Never Have I ever…been a babysitter

The second I hear the tell-tale sniffling noise, I know what's coming; in one instant I swing my legs over the side of the bed and reach over to pick up Elijah, cradling him quickly in the hopes of keeping him silent.

Luckily, the rocking motion seems to calm him down and I give a small sigh of relief before glancing over at Rio's sleeping form.

With careful movements, I carry Elijah to the living room in the hopes of letting Rio catch a few more hours of sleep. It's been all of two seasons now, and despite her best efforts it's been clear to tell that Rio has been even more tired than before.

Between taking care of the farm, cooking meals, and watching the baby, Rio's become so worn out that it's come to the point where she barely has enough energy to kiss me goodnight, let alone stay up and talk to me the way she used to before.

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear a tiny yawn and look down to see Elijah closing his eyes with a satisfied look on his face. Carefully, so as to keep him asleep, I kiss his forehead softly before carrying him back to the room and putting him into his bed. As I wearily climb back to my place beside Rio, I glance over at my wife and wonder what I can do for her before turning over and going to sleep.

It's a lazy day for business, as made clear when Rod practically skips across the plaza to lean against my stall.

"Hey Neil," the pet seller says cheerfully, giving me his usual smile as he does so. "What's up? How's Rio and the baby?"

"The baby is good," I say wearily, "But I can't say much for Rio. Sometimes I think she's going to fall over if she keeps going at this rate."

Tilting his head like a puppy, Rod stares before asking thoughtfully, "Has she had a good rest lately at all?"

I shake my head before sighing and admitting, "Honestly, I'm tired too but I know she needs a good day off more than I do. I don't know what to do though…"

"Why not ask Hana or Emma to babysit Elijah? I'm sure they wouldn't mind, and you two haven't gotten to enjoy time together much since he was born so that would be a good way to give you both a break."

The second Rod suggests it, I laugh a little to myself.

As if he thinks I haven't already suggested something like that!

Clearing my throat, I explain, "I've already asked Rio if she wanted to do something like that. Every time I even so much as bring it up she tells me that she's got it under control. She's being a bit overprotective of him, to be honest."

Frowning, Rod asks, "If it's about her just being overprotective then why don't YOU offer to take care of him?"

"Huh?"

"Go to Charles and buy a ticket to the Southern Island for her, and I'll get one for Tina. We'll send them off for a day together and you take care of Elijah," Rod says, practically bouncing up and down in his excitement to get his plan in action.

Slowly I start to nod, the idea starting to grow on me as I think of how tired Rio looks nowadays. Giving her a day off far away from Echo Town where she can't worry constantly about Elijah and the farm would be the perfect idea. While Rod starts to talk about all the things we can play with Elijah, I smile and hope that this plan will work well enough to give Rio a well-deserved rest.

The next morning, Rio blinks at me as I offer her the plane ticket. Taking it from me, my wife frowns before asking curiously, "What is this for? Are you going on a trip today?"

"No," I tell her. "You are."

When she gives me a confused look, I explain, "I'll take care of Elijah and the farm today. You take a break and go enjoy the Southern Island with Tina."

Immediately Rio begins shaking her head, protesting, "Neil, I couldn't ask you to do that! I know how busy you are with your stall and keeping your animals and supplies stocked up on the weekends!"

Crossing my arms, I give her a bit a glare before saying, "Rio, please. Do this for me, okay?"

"But Neil-"

"No complaining. I hate to see you running yourself into the ground like this; just let me be a good husband to you and good father to Elijah, okay?"

Hesitantly, she glances back at the bedroom where Elijah is still asleep before biting her lip. Already able to tell what she's worried about, I lean down and give her a quick kiss. When I pull back, I say, "Go on. He's my son too, you know."

For the first time in weeks, Rio gives me a breathtaking smile before standing on her toes to kiss me as I put my hands on her waist. Throwing her arms around my neck, she murmurs in my ear, "Thanks, Neil. I love you."

Already turning red, I mumble out, "I love you too. Now go."

Sliding out of our hug, she gives me one last peck on the cheek before walking out the door with a wave towards the bedroom. The second the door closes, I dash to the window and watch her walk off the farm.

As soon as Rio is out of sight, I take a deep breath before turning slowly towards the bedroom. Glancing at it, I give a silent prayer to the Harvest Goddess that everything will be okay before turning towards the kitchen to get some breakfast ready.

Halfway through making myself pancakes, the crying starts.

Quickly I try to turn off the stove before going to the bedroom, but in my haste I accidentally brush my hand across the top of the hot pan. I hiss in pain before deciding to just leave the pancakes and come back for them later as I try to shake off the burn and run towards the bedroom.

On his bed, Elijah sniffles before looking at me with eyes that practically say, "Pick me up?"

Reaching down, I sigh and say, "Okay, okay, shhh, I'm here now." As I reach for him Elijah stops sniffling and quiets down as I rock him back and forth. While he clings onto me, I move back towards the kitchen in the hopes that nothing has gone wrong.

When I get back to the stove I see that most of what I'd already put down is burnt but luckily enough there's some batter left that I find myself able to make all of two pancakes.

After struggling to put everything on the table, I set Elijah down in his chair before hesitating.

I can't remember what Rio's been feeding him; after long days of work and staying up at nights keeping my son from crying, I hardly ever remember what Rio makes for lunch and dinner. For a second Elijah and I stare at each other before I slide into my chair and put one pancake on my plate.

I hesitate again, before asking, "Can you eat pancakes?"

Elijah just blinks at me from his chair, unaware of the question and unable to give me an answer. Slowly I look down at the pancake on my plate before looking back at the remaining pancake on the other plate. Carefully, I push it towards Elijah before picking up a fork and digging into my breakfast.

From his chair Elijah watches me before reaching forward for his fork. Grasping it with chubby hands, he stabs weakly at the pancake for a few minutes before giving up all together on utensils and grabbing the food with his bare hands. Tearing off as big of a piece as he can, he mimics me and eats some before his whole face lights up.

"So you CAN eat pancakes," I say in a relieved voice, before smiling as I watch him really begin to tear into his food. "You really seem to like them too."

Looking down, I finish my single pancake before glancing back up again. Sure enough, the food is gone from Elijah's plate; sitting back with a satisfied look on his face, my son hiccups a bit before giving me a toothy smile, what food that didn't make it into his mouth all over his body.

Standing up, I sigh before muttering, "You need a bath…"

I begin to realize this is a bad idea the moment I have the tub filled and stand over it with Elijah in my arms. While he makes noises and squirms around, I look at the soapy water before holding out Elijah over the tube tentatively.

How the heck does Rio wash him anyways?

I've watched her do it a few times before, so I know that I need to hold him up in the tub and make sure he isn't left alone, but does he need shampoo? What about soaping him up?

For a second I imagine washing one of our dogs before shaking my head; this is my son, not a pet.

Lowering myself down until I'm crouching next to the tub, I dip Elijah in the water before fully submerging him. Rather than screaming, like I thought he would, Elijah makes a pleased giggle before staring at me expectantly.

Lifting him out of the water, I begin to dip him in and out of the tub in the hopes that it'll clean him when he laughs loudly and smacks his hands down against the water hard. I find myself drenched in soapy water, Elijah laughing and splashing all the more as I hold him in the tub.

Giving up entirely, I squat next to the tub and hold Elijah up before muttering darkly, "You enjoy baths way too much. I know I never liked them this much when I was your age."

Elijah cocks his head to one side, still smiling at me before he reaches out and touches my cheek with one wet hand. I can't help but smile back before saying, "Alright, alright, whatever you want. Let's just get you cleaned up and presentable again, okay?"

It's late afternoon when I finally find myself able to sit down on the couch and relax for one moment.

After bathing Elijah, I walked him around town for a change of pace before going to the barn and letting him look at all the animals. I put him down for one minute to get some treats for the animals and the next thing I knew he had crawled into the mass of animals that had crowded nearby to see us.

One thing after another has been so crazy that I can't even begin to imagine what it's like for Rio.

As I sit on the couch, completely exhausted, Elijah sits on the floor playing with a stuffed alpaca before looking up at me curiously.

"No more, Elijah," I say wearily. "Daddy doesn't have energy to play right now."

I close my eyes, expecting him to start making demanding noises or crying when I hear something else.

"Da…..Da…."

Instantly my eyes open, and I look down to see Elijah sitting right in front of me, arms out with a big smile on his face. We stare at each other, before he waves his arms frantically and implores, "Daaaa…."

It's the first time he's ever tried to say the word Dad.

Leaning forward, I smile before putting a hand on his head and saying, "Yeah…that's me. Come on up here then."

I pick Elijah up and set him on my lap, where he yawns and immediately curls up on my chest with a content smile on his face. As he starts to sleep, I think of how lucky I am before settling down into the couch to take a nap myself.

Hey all! I'm back lol XD And FYI, updates on this story will be happening VERY VERY VERY soon! I have finished the last two pieces and will put them up sometime within the next two weeks or so...so be on the lookout for them!

I didn't want Neil to come off as clueless as far as his son goes, but considering all he says when you talk to him after having a kid is "I didn't know newborns cried so much" or "he's so tiny" I figured that Neil just doesn't have much experience with kids. That being said, he's been leaving most of the parenting to Rio and in doing so has failed to realize everything that goes into babysitting and just how tiring it can be.

Not that Rio really has to do much to take care of the kid anyways, but I figured it would make for a nice concept XD

Anyways, I just wanted to thank everyone for all the reviews and support! You guys mean a lot to me especially since I update so far and few in between :P So thank you so much, and I hope to see you on the last two stories for this! Until the next update :)