It's hard to find a decent babysitter in Hell.
Alessio threw the latest folder into the garbage can.
"Rejected too, I guess."
"I don't need a succubus near my children."
Jawns looked down at the garbage can. It was full to the brim with rejected babysitters' resumes and folders. "Geez, Ale! At this rate, Giulia will have her sweet sixteen party before you find an 'acceptable' babysitter."
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one leaving your kids with a stranger." Alessio hissed. "It's fucking Hell. Who knows what habits they have that they don't put in those papers."
"Look, I get what you mean to say, but you're making it harder for yourself. I think that Ginny girl does sound like a decent chap."
"She's half-succubus," Jawns grunted, to which Alessio frowned. "Need I remind you that Stu's heritage gives him questionable habits?"
"Yeah, but he's a man. We are supposed to have 'questionable' habits! Stu just takes it to another level."
"More points in my favor."
Jawns smacked his forehead, groaning in dismay.
They kept looking through the babysitter files for another hour until Jawns went home. Once alone, Alessio proceeded to clean up the mess that was his living room. He was in the middle of picking up some of Giula's empty bottles when the doorbell rang. Did Jawns forget something? It wouldn't be the first time.
He opened the door. It wasn't Jawns.
"Hey, Uncle A."
Despite his current state, Alessio somehow managed to smile a bit. "Nice to see you, Garret."
His nephew hadn't changed much from the last time he saw him. He still wore the same Goth attire, but there were no bags under his eyes, and his skin had a healthy color. He didn't reek of foreign substances anymore.
The two sharks shared a short hug before Alessio invited him inside. He sighed in dismay when GaGarret looked around the living room, probably put off about its state.
"Sorry about the mess. I've been… busy." he apologized, resuming his task of picking up the empty bottles.
"Don't worry about it. I've seen worse." GaGarret picked up a little toy boat from the couch. "Need a hand?"
Alessio would usually decline, but today he was just… at the limit. Besides, he needed to make Giulia's milk. She's surprisingly punctual for a baby. While he took care of that, GaGarret gathered scattered papers and Giulia's used baby bottles. The latter were taken to the kitchen to be washed up with a pile of dirty plates.
"Man, Jawns can't clean up to save his life, can he?"
"Heck, the only reason his room isn't a mess is because Tabitha always does all the cleaning. Otherwise, Crimson would have told him to look for somewhere else to live." Alessio murmured.
"How's Crimson doing? Is he still sore because he didn't get to be your kids' sinfather?" GaGarret chuckled.
"He got over it. I think."
"...How've you been doing, Ale? It's been a week and a half since… Aunt Bia passed, and we haven't heard from you. Mom's been worried about you and Pietro."
A tense silence followed. Alessio sighed as he poured the formula into a clean baby bottle.
"I'm getting… We are getting there. I'm not going to lie… It still hurts. It will always hurt, but I'd like to think the wound is healing. Pietro…" another sigh. "What can I say? He misses his mother."
"'I'm sorry, Ale… I truly am. I wanted to check on you sooner, but…" GaGarret rubbed the back of his head. "Well… Mom and I figured you needed some time alone to mourn. Heck, "
"Don't apologize. I did need some time for myself, even if I didn't want to deal with it at first."
"How's GiGi doing?"
Alessio smiled a bit. "How about you see her for yourself? It'll do her and Pietro good to see you."
The two sharks walked upstairs and into the nursery.
"Pietro, look who came to visit."
Alessio wasn't even done talking when his son tackled his cousin into a hug…, or at least, he tried to tackle him. Being just a pup, however, he only got to wrap his arms around GaGarret's legs.
"Gaga!" The older shark didn't seem to react to that nickname for once. Instead, he picked Pietro up.
"Hey, Petey! Is it me, or did you grow a few inches taller?"
"I want to, but Papa won't let me taste Giulia's milk."
"It's for babies, figlio. It might get you sick." Alessio sighed as he picked up his daughter from her crib. As expected, she was already awake. However, she was wiggling her tail and legs more often than usual. The awful smell coming from the diaper confirmed his suspicions. "Oh, merda… Looks like she needs her diaper changed."
That simple sentence was enough to send most people scrambling out of her room, but much to his surprise, his nephew showed no discomfort.
"Need a hand?" he asked instead.
"It's okay. I can handle a dirty diaper."
"It smells bad," Pietro murmured, sticking out his tongue.
"Indeed!" GaGarret laughed. "Hey, Petey, I found some of your toys scattered downstairs. How about you pick them up, and we can put them back in their trunk together? That way you won't have to see Papa change GiGi's smelly diaper."
Pietro nodded eagerly and rushed out of the room. Alessio looked over at his nephew, eyebrows raised.
"How did you do that? Jawns said he has to beg Pietro to put things back into place when not using them. "
"He's four years old, Uncle A. Kids that young don't properly grasp the concept of 'tasks and obligations' yet. It's better if you make it feel like something fun to do rather than something they have to do for a few more years."
"Yeah…" Alessio looked down, pensive. "I guess you're right."
While he changed Giulia's diaper, GaGarret distracted her with toys and funny faces. Despite not seeing her cousin that often, Giulia seemed to remember him. She made no fuss as her father wiped her dirty 'crevice,' added some baby powder, and put the clean diaper.
"Hey, Al… Think I could hold her?"
"Of course."
Carefully, Alessio picked Giulia up and carefully handed her over to his nephew. Giulia wiggled a bit. After taking a look at who was holding her, she somewhat calmed down.
"Hello, GiGi! Do you remember me?" Giulia paid him no heed. Instead, she was toying with her own tail. "Wow, Giulia's gained a few pounds from the last I saw her. She's looking more and more like Aunt Bia too."
"She does, indeed…" Alessio stroked Giulia's head, smiling warmly when she grasped one of his fingers.
Pietro returned with his toys shortly after. GaGarret reluctantly handed his baby cousin back to her father and went to help Pietro put them back in place. Meanwhile, Alessio proceeded to bottle-feed Giulia on the rocking couch. Every now and then, he interrupted the feeding to burp her. Half an hour later, he watched as GaGarret tucked Pietro into bed.
"GaGa?"
"What is it?"
"Could you come over more often? I missed you." GaGarret ruffled his head, smiling.
"I'll try, Petey. Good night."
Alessio smiled. He looked down at Giulia. She was on the way to falling asleep, head resting against his chest. Then he looked up at GaGarret just in time to see him hiss Pietro's cheek.
He'd found the perfect babysitter.
Disclaimer: the characters Jawns and GaGarret are borrowed from Noda Mischif (Twitter) and Wumbo (Discord). Thank you for letting me use them! I do hope you like the way I portrayed them.
We'll be seeing more of them in the future!
