Babysitting the Nephew
Standard Disclaimers Apply.
Note: This is AU - "I Don't Want to Be (IDWTB) Universe. Deb Roe is Lucas' mom.
----- … scene change/break or indicated flashback
Italics … thoughts
Bold … emphasis
Babysitting the Nephew: Chapter 1: Rough Start and Baby Talk
Two-year-old Lucas Scott was not amused. And Keith Scott, his uncle, had no idea what to do about it. It had been simple, or it was supposed to be. He had convinced Deb Roe, Lucas' mother, to part with her baby. She was in dire need of a break and he, an adult, was perfectly capable of taking care of him, right?
Right.
Therefore, Deb should take time to take care of herself and get some rest while he, ever the sweet gentleman, took care of her son, right?
Right.
Because this would make him look good in the eyes of the woman he was secretly in love with and he could spend some quality time with the child he hoped to adopt some day. All in all, this was a fool-proof plan, right?
Heh, riiiight…
So after receiving many emergency numbers, a lot of baby stuff, and several threats involving various body parts, Keith had Lucas. Piece of cake now, right?
Um...wrong.
Unfortunately, the moment his mother walked out, Lucas' happy demeanor had went away. Keith, not knowing if this was bad or not, simply sat the baby down on his lap to watch TV.
As if he had suddenly realized that his mother would not be back as quickly as he wanted her to, Lucas started crying. Keith tried making faces, funny sounds, and tickling. Nothing worked. Lucas wasn't wet and he wasn't thirsty. And, as indicated by the food smearing his shirt, the blond toddler was not hungry either. This leads us to the present, which has Keith carrying Lucas around, trying to calm him. The older man was starting to worry as he placed the unhappy boy on the couch. He peered at the baby's reddened face, wondering if it was healthy for him to be that shade of red. He also took time to wonder just how long Lucas could cry.
Ten minutes later, Keith concluded that Lucas' lungs were more than healthy, as he was still wailing miserably. The baby wasn't interested in any of the toys his mother had brought over here. Keith sighed as he squatted in front of the crying two-year-old on his couch.
Christ, how long is he going to do this? Maybe he'll tire himself out…
The idea of waiting for such a thing to happen, however, did not appeal to him. So absorbed in Lucas, Keith was quite startled when the phone rang. He was startled enough, in fact, that in his haste to grab the phone, he tripped over one of Lucas' toys, banged his leg into the living room's low table, and fell flat on his ass. Keith grumbled to himself as he rubbed his leg, wincing as he got up. There was a significant difference between now and the pre-fall time.
Silence.
Well, not silence, but the sound of wailing had ceased. That crying that had somehow made Keith feel guilty for its unknown cause – unknown to him anyway – had stopped. In its place was giggling. Keith wasn't sure whether to be relieved at the lack of crying or slightly insulted that a two-year-old was laughing at his clumsiness. "Sure. You would find that funny," he muttered. He sighed mentally.
Kids.
The phone was still ringing and with an absent smile, Keith stuck with feeling relief. In fact, he was damn near giddy. He had actually managed to stop Lucas' crying. Sure it was an accident, and yeah, it was a sucky way to make it all stop, but it worked right? And that was the important thing. Grabbing the cordless phone, Keith quickly made it back to Lucas, wary of the boy falling off.
"Where the hell were you? I've called three times already and the phone was ringing forever this time!"
The voice of a pissed off mother reached his ears before he could even say 'hello'. Keith cringed at her volume, holding the phone away from his ear for a minute. Must not have heard it over all his crying. Lucas, thinking his expression funny, laughed some more. There was a pause on the other end. And then,
"Is that Lucas?"
Keith slowly answered with a "Yeah, that's him." How the hell did she even hear that?
"Really?"
Keith wondered if he should find the disbelief in her voice to be insulting. He decided to be thankful that she wasn't yelling at him anymore. "Yeah…really."
"Let me speak to him."
Keith blinked, staring at the phone. Having no baby experience, despite telling Deb otherwise, Keith did not see the point in putting Lucas on the phone. He stared down at the boy, who had managed to get off of the couch and now sat on the floor with his toys.
Oh so now you want to play with them. Kids were so damn confusing. Keith grunted before picking the blond up. Two-year-olds can't really talk…can they? Getting up, he walked over to the phone base. Placing it on the floor, Keith sat on the carpet, Lucas on his lap. The little boy seemed nonplussed by the situation, having been happily playing with his toys before this. Keith, seeing this expression, momentarily marveled at the fact that Lucas could make such a face at this age, and then prayed that he wouldn't start crying again.
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"Okay Deb, here you go." Pressing a button, he put the woman on speakerphone.
"Hi sweetie!"
He looked at Lucas, who stared confusedly at the machine that had his mother's voice coming out of it. He babbled something at it, reaching a little hand out to press something. He managed to press '1' before Keith could stop him.
"What was that?"
"He pressed a button Deb."
"Oh, okay. Well how's my baby, hmmmm? Is Keith taking care of you?"
Lucas still didn't seem to understand how he could hear his mother's voice without her being there. The boy looked around, saw nothing, and looked back at the phone. He babbled nonsense, frowning at the speaker.
Deb, however, was ecstatic, as was whoever else was there. He had heard some excited chatter in the background. "Deb, who is that?"
"What? Forgotten my voice already Keith?"
Keith groaned mentally. Mrs. Roe. "Hello Mrs. Roe."
"Keith! How many times to I have to tell you to call me Brenda?"
"Of course Mrs—," he caught himself, "Brenda."
"Much better dear, now where's that adorable grandson of mine?"
Keith loved how she said that as if he could actually show Lucas to her right now. Lucas was fidgeting and Keith shifted him, hoping he'd hold still to indulge the women on the other line.
Displeased, Lucas said, "Go!" He squirmed some more, trying to get away. 'Go', apparently, was short for 'Let go'.
"Oh did you hear that Mom, he spoke! I told you he could!" she squealed. There was laughter on the other end.
His mother's voice made him sit still again, attention on the phone again. "Mama?" he questioned.
"That's right!" she cheered. "Yes sweetie, mommy's here. Now can you say grandma? Hmm? Can you say grandma?"
Keith resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Women. The kid was cute, ridiculously so, but the idea that the utterance of 'Mama' – a word that the boy apparently already knew how to say – could have two grown ass women squealing in excitement, was just funny.
"Mama!" Having confirmed that this was, indeed, his mother, Lucas clapped happily. Keith was just glad the kid was satisfied.
Predictably, Deb was overjoyed, as was Brenda. She had not heard Lucas talk before. "He's so smart Deb. Can you say Nana?"
"Oh he can manage Grandma, can't you baby?"
"Don't be silly, that's too hard. Try 'Nana' Lucas dear."
Undeterred by there being two different voices, and their requests, Lucas just called for his mother again. "Mama!"
"Mmhm, now try Nana."
Lucas blinked and Keith wondered if they would really sit here until Lucas figured out how to say 'Nana', or better yet, 'Grandma'. "Mama?"
"No sweetie, 'Nana'."
"N..M..mmm…" Lucas made a face, unable to say it. "No!" he said instead, folding his arms.
"Oh! Did you hear that? He said 'No'. Very good baby!"
Are you serious?
Lucas had not said the desired word, but the new word 'No', apparently, was just as good as 'Nana'. But he was just a baby, he couldn't be expected to do such things. And it was a new word, he guessed, which made it as good as any word. Women, he thought again. If I ever get this crazy about a kid… A funny thought, since Keith getting the feeling that Lucas could manage to wrap anyone he wanted around his little pinky. Okay, I'll just hope I don't end up as bad as these two.
"Okay Lucas, Mommy and Grandma have to go now, okay?" Lucas babbled some more, interjecting a 'Mama' in there every so often.
"Mmhm, bye sweetie, and be good! He better be in one piece when I get him tonight Keith!"
Remembering the more imaginative threats the feisty blonde had come up with, Keith nodded rapidly, forgetting that she couldn't see him.
"Keith? Keith!"
Snapping out of it, he hurriedly replied, "Yes! Yes, of course, he'll be fine." I might not be though. With one last goodbye to her son, and a farewell from Brenda, Deb hung up.
A dial tone greeted them seconds later and Keith was acutely aware of the silence as he hung up and put the phone and its base, back. Lucas was frowning at the phone, but as Keith picked him up and walked back to the couch, the toddler started to frown at him.
The "mystery device" was far away and his mother's voice was gone now. That's what occurred to Keith as Lucas gave him a sour look. This is one moody kid Deb's got here. A few minutes passed and Lucas' expression had not changed.
Oh crap, he's not going to cry again is he? Lucas did not cry, though the miserable look he was shooting his uncle said that he better find something to appease the toddler – and fast.
Keys. Kids liked making noise right? Keys would work. Putting Lucas down, Keith retrieved his keys, glad that so many of the metal objects were attached to the key ring. Luke gave him a blank look as if asking 'What am I supposed to do with that?'. Keith, with a hopeful expression, dangled the keys. Lucas looked interested upon hearing the jingling noise. A chubby hand reached for the key ring and Keith let him have it.
Looking unsure, Lucas shook the key ring experimentally, beaming as he was rewarded with the desired jingling sound. Hah! I've done it. Let's see who you think I'm talking about.
For a minute, Keith reflected on how stupid he must look, grinning idiotically at a two-year-old shaking his keys around. Maybe he did look stupid, but at least Lucas was happy.
Keith laid down on the couch, Lucas less than two feet from him on the floor. Grabbing the remote, Keith turned on the TV and flipped to a random sports channel. He didn't even notice himself drifting off.
He had worked really late last night, half-forgetting that he was supposed to be watching his nephew the next day. But after getting in at five that morning, Keith had forgotten all about watching a two-year-old that evening. That lasted until Deb was knocking at his door, fully ready to leave her son with him. Guilt ate at him and he took the child, not wanting Deb to know that he had sort of forgotten and probably wasn't in any shape to be caring for an attention-needy baby. And now here he was, unintentionally catching up on lost sleep.
You like? Hmm? Hmm? Then say so and review you lovely readers! These chapter entries are mostly for kicks, nothing serious/angsty will be happening here people. At least, I don't plan for anything too serious or angsty to happen.