A/N: This is technically a Joniss babysitter AU, though it starts in young childhood and ends in adulthood. It was originally inspired by a comic on Tumblr and the Joniss babysitter AU tag over on Jonissheadcanons (what a throwback). I've been working on it a few years, posting exclusively on Tumblr. Unfortunately their tagging system makes it a little difficult to organize/follow, so I decided to post what I've written so far on the more mainstream fanfic sites. A disclaimer, it's unbetaed and not up to my usual standards of quality, since it's just a fun little side project.
Johanna Mason was having a shitty day when she first met Katniss Everdeen. Not that she'd use that word - she'd probably get smacked if she did - but her older sister had taught it to her a while back. Her dad occasionally used it too, when he was cranky.
That morning had dragged on and on. After dropping Johanna's sister and brothers off at school, her mother had towed her all around town while she "ran Aarons," whatever that meant. "It's my day off," she'd said. "Only chance I have." Johanna had pouted and whined most of the way about how she felt carsick and wanted to go to daycare. At least there were other kids there to play with. "Can't afford it," was the unsurprising answer.
Her mood had gone from bad to worse when they finally got home and her mom told her she was having a friend over soon. Someone who worked with her, or had worked with her before she took time off to have a baby. So, great. Mommy wouldn't play with Johanna either. The girl was still sulking when the doorbell rang. Her mother answered, welcoming a beautiful blonde woman with a hug and cheerful greetings. "Oh, she's getting so big!" Mrs. Mason cooed at the car seat hanging from the visitor's arm. "Nine months now?"
"Almost ten." The other woman now glanced down the hall and spotted the little girl standing at the entrance to the living room, hands in her pockets. "And you must be Johanna," she greeted her brightly, flashing white teeth as bright as her shining blue eyes. Johanna didn't answer, caught between being grateful for the attention and annoyed at the tone the lady was using, the patronizing one reserved for small children. The blonde pushed her luck further by laughing at Johanna's petulant expression.
"Oh, don't mind her," interjected Mrs. Mason. "She's having one of those days."
"Terrible threes?"
"Fearsome fours."
Johanna's glower only hardened then. She hated when grown ups would talk about her like she wasn't even there. "Jo, honey," her mother urged her, "say hi to Mrs. Everdeen." Jo, honey had no desire whatsoever to do such a thing, but Mommy's evil eye made clear that this was an order, not a request.
"Hi, Mrs. Everdeen," mumbled Johanna, making only fleeting eye contact. She'd long mastered the art of playing surly off as shy to avoid punishment.
"Hello, Johanna," replied the woman. "Nice to meet you. Your mommy's told me so much about you. All nice, of course." That made Mrs. Mason snort behind her, and in an instant both women were laughing far too hysterically, as far as Johanna saw it.
"Come on, I'll give you the tour," said Mrs. Mason, nudging the woman forward and into the house. "You can put Katniss down in the living room, if you want." Mrs. Everdeen followed that advice, placing the car seat on the carpet beside the couch.
"Mommy," Johanna whined, trailing behind them. "Mommy, I want juice."
"You just had lunch, baby," protested Mrs. Mason, but Jo pulled out her best pout, making the woman roll her eyes resignedly. "Fine." A full sippy cup later, she took off again with her friend, showing her the house like it was something special. Her daughter boosted herself onto her chair and sat down with a huff, swinging her legs as she sipped the consolation prize. Juice wasn't allowed anywhere with carpet, so she had to stay there even once the women came back and settled down in the living room.
When Johanna finished, she slid off the chair and strained upward to place the cup on the counter near the sink, where the dirty dishes were supposed to go. The adults were engrossed in conversation when she returned to the living room, paying no attention to her as she sat down by the foot of the couch. The baby, on the other hand, was staring right at her, gray eyes huge and curious. She was darker than her mom, with dark brown hair and a skin tone that resembled a deep tan despite it being the dead of winter.
Maybe the dyed red streaks in Johanna's own dark hair had caught the little girl's attention, or maybe she was just one of those babies who stared at everyone. Either way, Jo wasn't about to let an audience go to waste. Crossing her eyes, she stuck her tongue out at the little girl, procuring a giggle. When she waggled her tongue, the baby grinned and jerked her arms and legs with delight. She emitted a loud squealing cackle as Jo hooked her fingers in the corners of her mouth and pulled it wide, garnering a look of disapproval from Mrs. Mason.
"Johanna, why don't you two go play in the den?" she suggested. Eyeing her friend, she added, "If that's okay with you."
"I don't mind," smiled Mrs. Everdeen. "Just don't break my daughter." She picked up the car seat and followed Jo to the den, which was decorated with strewn-about toys. "Oh good, you have baby toys," she observed, picking up some old wooden truck and placing it in her daughter's puny hands. "Now be careful," she warned Johanna, "and come get us if anyone gets hurt." Johanna wasn't sure how that would happen, as it wasn't like she was about to roughhouse with a baby, but she nodded anyway.
The tiny girl seemed not to notice her mother leaving, examining the truck in her hands. After a few moments, she tossed it aside and returned her attention to Jo, eyes growing huge again. "What, do I have something on my face?" teased the older girl, but the baby didn't even attempt to talk, just kept staring. Finally she wriggled a little in the seat and lifted her arms, and Jo got it. "Oh, you want out," she reasoned. "Okay." Extracting the baby from her car seat, Jo placed her on her bum on the floor and grabbed a few cars from a toy trunk, handing one to her.
As much as she didn't like it, Johanna had gotten used to playing by herself in the time since her nearest aged sibling had started kindergarten the fall before last. She was in kindergarten herself this year, but only two days a week, so she still had a fair bit of alone time to kill. So she got absorbed rather easily in pushing a couple of her own cars around, not paying much attention to the other girl until she noticed her fall over on her side.
Jo paused, unsure if that was on purpose or if the baby would start crying. Instead, she rolled onto her belly and crept forward on her hands and knees until she was close enough to push her car into the fray. Jo playfully bashed cars with her for a bit, making zooming and crashing sound effects that made the baby giggle again.
At some point the younger girl lost interest, at least in the cars, and shakily tried to push herself to her feet. She ended up grabbing onto Jo for support, but let go at the end to prove she could, finishing with a triumphant smile. Johanna had to curb an impulse to poke her with a finger and watch her fall just for the hell of it. That would lead to a time out, at best.
"Johanna!" came Mrs. Mason's voice from down the hall. "Jo, can you come here, please?"
Rolling her eyes, Jo joined her companion in standing. As she headed for the hall, she heard a thump behind her and peeked back to find the other girl crumpled on the floor. This was explained when she struggled to her feet again and attempted to take a step, promptly falling on her face.
"Why don't you just crawl, brainless?" suggested Jo. But the girl stubbornly tried to find her feet once more.
"Johanna!"
"Coming!" she called down the hall. "Just a minute!" Turning back to the baby, Jo found she had already fallen to her knees again. "You wanna walk like a big girl, huh?" Retracing her steps, Jo stood behind her and pulled her up by her hands. The baby curled her fingers around the tips of Jo's, pulling an unexpected smile onto her face. "Okay, one step at a time, kid." Jo got a better grip on the girl's tiny hands and proceeded to nudge the back of her right leg, prompting her to move it forward. "Good. Now the other one," she said, poking the left with her toe.
By the time they made it to the door, the kid was taking steps on her own. Shaky ones supported by Johanna, but steps nonetheless. She had the rhythm down for sure. "That's it, little brainless," she smirked. "Steady does it. How about we go show your mom?"
Traversing the hall, they finally rounded the corner into the living room, bringing the conversation there to a sudden stop.
"Ma ma!" The little girl sped up her steps a bit, teetering in the attempt to run but steadied by Johanna.
The eyes of the woman in question were as wide as her daughter's. "You got her to walk?"
"Uh oh," muttered Mrs. Mason.
"She was trying, so I helped her," shrugged Johanna as the girl finally reached her mother and threw herself at her legs. "Has she never done it before?"
"No," gapes Mrs. Everdeen. "She must've seen you doing it and wanted to try." Bending over to scoop her daughter off the ground, she praised her, "Good job, Katniss! You're such a big girl!"
Katniss. Johanna bothered to remember the name this time. The next time she heard it was at the door, after another half hour of playtime. Jo was sadder to see her go than she'd expected. "Katniss, you wanna say buh-bye to Jo?" asked Mrs. Everdeen.
With a faltering wave, Katniss pushed out a little, "Jojo."
Despite not being the type to coo over babies, Johanna felt a grin spreading across her lips. She waved back. "Bye, Katniss. See you next time."
The two women exchanged a look that Jo could not decipher over her head, before sharing a parting hug. "I guess I'll see you soon, then," chuckled Mrs. Mason. When the guests were gone and the door secured behind them, she turned to her daughter. "Well, lookit you. You made a friend."
***o***
The second time Jo saw Katniss, she was in a better mood, because she knew Mrs. Everdeen was coming over again and that meant she'd have a playmate for a while. Katniss wasn't the most capable playmate, to be fair, but at least she paid attention to Jo, which covered most of what the older girl wanted from anybody anyway. This time, she eagerly peeked into the car seat when the blonde came through the door, offering a finger for the baby to grab. That tiny embrace didn't last, though, as Mrs. Everdeen lifted the car seat over Johanna's head to squeeze past her and enter the house.
When she put her daughter down in the living room, the blonde immediately unbuckled her from the seat. "You wanna show Jojo?" she cooed, prompting another one of those excited flails Johanna remembered from before. Helping the baby squirm out of the seat, Mrs. Everdeen gingerly placed her on her feet. Wavering slightly, Katniss managed to keep herself upright. Then she slowly got her feet moving, teetering toward Johanna with those same wide, bright eyes.
For some reason, this was when Jo's teasing impulses resurfaced. Dashing out into the hall, she called over her shoulder, "Too slow, Everdeen!"
"Jojo!" came the small voice in her wake. But Jojo didn't stop until she was almost at the den and heard a loud thump from behind her. She barely had time to turn around before a wail rose up from the heap of a baby at the entrance to the living room.
Suddenly fearing she'd get in trouble, and also feeling just a little bit bad, Johanna backtracked and squatted down in front of the tiny girl prone on the carpet. "Hey, hey," she said softly, patting her back, "you okay?" The crying stopped immediately as Katniss tried to get to her feet. Jo had barely straightened up by the time the baby flung herself at her leg and latched on. "Whoa!" Trying to move the ensnared leg, Johanna found her captor clinging all the tighter.
"Jojo," mumbled Katniss as the girl tried to shake her off.
With an exasperated chuckle, Jo bent down and hooked her hands under Katniss's armpits. The baby let go immediately as Johanna scooped her up, but the second she was cradled in the older girl's chest, she threw her arms around her neck and held on tight again. "Okay," chuckled Jo, rubbing Katniss's back as the the kid squirmed around in her arms to cling to her like a koala. "Jojo picks up."
"She's not usually so affectionate," mused Mrs. Everdeen from the couch, snapping Johanna out of the moment. "She likes you."
"Everyone likes me," smirked the four year-old.
"Oh, not so fast," laughed Mrs. Mason. But for once, Johanna felt no measure of indignity at her teasing. With this smaller girl clutching her fiercely, for the moment she didn't much care who else liked her. This was enough.
