Disclaimer: Still not mine.
"Are – are you sure you can handle this?" Roger asked, clutching his daughter close to his chest. "Children are a big responsibility."
"Roger," Mimi said sternly, "I'm sure she'll be fine."
"You trust her?" Roger's eyes widened.
"Jeez, Rog," Maureen cut it, prying the frightened three-year old from her father's arms, "I practically raised my baby brother."
"Yeah, see," Mimi touched his arm, "if she can raise her brother, she can babysit Musetta for the weekend."
"Will Joanne be home?"
"After work, yes," Maureen assured, positioning her niece on her hip. "Don't worry, go have fun. Happy honeymoon."
"Thanks, hun," Mimi replied. Giving her daughter one last kiss, she finally ushered a worried Roger out the door.
Placing little Musetta on the couch, Maureen stepped back to admire the little girl. She was a pretty kid, black curls tied up in pigtails and pretty brown eyes like Mimi, yet she somehow defied genetics and inherited Roger's light complexion.
"So what do you do for… fun?" Maureen asked. She had lied when she said she raised her brother. Well, not really. Her dad was always away for work and her mom never really paid attention to the two of them. At that time, Miles was almost twelve and could pretty much take care of himself. Maureen was nearing nineteen at the time and felt the need to act somewhat motherly, but she had never dealt with a toddler.
"Suzy!" the child yelled.
"What's that? Like a toy?"
Musetta crawled off the couch and toddled over to the small duffel bag that Mimi had packed. "Eh," she tugged at the zipper.
Maureen walked over to the little girl and helped her open the bag. Inside, on top of enough clothes to last the weekend, was a small doll with blonde hair and a blue dress. "Is this Suzy?"
"Eh!" Musetta reached up and snatched the doll, hugging it close. "Mine."
"All yours, sweetheart," Maureen gathered the girl in her arms and carried her over to the couch. Sitting down, she turned on the Disney channel and hoped it kept Musetta quiet.
It did… for a while.
Maureen glanced at the clock. It was almost five, when Joanne would be getting home from work.
"Potty! Potty! Potty!" Musetta cried.
"Huh?"
"Potty!"
"Don't you have a diaper to go in?" Maureen asked, suddenly remembering that most three year olds were potty trained.
"Potty!"
"Shit!" she yelled. Grabbing Musetta, Maureen ran through the apartment towards the bathroom. "Shit, shit, shit!"
"Shit, shit, shit," Musetta echoed with a smile.
"No, hun, don't say that," Maureen sat the girl down on the toilet. She let out a sigh of relief as the sound of urine hitting porcelain was heard.
"Done," the baby informed. "Wipe."
"Whoa, wait," Maureen's eyes widened. "You can't do that yourself?"
"Mommy helps," Musetta's big brown eyes looked up to Maureen.
She reached over and took some toilet paper, wincing as she helped Musetta finish going to the bathroom. "Wash your hands." The two did so before returning to the couch.
"Sweetie, I'm home," Joanne entered.
"Thank god," Maureen jumped up from the couch to hug her girlfriend. "It's so hard to babysit."
Joanne looked at her watch. "Roger said that he was coming over with Musetta at three. She's been here for like two hours."
"She had to pee and I had to wipe her butt," Maureen informed with vivid hand motions of disgust. "It was so gross."
Joanne gave her girlfriend a strange look. "Since when are you grossed out by a girl's butt?"
Maureen opened her mouth, but a witty reply never made its way out. "This is different."
"Uh huh," Joanne walked past Maureen and over to the couch. "Hey, sweetie."
"Aunt Jo!" the child cried, reaching her arms up. Joanne took her into her arms and smiled. Surprising them all, she got along very well with Musetta. Mimi was sick when Musetta was first born and Mark and Roger were completely clueless. Joanne had worked with children in social work cases, so she took care of her for the first few weeks. An unbreakable bond formed. Cuddling into her chest, Musetta started whining, "Hungwy, hungwy."
"Aunt Jo will make everyone dinner, don't worry," Joanne walked into the kitchen and pulled a few things out of the cupboard. "Honeybear, turn the stove on."
"Pookie, that's not fair," Maureen pouted, doing as she was told. "Why does she like you better?"
"You just need to have a little patience, that's all," Joanne smiled. "She likes you just fine; you just have to let her go at her own pace."
--
"She asleep?"
"Yep," Maureen sat down next to Joanne, cuddling against her.
"Was that so hard?"
"No, all I had to do was sing some of Roger's old songs and she went right out."
"I'm proud of you, Honeybear," Joanne kissed Maureen. "I told you it was easy."
"You'd be such a great mother," Maureen stroked Joanne's cheek.
She blushed. "Nah."
"I mean it, Pookie," Maureen's face lit up. "Joanne! We should have a kid!"
"And where is this kid going to come from?"
"Well, I could talk to Mark…" Maureen's straight face went to a grin when she saw Joanne's eyes widen. "Kidding, Pookie. You're a lawyer, we can adopt."
"We'll think about it," Joanne smiled. Kissing Maureen, she said, "I'm going to bed. You should too. Musetta wakes up awfully early for your time and I won't be home until almost four tomorrow."
"What time will she wake up?"
"Around seven or eight."
"Oh god that's early," Maureen followed Joanne into the bedroom.
--
The weekend passed smoothly, Sunday arriving with everyone alive and intact. Maureen had gotten used to assisting Musetta on the toilet and taking time out of rehearsing to play peek-a-boo and dolls. She even dug out her old doll from when was little so that Suzy could have a playmate.
"Keep her," Maureen handed the doll to Musetta while they waited for Roger and Mimi to get back from their honeymoon at the Jersey shore.
"Christie," Musetta hugged her new toy affectionately.
Maureen smiled, looking up when the door opened.
Musetta looked over, her face brightening and the dolls dropping from her arms. "DADDY!" She bolted over to Roger who was kneeling down, arms wide open.
"Musetta," he scooped up the little ball of energy, burying his face in her hair and kissing her.
Mimi smiled, "Thanks, Maureen."
"Anytime, she's a great kid."
"See, Rog, told you she'd be fine," Mimi took her daughter out of Roger's death grip.
"It was just a precaution," he rolled his eyes, picking up Musetta's bag and dolls. "Thanks," he bumped into Maureen with a smile.
"You're welcome," she swung her hip in his direction, tapping him gently.
"So how was the honeymoon?"
"Did you know that there are no nude beaches in Jersey?" Roger pouted.
"Roger!" Mimi scolded. "It wasn't the Caribbean."
"Collins told me there were," he whined.
"And you believed him?" Maureen laughed.
"Collins knows everything," Roger said. "But it's okay. Mimi and I totally made up for it when we…"
The girls twisted their face in disgust. "Roger!"
"Don't complain, it means there is a chance that a Roger Jr. is on the way," he grinned.
"God help the world," Mimi and Maureen echoed.
--
"Here," Joanne flopped some papers on the kitchen table.
"What's this?" Maureen picked them up.
"It's going to take a hell of a whole lot of fighting, but we can get a kid."
"We're fighters," Maureen nodded, skimming through the paperwork. "And children are one of those things worth fighting for."
Fin