We have Frary babysitting Kennash's children in this chapter. Enjoy!
"Will I be forced to hold Kenna's breastmilk?" Francis asks as they drive to Kenna and Bash's house to babysit.
It's their first night out in months since Raven was born and Mary has jumped at the chance to be their babysitter as opposed to the couple forking out for one. She thinks she's got it covered but Francis is fretting over every little thing that Mary knows relays back onto their growing child.
He doesn't want to mess things up, he wants to learn and observe and take notes so when their baby arrives in almost nine months time, he'll have a few things in the bag. Like nappies because Bash has warned him that Raven poops a lot because she eats a lot. And other newborn things.
"I'll feed Raven if you're too squeamish," Mary laughs. "You can handle Robin."
"I've only babysat Robin once," Francis tells her. "When he was like three and for an hour. I gave him a lot of marshmallows, and he threw up everywhere so I'm surprised they're letting me try again."
Mary grins, side-eyeing him briefly. "Francis, it's because I'm here to rein you in."
He rolls his eyes. "I can look after a kid!"
"You just said you gave Robin a lot of marshmallows and he threw up everywhere..."
"Okay, my track record looks questionable..." He trails off, making them chuckle. "It can't be that hard. Just help Robin with his homework, playtime, feed them dinner, screen time and then bedtime at eight."
Mary tuts. "You say that now..." She trails off. "Don't jinx us, Francis!"
"You got to have faith," Francis says, turning the radio on and grinning when 'Faith' by George Michael is on. "See? It's fate, Mary. You gotta have faith, faith, faith!"
When they arrive at the house, they ring the doorbell and wait patiently in the cold. England doesn't snow much but there are signs of frost everywhere and Mary tuts when she realises that Kenna or Bash has probably forgotten to remove one Christmassy item from their front window, a toy Santa that dances.
"Back in France, the decorations come down by the first Sunday. We make it a whole thing," Francis tells Mary.
"Yeah and then you get those who can't be arsed like my mother who keeps hers up for most of the year," she replies, making them laugh just as the door finally opens.
"Kenna! They're here!" Bash calls up the stairs, already leaving the door for Mary and Francis to step inside and closed behind them. "Right, follow me."
Mary gives Francis a look. He's like a bloody drill sergeant, she thinks with a chuckle between them. "Hey, Robin!" She says as they pass the child pulling his school bag into the dining room.
"Hi," the boy says before they disappear into the kitchen where Bash points to the fridge.
"On the fridge are a bunch of important numbers. Mine, Kenna's-"
"We already have your numbers?" Francis replies.
Bash gives him a look. "What if your phones fail you? Hmm? We have a landline just in case but if the power cuts out or something and you have no devices, you can then seek the next appropriate means of communication and view this lovely post-it note that Kenna left you. It also has Robin's doctor's number and Raven's doctor's number if you need them for whatever reason but I hope to God, you don't." He points to the different coloured note beside the phone numbers' one. "Allergies. Don't feed my son nuts or strawberries. We do have both because Kenna loves them but we keep them away from Robin's reach anyway."
"Okay," Mary nods.
Bash then opens the freezer part of the fridge. "In the first shelf, Raven's milk. Kenna has written instructions on how to heat it and test it before giving it to Raven." He sees Francis gag. "It's breastmilk, Francis, it won't kill you."
"I know but it's one thing dealing with your brother's wife's breastmilk that's come out of her... you know-"
"Breast? As breastmilk should come from? As you have had your mother's when you were a baby?"
"Bash!"
"Francis, just for that, you're on feeding duty," Bash says, closing the freezer. "And I will know if you shirk that onto Mary. We have cameras everywhere."
Mary laughs. "You're helicopter parents!"
"No, we're just aware that every babysitter we've hired so far as stolen stuff from us," Bash replies, opening the fridge again. "Wine, beer. Only after you've put the kids down." He closes the freezer and places his hands on his hips. "Any questions?"
"No," Mary says, glaring at Francis when he's about to open his mouth. "Just go and enjoy your date."
"Okay..." Bash says dubiously but he leads them into the dining room. "I'll get Raven, Robin needs help with his subtraction exercises."
As he heads upstairs, Mary takes her coat off and hangs it over the chair before sitting down and sliding Robin's homework into her view as Francis takes the boy's other side.
"Right, if Jane has eight apples and eats two, how many does she have left?" Mary asks a baffled Robin. She then takes his hands and moulds them into holding up eight fingers.
"Jane," Francis starts. "Has eight of these yummy apples." He counts Robin's fingers by poking them and making the kid giggle. "Now, she's eaten two of them." He puts two of Robin's fingers down. "Count them, kiddo."
Robin counts under his breath and shows them the six fingers. "Six.
"Great job! Now, write it down," Mary tells him, pointing to the spot where the answer goes.
"Hiya!" Kenna calls out, putting her earrings on as she presses a kiss on top of Robin's head. "Thanks so much for babysitting!"
"No worries," Francis says.
"No problem, you can always count on us," Mary adds, giving her a quick hug as Francis raises a brow at Kenna's velvet, lowcut dress.
"You look great," he says, surprised.
Kenna waves him off with a smirk. "We all know I look better than just great."
"Yeah but your husband is my brother and I don't think he'll appreciate me swooning over your post-baby look," Francis jokes making Kenna slap his shoulder. "I thought we had two kids to babysit?"
Kenna blows out a puff of air, hurrying off to search for her heels. "Raven is a little fussy right now, but Bash will bring her down soon," she calls over her shoulder.
Deciding to leave Francis to help Robin with the rest of the kid's homework, Mary gets started on dinner. It's just simple pasta carbonara today and Kenna has already helped get it started by pre-cooking the pasta.
"Here she is," she hears, turning to grin and hold her hands out to take Raven into her arms.
"Hi, baby!" Mary coos, the little girl pouting and pulling a face. "Now, your mama and papa can finally go!"
Bash chuckles, slipping his blazer on. "Are you guys sure you don't mind babysitting until twelve?"
"Lord knows what you and Kenna want to do at twelve in the morning, but yeah," Mary replies lightly. "Now get going."
Almost tentative to do so, Bash and Kenna finally finish up getting ready, kiss their kids on their heads and leave. It makes Mary sigh in relief because Raven's already dozing off so she can put her in the rocking mamaroo and continue to do dinner.
Almost finished with dinner an hour later Mary heads to check on Francis and Robin who are now watching some cartoons on the TV. She looks over at an awake Raven and smiles, returning to the kitchen just in time to turn the timer off when it goes off.
"Dinner's ready! Robin, wash your hands!" She calls out.
She hears Francis follow the boy to the kitchen, both of them playing with the bubbles as they wash their hands. Not wanting to leave Raven on her own in the living room, Mary goes to lift her but decides to slide the rocker into the dining room instead before Francis quickly takes over.
"No, heavy handling!" He cries out, lifting both rocker and baby at the same time.
Mary rolls her eyes playfully but goes to grab the carbonara and bring it to the dining table with oven mitts as it is still hot. "Hey, Robbers, can you grab the juice and some cups, please?"
"Okay!" The boy says, hurrying into the kitchen as she narrowly avoids him running into her.
She places the dish on the rack and places the serving spoon before it. It's quite homely. She can see her and Francis with their little ones eating dinner. Their eldest talking away as their youngest falls asleep or feeds in her arms... Sometimes, she catches herself being jealous of what her friends have but then she realises... she's getting that too.
A hand presses against her stomach before she quickly starts serving everyone, bringing Raven in her arms and hushing her when the baby starts to get frustrated at the lack of attention and probably in need of a good feed. "Can you-"
"On it," Francis says, pulling a face as he stands.
He takes his time but Mary has Raven distracted by her hair which the baby latches onto tightly as she gurgles and makes noises. It hurts but apparently, babies need working on their reflexes and grips so she lets it happen, sometimes gently easing her hair out of the baby's grip when it gets too discomforting to bear.
"How do I test if it's okay?" Francis asks, returning with a baby bottle.
"Taste it," Mary jokes.
He glares at her but checks Kenna's note over. "'Shake two times...'," he mutters. "'A few drops on the inside of wrist', okay." He does as told and accepts it, handing the bottle to Mary before absentmindedly licking the milk from his wrist as he sits down since he can't find a dishcloth or something to wipe his wrist. Then he pales and starts gagging. "Oh, God-"
"I'm sure it's nothing your brother hasn't done," Mary says cheekily.
"Oh, Mary, you-" He cuts off his own curse as he downs water much to his nephew's amusement and laughter.
Mary chortles. "Francis, you both were breastfed, I imagine," she says with a smirk. Then she lowers her voice just for him, "But Bash has obviously indulged in another woman's source." She looks down at their niece pointedly.
"I hate you," Francis whines before gagging once again. "Don't tell anyone. They will laugh at me for years."
Mary nods. "Okay, fine. I'll try and keep mum on it. But if it comes out drunkenly in say, a year or so..."
"Might have to shut you up somehow," Francis says, taking a bite from his plate and giving her a wink.
Not when children are listening, Francis, she thinks with a deep blush. "Eat up, Robin. Don't play with your food," she says instead, sending Francis a warning look.
Enough flirting, for now, she thinks, smiling to herself as she continues to feed Raven.
...
"Robin's out like a light," Francis says when he joins Mary downstairs as she pets Raven to sleep. "This was surprisingly really easy."
She smiles, accepting his offer to snuggle after he lifts an arm. She keeps Raven in her arm, brushing her thumb over the baby's cheek as she sleeps. She can't wait to hold her own baby that's growing inside of her. She wonders what their child would be like.
Would they be as quiet and easy as their niece? Or as loud and demanding as Catherine? She chuckles at the thought and sighs wistfully, gaining Francis's attention from the TV.
"I'm so happy that we're going to have a baby," she tells him. "But I'm a little scared."
"Of what?"
Mary shrugs. "Everything. Like breastfeeding, I don't want to do it wrong. A-And changing a nappy. Raven's not so much of a newborn anymore so she's easy but how will I change a really small baby's nappy? How would I even hold them? I could break them!"
"You won't break them," Francis chuckles, nuzzling his nose against the side of her head. "You'll be perfect. Everything will kick in..." He presses his hand against her tummy. "When we see our baby for the first time."
"Yeah," Mary whispers when Raven starts to fuss. "Shh, it's okay. You're safe. Just sleep and dream of happy things."
"You're a natural," Francis says into her ear which makes her blush. "Should we put her down?"
Mary nods and gets up, Francis leading the way up the stairs into Raven's room. He opens the door and she steps in first, putting Raven in her crib and pulling the blanket over the baby before turning the night light on and leaving as Francis closes the door behind them.
Just as they are about to go back downstairs, they hear Raven's whines and soon, she's wailing.
"Shit," Francis whispers. "I've got it. You've done lots."
Mary lets him go back into the room and he brings the baby into his arms, hushing her down as he moves around the room. She watches as he starts talking to Raven, about anything and nothing at the same time. Like he's talking to another adult, treating the baby like the human she is and not a dumb thing that cries all the time and poops and eats. She's a living, breathing person and one day, she'll understand the world a lot better than they have so far.
"...maybe an astronaut," Francis says, taking a seat at the bay window as Raven responds with what seems to be a curious gurgle. "Your father was obsessed with Space. Girls can be astronauts too..."
After thirty minutes, Raven is back in her crib and Francis and Mary return to watch some TV.
"I wonder what you'll talk to our baby about," Mary muses as she lays her head on his lap.
Pulling a strand of her hair around his finger, his other hand interlocks with hers over her belly. "So many things," he says. "The weather, sports, hobbies... Whatever they are interested in... Do you talk to our baby?"
Mary shakes her head. "I don't even think they have ears yet," she admits softly. "Do you think we should?"
"It wouldn't hurt," Francis says as he smiles widely.
"Okay," Mary breathes out. "I guess I'll start?"
"If you want..."
Mary bites her lip nervously before taking a deep breath in and releasing it. "Hi," she says quietly, rubbing her tummy. "I'm your mummy... You're really small right now, perhaps even just a bundle of cells but I love you already. Is that crazy? It probably is but it feels right. You feel right. I've waited for you for so long and now you're real..." Tears clog up her throat and she feels Francis press a kiss on her forehead. "I never want to let you go."
"Neither do I," Francis breathes out, holding her hand tightly. "And that's your daddy speaking. You're already so perfect to us and we love you so much and can't wait to meet you..."
Mary closes her eyes, a faint smile on her lips as she drifts off to sleep, feeling Francis's hand in hers over their baby.
...
"Mary?"
Mary groans, not opening her eyes. "What?"
"I think they're back," Francis whispers, gently moving her off of him and getting up to go and check. He peeps through the window and nods. "Yeah, they're back but I think they'll need a minute."
Mary sits up curiously. "Why?"
"They're making out," Francis replies, returning to sit next to her. "It's not twelve o'clock for another five minutes or so, so they're really making every second count."
Mary chuckles and she sighs when they hear Raven crying on the baby monitor. "Want to leave that to the unsuspecting parents?"
Francis chuckles. "No, that would be too evil," he says, making her roll her eyes playfully as they get up and head upstairs.
When they get to the third step, the front door opens and they turn to see Kenna's face drop when she hears her youngest's wails.
"We were hoping she'd be down," she mutters, taking her coat off as Bash closes the door. "We are sleep training her."
"We've got it," Mary replies as Kenna kicks her heels off. "Take your time."
She pulls Francis upstairs and goes to settle Raven back to sleep but the baby cries herself out, making them laugh in disbelief.
"She's so easy," Mary breathes out in wonder. "I'm praying our baby is too."
"Our baby will be wonderful. But even if they cry all the time, I'll still love hearing that sound because they're alive and real and ours," he tells her as they move to head down the stairs.
Mary stops him for a moment, pressing a quick kiss on his lips. "Today was fun. Talking to our baby for the first time."
"It was," he says, pecking her forehead. "We'll do it more."
"Definitely," she replies before they return downstairs and find four glasses of wine waiting on the kitchen counter as Kenna pops open a bottle.
"Thank you so much for babysitting," Kenna says. "We owe you both big time but we're hoping you'll settle for one glass of red before you head home."
Francis declines. "I'm driving and it's quite late."
"Then join us, Mary," Bash says, handing her a filled glass.
Mary and Francis share a glance before she looks down at the drink in her hand. "Uh... I-I don't want a glass."
"When have you ever rejected wine, Mary?" Kenna asks her, sipping her own. "I know you're trying but one glass won't kill you."
"Actually," Francis drawls, giving Mary an affirming smile.
Mary presses her hand against her flat tummy. "I'm pregnant."
"Oh," the other couple reply, their eyes wide.
Mary beams. "Yeah. I'm four weeks pregnant."
Kenna slowly downs the rest of her wine before placing her glass down and breaking out into a squeal. "Oh my God. You're having a baby, it's real!"
Mary laughs when Kenna pulls her into a tight hug, refusing to let her go. "Yep. It's happening," she says as Francis accepts a hug from his brother. "It's finally happening."