Chapter 3: Babysitting

How the hell did I end up babysitting vampire toddlers again? Oh yeah, my lazy ass boss. I was playing tea party with little Eve while Adam was snuggled up to me sucking his thumb. I received a call at midnight from Shu demanding I come over to his condo as he had an important job for me. When I quickly washed and pulled on some clothes I made my way over to the address he'd texted me to be greeted at the door by two three-year olds. A girl and boy with red hair and red eyes. The boy latched onto me with a big smile on his face and the girl took me by the hand and led me to her tea party.

Shu had pissed off somewhere as soon as I arrived telling me it was my job to babysit his niece and nephew, the bastard. That was 4 hours ago and these children were still wired. I guess this is the lifestyle of vampires.

Halfway through a DVD of Eve's favourite TV show she piped up, "Natsumi, are you my Uncle's girlfriend?"

I laughed, "No, I'm his assistant at work."

"Then, why'd he tell me to give you a key to his place?" she asked, handing me a silver key.

"Work friends sometimes have keys to each other's homes in case they need to drop off paperwork or packages," I explained.

"You wanna know what our Uncle Laito calls him?" Adam piped up.

"Um, okay," I smiled.

"He calls him 'the virgin'," he stated, "what's a virgin Natsumi?"

"Um…well…" I stammered, unsure how to answer this question, "it's a grown-up thing. You'll know more about it when your older."

"Uncle Laito says it has to do with not having sex," Eve piped up, "what is that Natsumi?"

This was getting out of hand, I was starting to panic so I blurted, "It's a…very special cuddle that couples have."

"Have you had sex Natsumi?" Adam asked.

I could feel my face go red and I said, "That's none of your business."

Eve giggled, "You have, haven't you?"

"Awe, that means you've got a boyfriend," Adam sulked, "I was gonna be your boyfriend."

"No dummy! You can't!" Eve snapped.

"Why not?!" he yelled back.

"Because Uncle Shu likes her!" Eve explained, "He looks at her the way daddy describes the way he looks at mommy!"

"Okay! I think that's enough of that kind of talk!" I interrupted.

"Natsumi, will you give me a makeover?" Eve asked, "I want to look pretty for when I go home."

"But you're already pretty, sweetie," I smiled.

"I want to look elegant!" she demanded flinging open her bags which were stuffed full of clothes, hair accessories and tools.

"O-okay…" I stammered.

I curled her hair and put it up into twin-drills and dressed her in a white blouse and black pinafore dress with petticoats. She seemed very happy with my handiwork. Shu had been gone 6 hours at this point and I was starting to get a bit peeved with him. The children were getting tired and they asked me to sing them both to sleep for their nap, like their Uncle Kanato did. I hesitated but agreed to the task.

I sang them several lullabies and gradually their eyes fluttered shut on my lap. I started to doze a little myself as I was already tired when I'd arrived here. Adam and Eve were both snuggled on my chest sucking their thumbs and I smiled at them both.

Shu's P.O.V.

Her voice…it sent shivers down my spine. I was…giddy just from listening to her sing those lullabies. It was the kind of voice you'd never get sick of hearing, and was completely addictive. I'd only just arrived back home and I was in awe. I walked into the spare room where they were all asleep. The meeting with my father wasn't pleasant, no encounter with him ever was, but the sight before me was…comforting. I laid down next to them on the bed, pulling a blanket over us all. The sound of her singing was echoing in my head, and the empty condo I lived in didn't feel as empty anymore.

It felt warm and inviting being snuggled up against her and the two children. It was a feeling I hadn't felt since I was a small child. I craved this feeling. The scent of her perfume filled my nostrils and her peaceful sleeping face was a stark contrast to her sassy expression she usually wore while awake. I put an arm around her so I could feel her gentle warmth and both she and the twins snuggled into me. I realised that this was how a family should feel; warm, happy and secure. I fell asleep with great content that morning.

The next evening, she was embarrassed at my presence but I shrugged it off. Once Ayato and Yui picked up the twins she left quickly for a date with Daiki. The condo grew cold again and I was intensely aware of how silent it was. I felt a familiar presence behind me as I realised I was being watched. I turned and saw a bat watching me from the window. When will he learn to stay out of my business?

I stalked Daiki and Natsumi's date like I always did. I could tell she knew she was being watched. She was sharp like that, but that insignificant factor wasn't going to stop me. It annoyed me how much he doted on her. How could that little human attract so much male attention and not notice. It wasn't just Daiki eying her up in that restaurant; plenty of other guys were doing it too and Daiki seemed to pick up on this and made damn sure they could see that he was the one with her. It was pitiful.