Title: Adventures in Babysitting
Author: Annie Dolnar
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K+
Genre: Humor/General
Originally written: 6-26-2010

Adventures in Babysitting

"Wally, come downstairs please! Your father and I have a job for you!"

"Ugh," said Numbuh 4, smashing his head against his hand. "Now what?"

"Come on Wallabee, or we'll be late!"

Numbuh 4 sighed and went drearily down the stairs. "What is it?"

"It's your father and I's anniversary, and we'd like you to watch Taz while we go out. Have fun, Wally! Oh, and Joey is staying with his little friend, Marco! We love you, and we'll be back at midnight! Bye-bye!"

"But Mom, I don't know-"

The door slammed shut.

"-how to babysit," he finished. Smacking himself in the forehead again, he looked over at his youngest infant baby brother, who was lying on the floor playing in one of those baby play-center things.

"It can't be that hard," he said to himself, and sat down on the couch to watch TV while the baby played. "I mean, I know how to change diapers and I can feed him and stuff… How bad can it be?"

Two hours later:

"Alright, alright, I take it back, this babysitting stuff is hard," Wally yelled over the cried of his screaming baby brother. "Now will you please stop crying?"

The baby heard nothing of it. He simply screamed and rampaged about diaper-less, for reasons Numbuh 4 did not know. He had tried everything- feeding, changing, rocking, everything he could think of, yet Taz was still screaming bloody murder, and it was starting to scare his older brother. He ran for the phone and dialed the tree-house.

"Hello?" answered a joyful, high-pitched voice.

"Oh, Numbuh 3, thank goodness," Numbuh 4 said, releaved. "But wait… Where are the others? Doesn't Numbuh 5 usually answer the phone?"

"She and Numbuh 2 went on a pizza mission."

"A… what?"

"They have to bring the pizza to the party before it's too late," she explained dramatically.

"Why'd you stay behind?"

"I had to go to my sister's graduation-from-3rd-grade, I only just got back! Hey, Numbuh 4, what's that noise?"

"Er… Nothing… Do you think you could come over? Like, right now?"

"Why?"

"Um… I'll explain when you get there?"

"OK," Numbuh 3 said cheerfully and hung up. She arrived at Numbuh 4's house moments later.

"Is that your baby brother making that noise?"

"Help!" cried Numbuh 4. "I've tried everything! He won't eat, he won't sleep, and I changed him twice! I'm just not cut out for this babysitting stuff!"

Numbuh 3 rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, I'll help you."

Numbuh 4 sighed in relief. "Thanks."

"So… Did you try playing with him?"

"Er… no…"

"Giving him a bath?"

"No, not that either…"

"Feeding him again?"

"I thought he only needed to be fed dinner?"

Numbuh 3 shrugged. "Sometimes babies need more than that."

Keeping a strangely cool head, Numbuh 3 picked up Joey and started to bounce him up and down, baby talking him until he started to giggle. "Whew," Numbuh 4 said. "I owe you one, Numbuh 3."

Numbuh 3 glared at him. "You'd better help, Wally, because if you leave me here to babysit all by myself, you'll regret it." She said this because Numbuh 4 was about to go back to watching TV.

The baby crossed his arms. "Hmph."

"Oh… Oh, alright, I'll play too…"

"Horay!" Numbuh 3 said happily, and she started bouncing Joey again, who giggled. "You try, Numbuh 4!"

"Nah-ah! No way am I baby talkin to this little squirt!"

"Oh, come on Wally, he's your baby brother."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

Kuki gave him the evil eye. "Yes."

Wally's eyes widened in a little bit of fear. "Yes, yes, I'll do it!"

Getting down on the floor nervously, Wally took a deep breath and started to make baby noises- googoos, gaagaas, cootchy-coos, everything he'd heard his mum and Kuki do. Taz began to giggle at his brother, so he got more into it, making nonsense sounds and funny faces to make his baby brother laugh, and eventually took him from Numbuh 3 and started bouncing him happily up and down.

During this time, Numbuh 3 got up and examined the house. "Man what have you guys been doing in here? This place is a wreck," she muttered. Suddenly she heard the baby crying again and rushed back into the living room. "What happened?"

"I dunno, he just started whimpering again and before I know it, he's screaming his bloody guts out!" Numbuh 4 yelled over the screaming. Numbuh 3 ran to the kitchen and grabbed a baby bottle full of milk from the fridge, heated it up, and dashed back in to feed Taz yet again. The baby quieted immediately.

"Man, Numbuh 3," Wally said admiringly. "You're good at this stuff."

"I learned a few things from Numbuh 5, and at that red cross training for babysitting… Numbuh 5 is way better at it though. She can put babies to sleep in, like, 3 seconds!"

Wally laughed. "I dunno, I think you're waaay better."