William
"No!" yelled the blonde headed three year old, crossing his arms across his Bob the Builder shirt defiantly.
Someone wise had once noted that it should be illegal for two people as stubborn as Stephan Connor and Natalie Durant to reproduce and Miles McCabe was slowly beginning to understand what that meant.
"Will, your mum told me bath time was at 7. It's almost 7:30 now and you still haven't gotten in" he argued, bending at the waist to stare down at the troublesome three year old. He raised an eyebrow as Will pouted his lips, stomping a bare foot down on the wooden floorboards, in turn making the glass cabinet behind him rattle and Miles heart skip a beat.
"Please Will" he begged, getting down on both knees "if you just hop in the bath for a few minutes I promise you can play for as long as you want afterwards"
The little boy regarded him suspiciously; his crinkled eyebrows and crossed arms reminding the young doctor eerily of the two people who had left him in charge earlier that evening, well at least the faces they would be wearing if it was discovered the little boy had ran the household all evening.
It scared him to think of what William James Connor, the pint sized blonde headed missile of destruction, would be capable of when he was older. Did the child even realise he had more brains and stubbornness built up in his genetics than most people could comprehend?
"Want to play now!"
Obviously he did.
"William" commanded the doctor weakly, desperately trying to squash the feelings of dread that were making a reoccurrence at the back of his mind. The last time he had been this afraid of a person had been his first encounter with the older, just as stubborn and just as blonde Connor, and if past experience was anything to go by Miles had little to no chance of winning a round with either the toddler or his father.
Something in the depths of his consciousness reminded him that the child's other half had been quite kind to him and he desperately searched for any hint of Natalie in the little boy. Only his eyes, the deep pools reflecting and erring amount of confidence, served as a reminder that Natalie had played a part in the little boys creation, and still that was only in colour. Williams's attitude was a complete carbon copy of his father and for that Miles was glad he was the only adult trying to take charge of the Connor household that night.
God only knows what would have happened if he was.
"Eva!"
"You called"
The dry tone in which the dark haired woman regarded him clued Miles towards a careful approach when answering. He turned slowly towards his fiancée of 6 months, making sure a grateful smile was in place before letting his gaze settle on her own dark features, two eyes glaring angrily into his own and a frown that would challenge even William.
In her arms sat a slightly confused and very unhappy Isabelle Connor, the 11 month old child screwing her forehead tightly as her bottom lip quivered, a sure sign that tears would follow quite soon.
He'd barely been able to stumble towards Eva, waving a hand apologetically, before Belle's thundering cries filled the lounge room, drowning out the sounds of Disney in the background and the latest news bulletin still playing in the kitchen. William stuck his hands over his ears theatrically, quite accustomed to the screams of his younger sibling, as Miles stood frozen between the child and Eva, his arms outreached in a silent bid for some kind of help.
Torn between soothing the baby girl being rocked gently in her arms and shooting daggers at Miles, Eva found a middle ground, calming the child while whispering angry threats towards the man as his mind crumbled with fear.
"It's okay sweetie…..I spent half an hour trying to get her to sleep!...there, there, your fine hunny…Then you came yelling at me from down here and wake the poor gorgeous girl up!"
Eva stroked the golden curls at the base of Isabelle's neck soothingly, rocking the baby back and forth as her cried turned into spluttering hiccups. She silently pointed towards the bunny rug thrown across the back of the lounge, hoping Miles would take the hint to pick it up for her.
"Me?" he whispered, pointing to his chest. Eva threw him an exasperated look, nodding sharply but slowly so as not to awaken the dozing child in her arms once more. With as much menace as she could muster she stole the soft blanket from his hand and draped it across the baby's back, rubbing soothing circles as Isabelle's head nodded slowly against her, tiny eyes drooping closed in exhaustion.
"I'm putting her to bed" stage whispered Eva "If you wake her again I will not hesitate to kill you!"
Miles' short nod acting as evidence her point had been received, loud and clear.
"What you watching buddy?" asked Miles, collapsing into the lounge next to William. The boy's eyes were wide open as he watched a parade of animals dance across the television, his small hands waving animatedly in time with the up beat music.
"Lion King" he replied matter of factly, eyes never leaving the screen. His voice held all the lyrical innocence of a three year old entranced by Disney and for a brief moment Miles seemed to forget the tantrum from earlier and smiled.
Brief being the key word.
"Arghh" he yelled in annoyance, subconsciously swatting at the blonde headed whirlwind that had attached it self to his arm with painful force.
"Will!" he exclaimed "What are you doing?"
He brushed at the hand clawing into his forearm, meeting the boys gaze as he slid slowly back to his position on the lounge. Miles watched in horror as the same blue eyes that had been so confident moments earlier slowly began to fill with tears, Will's bottom lip quivering with fear and uncertainty as his sisters had done earlier.
No
"Daddy always plays Lion with me" mumbled the little boy gloomily, the sudden thought of his absent parents causing him to sniff loudly. He dropped his head so that his chin lay against his chest, rubbing the long folds of his bob the builder shirt against his nose and gracing Miles with the angelic site of a sad William Connor; a site sure to melt Eva's heart resulting in Miles spending the remainder of the week sleeping on the couch.
No!
"Hey now Will, you just surprised me buddy" encouraged Miles, trying to make his voice sound as happy and lyrical as the animated wart hog and meerkat dancing across the television. The sudden image of Stephen Connor on all fours, playing Lion with his three year old son flashed into his mind before he could resist and it took all of his resolve not to burst into laughter at such a thought.
"Will you play Lion with me?" pleaded the child hopefully, grasping his hands together tightly. His eyes widened at the thought of having a new friend to play with and he grinned, his little teeth gleaming white as Miles blinked in confusion.
One minute he had been trying to stop World War Three erupting in the Connor household and the next he was being forced to play Lion by an over excited three year old displaying a frightening stubborn streak.
There was only one thing to do in situations like this and Miles had been trying to hold out as long as he could.
"Will, give me two seconds to make a phone call and I promise I'll play Lion with you, okay?" he asked, briefly wondering if Stephen had taught his son the artful skill of negotiation.
Will's forehead creased slightly as he pondered his current situation. He tilted his head to the side, mimicking his mother and thus proving the child still had hints of Natalie in him.
"Okay" he announced happily, bouncing off the lounge to play with his giant Lego.
At least the child wasn't 100 percent Stephen Connor.
Exhaling a sigh of relief Miles lunged for the phone, punching in the numbers he had memorised that afternoon in case of emergencies.
"Who is it?" asked a curious 7 year old, yelling into the ear piece while fending of her older siblings for phone rights.
"It's Miles, is your dad there?" asked the doctor quickly, not willing to get in the middle of any more children and their fights for the night.
He heard the phone drop against the table as screams of daddy echoed throughout both houses.
"Thought I told you I was only to be called in emergencies" came an amused voice moments later, shuffling away from his own children to a quieter room.
"Yeah well, this is an emergency Frank" whispered Miles hurriedly, eyeing Will suspiciously as the child sang along with the movie.
"Why are we whispering?"
"In case he hears us"
"Who?"
"Who else!" a quick shudder proving just how far the three year old was getting to him.
"Ahhh, enjoying your first encounter of babysitting the delightful Connor children I see" teased the other man without remorse. He'd been on the receiving end of William enough times to know exactly how Miles was feeling, yet no part of him felt moved to sympathise with the young man.
"Just ride it out, that's all the advice I can give man. Don't argue with him if you can avoid it. Let him do what he wants as long as it's legal or won't end with a trip to the emergency room. For you or him that is"
"He's never like this when Natalie or Stephen are around though" whined Miles in annoyance, smiling at the child to keep up appearances as Lego lost his interest and he moved onto the cars lying not to far away.
"Mate, children are always good when other people and their parents are around. But get them alone with either group and they let their true colours shine, and trust me, it ain't pretty" informed Frank "I thought you had Eva with you anyway, she's got to have some idea of how to handle him?"
"As soon as Nat and Stephen left she bagsed Isabelle for the night, said it was only fair that Will spent some proper time with 'Uncle Miles'" complained the doctor, imitating what he imagined was a pretty good impression of his fiancée. "Plus I woke up the baby beforehand so Eva's threatening to kill me if I so much breathe near her again"
"Ha!" laughed Frank shortly, swatting at the rag doll being thrown at him from behind. "Looks as if I'm about to fight my own battle so you'd better get back to sweet William uncle Miles" he teased "Good luck"
"Oi! Don't hang up"
Dammit
Miles placed the phone down on the table, turning to look at William and his pile of cars by Legoville.
"Will?" he called anxiously spinning on the lounge to wear the television sat blaring. The end titles were rolling in a mixture of black and white as the same all-to-happy Disney music sang out from the speakers.
No! no no no no no!
"Will, buddy, time to play Lion" tried Miles, grabbing the cushions from the lounge in the hopes a game of hide and seek had been started without his knowledge.
"Will?"
He checked under the dining room table, in and out of cupboards and with his heart threatening to beat out of his chest he even threw open the oven. When all places downstairs had been covered thoroughly and Miles had offered at least three games of Lion, five ice creams and a trip to the zoo the terrified doctor made the long walk up the staircase, visibly shaking at the prospect of what Eva would do to him for losing Will.
Worse, what torture would Stephen concoct to avenge his young son?
Death
Surely that was the least Stephen would do to him.
Maybe he'll be kind and make it quick…
"Miles?" questioned Eva, looking unsurely towards the dazed man coming up the stairs. If not for her hand pushing against his chest he would have barrelled right through the safety gate at the top, put in place to stop both a soon to be walking Isabelle and a three year old with an unfortunate habit of running and tripping down things.
"Miles, babe, talk to me?" pleaded Eva, leading him into the spare room down the hall.
She sat him on the bed, his body bouncing heavily as he blinked twice before turning in horror towards Eva and laying his head against her arm.
"I lost William" he mumbled, starting to shake as visions of Stephen laughing manically filled his head.
"What do you mean you lost William?" asked Eva slowly, brushing a hand against the top of Miles hair as his words sunk in.
"One minute he was there, the next he was gone" mused Miles slowly, his voice dangerously high as his eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets. His face was slowly turning a distinct shade of green and Eva wondered briefly if he had caught the disease of their last case.
"I checked everywhere, and he was no where" he continued "Natalie told me he couldn't come upstairs without one of us because of the safety gate so he can't be here. But if he's not here and not there he must be no where"
He finished by letting his raised arms fall dramatically to the side of the bed, bouncing loudly as his body fell backwards with a terrified moan.
Moments later he felt Eva fall down beside him, the pair turning to each other on the bed and grasping hands.
"We lost William" she exclaimed slowly "Stephens going to kill us"
"No, he likes you. He'll kill me though" mused Miles with confidence, purely believing the doctor would have no shortage of torturous ways to make him reach his end.
The pair lay silently for a moment, breathing in the quiet air of the household, everything still now that Will had been eliminated from the equation.
The gentle sounds of the breeze against the window, a neighbours dog barking to the full moon as a car speed round the corner, the sound of Isabelle's steady breathing over the baby monitor, a little voice counting sheep down the hallway.
What the...
"One sheep, two sheep, three sheep, five sheep, twenty sheep, 'hundred sheep, William Sheep, blue sheep, daddy sheep"
Sheep…
"William!"
Eva and Miles burst from their position on the bed and sprinted down the hallway, both coming to a screeching halt outside the dimly lit room at the end of the house.
Trucks and cars and Lego pieces were scattered across the floor as well as a well used kid's medical set sitting on a small table to the side. An assortment of stuffed animals and teddy bears, some with plasters and others with eyes and ears missing all sat around it while one unfortunate elephant had found himself with a missing trunk.
In the middle of the room a little bed, no higher than Miles knee, sat idly and lying among the covers, blankie pulled tight to his chest while one thumb lay in his casually in his mouth was William, blearily counting sheep as he drifted slowly towards the land of nod.
He raised his hand slowly towards Eva as she entered the room, holding out his blankie before pulling it back to his chest for a cuddle, smiling up at Eva as she sat gently on the side of his bed.
"Night Night William" she whispered slowly, leaning down to kiss his forehead.
"G'nigh" came the sleepy mumble from the small child.
Eva walked over towards Miles, shaking her head at their earlier panic moments ago. She laid a hand against his chest, feeling his heart beat rapidly still.
"He's fine" she whispered with a smile, kissing his cheek before wandering of towards Isabelle's room.
"Thought you wanted to play Lion?" teased Miles as he squatted next to the toddler's bed. The little boy's eyes opened a fraction, clearing suddenly at the thought of the game promise to him earlier. For a split second Miles feared he had gone to far, and at any moment Will would jump up and lunge screaming at his arm again.
Luckily the child had not inherited either parent's erratic sleeping patterns and was quite content to remain in bed.
"Goodnight buddy" whispered Miles, brushing a flick of blonde hair out of Will's eyes as they closed for the night, the little child's breathing evening out as he slid into a peaceful sleep.
Walking out the door Miles could've sworn he heard a last minute mumble, barely understandable from the sleeping child.
"P'ay Lion t'morrow"
Play Lion tomorrow…