Shenanigan: (n.) Mischief, prankishness.

Auggie held his breath as he flattened himself against the wall. His ears strained for the sound of approaching footsteps and his heart kicked it up a couple beats in anticipation. He felt a body press against his right side and he looked in that direction long enough to press a silencing finger to his lips, before turning his focus back to the sound of the light footsteps.

There was the dull click of a doorknob turning, the swoosh of the air exchange as the door opened, a sudden splash, and finally a short scream.

An explosion of giggles erupted from the area of his right hip and he had to bite down on his knuckles to stop himself from joining in. After a beat of stunned silence from the other room –

"August Anderson!"

Auggie couldn't stop himself from letting out a loud laugh at the irate voice. He walked around the corner into the kitchen with a pleasant smile on his face. "You called, Annie dearest?"

"This is the last time I am ever asking you to babysit with me," she said venomously. From behind Auggie, he could hear her nieces instantly begin protesting loudly. "And as for you two," she started, but she didn't get to finish. Both girls shrieked and the sounds of their retreating footsteps pounding up the stairs were almost drowned out by their giggles.

"I can't believe they left me for dead," Auggie said, shaking his head.

"Don't worry, I'll deal with them later," Annie assured him. There was a pause while Auggie tried to hide his grin. "How did you even pull this off? I can't have been gone for more than ten minutes."

Auggie laughed, finding the island counter with his hand and leaning against it. "I'm the youngest and smallest of five very devious boys. I could pull off a simple water-over-the-door trick in my sleep. Or, you know, blind and with the assistance of two very giggly little girls. And in the spirit of full disclosure, it was Kat's idea."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Annie said with what might have been an affectionate laugh, but there was a faint tremor in her voice that made guilt suddenly flare in Auggie's chest and he started toward her immediately.

"Annie, are you shiv–" His question dissolved into a startled yelp as he slipped in the puddle of water that had splashed around her feet. He reached out and latched onto the nearest object, which just so happened to be a dripping wet Annie, in an effort to keep himself upright, but all it succeeded in doing was pulling her down on top of him. They both landed with a heavy thump on the floor and Auggie felt all of the air rush out of him as he was crushed between her and the floor.

It only took a second to get back enough breath for him to start laughing, and a second later she joined him. "This water is really cold," he choked out, shuddering as it soaked through the back of his shirt, as well as from the front where Annie was.

"You don't say," Annie said sarcastically. The pressure on his chest had lessened slightly, but he could tell she hadn't gone far because he could still feel her breath against his face.

"I suppose I should consider this Karma, shouldn't I?" he asked with a grin.

"Most definitely," she agreed and he smiled wider at the amusement in her voice. Apparently she'd decided he'd been punished enough and was going to be friendly again. They stayed like that for a moment, Annie half-laying across his chest and Auggie holding onto her waist lightly, but then – at almost the exact same moment – they seemed to realise what a compromising position they'd ended up in, made startled and embarrassed noises, and released each other.

Auggie sat up when he heard Annie moving away from him, but a moment later she had reached down and grabbed his hands, pulling him to his feet next to her. "I'll have you know that you're mopping this up," she informed him pointedly and he just smiled in response. She walked away, but then she came back and put the handle of what he assumed was the mop in his hand. After she'd turned him in the direction of the water puddle, she said, "I'll be back once I get the girls into bed."

He grinned and listened to the sound of her feet moving away and then up the stairs. Feeling strange while doing it, since it wasn't exactly something he'd done recently, he pushed the mop back and forth over where he hoped the water was at. He could tell the moment that Annie reached the girls' bedroom because there were loud, excitable shrieks from over his head.

It had been probably about fifteen minutes when Annie came back to find Auggie leaning against the mop handle. He glanced over in her direction at the sound of her footsteps and smirked. "Is this the point where you tell me I missed a spot?" he asked playfully.

She laughed as she crossed the room and took the mop from him. "You did," she said, and she hurried to clean up the last of the water. Auggie propped himself against the countertop while he waited and she joined him after a few minutes.

"So you're not still mad at me, are you?" he asked and put on a very over-dramatic pout.

Annie laughed, although there was something underneath it that made Auggie a little apprehensive. "No, I don't really hold grudges," she said. "At least, not after I've gotten my revenge."

He had barely opened his mouth to ask what she meant when something very sticky landed against his cheek. It took him about a quarter of a second to figure out that the sticky something had actually been a hand, her hand, and he licked at his lip curiously. Chocolate frosting. He remembered her mentioning a cake that her sister had made for a photo shoot for the catering website.

Inching his hand casually across the counter until he found the display platter, he warned, "You've started it now, Annie Walker." Plunging his hand into the cake, he then took a quick swipe and managed to get ahold of her shoulder before she could get out of reach. She laughed and turned around, trying to pry his hand off with her still sticky fingers. He reached across himself and got his other hand into the cake, and this time he found the side of her face.

They struggled back and forth for a while until both of them were laughing too hard to focus on the fight, at which point they slumped down against the counter, both covered in a good deal of chocolate frosting and cake crumbs. Auggie was the first to recover his breathing and said, "Danielle is going to kill us when she sees this mess."

"You do realise this means that you are now stuck here until tomorrow so you can keep me company while I'm scrubbing this kitchen from floor to ceiling all day," she said pointedly and he could tell that he had no choice in the matter. "Now let me find a washrag so we can at least get some of this chocolate off us." Apparently she predicted exactly what the mischievous look on his face meant because she added, "And the process will involve no licking."

"I can't even just get you out of those wet clothes?" he asked innocently. Taking a damp washrag to the face served as his answer. "You are such a tease. And a terrible killjoy, I might add."

"Don't push it, Aug, or you'll be sleeping upstairs with the girls and they can pester you all night for stories again," she threatened jokingly. He gave a dramatic shudder with his face hidden behind the cloth he was trying to clean his face with, making her laugh. When he looked up again she said, "C'mere, you've still got frosting on your forehead."

Once she'd finally deemed him clean enough, she led him into the living room and put on an older movie that he knew by heart so that she didn't have to supply a running commentary for him and they could both still enjoy the movie.

And Danielle and Michael didn't even bat an eye when they came home to find Annie and Auggie both fast asleep on the couch beneath a throw blanket in wet clothes and with chocolate frosting still in their hair.

Although they did end up on kitchen cleaning duty the next morning.