Hey guys, this is just a standalone fic that I wrote to cheer but Allie :) I hope you like it. Please review and let me know.
Enjoy!!!
I Hope I Don't Break You
Danny smiled and put the phone back down. He had just booked a table at Jordan's favourite restaurant. Rebecca was now 4 weeks old and Danny had convinced Jordan to go out to dinner with him. They still hadn't had a chance to celebrate their engagement alone yet, and he had picked the ring back up this morning after having it re-sized. So he was going to make things perfect tonight. The best restaurant... the best food... the best orange juice for the both of them and he was going to purpose all over again.
He had arranged for Harriet and Matt to babysit. He knew that Jordan would be calling them every five minutes to find out how she was but Danny didn't care because to be honest, he was a little worried about leaving her also.
He knew that he could trust Matt and Harriet with her though. Harriet was so good with babies and Matt, well... he's just a little nervous around her but Danny was confident that once he had spent a little more time with her, he'd become a pro.
They had babysat for an hour last week, whilst Jordan went to discuss when she'd be back to work, with Jack and Danny had been busy with the department heads.
Harriet had said that Rebecca was a little angel and stayed peacefully asleep but it didn't stop, Matt from standing over her, watching her to make sure she wasn't too cold, too hot or upset.
"Hey." Matt walked into the office.
"Hi." Danny replied, watching him looking around for a moment. "Was there something you needed?"
"We can't babysit tonight."
"What? Why not?" Danny stood up, alarmed.
"Harriet's got some press thing to do with the movie that she forgot about..." Matt shrugged. "Sorry, can you get someone else?"
"Do you know how long it took me to convince Jordan to leave Rebecca with you guys...We can't just choose anyone."
"Oh..." Matt replied. "What about Linda."
"Who the hell is Linda?!"
"That woman who works in make-up..." Matt answered. "Doesn't she have like 10 kids?"
"You mean, Lacey and no, she's about 20 years old...she doesn't have any kids..."
"Why does she have all those kids with her then?"
Danny stared at him. "They're dolls, Matt."
"What?" He frowned. "No way!"
"Okay, you need to go home and sleep more." Danny told him.
"Well, what are you going to do?"
"I don't know..."
"What about Cal?"
"Remember what happened to the 'Real Care' doll?"
"Hmm...I just saw Tom and Simon downstairs... they might do it."
"Again, the 'Real Care' doll..."
"Well, it will have to be Linda then..." Matt sighed. "At least those dolls of hers are all in one piece."
"It's Lacey and Jordan won't go for it." Danny replied. "Hey, why can't you do it?"
"Because Harriet has to some press for the movie..." Matt said slowly. "Maybe it's you who needs to go and get some sleep."
"No, not you and Harriet... you?"
"Me?"
"Yeah, you."
"Are you insane?!"
"Come on, Matt...You'll be fine."
"It's not me I'm worried about...It's Rebecca..."
"I trust you." Danny shrugged.
"Danny, I haven't been around a baby since I was one!" Matt pointed out.
"You babysat last week."
"That was for an hour and Harriet was with me and the baby was asleep the whole time."
"Harriet told us that it was you who made sure she was okay the whole time."
"Yeah and it nearly gave me a heart attack every time she moved!" Matt stated. "No, sorry no...I know this is a big night for you but I can't do it...I'll break her."
Danny rolled his eyes. "You won't break her."
"Danny, I'm telling you! I'm not good at this sort of thing!"
"How do you know if you haven't tried?"
"Because I haven't tried it...if I would have tried it, I would at least know the basics..."
"Harriet showed you how to change a diaper, right?"
"It was on a teddy bear!"
"Jordan would have everything you need packed into a bag and I'll have my cell if you need anything else."
"Danny, no..."
"You'll be fine... just feed her, change her diaper and put her down to go to sleep... you'll have a great time."
"Danny..."
"Matt, trust me...you'll be fine." Danny said softly. "This is my daughter, we're talking about...she means the world to me... I would not be asking you to do this if I didn't think you were capable."
Matt looked at him for a moment, thinking about the words he had just said. "That's the biggest load of crap, you've ever said to me."
"Yeah, I know but it's true." Danny replied. "And you're doing it."
"Why?!"
"Because you 35 years old... you need to know how to look after a baby?"
"Again why?"
"Don't you want to be a father one day?"
"Yeah one day..." Matt replied. "Not today."
"Well, you might as well get some practice in now..."
"Do you just want me to do this to save money on a real babysitter?"
"Matt!! You're her uncle! It's your job! You're doing it!" Danny exclaimed.
"Okay, calm down..."
"So, you'll do it?"
"I guess I have no choice." He sighed.
"No, you don't..." Danny replied. "Jordan will be here any minute."
"Woo-hoo...can't wait." Matt said sarcastically, dropping into a chair.
"Okay, what else is wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Okay, if you're sure..."
"Harriet is spending all evening with Luke instead of me." He said suddenly.
Danny turned back to him. "Oh, no...Don't go there again..."
"What?"
"Don't let this send you crazy! She picked you, Matt...She loves you..."
"I know that..."
"So, don't mess this up by going all jealous."
"I'm not going to mess it up...I was just stating a fact..." Matt replied. "She should be at home with me."
"And Rebecca."
"What?"
"She should be home with you looking after Rebecca." Danny told him.
"Right but she's not...she's off with Luke Scott."
"Who is?" Jordan walked into the office, carrying Rebecca in her car seat.
"Harriet..." Matt sighed.
"Why is she off with Luke Scott?" Jordan questioned, as Danny walked around the desk and let Rebecca out to give her a hug.
"Something to do with the movie." Matt stated.
"Tonight?"
"Yeps."
"What about dinner?" She asked.
"She said they were putting on a buffet."
"No, not her dinner...Our dinner...you were meant to babysit."
"Matt is going to do it." Danny informed her.
"Alone?"
"That's the plan apparently." He replied nervously.
"No."
"Excuse me?"
"No...No sorry...no offence Matt but no."
"Hey, fine by me." He stood up.
"Matt, wait!" Danny told him. "Jordan, he'll be fine."
"What about Rebecca?"
"She'll be fine too." Danny sighed. "Do I really have to go through this again?"
"Yes, please do!"
"Look, there is no one else... It will be good for us to get out alone for a few hours and Matt is perfectly capable." Danny assured her. "Its either him or Lacey."
"Linda." Matt corrected.
Danny turned to him. "It's Lacey!"
"I thought we agreed it was Linda."
"Who s she?" Jordan cut in.
"I don't know, she works in make-up with 10 kids that are dolls."
Jordan turned to Danny. "You really want me to leave my daughter with him?"
"Okay, I might not be 100 percent behind this but even I'm offended by that comment." Matt said.
"Everything will be fine." Danny said again. "He has everything he needs and we'll be a phone call away..."
"I'm don't know."
"Jordan, trust me."
"Okay, fine but if he gives her back damaged or with an addiction to Red Bull, then I'm going to kick his ass and then I'll kick your ass."
"Fair enough."
"Well, I guess I should get going then." Matt stood up, taking the baby bag from Jordan and picking up the car seat. "Have a good evening and we'll be...er, we'll be okay."
"We won't be late." Danny told him.
"Okay, see you guys later." Matt left the office.
Jordan stared after him and then back at Danny.
"He's allowed one mistake." Danny told her as Matt ran back into the office.
"To babysit I'm going to need the baby." He carefully took Rebecca out of Danny's arms.
"Good Luck." Danny called after him as he left again, this time with the baby. He turned to Jordan. "Everything will be fine."
"You better hope so."
XxXxX
Matt stared at Rebecca who was fast asleep. He had been home an hour and all she had done was sleep. Jordan had already called to let him know that they were at the restaurant and won't be late. Matt reassured her that Rebecca was fine but he couldn tell it didn't put her at ease. That made Matt nervous and he had been watching her for the past 10 minutes, wondering if she was actually just sleeping or if there was something wrong with her.
His nerves got the better of him and he gently shook the travel crib that Danny had given him a few days ago, in preparation for tonight. To his relief, Rebecca opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"Hey there." He smiled. "Okay, you can go back to sleep now."
After a few seconds of silence, the room was filled with a loud cry.
"No, no...don't do that... it's okay...shh..." He rocked the crib again but it seemed to make her cry louder. He picked up one of the stuffed animals that Jordan had packed and waved it around in front of her. After a minute, he gave up and threw it over his shoulder and bent down to pick her up. "Okay, okay...I'm sorry...I'd be pretty piss...Erm, I mean...annoyed if someone woke me up and then tried to make it up to me by shoving a monkey in my face."
He started to pace around the room, holding her closely to him; afraid he'd drop her. Her cries were just starting to quieten down when the phone rang, causing her to scream loudly again.
"Damn it!" He muttered, picking up the phone. "Hello?!"
"Matt?"
"Jordan, what a surprise." He said sarcastically.
"Is that Rebecca crying?"
"No, I thought she was lonely so I picked some random kid off the street so she had someone to play with."
"Matt!"
"Yes, Jordan...It's Rebecca...you woke her up!"
"How did I wake her up?!"
"By making the phone ring!"
"Are you sure? It normally takes a lot to wake her up..."
"I'm sure..." Matt replied.
"Well, she's probably just hungry anyway...It's time for her bottle."
Matt looked at the clock and was surprised to see how quickly the time had gone.
"Uh, yeah...sure...I knew that...the bottle is all ready..."
"Right."
"Okay, well, bye bye then." Matt said, hanging up the phone before Jordan could say or ask any more. "Okay, Becky... Dinner time."
Matt couldn't help but laugh slightly when she stopped crying and stared at him. It was almost as if she understood. "You're just like your, Mom... all you have to do is mention food."
He carefully placed her in the car seat and carried her into the kitchen.
"Right, so how do we do this?" Matt asked her, pulling a bottle out of the bag. "I'm not exactly a world class chef...I'm more of a takeaway guy."
Both Danny and Harriet had given him instruction on how to warm up a bottle but this was the first time he was actually going to do it.
"This isn't so hard." He stated, looking at Rebecca as the milk was warming. Once it was done he picked her up. "Dinner's ready."
He was just about to start feeding her when he remembered being told something about testing the milk to see if it was too hot or not. He squirted a bit onto his arm.
"Oww! Shi..." He exclaimed but managed to stop himself from finishing the word. "Sugar!"
He sighed and placed the bottle on the side to cool down.
"I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this." He said, to her. "Hopefully, I'll get better real soon."
He sat down and looked down at her. She seemed pretty happy to just be held for a moment. Matt couldn't help but smile. He couldn't believe that Danny was a Dad and this was his little girl. She was so beautiful, so perfect. He had noticed a few small changes in Danny since she had been born but Matt liked this new side to him. He had never seen his friend so happy. He just wished, that one day, he'd get to do all of this too.
"Well, Becks...I think it might be cool by now." Matt tested it again and this time it didn't burn him. He sighed in relief as she started to drink the milk eagerly. He leant back in the chair and just watched her.
An hour had gone by and Matt had to change his shirt twice because she had been sick on him. He had tried to entertain her with the stuffed animals again but even he got bored with that. So, now he was reading her one of his sketch ideas.
"Becky, I love you so don't take this the wrong way... but you stink." He told her, looking at the clock. "I wonder when Mommy and Daddy will be here..."
He groaned, knowing he couldn't just leave her with a dirty diaper until Danny and Jordan came to pick her up.
"Okay, come on..." He picked her up. "Lets get on with this."
He grabbed the baby bag and rolled out the changing mat before placing her on it.
He looked down at her. "You do realise this would be so much easy if you were a guy? Right, it's okay...I can do this."
He slowly and carefully managed to get the diaper off her, trying not to gag at the smell.
"How can something so sweet produce this." He muttered to himself, putting it into a bag and tying it up quickly. He took a deep breath but starting to clean her up. "Right, now that's done...it's time for a clean diaper."
He looked around but couldn't see any. He sighed and started to search in the bag again. Rebecca started to cry quietly.
"No, no...Don't do that... Can't we make a deal? If I give you loads of money, you can't cry when I'm looking after you." He said and picked her, gently bouncing her. Her cries quieten slowly and he started searching for the diaper again. "Got it."
He was just about to pull it out when he felt a wet patch on his stomach. He groaned and held Rebecca away from him.
"Okay, so puking on me twice wasn't enough?" He asked her but she just stared back at him in reply.
He led her back down and started to put the clean diaper on. Once he had done it, he dressed her again and left her up.
"Right, now you're all clean and fully clothed... I've got to go get changed for the third time." He said to her, watching as she just stared at him. "And don't think, I don't know that if you were older, you'd be laughing right now."
XxXxX
"It's 10:30, I'm pretty sure you should be asleep by now..." Matt said to her, to which she yawned. "See, you're tried...just go to sleep."
He sat down on the couch and gently laid her on his chest. "Okay, we can watch TV for a little while..."
He put the TV on but turned it down low so it wouldn't disturb her. He flicked through the channels and stopped on 'E' when he saw Harriet.
"Earlier this evening we caught up with Harriet Hayes, who will be starring in a new movie about The Rolling Stone."
"Hey, look who it is...We like her." He told Rebecca. "She can be a little crazy sometimes but she'll always be there for you..."
The camera went to another reporter who was interviewing.
"We don't like him...He's a jackass... I know I just cursed but he deserves to cursed...it should be him you're peeing and puking on..."
He looked down and saw that Rebecca was asleep. He smiled and kissed the top of her head before continuing to flick with the channels.
It wasn't much later when he heard his front door being open and the sounds of Danny and Jordan arguing about how slow Danny was driving, woke Matt up from his light sleep.
"Matt?" Danny called walking into the room.
"Shh..." He whispered.
"How did it go?" Jordan asked quietly.
"It went good..."
"Why isn't she sleeping in the crib?" Danny questioned.
"Because she wouldn't go to sleep so we were watching some TV and she feel asleep there and I didn't want to disturb her."
"Well, we'd better get her home..." Jordan carefully picked her up. "Thanks, Matt...And I'm sorry for not trusting you."
"No problem..." He stood up stretching a little.
"I'll just grab her stuff and be right out." Danny told Jordan.
"Okay... Say bye to Uncle Matt..."
Matt smiled and waved as Jordan walked out before shaking his head, remembering that Rebecca was asleep wouldn't be able to see him even if she was awake.
"So, how did the dinner go?" Matt asked.
"It was perfect...I was a little surprised that she didn't call you more..." He replied. "But it was good...I really appreciate you babysitting...I owe you."
"No problem...I actually enjoyed it."
"I knew you would..."
"She's really hard not to love."
"Yeah, I noticed that."
"How the hell did a baby make us go all soft?" He questioned.
"I don't know..." Danny shrugged. "But I better get going...I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, bye."
He sighed loudly and fell back onto the couch. How could looking after one little baby make him so tired? He frowned when he heard the door opening again.
"Danny?" He called out.
"No, sorry to disappoint you..."
He turned around and smiled when he saw Harriet. "Hey, what are you doing here?"
"I could go if you like..."
"No but I thought you were out all night with this movie thing..."
"I got bored and decided to come and see if you were still awake...Is that okay?" She asked walking towards him.
"It's more then okay."
"So, what have you been up to all night?" She asked, sitting next to him.
"Babysitting Rebecca." He informed, wrapping his arms around her.
"Really, all on your own?"
"Yeah, Danny and Jordan just came to pick her up."
"Wow and everything went okay?"
"Actually, it did." He nodded.
"That's great."
"Yeah..." He sighed.
"But?"
"Hmm?"
"There's a but, right?"
"I'm so tired..." He let his head drop on to her shoulder.
She let out a small laughed.
"How can sometime so little make me so exhausted?"
"That's baby for you, Matthew..." She replied.
"I've been puked on twice, peed on, burnt..."
"Burnt?"
"That milk was a little to hot."
"Well, I did tell you to let it cool down first."
"Just be glad I remembered to test it first." He stated. "But after all that... I really enjoyed it."
Harriet smiled. "I'm glad...it's good to know for the future."
He returned the smile and placed a small soft kiss on her lips.
"Okay, bed..." She ordered, standing up and grabbing his hand when he pulled away.
"Is this what I get for doing a good job at babysitting?" He asked.
She rolled her eyes. "I thought you were tired."
"Not that tired."
She shook her head. "I should have known...come on."
"Is that a yes?" He questioned as she led him up the stairs.
The End!
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