Never in a million years did L think he'd be babysitting. Well…none of them were babies, so I guess you could call it kid-sitting. It wasn't very hard to keep the three under control. They'd been revolving around L since they were infants. He remembered a time when he'd been walking around the house and felt a tug on his shirt. He'd looked behind him to see Near clinging to his shirt, Mello clinging to Near and Matt hugging Mello. The three trailed after L every chance they got. Now they were older. Near was about twelve, Mello had turned thirteen only a few days ago and Matt was also thirteen. And somehow, L was babysitting them.
He'd already gotten them lunch and they'd all eaten, then fought over who got the biggest piece of cake. L had settled the dispute by cutting the cake to where it was just as big as the other pieces. Mello had refused the cake in favor of a chocolate bar. L had opted to take the extra piece. The others were too full to argue. L lay on his stomach in the middle of the living room floor and read, surrounded by the three. Near had his arms wrapped around L's neck as he peered over his shoulder at the book he was reading. Mello lay sprawled on his back horizontally over L's own back with a fresh chocolate bar to nibble on. Matt opted for settling between L's legs with his Nintendo DS, his head propped up on L's buttocks.
"What does auspicious mean?" Near asked as he read over L's shoulder. L glanced at the white haired boy momentarily.
"It means fortunate," He said before returning to his place in the book.
"If it means fortunate then why does it sound like a work used to describe someone sneaking around?" Mello asked biting off a piece of chocolate. L shrugged, making Near's arms bounce slightly.
"I'm not sure," He said flipping the page. Matt shifted slightly to look over his shoulder at the others.
"Yeah, it's pretty stupid," He said with a slight frown. "The meaning should be changed." L sighed.
"It might be," He said with another shrug. He felt Matt rearrange himself back into his original position. The evening wore on and they'd advanced from silence to watching TV then to playing video games. At eleven L herded them to their bedroom. Near climbed into his top bunk, Mello plopped down on the bunk bellow him and Matt crawled into his bed on the other side of the room. After tucking each of them in (though they were getting a bit old to be tucked in) he kissed each of them on the forehead like they were still little children. Mello and Matt both furrowed their brows in fake irritation at the gesture.
"Good night," L called before turning out the light. A soft chorus of 'good-night's followed him before he shut the door. He moved around the house, making sure all the lights were off and the doors were locked. When he was sure everything was secure he went into his own bedroom (more appropriately, the guest bedroom) and climbed into bed. He fell asleep in a matter of minutes.
The bed shook beneath him, disturbing him from his sleep. He groaned and opened his eyes a fraction to see three suspicious looking forms crawling into bed with him. After he blinked for a moment he recognized them. The once that wrapped their arms around one of his was Near. Mello flopped across his chest with his hand on Near's shoulder. Matt curled up with his head on L's stomach and his arm thrown over Mello's back. L put his head back down and closed his eyes.
He heard the trio's breathing become deep and even when they fell back to sleep. When they were asleep, L was able to drift off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep as well.
Love has many forms. One of the most precious is the kind that comes in form of a child.