Chapter 13: Babysitting Mayhem
At the playing room, Thomas was playing with his sisters a game of Nail Salon, where Bluey and Bingo were having their big brother as a customer. While Bingo was doing his nails, Bluey was making face make-up on him. "So, how do you like this nail polish I'm using, big brother costumer?" Bingo asked. "How, I like it, it really suits my eye colors," Thomas replied, despite doing it only to incarnate his role. "And you'll love this face make-up I'm doing, it will really highlight your natural glow," Bluey told. "Oh, I can't possibly wait to see it," Thomas said. Bandit and Chilli were outside, at the veranda, enjoying the sunset, while also admiring the three siblings playing together.
"You know, Thomas really got good at dealing with the girls, to think he tried to avoid them when he arrived,"Chilli told. "That boy really has come a great way, but that's not surprising being him my son," Bandit told, proudly. "Yeah, but you better be careful, or else he'll take your place as the girls' favorite playmate," Chilli teased. "Please, he still has a long way to get at my level, although having him dealing with the little ones does give me a break to relax" Bandit replied. "Really? I bet you won't be like that on house cleaning day tomorrow," Chilli told, causing Bandit's smile to get down, as he remembered the one day of the week where they tidied up the house from top to bottom, which became more extensive when Thomas moved in. "Oh biscuits…"
It was then that the doorbell rang. "Uh, who could that be at this hour?" Chilli asked. They went to the door and they saw it was Stripe. "Stripe, what a surprise," Chilli said. "Yeah, you know, I was just passing by and I decided to visit my favorite brother and his beloved family," Stripe said, with some edginess on his voice. "Okay, what do you want?" Bandit asked, not one second believing on what his little brother was saying. "What, I don't want anything," But a look from his brother and sister-in-law caused him to sigh and say, "Okay, I want you to take care of Muffin and Socks tomorrow, just for a few hours," "I don't know, Stripe… we already have a lot to do" Chilli said.
"Come on, guys, Trixie and I don't have a time for ourselves for ages, and we're getting crazy for some alone time," Stripe said. "What about mum?" Bandit asked. "She's out with dad, come on, guys, I'll owe you one" Stripe pleaded. "Well, having my little brother owing me a favor would be nice…" Bandit said. "Bandit!" Chilli admonished. "What, I'm just saying…" "I can do it" a voice said, with it belonging to Thomas, who joined the talk. "Really, oh you the best nephew ever!" Stripe exclaimed, while going for a hug. "By the way, love the new look."
"Are you sure, Thomas? Muffin and Socks can be… a little difficult to deal with," Chilli told. "How bad can they be? I take care of Bluey and Bingo all the time, not to mention I would love to help uncle Stripe and aunt Trixie" Thomas said. "Are you sure you're not doing this in order to dodge yourself from house cleaning day?" Chilli asked. "What no, that's crazy, I didn't even remember that was tomorrow," Thomas said, while being too obvious. "Yep, you're your father's son, all right" Chilli said.
"Then it's settled," Stripe said with a smile. "See you in the morning!" Stripe said before leaving. Thomas nodded to him, hoping to do good for his favorite uncle. The next morning came along as Thomas showered and made sure he got all the remaining make-up off him. Thomas came out of the bath and noticed everyone was in cleaning mode. "Oh, good your ready mate," Bandit said passing by his son in the hallway. "Yep, sure I am," Thomas replied with a smile. "Just meet me by the car son," Bandit said, while taking the laundry to the laundry room. Thomas nodded and headed outside. Before he could step outside, Bluey passed by him. "Good luck, Thomas, you're going to need it," she said, apparently referring to him going to babysit their cousins. Thomas got a little confused by the way Bluey said that, but decided to not give too much importance.
Thomas waited for a few minutes for his dad to come out and take him to uncle Stripe's house. Bandit rushed out of the house and got in the car. Thomas also got in the car and got his seat belt on. "Sorry for the wait son," Bandit said starting the car. "It's okay dad," Thomas said sitting back in his seat. They drove for 15 minutes getting to Stripe's. Thomas unbuckled himself and was ready to get out of the car until Bandit stopped him. "Son, if you need back up mate just call okay?" Bandit said placing his hand on his knee. "Dad I think I can handle a four-years-old and a two-years-old," Thomas said getting in the car. "Alright mate, but just one call and me and mum will be over with your sisters to help!" Bandit said as Thomas walked up to the front door. "Won't be needing it!" Thomas called back as he knocked on the door. "That's what he thinks," Bandit said with a chuckle before driving away.
Thomas knocked on the door and then Uncle Stripe opened the door. "Hey mate," Stripe said with Socks on his head biting at his floppy ear. Thomas eyes widen. "But I don't want cousin Thomas to baby sit if he didn't bring Bluey or Bingo!" Muffin cried to her mother while holding on to her leg. "I'm sure you'll have fun with your older cousin," Trixie said trying to get away from her daughter but just dragged her along. "Is this normal Uncle Stripe?" Thomas asked. "Very normal. here you go mate" Uncle Stripe said as he placed Socks in his arms.
Looking to Socks while holding her, he received a big lick from her on his face. "Looks like she likes you, that's good," Stripe observed. "Okay, Trix, let's get going," Stripe said to his wife, with a certain haste in his voice. "Coming," she told him, while trying to have Muffin to let her go. "Come on, Muffin, dear, let mommy go," Trixie begged her. "No, I want you to stay!" she insisted. "Too bad, because I was thinking in doing your favorite dinner tonight, in case you behaved with cousin Thomas today", Trixie told. Hearing that, Muffin stopped her tantrum, while processing what her mother said, and then she just let Trixie's leg, got up and dusted herself off. "Okay, mommy," Muffin replied, with a sweet smile.
Thomas got surprised by the sudden change on Muffin's behavior. That made him have second thoughts about his certainty that babysitting his cousins would be as easy as babysitting his sisters. "You're a life savior, Thomas," Stripe said, while patting his shoulder. "And don't worry we'll make up to you" Trixie replied, while going for a kiss to Socks. "Just remember, if anything happens and you can't handle it, you can always call us or your dad for help" she added. "Yeah, no problem…" he said. "Bye, girls, be nice to your cousin" Trixie said, as she and Stripe got out and closed the door.
Now alone with his cousins, Tom turned to Muffin. "So, what do you guys want to do for fun?" he asked, while putting down Socks beside Muffin. "You're the babysitter, you are the one that needs to know what to play to," Muffin replied. "Ah, okay… that's new, normally Bluey and Bingo would just decide what to play," Thomas replied. He then noticed that Socks was not where he put her. "Wait, where's Socks?" he asked, worried. It was then he sense someone pulling his tail. He turned around and saw it was Socks, who was laughing while doing it. "Horsey ride!" she exclaimed with her squeaky voice. "Oh, you want a horsey ride, okay I can do that," Thomas said.
Thomas got on his fours. "Up on, Socks," he said, while Socks climbed to his back. "Hey, it's not fair, I want to go on a horsey ride too!" Muffin exclaimed, stomping her foot. "Oh, it's okay, Muffin, you can wait until I'm done with Socks, and…" Thomas started. "But I don't want to wait, I want an horsey ride now!" Muffin shouted, starting to get into another temper tantrum. Thomas tried to think of a way that would allow him to be both fair to Socks and prevent a temper tantrum from Muffin. It was then only one thing came to him and, just like that, he became the horse that would give both girls a ride.
For the past two hours it's been horsey ride this and horsey ride that. "Don't you guys want to play something else?" Thomas asked going to the kitchen for the tenth time on all fours. "No! More horsey ride!" Muffin protested. "Let me just rest for a minute," Thomas said trying to stand up. Thomas's back was on fire for having both girls on top of him. "No!" Muffin screamed as she went down and ran to her room. Thomas sighed as he placed Socks on the floor, and sat down in a chair while rubbing his back. Suddenly Muffin ran back from her room with face paint on and a tiki crown. "Horsey ride!!!" Muffin shouted. "Uh oh," Thomas said getting prepared for what was about to happen. Muffin then grabbed a toy sword and started hitting Thomas with it while screaming Horsey ride.
"Ah!" Thomas shouted while running away from Muffin and her toy sword, with Socks playing along with her sister, giggling. Thomas managed to lock himself in Stripe's bathroom in his room while Muffin was on the hunt for her cousin. "This calls for an expert," Thomas said sitting in the bathtub. Thomas called the house phone hoping either Bingo or Bluey would answer it. The phone rang twice and then Bingo answered the phone. "Hello Heeler residence?" Bingo said on the phone. "Bingo! Is Bluey around?" Thomas said on the phone. "May I ask whose calling please," Bingo asked with a chuckle. "Bingo, it's your brother please get Bluey," Thomas said still hiding in the bathtub. "Here's Muffin!" Muffin shouted hitting the bathroom door with her toy sword. "Ah!" Thomas shouted, afraid. "Bingo hurry up… please!" he begged. "Okay, Bluey it's for you!" Bingo called her older sister.
"Hello?" Bluey said in a playful voice, answering the phone. "Bluey! Thank goodness! Muffin is going berserk over horsey ride, what else does she like to play?" Thomas asked as Muffin continued to hit the door. "Horsey!" Muffin shouted from behind the door. "Well she likes to play princesses and mermaids," Bluey said hearing Muffins tantrum in the background. "Yeah anything else?" Thomas asked more eager to have any help without alerting his dad and mom. "Well she-" Bluey started to say but was cut off and the call ended. "Oh biscuits," Thomas said putting his cellphone away.
"Dad!" Bluey said crossing her arms looking up at her father. "Now Bluey, I just want to see how long your brother can handle this on his own, if he calls again then we'll help him," Bandit said with a smile. "But dad you said if he called once you'd stop everything and help him!" Bluey shouted. Bandit winked at his daughter and whispered. "Don't tell your mother, not yet at least, trust me on this, it will be good for him," Bandit said with a chuckle. "You're being mean, daddy" Bluey replied. "You mean like the time you and your friend Jean Luc hunted me down like a wild pig?" Bandit asked. "Oh yeah…" Bluey remembered, nostalgic. "Trust me, all your brother needs is to face the problem heads on and find ways to solve them… that and he'll learn to not take tasks like babysitting for granted," Bandit told.
Back to Stripe's bathroom, Thomas tried to think of a way to get out of that situation. "Come on, Thomas, think, what can you do to prevent a four-years-old from hunting you down and turn you into her personal pony?" he asked to himself. "What would Bluey do…? What would dad do? He must have been in these situations tons of times. I guess… he would try to turn the situation around. But how can I…" At that moment, a thought came to mind, something his dad and him would play when he was young and it was a great way for his dad to get him to settle down when he was restless. Thomas wondered if that would work...
Advancing towards the entrance of the bathroom, he took a deep breath and then opened the door before Muffin could hit it another time. "Pony ride!" Muffin shouted, while Socks howled, preparing to attack Thomas. But before they could do it, Thomas made an imposing posture, while raising his hands. "I'm a big grizzly bear and I'm going to get you!" he exclaimed, while making a deeper voice. That caused Muffin to release a shout. "Run, Socks, the bear is going to get us!" And the two sisters started to run away, while Thomas went in pursue of them. After a while, he was able to catch them and started tickle them, causing them to laugh a lot.
After that moment, dealing with Muffin and Socks got easier to Thomas. After being able to get them to eat their lunch, he played with them a little more, using games that would make them get tired quickly. He realized those games were better than the ones he played with his sisters, as his cousins were younger and couldn't play complex games as better as Bluey and Bingo. At the middle of the afternoon, Stripe and Trixie arrived, with them opening the door quietly, fearing a little bit of they would find. However, they notice everything was quiet. "Okay, are we in the right house?" Stripe asked. "I guess your nephew really managed to handle the girls," Trixie commented. "I'll only believe it when I see it," Stripe told.
They looked around to find them and they got shocked when they found Thomas and Muffin at the kitchen, with the latter eating her afternoon tea. "Mommy! Daddy!" Muffin exclaimed, while going to hug them. "Hey there, sweetie, enjoying your snack?" Trixie asked. "Yeah, cousin Thomas makes awesome sandwiches!" Muffin replied. "Well, I am American after all" he replied. "Where's Socks?" Stripe asked. "Oh, she's napping, I guess that's what I should have done, right?" Thomas replied. "Yeah, but… it takes us forever to put her to sleep… or having Muffin to eat her afternoon tea" Stripe told. "Well, it was either eating her snack or getting a visit from the tickling grizzly bear" Thomas said, while blinking his eye to Muffin who giggled. Stripe and Trixie traded some confused look, but then a smile, seeing how well Thomas was able to handle their daughters.
When Bandit arrived to get Thomas, he got to wait at the car, while his son said goodbye to his uncle and aunt. "You really saved us today, mate, we we're really needing that time for ourselves," Stripe told. "And we know who to call when we need a babysitter," Trixie said. "Yeah, but maybe not in the nearby future… try when they get a little older," Thomas replied. "Sure, no worries," Stripe replied, while chuckling. After giving a goodbye hug to his uncle and aunt, Thomas got into the car, with his dad preparing to start the engine.
"So, how things went with Muffin and Socks?" Bandit asked, while starting the car and start moving. "Much better after I used the grizzly bear game… after two hours of serving as a riding horse and being pursued and cornered at a bathroom" Thomas replied. "Oh, the grizzly bear game, that brings me so many memories," Bandit said, nostalgic. "Dad, can I ask you something?" Thomas asked. "Of course, son" he replied. "Were you the one that cut Bluey from telling me how to deal with Muffin?" Thomas asked. "What, no… Why would I…" Bandit lied. "Thanks" Thomas said, much to Bandit's surprise. With that, Bandit smiled at his son. "You're welcome, son" he replied, knowing Thomas had learned the lesson and, because of that, he could be a better role model to both his sisters and cousins.
Kodiwolf321 A/N: Hey guys! Today I will be post three chapters in one day so that's new for me lol me and Rakoon1 worked on this one together and then the next two chapters I worked on myself and things will be getting to more personal states between Bandit, Thomas and Emily and also we will be introducing Thomas's uncle on his mom's side soon!