he got hurt somewhere in tennis class. He couldn’t remember getting hit by the ball or falling on the court.
"He has what?" The Croatian tried to figure out what the boy was talking about.
"Don’t tell teacher Tim or teacher Juanqui that I heard them. They said he had select mute!" The whisper had all the desperation in the world.
"Oh!" Now Mario understood what Richard was trying to tell him.
"Can you make him better?"
Hope flashed in the little boy’s eyes and it was these moments that made Mario think of having kids of his own someday. Young children were simply adorable.
"Ernie’s not sick. He’s probably hungry because it’s snack time."
"But we brought snack so we could eat here!"
Richard emptied his pockets on Mario’s desk; a couple of cookies, two tangerines and two candies were what the boy had brought for the two.
"Ahaha, you forgot drinks."
"Eek! I did!"
While Richard buried his head in his hands, Mario let the boys sit on the couch and headed to the small refrigerator. He knew that he had orange juice somewhere in there, unless Gael had decided to “borrow” it once again.
'Oh, it’s still there and it’s not empty. Good.'
Mario pondered on what he should tell the boys while pouring juice into two mugs. He was sure that Ernests didn’t know what the disease was called; the boy could barely pronounce his own name. But he wasn’t sure if he was aware of the symptoms. Even his mother or doctor couldn’t tell if he knew that he couldn’t speak whenever he was around his father or when he heard something about him.
Ernests wasn’t that much of a talkative kid after all. His mother only knew about the worrying symptom when she heard from her ex-husband that the boy hadn’t spoken a single word during the whole weekend that he had spent with him and his family.
According to the phone call with Ernests’ doctor, the boy was suffering from a rare case of selective mutism; usually, children with this particular disease had problem talking at school while they were talkative at home, but apparently, Ernests felt better at school than at his father’s place. The boy probably couldn’t talk because he felt too much pressure to speak to his dad after living through his parents’ nasty divorce.
"So, can you help us? You can fix everything, right?" Richard was more interested in something else than his favorite orange juice for once.
Ernests was already eating his chocolate chip cookies, not really paying attention to what was going on. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t understand the situation anyway.
"Yum…"
He picked up another cookie and drank his juice. Snack was good, so it was a good day.
Keeping an eye on the Latvian boy who was completely oblivious of their conversation, Mario explained as easily as he could about Ernests’ problem.
"Oh. So he’s okay with noise?" was the first question that Richard had to ask.
"Noise? What noise?"
Richard scratched the back of his neck. Mario was supposed to know about all that. "His dad yells?"
"What? No, I’m sure he doesn’t, Richie. Ernie’s just not comfortable with his dad yet. He needs time. So try not to ask him about it, okay?"
"What happens if someone else does?" Richard was worried.
"He might not speak for a few minutes or a few hours, so if it happens, you hug him and tell him happy stories, okay?"
"Okay. I know many stories." Richard answered, still very worried.
"His mom and dad are working very hard to help him, so don’t worry. Now go drink your juice. He’s stealing yours."
As a matter of fact, Ernests was pouring some juice from Richard’s mug, hoping that nobody could see him.
"Oh, my juice…" Richard didn’t want to make a fuss about it but still, it hurt that he had less juice now.
"Here you go. I have some more." Mario handed over the packet of juice and the boy beamed without a sign of concern on his face.
'Ah, it’s good to be kids. You can be so happy with such small things.' The Croatian smiled but the smile didn’t last long as two boys yanked the door open, running inside.
"Mario! He punched me in the face!"
"He started first! It hurts here!"
"I didn’t start first! You ate my cookie!"
"Haha. Sit down here, you two. Let’s see what happened to your handsome faces."
Mario sat down on his chair and checked the boys’ faces. He loved his job; he loved the kids and they loved him back, thinking that he was some sort of a healing God.
* * * * * * *
