PART 3
BABY JACK BLUES
Sean made sure to leave his house a ½ hour before 4. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but for some reason, he wanted to be on time and even went as far as to change clothes into a clean red hoodie and a gray short sleeve shirt. He rang the doorbell to the Simpson home and Mrs. Nelson answered it, holding Baby Jack on one hip and trying to balance a large frying pan in the other.
Mrs. Nelson: Hi. Umm, Sean, could you hold Baby Jack for a second?
Sean: (alarmed) Me? Umm . . .where's Emma?
Mrs. Nelson: She'll be done in a sec. (She hands the baby over to Sean who takes him and holds him funny at arms length. He'd never been around babies that much, but Mrs. Nelson didn't seem to notice because she just walked off towards the kitchen.
The baby looked up at Sean and smiled as Sean pulled him a little closer to him, getting the hang of it. A sudden noise erupted and Emma suddenly appeared by the stairs. The noise caused Sean to jump and he sort of let go of Baby Jack, but he quickly caught him and held him close.
Emma: Sean! What are you doing?! (She walks over and snatches her little brother from him.) Huh? You wanna steal him too?
Sean: I was just – just holdin' him. Your, ah, mom told me –
Emma: Just leave him alone.
Ms. Nelson came into the room and took Baby Jack into the kitchen with her and Emma and Sean began on their project. For the most part, they argued about their "marriage."
Sean: If we were married, I wouldn't want you to work!
Emma: Oh, so I can't have a successful career?
Sean: Why do you always have to make things so difficult? Who would take care of the kids?
Emma: We don't even know if we have kids! I haven't checked the project sheet yet!
Mrs. Nelson: Hey, hey. Quiet down you two! If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were married for real.
(Emma, sitting on the couch looks down at Sean who's sitting on the floor. They stare at each other and then turn away. Meanwhile, Baby Jack is crawling on the floor with a baby cup full of juice. He crawls over to Sean and tries to stand up with his baby cup outstretched. He stumbles, like any normal baby, and the cup of juice falls on Sean and his hoodie. Sean stands up and Emma stands by him.)
Mrs. Nelson: (walking over to them) Oh gosh. Sean, I am so sorry. Jack, why'd you do that?
Sean: (wiping off his hoodie) It's okay, Mrs. Nelson. Really, it's okay.
Mrs. Nelson: Honestly, Sean. Why don't you just take that off and I can pop it in the washer.
Sean: No, really –
Mrs. Nelson: No, I insist. It'll only take a little while.
(Sean looks at Emma and they both look at Baby Jack who is smiling. Awkwardly looking at Emma, Sean peeled off his red hoodie to reveal a gray shirt that cut off around his shoulders, revealing is muscled arms. Emma looked at him for a moment in admiration, but then looked away when Sean met her gaze.)
Mrs. Nelson: Hey, you guys have been working for a while now on your marriage project. Why don't you take a break while I pop this into the washer?
Emma: Mom, we really need –
Mrs. Nelson: – to keep working, I know. But you were saying something about having
kids for the project and while I hope that doesn't become a reality anytime soon, this would be a really good chance for you two to practice.
Emma: Practice what?
Mrs. Nelson: Take Baby Jack for a walk in his stroller.
Sean: What?
Emma: Together?
Mrs. Nelson: Of course together. Unless you're single parents.
(Emma and Sean looked at each other sheepishly. Sean knows that Emma doesn't want to do anything with him so he tries to come up with an excuse.)
Sean: Um, I don't know a lot about babies.
Mrs. Nelson: That's okay. Emma will teach you. (Emma raises her eyebrows like "I will" but her mom simply nods, knowing that her daughter needs to get over her hatred for Sean.)
