Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: Oh, jeesh….another plot bunny hopped over while I was writing something to satisfy another! These plot bunnies are multiplying like….well, like rabbits. (My attempt at humor, at least pretend to chuckle)
"So, basically, you're using my child," Quinn crossed her arms over her chest and stared at her friend. Chase bit his lip, obviously nervous. He'd come with an idea that had struck him earlier that morning, but needed to pass it by her first. He would, after all, be implementing the use of their small child for his plan to work. Quinn leaned against the laundry basket she was placing clean clothes in.
"Not use," he said, wringing his hands. "Just borrow." Quinn softened and cracked a smile. She picked up another towel and folded it, flopping it on top of the growing pile in the basket.
"I think it's a great idea," she assured him. The child in question sat over in his high-chair, squishing cereal into his applesauce and using his sweet potatoes the way his father used mousse. He had half a Mohawk going from running his hands over the top of his head, his dark blonde hair dyed a rather interesting shade of orange. Luke had obviously been spending too much time around his father, who had bought his son a full hair-care kit on his first birthday.
"Mommy!" Luke reached out with sticky fingers towards his mother, flashing an adorable ear-to-ear grin as he did so. "All done!"
"I can see that," Quinn chuckled and grabbed a washcloth from the top of the pile. "Did some of it actually make it into your mouth?" Luke nodded seriously as his mother dampened the cloth at the sink, before going over to him and attacking the sticky mess that was her baby.
"Mommy, no!" Luke squirmed away from her, or tried to, at least. Being confined to a high chair had its limitations. He flailed his arms, trying to bat her away, but to no avail. In less than five minutes, rosy cheeks were visible under the layer of applesauce, and the orange hair had been replaced by a shock of brownish yellow. The toddler bib, which resembled more of an overly-large shirt with ties in the back, was removed, and Luke tried to undo the tray himself. His mother undid it, helped him down, and he toddled over to where Chase was.
"Hi, kiddo!" Chase said jovially, looking down the child, who was now tugging at his pant legs.
"Up! 'Ase, up!" he demanded, not quite adept at getting the "ch" sound yet. Chase complied, and perched the toddler on his hip, to be rewarded with a wet kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks for that," Chase laughed, wiping his cheek with the back of his the arm that wasn't holding Luke. Presently, a click of the front door opening could be heard, and the familiar shuffled of Logan coming home reached their ears.
"Daddy!" Luke wriggled away from Chase, who put him down and watched him zoom off to attack his father's shins as he came in the room.
"Woah!" Logan said, grabbing hold of the doorframe so he wouldn't be knocked over. "You're going to be quite the football player, you little bruiser, you!" Luke only smiled up at his father and tried to scramble up his pant leg. Logan tossed the toddler of his shoulder, to the chorus of many giggles, and came in to give his wife a kiss.
"Hey, Logan," Chase said, taking advantage of Luke's position and tickling his feet.
"Hey, Chase, what's up?" Logan put Luke on his feet, watching him wobble in the other room, still laughing from all the excitement.
"Chase has an idea for Zoey,"
"And that's new….how?" Logan took a bottle of water from the fridge and smirked at Chase before taking a swig.
"I'm going to ask her to marry me," Logan spewed his mouthful of water halfway across the room, and choked.
"Well…" he said, coughing. "That is new."
"Personally, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner," Quinn said, patting him on the back.
"Me too, but it wasn't what I was expecting to hear when I got home from work,"
"Understandably,"
"Anyway, I need to borrow Luke,"
"You're asking Zoey to marry you and you need to borrow Luke?"
"I have a plan,"
"Do tell," Logan leaned over the counter as Chase told him of his idea. When he was finished, a smile grew over Logan's face. "That is…brilliant. Sure, you can borrow Luke. She'll be completely shocked."
"That's the point,"
"I know it is, I just thought it was a particularly ingenious plan,"
"Oh, right," Chase said. "Like you popping the question while we all threw our mortarboards in the air at graduation was particularly ingenious."
"Oh….shut up! I'm not good at the romantic stuff!"
"You have your moments, Logan," Quinn laughed, leaning over and kissing Logan on the cheek as he pouted. "Every once in awhile."
"A great while," Chase muttered, earning him a cuff upside the head from Logan.
"Not all of us are born with the innate ability to do something completely normal, and have it turn out utterly romantic,"
"I'm just gifted that way,"
"Shut up,"
Two days later, Chase felt he was ready. He'd spent the better part of the last forty-eight hours preparing for his plan, and the hour sleep he'd gotten worrying over it. He wasn't worried so much about having the nerve to do it, but he was worried about cranky toddlers and things going wrong.
"Don't worry," Quinn assured him, handing him Luke while she put the finishing touches on the diaper bag. She was coming along, in case of mishap, and because she was an integral part of the plan. "He's had his nap, lunch, and got to watch his favorite episode of Blue's Clues this morning. He'll be a perfect angel."
"I hope so,"
"Of course he will!" Quinn said, tickling the baby under the chin. "You'll be a perfect little gentleman, won't you?" Luke giggled and nodded, though neither adult was sure he had any idea what a gentleman was.
"'Man" Luke repeated, patting Chase's cheek.
"Alright, we're all ready to go," Quinn traded the diaper bag for her son, who went willingly into his mother's outstretched arms.
"Almost!" Logan said, coming down the stairs. Under his arm, he carted one of his smaller video cameras, and carried a tripod in his hand. "Videotape the whole thing. She'll love it."
"I take it you're coming along, then?" Chase said. "You're the only one who knows how to work that thing."
"Yes, I'm coming along,"
"Okay, good," Chase looked nervously at his watch. "Do we all remember the plan?"
"Yes," Quinn said. "You're supposed to be babysitting Luke all day because Logan and I are at a director's convention in Sacramento. And you're meeting Zoey at the park, because you thought Luke would have fun." In all reality, Luke wasn't big on parks. He preferred to play by himself, which fit perfectly with the plan.
"And, when you give your symbol, we lure the baby away and give him the cards, one at a time," Logan finished. "We got it."
"Excellent," Chase twitched a bit, hoisting the bag a little higher onto his shoulder. He held out his arms. "Luke, you ready to help Uncle Chase?"
"Yeah," the baby said, leaping into his arms. "'Ase."
"Well, the key piece to the plan is ready, let's go," Chase said, heading towards the door. After a bit of confusion, the car seat was switched from Logan's car to Chase's, and after a bit more confusion, with Luke putting in helpful comments like "No, 'Ase!" and batting his hands away when he did something wrong, the child was strapped in, pacified with a set of crayons and a coloring book, and they were off. Quinn and Logan would be following much later.
"Zo!" Luke pounded the top of Chase's head forcefully as the blonde in question came into sight. Chase had put Luke on his shoulders, much to Luke's delight.
"Ouch…not so hard, buddy!" Chase laughed. Luke ignored him, and thumped his head again.
"Hey, cutie!" Zoey said, coming up to the two men.
"Hey, Zo," Chase replied, swinging Luke around so that he was perched on one hip.
"I was talking about the baby," Zoey said, holding out her arms, into which Luke willingly crawled. He was clearly enjoying all the attention he was receiving lately. "But you're cute, too." She gave Chase a kiss before turning towards the park.
"I think I feel insulted," Chase said, before following the two.
"So, what time do we have to return Luke?" Zoey asked, stopping by the sandbox and depositing a very excited Luke into it. Chase cringed to think what could have been in there, but Luke didn't seem to mind, burying his chubby hands in the sand and dropping handfuls of it onto his jean shorts. Zoey sat down behind him on the wooden frame, and Luke automatically used her as a backrest, leaning back without interrupting his grab and drop routine.
"Well, Logan and Quinn won't be back until about nine, so I'd say we have him for the night, given that his bedtime is seven-thirty. Quinn won't want to move him when he's already asleep,"
"We still have the playpen in the closet, right?"
"I think so," Chase said, dying to spill his plan. Luke was a frequent guest in their home, as well as Michael and Lisa's, and Lola (who had suddenly become old-fashioned, and refused to live with Vince, her long time boyfriend, and so rented a condo in Malibu by herself), so baby gear was scattered among the three houses. Zoey and Chase were frequent babysitters, living only about a mile or so away from Luke and his parents, and had a cache of toys, clothes, books, and other equipment in a front hall closet.
"Castle!" Luke said suddenly, picking up a red plastic bucket abandoned nearby and scooping handfuls of sand into it. Carefully, he flipped it upside down and triumphantly lifted the bucket. He frowned when the sand structure collapsed. He tried again, only to have the same results.
"You've got to get the sand wet, buddy," Chase told him. He pulled the diaper bag onto his lap and pulled out a bottle of water. Popping the top off, he poured it on the sand in front of the baby, careful to get only the sand, and not Luke, wet. Luke caught on to the idea quickly, and scooped the darker sand into the bucket and turned it over.
"Castle!" he squealed in delight as the overturned bucket produced the mass of sand he wanted. Zoey retrieved a twig from a few feet away and attached a leaf, before placing it on top of the mound.
"There!" she said. "A flag! Luke's castle!"
"Castle!" he repeated, before taking a hand and squishing his creation down to a flat pancake. "All gone!"
"It certainly is," Zoey said, giggling. Luke grinned in that ear-to-ear way he usually did, before standing up and dusting his hands off on his shirt.
"Bye-bye!" he said, walking away from Chase and Zoey and waving towards them. He walked in the direction of the jungle gym.
"Did we just get ditched by a baby?" Chase asked, looking at Luke with a bemused look.
"I think we did,"
"That's sad,"
"Come on," Zoey said, rolling her eyes. "Let's go catch up with him before he tries to see if he can fly."
They caught up with the toddler at the jungle gym, watching a group of children playing jacks intently. The group regarded him with small, dismissive smiles, before going back to what they were doing. Before anyone could do anything, Luke reached out and grabbed the ball.
"Hey!" one of the kids said. "That's ours! We need it!"
"Mine!" Luke said, hugging the ball to his chest. Chase groaned. He'd forgotten Luke was going through this phase.
"Alright, guys," Zoey said. "We'll get this sorted out in a moment." From the diaper bag, she pulled out another ball, this one bright red (and bigger), and showed it to Luke.
"Come on, Luke," she said, waving it in front of him. "Why don't we go play with your ball?" Luke shook his head 'no', but eventually succumbed to temptation and gave Zoey the smaller ball while grabbing his own and running away with it.
"Here you guys go," she handed the ball back to one of the children, who flashed a smile and thanked her.
"You're a good mommy," he said, nodding his head decisively. The children move their jacks game to a better venue for not getting their pieces stolen by babies before she was able to tell them she wasn't Luke's mommy. Shaking her head and smiling, she walked over to where Luke sat in the grass, bouncing the ball up and down. Chase hung back and sat on a swing, choosing this moment just to relax and watch them. In all reality, he loved the times he and Zoey got to baby-sit Luke. He saw a glow around her that he didn't see anywhere else, and Luke absolutely adored her. She was his favorite person behind his parents, and it showed. Quite often, he'd walk in the living room to find the two of them asleep on the couch, watching a re-run of Sesame Street, or Blues Clues, with Luke curled up in Zoey's lap. He reached into his pocket and fingered the box there, smiling to himself. She would never see it coming.
"What are you looking at?" she asked him with a sly grin on her face, carting Luke on her hip and heading towards the baby swing next to him.
"Just you," he said, smiling back at her and helping her get Luke's legs through the right openings. Luke kicked his legs and giggled in excitement.
"Watching me make a complete fool out of myself?" she said wryly, making a face at Luke as she gave him a push.
"You weren't making a fool out of yourself," Chase said, going behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "I thought it was adorable."
"At least someone did," she said, tickling Luke's legs as he swung back towards them. Chase said nothing and instead just enjoyed the time the three of them had together.
After another half-an-hour, two trips to the water fountain, nine rides down the slide, and a rather hectic game of 'chase me', the three collapsed under a three, laughing hysterically and trying to catch a breath. Luke bounced back quickly, and after only a few moments, hopped up. A few moments later found Luke wandering away a few feet, picking up sticks and leaves and bringing them back to his babysitters and going "see 'em?".
"Okay, whatever that kid eats for breakfast, I want some," Zoey said, leaning against Chase, tired out for the moment.
"I think it was oatmeal this morning,"
"Oatmeal on steroids,"
"I doubt his parents are lacing his breakfast with steroids,"
"That would be funny, though,"
"And only slightly illegal," Chase ran a hand up and down her arm soothingly.
"Only slightly," Zoey agreed, and the two fell into a comfortable silence.
"I love you," Chase said after a few minutes, kissing the top of her head.
"I love you, too," she replied, taking one of his hands in both of hers and laying it in her lap. She had been up late working on a project the night before, and was slowly falling asleep to the rhythm of Chase's ministrations.
"Good," Chase smiled, and nodded to Logan and Quinn, who were hiding behind a tree a few feet away. Chase flushed as he watched a huge smile spread over Quinn's face. Slowly, she produced Luke's favorite stuffed toy, a worn yellow bean-bag duck, from behind her back. The flash of color among the brown and green of the park caught Luke's eye immediately, and, seeing that it was his duck, immediately toddled over to where it was. Zoey was oblivious, every moment closer to sleep.
"Edgar!" Luke said, laughing, for that was the duck's name (per Quinn's suggestion). Luke picked up Edgar and hugged him tightly, before turning and heading back in the direction of his babysitters.
"See 'em?" he demanded, dropping the duck into Zoey's lap. She opened her eyes and gave him a warm smile. "Edgar!"
"It is Edgar," she said, patting the duck on the head. "And he's a very nice duck." She went to hand it back before realizing the stuffed animal was acting as messenger. A white note, folded in half, was stuck with a safety pin, to the gingham bow tied around Edgar's neck.
"What in the world?" she unpinned the note and handed the duck off to Luke, who began to drag his friend through the dust of the playground. Zoey unfolded the note, which opened to reveal two words: Aunt Zoey. Chase had written them the previous day, and then typed them to disguise his handwriting. Zoey furrowed her brows in confusion, and Chase's heart rate began to speed up a bit. He was finding it hard to keep a straight face, though knew it was imperative for the success of the operation.
Seeing that she received the first note (and with Logan behind the tree next to her manning the video camera), Quinn stifled a giggle behind her hand and dug another stuffed animal out of the backpack she had brought, this one a small teddy bear Luke was fond of. She lured her son over to her by whispering a lilting nursery rhyme, and then handed him the bear, with instructions to give it to his Aunt Zoey.
"See 'em?" Luke said as he waddled over in their direction. He flopped the bear in Zoey's lap and pointed to it. "Bear! See 'em?"
"I see!" Zoey said, again noticing the note and removing it before giving Luke back his bear. Luke again ran away, giggling with joy as he carefully placed the bear next to Edgar. He plopped down onto his diapered bottom and began to play pat-a-cake with the bear, carrying on an unintelligible conversation as he did so.
Chase turned his attention back to Zoey, who was even more confused by the second note than she had been from the first. She had pulled away from him to read it more clearly. Luke has a question he wants to ask you, was the message on the second card.
"Okay then," she said, putting it on top of the first one and furrowing her brow again. Chase nearly laughed at her expression, but knew that would blow his entire plan. Luke toddled over again, this time supplied with a toy boat, to which a note was taped to the bottom.
"Boat!" he said, showing it to her and placing it in her lap. "See 'em?" Zoey nodded, pulled off the note, and handed the toy back to him. Chase watched in anticipation as she unfolded it. It would make him really happy…was the message on the third card. She was so intent on trying to figure out what the messages referred to, that she didn't see Chase nod toward Quinn one more time, who almost squealed aloud with excitement. She pulled a baseball out of her bag, and tried to get Luke over to where she was. Her son, however, was done playing messenger, and ignored his mother.
"Come on, Luke," she whispered. "Come get the ball." Luke shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. She tried again, but the baby wouldn't budge. While pondering over what to do, an idea suddenly struck her.
"Logan!" she hissed, trying to get her husband's attention. Logan turned with a confused expression on his face. She bent down and rolled the baseball on the ground towards him. "Get Luke over there."
"I thought that was your job," he whispered back. "I don't want us to get caught!"
"It was my job!" she said. "But he's not coming over anymore. You're Daddy. He'll listen to you."
"Oh, okay," Logan nodded his head. Crouching down to Luke's height, he waved the ball out in front of him. "Luke, come get the ball. Please? For Daddy?" Luke looked up, saw his father, and broke out in a wide grin. Luckily, instead of shouting, all he did was toddle over.
"Alright, buddy, this is the last time, okay?" Logan said, giving Luke the baseball and pointing him in the right direction. "Go give it to Aunt Zoey!" Luke nodded and waddled off in the direction he was instructed.
"Ball!" he said, handing Zoey the ball. "See 'em?" He waddled off, satisfied with himself, and continued his game with his stuffed animals.
Chase, by this time, was almost hyperventilating. Luke had done an amazing job for a toddler, and his parents had done equally well. It was his turn now. He grabbed the box from his pocket and hid it in his hand while Zoey found the message. After a few moments, she found that the message was not pinned to the ball, but written directly onto it. She turned it right side up to read the message, which Quinn had written in neat script after declaring Chase's "illegible". Will you marry Uncle Chase? It took a split second before Zoey realized just what the ball said. Her hand covered her mouth in shock, and
Chase saw her eyes fill up with tears as she looked at him. He flipped open the box to reveal the ring he'd spent months picking out and was sure she would love. She let out a sob as Chase sat up and got down on one knee.
"Oh, my God," she mumbled, letting out anther sob.
"Zoey, I love you so much," he said, holding the ring out in front of him. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Twelve years ago, you stole my heart. Now, I want you to have it, forever. Will you marry me?"
"Yes!" Zoey sobbed, hastily wiping the tears from her eyes while nodding furiously. Chase grinned and slid the ring on her finger, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. Luke came over and encompassed both of them in a hug, not really sure why they were happy, but glad to be part of it all the same.
"And we've got the entire thing on tape!" Logan said, coming out from behind a tree carrying his video camera, still on the tripod. Quinn came to join them, sobbing just as hard, if not harder, than Zoey was.
"You two were in on this?" Zoey asked.
"Chase told us his idea a couple of days ago, and we thought it was perfect," she explained, picking up Luke, who had made his way over to her and was now demanding to be picked up. "We knew you'd never suspect, and Chase needed someone to give Luke the toys in the right order."
"It was my idea to get it all on film," Logan said. "This way you can have it to forever."
"And show it to your kids," Quinn said, looking at Luke and tickling his tummy, making him giggle in delight.
"Oh, my God," Zoey laughed, still crying. "We're getting married!"
"Well, that was what the ring was for," Chase teased, kissing her again. At that moment, in a child's playground, covered in dirt, sand and sunscreen, he was the happiest man alive.