5:30 pm
"I don't know about this Reed..."
"Franklin will be just fine," her husband said. "Johnny will take good care of him."
"Johnny doesn't even take good care of himself!" Sue exclaimed as she bounced her toddler on her hip. "Let's just stay in tonight."
"You've been dying to go out."
"Yes, but I thought Ben would be watching the baby," Sue said.
"Ben has plans with Alicia," Reed said. "Johnny is more than capable of taking care of Franklin. Don't you trust you own brother?"
"Are you kidding me?" Sue replied, exhasperated. "Johnny is not a kid person. He still acts like a kid, but he doesn't like kids."
"He loves Franklin," Reed reasoned.
"When he only has to hold him for five minutes. He's never had to take care of him for a whole night before!"
"He's already agreed to do it," Reed said. "And you wrote down all of the directions he needs to get Franklin ready for bed."
"Johnny's a trouble maker."
"You know, you're normally the one to defend him when anyone else has their doubts," Reed pointed out.
"Well I don't want to hear anyone else talk badly about him," Sue said. "But I'm his sister and I can say whatever I want. And he's a pain in the as- butt," she concluded, looking at his son as he tugged on her hair.
Reed rolled his eyes but smiled at his wife. She was the type of person who always worried about everything. "How much trouble can Johnny get into with a cast on his leg?"
The look she shot at him clearly read 'Are you kidding me?' "It's clear you didn't grow up with him."
"It's just this once," Reed said. "If Johnny's not a good babysitter, we'll never ask him to do it again. Just give it a chance."
Sue sighed. "Fine." She adjusted her son onto her other hip and walked out of the kitchen, calling Johnny's name.
Johnny appeared out of his bedroom, holding just one of his to crutches to help keep himself balanced and off of his left ankle, which he'd broken in a recent fight when he'd gotten wet, flamed off, and fallen a long way to the ground. "What's up?"
"How's the ankle?" Reed asked.
"I'm alright."
"Good," Sue said. "We're going out now, so you have to keep an eye on Franklin." She started to lead him out to the living room. "I set up everything you'll need over here. There are three diapers on the table. He'll need a fresh one right before bed at 8:30. At 6:30 feed him dinner. There are some spaghetti-o's in the pantry. No snacks. He'll probably want to watch a movie before bed. All of the ones he is allowed to watch are on a shelf in his bedroom. His pajamas are right here next to the diapers. Don't worry about giving him a bath. Make sure he brushes his teeth before bed though. He likes bedtime stories. Don't let him out of your sight. Reed's lab is off limits. Everything is written down on the notepad on the coffee table. If you have any problems at all, call me." She set Franklin down on the couch before looking at her brother. "And Johnny, please behave yourself."
Johnny gave her an innocent look. "Don't I always?"
Sue rolled her eyes and looked at the baby. "Franklin, sweetie, Mommy and Daddy are going out for the night. Your Uncle Johnny is going to watch you and put you to bed. Now doesn't that sound fun?"
Franklin frowned. "Wanna come," he whined.
"We'll be back soon," Reed said. "You'll have lots of fun with Uncle Johnny."
Franklin eyed his uncle skeptically. "No fun."
Johnny's previous smirk fell. "Hey kid, I am tons of fun!" he replied defensively.
"Where's Uncle Ben?" Franklin asked his mother.
"He's out tonight too," Sue explained.
"I'm way better than Uncle Ben anyway," Johnny said indignantly as he crossed his arms.
"Uncle Ben fun," Franklin told his parents, indicating he wanted the Thing as his babysitter.
"I'm way more fun," Johnny said.
Franklin shook his head. "Nuh-uh."
Johnny glared at the toddler. "Hey, I'm more fun than you can even handle kid!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yea-huh!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yea-"
"Johnny!" Sue said as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "You are arguing with a 2-year-old!"
"And losing," Reed added, slightly amused.
"Calm down Sue," Johnny said. "I'm just kidding. Get going. Franklin will be fine."
Sue sighed and looked at Franklin. "Be good for Uncle Johnny, ok?" She hugged and kissed him. "I love you."
Reed kissed his child on the top of the head. "Be a good boy."
"Bye-bye." Franklin said, swinging his feet back and forth as he watched them leave.
"Take care of him," Sue told Johnny sternly.
"Don't worry," Johnny assured her. "He'll be fine."
"We'll be back no later than ten," Reed said.
"Bye."
Once the door shut, Johnny rolled his eyes. "Back by ten? Must be one exciting night," he said sarcastically to himself. He turned back to look at his nephew, who was staring at him as if waiting for him to do something. "So..."
Franklin didn't respond, just continuing to stare.
Johnny sighed. "Well... This is fun..."
6:00 pm
Johnny's feet were propped up on the coffee table while he sat and watched Franklin's movie, bored out of his mind while the toddler was entertained. "So... why is Uncle Ben so much fun?" he asked curiously.
Franklin looked up at Johnny with a thoughtful face. "Stories!" he said excitedly.
"He tells good stories?" Johnny asked. "What kind?"
"Venture stories," Franklin said after thinking again.
"Adventure huh? What adventure stories has he told you?"
"'Bout kicking Uncle Matchstick's butt!" Franklin laughed, clearly quoting something Ben had said to him before.
"Is that so?" Johnny asked as an idea suddenly popped into his head. "Well, I got plenty of adventure stories about times I kicked Uncle Pebbles' butt too. And I bet I tell them ten times better than he does."
Franklin looked skeptical.
"Want to hear one?" Johnny asked.
Franklin shrugged, about to turn his attention back to the movie.
"After, you and I can have a real adventure too," Johnny said, already formulating a plan for a prank on Ben, involving a spare bucket of paint he knew was left over from repainting Franklin's bedroom.
Franklin's eyes lit up. "Ok!"
9:50 pm
Sue and Reed ended up arriving back at the Baxter at the same time as Ben, so they walked up the stairs with him.
"So," Ben said happily, "he said I was the fun uncle, huh? Bet Matchstick was thrilled to hear that he was 'no fun.'"
Reed laughed. "That's pretty much how it went."
"I hope they're alright," Sue said.
"Don't worry, Susie," Ben said with a smirk. "The kids probably spent the whole night on the couch watching television. They were probably both bored out of their minds." He started to chuckle to himself. "I bet Franklin had to read his bedtime story to Johnny. You know the kid was always more into the pictures than the reading."
"Ben don't call my brother dumb," Sue said half-heartedly as they got to the top of the stairs. She reached for the doorknob and took a deep breath before opening it.
Sue's face grew red with anger the second she saw the mess in the living room. Couch cushions and blankets were scattered around the floor and the television had been left on. "What happened in here?" she wondered.
Ben picked up on the the pillows, causing the ones leaning against it to fall. "Looks like a fort."
Sue sighed and rolled her eyes. Johnny was such a child. She went to the kitchen to see that the empty bowl from the spaghetti-o's was still sitting out as well as a plate with half a slice of pizza left on it. "Johnny? Way to clean up your messes!" She stormed down the hall towards her brothers bedroom to berate him, only to see that he wasn't there. "Where is he?!" she exclaimed as she headed to her son's room. "If he left Franklin all-"
She stopped as soon as she saw the scene in Franklin's room. "Reed! Ben!" she whispered loudly down the hall the two men. "Come here!"
They came up and peeked in the door as Sue quietly approached the bed, where Johnny and Franklin had both fallen asleep, Franklin's head on Johnny's shoulder. Johnny's right foot hung off the bed and a book sat open, face down on his stomach. She gently slipped the book out from under his hand and shut it.
"Aw, Franklin tired fire-boy all out," Ben whispered in amusement.
"Goodnight, boys," Sue whispered with a soft smile. She gently kissed both Johnny and Franklin on their forehead's and turned out the light before leaving the room.
"Looks like they made out just fine," Reed said triumphantly as they went to living room to clean up, while Ben decided to go to bed.
Sue looked at the book in her hands. Dr. Suess's Sleep Book. Of course Johnny would read him that one, their own mother having read it to him every night when he'd been a small child. She smiled and looked up at Reed. "I guess they did."
A few minutes later, all the peace in the house was disturbed by Ben's frustrated yell. "MATCHSTICK I'M GONNA KILL YA!"