A/N: And I know this isn't exact with the timeline, but Rachel is already taking lessons from Al every week.
Ivy sat back on her heels, observing the fully assembled playpen in the corner of the sanctuary. Shooting a glance at Rachel asleep on the floor surrounded by pillows – again, it was safer – Ivy got to her feet and stretched. She had opted not to buy a crib, seeing as the cheapest one that met her standards was ridiculously priced, especially since she didn't think they'd be using it for that long. Because of this, the playpen would serve as Rachel's bed, along with her occasional holding cell.
She went to put Rachel into the pen, then picked up the bags containing groceries and brought them to the kitchen. Setting them on the counter, she started sorting them into piles, stuff to go in the food, and different sections of the pantry. She never thought she'd be buying baby food, or little animal crackers for that matter. Juice boxes in the fridge, high chair next to the counter, kid-friendly silverware into the cupboards…
When everything was put away, Ivy went back to the sanctuary. Pausing in the doorway, she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, taking in the sight before her.
She had cleaned up all off the food on the floor, but most of the pillows were still scattered. In addition to that, there were toys on the floor, and a couple of stuffed animals on the couch, with bags and opened boxes all over the place. Rachel had had a field day opening those when the phone had woken her up. Although it was Ivy's theory that it had been Erica's scream that had done it, right after Ivy had informed her that Rachel was a child.
Erica had babbled on and on about how she loved kids, completely unconcerned that her sister's partner was about 23 years younger than she was supposed to be. Quickly, Ivy hung up on her, saying that she had to go, and if she didn't go and watch Rachel now that she was awake, the witch would probably figure out how to strangle herself with a shopping bag.
Jenks buzzed over to her from wherever he'd been. "Looks really domestic, doesn't it?" Ivy had to agree. She had never imagined her home would look like one of the houses in the suburbs where 3 kids and a soccer mom lived. Though she supposed there wasn't enough stuff – or damage – for there to be 3 kids living here.
Jenks looked at her appraisingly. "You know, I think you're good here, with this kind of stuff." With a snort, she waved the comment off, dismissing it.
"I'm just glad she already knows me. I have a feeling that if Rachel doesn't like you, it wouldn't be too easy to watch her. She does like pissing people off."
"Nah, she'd never do anything to purposely piss you off, not seriously anyways." Ivy looked at him, and he continued talking, ignoring her. "At least there are no runs to cancel in the next few days."
"Do you think we'll be able to fix this before Saturday? Al should let her off, but I still don't trust him."
"I guess we'll have to see if Ceri's found anything."
Right on cue, the doorbell rang and they heard the elf let herself into the church. At the same time, Rachel woke up and waved sleepily at them. She started reaching for something outside of the playpen, and Ivy wasn't sure if it was her she wanted or the stuffed fish lying on the floor.
Crossing the room, she picked up the fish and reached in to lift the witch out. Rachel settled herself in, once again shocking Ivy with the familiarity in which she did it.
Gently bouncing her up and down, Ivy walked into the hall to hear the last of what Ceri was telling Jenks. "…sorry I couldn't find anything, and it looks unlikely that I will make any headway tonight. I'll keep looking though."
After Ceri left, Ivy wandered back to the sanctuary. By then it was nearing 11 o'clock, and since Rachel had just woken up from her nap, she wasn't tired. Ivy set her down on the couch. The girl looked up at her expectantly, still clutching her fish.
"So… now what?" Ivy turned to Jenks and shrugged.
She knelt in front of Rachel. "Is there…something you want to do now?" Rachel just smiled at her and raised one shoulder.
"Nuh know. You pick."
The vampire looked helplessly at Jenks, and he raised his hands. "Don't look at me."
"Well, you are the parent in the room. How do you entertain a little kid?"
"In case you haven't noticed, my kids are kind of good at entertaining themselves. And it's not like I can go tell Rache to go scare the mice out of the attic, or go chase the bugs eating at the garden. "
"Well, I don't know what to do. It's too dark outside, or else I'd take her to the park or something."
"You bought her all those toys, why don't you go play with her."
She opened her mouth to answer, but he grinned and flew out before she could say anything. Rachel's eyes followed him, then she turned back to Ivy, waiting.
Ivy took a deep breath. "Okay then." She picked Rachel up and sat her down amidst all the half opened boxes. "Take your pick Rachel."
Rachel pushed herself up and toddled over to where Ivy was sitting cross-legged on the floor and put her fish in her lap, making sure that Ivy got it. Then she went to each box, examining them carefully before coming back with a remote controlled car. She handed it to Ivy, saying, " 'pen it, Ivy." When Ivy obligingly started tearing open the package, Rachel turned around to grab something else.
Ivy looked up and laughed. The girl was dragging over a bucket of building blocks almost as big as she was, and probably twice as heavy.
Looking over to make sure that Ivy was opening her car, she turned back and tipped the bucket over, causing the blocks to spill out in a clatter. Ivy blinked, and Rachel giggled and clapped her hands, then sat down and started stacking them on top of each other.
Ivy got the car working, but by then Rachel had already forgotten about it, so she placed it and the remote to the side. She sat there, unsure of what to do. Rachel looked up from her admittedly crooked tower and said, "Come Vee!" Ivy inched closer, and Rachel pushed some blocks towards her. "We're gonna make a city! A big city, even bigger den Cinaddi!"
Ivy smiled at her and settled herself comfortably on the ground. "Even bigger then Cincinnati? Well then, I guess we'd better get to work!" Rachel nodded enthusiastically.
"Uh huh! An' you're gonna help me make the really really big ones! Like…"
Rachel told her all about her city, and Ivy found herself completely drawn into her excitement.
There's nothing like a little kid playing a simple game, she mused, helping Rachel build her make believe city, it's so pure, so different. Ivy couldn't remember the last time she'd felt like this, laughing just as heartily as Rachel as the girl knocked over a tower.
Eventually, Rachel started to tire, and after she yawned for the third time Ivy smiled at her. "Okay, it's time for bed now Rachel."
Rachel looked at her pleadingly. "Aww." She looked at the blocks, then at Ivy. "Five more minutes?" she asked hopefully.
"Fine," Ivy consented, still in a playful mood, "but I'm going to start cleaning up the ones over there." There were almost a dozen towers and clumps of blocks, but there were even more scattered around the edges of the room. She moved towards them.
"Hey Rachel, watch your head!" she called out. She waited for Rachel to turn towards her questioningly, and then threw the block she was holding in her hand, watching it land in the bucket with a solid thunk. Rachel clapped her hands delightedly. "Again, again!"
That was how 5 minutes turned into 30, with Ivy tossing blocks into the bucket and Rachel attempting to copy her. After Rachel figured out that her aim was pretty bad and that Ivy wouldn't miss the bucket, even sitting down half way across the room, it turned into a game to see how many Rachel could stop her from throwing properly.
When Ivy finally got them all in – it was harder aiming for the bucket when you had a shrieking child jumping around and waving her arms directly in front of you than it looked – she was pleasantly surprised at how much she had enjoyed herself.
She got Rachel ready for bed, then set her into the play pen with her fish and a Tweety Bird blanket, once again surrounded with pillows. Rachel looked up at her.
The vampire shifted from foot to foot, nervous about leaving the witch alone, even just for the night. "You're gonna sleep here, okay?" She is a fully grown woman, not a child, and she'll be fine. It's not like she hasn't done this tons of times before.
Rachel patted one of the pillows and nodded. "Okay." She yawned again. "'Night Ivy."
"Goodnight Rachel." She looked back before she closed all the lights and saw Rachel was already lying down with her eyes closed, wrapped in her blanket. She felt herself smile again, then she went to her own room.
Ivy awoke with a start, instinctively knowing that it was way too early for her to be up yet even though her thick curtains prevented the sunlight from entering her room. She blinked, not understanding why she was awake, and why did it sound like there was a crying baby in the church?
Ivy's eyes widened as she remembered what had happened the day before and threw off her covers, quickly opening the door and hurrying to Rachel, the source of the crying.
"Hey, hey, are you alright? Is something wrong?" She picked up the girl, trying to look her over in the soft light of the lamp. Rachel cried again and latched onto Ivy. The vampire couldn't understand what she was trying to say, but after realizing she wasn't hurt, she sat on the couch and tried to calm her down.
Eventually, she got the general picture of what had happened. Something had scared Rachel (Ivy wasn't sure if it was something real or just something in her dream), and the girl had been calling for her, and gotten frightened when she didn't come. "You din't come, Ivy," she sniffed, and Ivy hugged her closer.
"I'm sorry Rachel, I couldn't hear you, I was asleep. You know I would've come if I'd heard you calling." She continued to rock her back and forth rubbing her back soothingly, and she began to calm down. Looking at the clock, Ivy saw that it was only 7:38 am. She bit back a groan. Why was it so early?
"Hey," she said gently, and Rachel lifted her head off her shoulder and looked at her. Ivy wiped away the remaining tears and smiled. "You okay now?" Rachel nodded. "Do you think you can go back to bed?"
Rachel glanced over to the playpen and Ivy mentally crossed her fingers. She really wanted to go back to sleep.
"I wanna stay with you," Rachel told her, looking at her with huge green eyes. Ivy debated for a moment.
"Okay. Do you want to come sleep with me in my bed then?" Rachel thought about it and nodded, once again laying her head on her shoulder, her eyes already starting to droop. Ivy got up and started walking towards the hall, when Rachel tugged on her hair a bit to get her attention.
"Fishy," she mumbled, pointing at the playpen. Ivy smiled and retrieved the fish for her, then continued down the hall. Pushing open her door, Ivy chuckled. Looks like she had finally gotten the witch into her bed. Shaking her head at herself, Ivy flicked on her lamp so Rachel could see.
She put her down, and the girl immediately snuggled in between the covers, humming happily. Ivy sat on the edge of her bed. "I'm going to shut the lamp off, okay?"
"Wait," Rachel climbed into her lap, wrapping her arms around her. "Okay." Ivy softened again, turning off the lamp and lying down, Rachel curling up on top of her like a cat. With one hand running through her hair, the witch was asleep within minutes. Ivy eyes closed as well, the soft body once again lulling her to sleep.
This time, Ivy awoke to the bed shaking under her. Before she had time to panic, Rachel's voice filtered into her half-asleep consciousness. "Wake up, wake up, wake up,"
Ivy's eyes cracked open to see the child bouncing on the bed in time with her words. When she saw Ivy was awake, a grin split across her face, giving Ivy just enough warning to brace herself for the impact of a three year old body landing on her. "Oof," she huffed. "Good morning to you too." Rachel giggled and hugged her harder.
"Good morning Ivy!" Ivy smiled and sat up, ruffling her hair. Ivy usually stayed in bed for awhile after she woke up, but Rachel had already jumped off the bed and was reaching for the door handle. Ivy got up and grabbed her robe as Rachel got the door open, looking back triumphantly before running off down the hall. Ivy laughed and followed her.
She realized that she had been smiling pretty much ever since yesterday. That was new. Walking into the kitchen, she headed straight for the coffee maker. When she got a pot started, she turned around and quickly stopped Rachel in her reaching for the fridge, picking her up instead. "So what do you want for breakfast?"
"Waffle!"
Ivy nodded. "Waffles it is, then." She put Rachel on the floor, and when the witch just stood there and fidgeted, looking up at her, she thought for a moment. "I know," she started, crouching down to her level, "Why don't you go pick out a movie for us to watch while we're eating?" Rachel nodded enthusiastically, clapping her hands and running out.
Ivy stood up and stretched, glad she still had some notion of what she was supposed to be doing. She took two waffles and put them in the toaster, then heard a loud thump from the sanctuary. Hurrying over, she saw that Rachel was trying to move the big box they kept under the TV with most of their movies. Rachel wasn't hurt, just struggling to open the box that was easily 3 times her size.
Ivy sighed and popped the lid off for her. She had to remember that Rachel doesn't really stop if something looks like it could be difficult. Leaving Rachel pawing through the box, she went back to the kitchen and came back with her coffee and four waffles on a plate – two for Rachel, two for her – with some napkins to clean up whatever mess Rachel managed to make.
She set everything down on the coffee table, then looked up to see the child waving around a video cassette, one of the witch's old movies that her mom had dropped off for her. "Which one you got there?"
"The Wion King." Rachel came over to show her, standing on her tiptoes and stretching out to show her the brightly colored box with the cartoon lions on it. Ivy accepted it and looked it over. "Well this is old. Haven't watched a tape in a while, it's a good thing I kept the VCR." Rachel nodded in agreement, and Ivy went to put it in the machine.
When she turned around, Rachel was gone. "Rachel?" She wasn't in the room. Ivy covered her face with her hands and groaned. "Why?" she asked the ceiling, and anyone who happened to be listening. She hurried into the hall, trying to listen for the child. How did humans do this without any special abilities that came from being an Inderlander?
She heard a noise from her room, and hurried to check it out. Her tension eased when she saw Rachel climbing onto her bed. "Rachel," she complained lightly. Rachel looked at her.
"Want Fishy, Ivy," she said, pointing at the fish lying forgotten among Ivy's pillows.
Ivy sighed, picking up Rachel and the fish both. "Here you go." They walked back to the sanctuary. "I have really got to keep an eye on you at all times."
They settled onto the couch and Ivy handed Rachel a waffle, pressing play with the remote. The Disney castle lit up the screen, and Rachel was transfixed. Ivy was happy to munch on her waffles, highly amused when it turned out that Rachel knew all the words to the songs.
Right in the middle of Hakuna Matata, the doorbell rang, and as Ivy untangled herself from the child who evidently thought she was part sofa, the door opened and she knew it was Ceri. "In here Ceri!" she called.
The elf entered, "Good morning Ivy, Rachel." Rachel waved at her, still mostly focused on the movie. "Ivy, would you mind lending me Rachel's car? I wish to go look through Trenton's library, he has some rare books there that might be of use." Ivy looked down at Rachel, and when the girl nodded, she got up to hand her the key.
"Sure. You can drive now right?"
"Yes. Quen has taught me." She accepted the key. "Thank you. I will have it back by nightfall." Ivy nodded and walked her out before returning to the movie.
After the movie finished, she decided it was probably time to change, and get Rachel changed too. Jenks, who had flown in for the end of the movie, told her it was nice outside, why not let Rachel play in the backyard. Just as Ivy agreed, three pixies flew in shrieking, and Ivy winced. They were speaking too fast for Ivy to understand what they were saying, but their tone was urgent.
Jenks flew up higher, dusting heavily. "Good job. Go back out there and help the others watch them." They flew out, and Jenks turned to Ivy. "My kids just caught two stupid lunkers trying to get in the house. Luckily, a couple of my kids were awake to sound the alarm, or they probably would have gotten in.
Ivy sat up straight. "What?"
"They're asleep in the garden, my kids dusted them."
Ivy jumped up. "Get your kids to keep watching them. I'll be out in five minutes."
Jenks nodded and flew out the window, and she hurried to her room, quickly changing into some clothes. She put Rachel on her bed. "Stay here Rachel, okay?" Rachel nodded, clearly understanding something was happening. "Just don't move, don't leave this room. I'll be right back." She shut the door behind her, praying that Rachel listened this time, and hurried out to the backyard.
Two men were sitting tied up to the fence, and Ivy's eyes widened at the sight of the knots, impressed at how the pixies secured them.
When Ivy approached them, their eyes widened. "Wha? You're supposed to be gone!" one said. "Yeah! The car's not here, and your cycle's in the shop!" the other agreed. They weren't supposed to know that. Ivy felt her eyes blacken, and they both shrank back.
"Listen here, Twiddle Dumb and Twiddle Dumber, you just attacked my house. Not the best thing you could have done. So why don't you both tell me what it is you want, and maybe you'll be able to walk out of here, hmm?"
"We don't know nothin'!" Dumber cried out instantly.
"Yeah! Some guy just said 'Wait 'til the red car's gone, 'cause that means the vamp's not home, then go and snatch the girl.' Then I said 'what if the vamp takes the girl with her?' then he said 'she won't, she knows it ain't smart to let other people know about her' and I said 'why? It's just a little girl' and he said 'it doesn't matter why' and-"
"All right!" Ivy shouted, rubbing her temples. Clearly they were no threat, and the stupid looks on their faces told her they weren't faking it. They were classic stupid henchmen.
She turned to Jenks, hovering by her shoulder. "What do you think?"
"I think these guys wouldn't know a fairy's fart from a flower. They're not worth anything. I say we just douse them with one of Rache's forget potions and let them go."
Ivy nodded, and with another look at the idiots, she walked into the kitchen, Jenks right behind her.
"We got this Ivy, why don't you go check on Rache, maybe she knows who they were or why they were after her. You know no one ever tries to invade us unless they're after her," he said whistling for two of his kids.
"Not to mention that someone knows she's a kid. I'm willing to bet that whoever hired these dumb asses probably had something to do with the witch who did this to her in the first place," she added.
As the three pixies worked together to get the vial down off the shelf, she turned and hurried to her room, immensely relieved to find Rachel still there, even if the witch had managed to pull all the covers off her bed and had made some kind of fort on the floor. "Hey Rachel," she said kneeling down.
"Hi Ivy! Whas wrong?" Ivy sat down and crossed her legs.
"There were these two guys trying to get in, they said they were after you. Not very bright. And they knew who you were. Any ideas?"
Rachel's eyebrows scrunched together as she thought. Once again, she had climbed onto Ivy as soon as she was within reach, and Ivy curved an arm around her protectively. "Nuh uh," Rachel shook her head. "Dunno."
Ivy sighed, "Oh well. They weren't a threat, I'm just worried about where they got their intel. Somebody knows about you." Rachel shrugged and tucked her head into her shoulder, idly playing with her hair again, not seeming to be worried in the slightest.
"But don't worry," Ivy mumbled, more to herself than to the witch, "We'll get them first. I'll always protect you, Rachel. For as long as I can."
Elsewhere, the two men she had dubbed Twiddle Dumb and Twiddle Dumber screamed and vanished with a puff of burnt amber scented smoke. The remaining person in the room closed his fist. "Well," he mused, "I guess I'll have to hire somebody competent this time. Those two couldn't even snatch a defenseless little girl. I'll just try again tomorrow then."
