"What!?!"
"It's true! I've been teaching Afton the alphabet this whole time, he's a genius! I've never seen a child so gifted before in all my life!" Adah presses, hoping that this revelation would allow her to continue tutoring the child.
Verna looks at Afton then back to the papers, finding the "failed" attempts at writing. "Did you really write this Afton?" she asks.
Afton gives a nod and is immediately swept him into her arms, some kind of sumo move designed for crushing your bones being applied... No, it was just her hugging him, but it sure felt like it. She cheers and peppers his face in kisses, completely overcome with joy.
He wasn't all that against his mother's affection, it was preferable to being stabbed by his father's beard... The man wouldn't dare try to take him as his mother was like a rabid lioness if you even attempted it.
"So, Miss Parker... Would you allow me to continue tutoring your son? He has a bright future, I'd say that with time he'd become the youngest Elder the Brotherhood has ever seen." Adah says, taking advantage of his mother's emotional state.
Verna stops hopping around and turns to her, "I think that's fine... But I'll be keeping a close eye to make sure you aren't overworking him. He may be smart but he's still a child." she states, no willing to compromise on this point.
Adah quickly nods, she'd worked with children before and mostly knew their limits, to be honest, she was surprised Afton had concentrated for so long considering his age. Perhaps exceptional people would always be exceptional, no matter their age.
"Then you can pick him up at the nursery tomorrow... I would have liked him to make friends and socialise a bit more, but I think he'll be fine even without peers his age." she says, nodding to Adah before walking out, beginning to skip down the tunnels with Afton as she couldn't contain her excitement.
She quickly relayed everything that'd happened to his father, the man erupting into laughter and inviting all their acquaintances to have a small celebration. A few were unable to come due to prior responsibilities, but many people did.
Edgar Hardin, a Paladin and friend of his father's turned up first, he didn't seem fond of social interactions but had apparently made an exception for this. "Parker, I wonder if this celebration is really necessary," he says, dressed in recon scout armour. He had black hair that was slowly receding from the front, and a relatively large head...
Afton quietly snorted to himself as he thought up the nickname of "Egg Headin", immature? Definitely. Funny? Irrefutably.
His father didn't seem to take offence from the man's comment, "Come on Edgar, you know I wouldn't invite you here if it was nothing."
"Last I recalled you said the same thing when your son first used the lavatory on his own..." he comments dryly.
"Yeah, I may have overreacted... But this time is different. My son's a genius!" he exclaims, causing Edgar to rub his face.
"Mmmhmm? And what feat of superb intelligence has he displayed for you to invite everyone over?... Has he finally told you to go away and leave him be?"
Zachary scoffs, "No, he did that months ago." he says, forcing Edgar to quickly hide the smirk making its way onto his face, "No, apparently Afton is able to read and write!"
...
"And what makes you think that? Did he spit his spaghetti-o's into a word?" he jabs again, wishing the man would stop talking about his son constantly.
"Actually, Adah Lindgren took him from the nursery and taught him how to write half of the alphabet today." Verna interjects, causing Edgar to look at her in disbelief.
"He's one year old and you expect me to believe that not only is he able to walk and speak, but read and write too?" he asks, remembering how slowly his own son seemed to grow up.
Verna crosses her arms and smirks, "He's able to do maths as well apparently."
...
Verna leaves to go greet the other's who'd arrived, Trisha Watkins with her daughter Melissa, Katie Stanton with her son Miles, Susan Royce with her daughter Christine, and Veronica who'd somehow found her way here alone... Maybe she'd come with Christine?
Melissa Watkins, and Miles Stanton were the same age as Afton, and their parents constantly seemed to be trying to get them to befriend one another. This was readily apparent during his last birthday when they'd just dumped the three of them together on a carpeted floor and just watched them interact.
Fortunately, Veronica and Christine were here, while they weren't on his intellectual level yet, they were still preferable to toddlers.
The duo walked over to Afton and looks down at him with smiles, "Hey Afton, I hear you're a real whizzkid." Veronica says as she crouches down next to him.
Afton nods, remaining where he'd been sat to wait for the abrupt event to be over... He wanted everyone to leave him alone so he could do his daily exercises.
Veronica seems a bit disappointed by his lacklustre response and glances to Christine, "Remember when we first visited him? I bet he really did tell us to f-off..." she remarks semi-sarcastically.
Christine shakes her head, "Just because he's able to write a few things now doesn't mean he understood what he was saying back then. Isn't that right Afton? You'd never say that to your big sisters right?"
Afton almost isn't able to restrain himself against the temptation of telling them to fuck off again, just to see their reaction... But that'd probably damage any potential friendship they could have with one another, he imagined that showing such animosity when he was young would be a shock. It also might clue them in on his hidden intelligence as well.
Instead he just smiles at them, "Neva big sis's!", judging by their reactions he'd given the correct answer.
Hope you guys like the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.
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The "celebration" that his parents had devised proved nothing more than a simple get together... The Brotherhood of Steel was new to the area and lacked any none critical supplies, as such the only things they had for the guests were a few sunset sarsaparilla's and nuka cola. Somehow they'd been preserved well enough these two hundred years to still be drinkable, though, Afton was hesitant to drink any...
As the get together was rounding up, the door to the room opened, causing everyone present to turn towards it.
...
A man wearing blue and grey robes walks in, his pale and almost clammy skin matched his messy grey hair, with the addition of the massive beard he also sported, he looked like the ideal picture of a crazy homeless man.
Afton glances around in confusion, everyone's reaction to the man appearing was abit too strong for his liking, had something bad happened?
His father steps forwards after the moment of silence passes, "Elder, I don't suppose you've heard about my son?"
The man shakes his head, "I couldn't care less about your son," he states, causing a few in the room to tense up, "I seem to have misplaced my apprentice. however." he says, glances around the room before locking eye with Veronica.
"Er, hey Elder..." she scratches the back of her head, "I was on break, right? Ha-ha-ha..."
The elder scoffs, "Funny, usually when someone says thirty minutes, they mean thirty minutes, or if that's too hard for you, one thousand eight hundred seconds... I also don't recall giving you permission to go traipsing around the base doing whatever strikes your fancy." he states with a frown.
"Excuse me, Elder... Veronica here just wanted to visit our son, she's young and it would healthy for her to socialise." Verna says.
"Indeed it's important, that's why I allocated her two hours and thirty minutes of every day to "play" with people her own age... Was it not enough apprentice?" he asks while glaring at her.
"I-er, yes. It is but I wanted to see Afton... I'm sorry for sneaking off." she admits, her shoulders slumping.
...
The Elder loudly breaths out through his nose before sighing, "Very well... You may stay here, but you'll not be allowed any social breaks for three days. You've put my research five hours behind and I'll have you return that time with work... Understand?"
Veronica quickly nods, "Yes Elder, thank you!"
The Elder turns and walks away, thankfully seeming to have no interest in Afton judging by how the man ignored him entirely.
So that was Elder Elijah he thought to himself. The man didn't exactly look like leadership material, this with all the misgivings he'd been hearing from the various people in the base painted a pretty clear picture. Though, he'd not really understood Veronica's relationship to him until now...
From their brief interaction now he could see that he valued her a lot, the girl had bragged to him in the past that she was the Elder's favourite due to her aptitude when it came to engineering and technology.
The man was purported to be extremely strict and hated anyone going against his orders, he was worried that Veronica would be heavily punished, but apparently, he had a soft spot for her? If he didn't know any better he'd say they were more like father and daughter than master and apprentice. That made the most sense since Veronica's parents had been killed by the NCR a while ago.
After the Elder left people immediately started conversing again, Verna and Zachary walking over to Veronica to ask whether she'd be alright, and if they could do anything to help.
Veronica simply shook her head though, "This is not the first time I've snuck away, and it won't be the last... The Elder ignores it as long as I do my best when I am working."
Afton could see the worry the held for her as the Elder was known to be awful to people that displeased him, but with Veronica's reassurances, they let the matter go.
Thirty minutes later people started leaving, the children his age Melissa and Miles had become tired and fallen asleep, being carried away by their parents who sent smiles at Verna and Zachary, as well as longing glances at himself...
The following days were much more interesting than most beforehand had been, "learning" at an advanced rate allowed him to finally do something productive other than exercise his body at night.
Under Adah's guidance, he quickly became "proficient" at writing the alphabet, simple mathematics, and other basic studies. This encouraged the woman to press and go further every time he completed something.
She kept his parents up to date on his progress, and if they hadn't thrown a celebration the other day, he had no doubt they would throw another.
And so, this became his daily routine. Waking up, being taken to the nursery by his mother where he reluctantly socialised with the children there before thankfully being carried off by Adah who started his day's education.
He was occasionally visited by Christine and Veronica who seemed to make it their duty to be the best big sisters possible, even if some of the other parents found it slightly awkward that they didn't extend that same attitude to their own children.
The duo even snuck him away once to teach him how to shoot a laser pistol... That was probably the most fun experience he'd had since reincarnating if he were honest. The feeling of power it gave you to shoot extremely deadly beams of light at anything you wished? Afton was afraid he might've developed a fetish...
Hope you guys liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.
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