"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?"
"No, Rachel. I'm positive. Go enjoy yourself." Olivia pushed her anxious sister gently toward the door. Rachel turned to face her, obviously still dubious.
"Are you sure? It's your evening off; you should be out enjoying yourself, not babysitting Ella."
"Believe me, I'll have more fun here than I would out there," Olivia laughed. Rachel hugged her impulsively.
"You're the best, Liv." After a few moments – and more instructions and fretting – Rachel finally left for her evening out. Olivia locked the door behind her and turned to face her five year old niece.
"So," she began, "we've got the whole evening to ourselves. What should we do?" Ella jumped into her aunt's arms.
"Pancakes!" she cried.
"Pancakes? But you just had them for breakfast!"
"I don't care. You make them the best." Olivia grinned, hugging Ella.
"Alright. I'll make pancakes you go play, and I'll call you when they're done." Ella skipped off, humming, and Olivia made her way to the kitchen. Her phone was buzzing on the counter, and her heart sunk when she saw that it was Peter calling. That could only mean one thing. . .
"I'm at the end of my rope," Olivia heard Peter say over the line. She could hear music in the background. Very loud music, to be specific.
"Is everything okay?" Olivia asked.
"Yeah, everything's fine, but Walter has been cooking for five hours straight. He's also not wearing any pants, and he's got the Beatles 20 Greatest Hits blasting through the house for the tenth time today." Olivia had to resist the urge to laugh at Walter's antics.
"Sounds like a busy afternoon," she managed, smirking.
"You have no idea," Peter said exasperatedly. "I need to get out of here. Wanna go somewhere?"
"I can't. I'm babysitting Ella tonight." She paused, an idea forming in her mind. "If you really need to get out, though, you're welcome to come over here."
"No no. I don't want to intrude –"
"Peter, you're not intruding. Besides, Ella would love it." Olivia could hear the smile in Peter's voice as he accepted her offer. She hung up and went to tell Ella about their guest. Ella squealed with happiness and ran to the door to wait for his knock. Olivia did her best to straighten up the living room.
It would be nice to spend an evening with Peter outside of work, Olivia thought. They got far too little time to just be friends these days. Olivia copied her niece and began to hum as she worked.
She had been right – she was going to have much more fun at home with Peter and Ella than she ever would have going out.