~A Wild Rose~
Zane's Babysitting Adventure!
3
Zane paced nervously back and forth awaiting the gentle knocking on his door that finally came-
"I won't need help~!" Atticus greeted his friend with a playful mimic of his earlier declaration from their phone call and smirked as he watched his panicked friend fumble and swing open the door, "Hear that Zane? That's you. That's what you sound like~"
"Now's hardly the time, Atticus!" Zane huffed,"You have no idea how important this little girl actually is!" he exclaimed,"If I screw this up on my first day!? It's all over for me!"
"Calm down, Zane!" Atticus laughed,"You said they were playing hide and seek, right?" he blinked,"So she's just hiding."
"You don't understand..." Zane huffed,"I literally checked every nook and cranny in this house!" he stated,"You think Syrus and I have never played Hide and Seek within our own home walls before!? She's no where!"
"Or maybe she's just a really good hider?" Atticus chuckled,"Your house is a confined space, Zane!" he stated, " It's not that big, so there's no way she could have left your house without you noticing."
"Yeah... I guess..."Zane sighed,"Syrus hasn't left his room since though..."
"...I told you little girls were trouble, man~" he teased.
"Shut up and help me find her!"
Atticus sighed and shook his head chuckling as he cupped his hands over his mouth and sang,"All-E All-E ALL COME FREE~"
"We tried that." Zane muttered.
"Oh then how about..." he blinked as he pondered,"Maaaarco~!"
Zane huffed and rolled his eyes.
"She's a 7 year old girl Atticus!" he said, " There's no way she'd even-"
"Poooloooo~!"
Zane blinked.
"Are you kidding me?"
Atticus beamed with a cocky grin and continued the game.
"Maaaaarrrrco~"
"Poooolooooo~!"
Zane could hear the little girl's muffled giggling.
It was a relief to know she didn't actually leave the house...
Still though...he couldn't pin point where the voice was even coming from.
He had literally checked everywhere he could. Every nook, cranny, door, closet, and small space...she was no where to be found.
"Well...at least you know she's in the house." Atticus chuckled.
"Yeah but..."Zane blinked,"Where in the house?"
"Hmmm...let's see~ Marco?"
"Polo!"
Another muffled giggle sounded and a visible grin curled on Atticus's lips as he slowly crept into the living room and took a knee to listen closely. He had his ear near the ottomen and blinked few times before snickering and pointing to it with a whisper.
"She's in there~" he said softly.
"Say what?" Zane blinked,"But that's a foot rest...what do you mean she's in there?"
Atticus cocked a brow and sang again in a lower tone.
"Maarco~"
"Poolo~!"
Zane gasped as he stared at it with an expression Atticus had never seen before. He had to hold in his laugh to make sure he didn't give away how close he was to her secret hiding place. Indeed her tiny voice really was chiming from inside the foot rest-
"B-But I..." he blinked,"H-How did she-"
Atticus laughed and knocked on the side of it.
"Okay little lady, you've been found!" laughed the brunette, " Time to come out now lest you give your baby sitter a heart attack~!"
"BOO!" a pink haired munchkin burst from the foot rest00 sending the top covering flying over the edge.
"AHHH!" Zane let out a yelp and fell backwards, startled as the pink haired houdini shot up from beneath the cushion which was now on top of the couch and Atticus burst out laughing.
"That thing opens up!?" Zane blinked.
"It's an Ottomen, Zane." Atticus laughed,"They're usually hollow inside." he blinked, " The cushion also works as a lid." he stated, " My mom likes to hide mine and Lexi's presents in ours!" he wheezed,"Man she got you good! HAHAHA!"
"...Now that you mention it...that's probably where mine and Sy's parents hide ours too..."
"Are you okay, Zane?" Connar asked with a sad expression on her face feeling like she did something bad.
She didn't mean to...
She was just playing.
Zane couldn't help but give in and sigh in relief with a light chuckle.
"Yes, Connar...I'm okay...but you really scared Syrus too-"
"No I didn't." she blinked.
"What?" Zane blinked back and turned his head to see his cheeky little brother grinning and sticking his tongue out teasingly.
"Wait..." Zane blushed, "You mean you knew!?"
"HaHa, Yeah... I did!" Syrus giggled.
"SyRy is the one who showed me how to open it~" she giggled.
"SyRy...?" Zane blinked.
They have nicknames for each other now?
I supposed that's a good thing, but...
"But...But..."he blinked,"I just...WHY!?"
"I told you!" said Atticus, " Little girls are trouble, man!" he laughed, "It's simple hazing, my friend." he chuckled,"A test of wills on the new babysitter." he stated as he lifted the girl up and tossed her in the air catching her as she giggled while he held her,"The fact that you are her babysitter now, must mean that she went through some pretty bad ones before." he stated.
"Well..." Zane blinked,"Her dad did say her other caretakers seemed to have trouble with her...Is this why?" he wondered.
"Well...let's ask her." said Atticus scooping up the giggling child into his arms while he talked to her, "Tell me cutie, were you a menace to your other babysitters too?"
"NO!" she huffed,"They never played with me..." She whimpered sadly.
"Aww...I see." Atticus said mimicing her emotions to place her in an understanding comfort,"They ignored you so you must have gotten bored and lonely, huh?" he asked.
"...Yeah." she pouted.
"There you have it Zane." Atticus chuckled as he handed her over back to him, "Just don't be boring~!" he teased,"And as for you Ms. Missy~" she sqealed and giggled as he poked her sides,"Try not to overwhelm him too much, okay?" he hummed, " He's my friend and is actually a really nice guy, given a little time." he chuckled, "Still, if mean old Zane doesn't play with you, you just call over Uncle Atti~ I'll come, and we'll play all day~"
"Yaaaay~" She giggled.
"Hmph..." Zane pouted as he placed her back on the floor,"Now that we had a nice fun day of pranking Zane I say it's time to clean up this mess now, come on!"
"Awwww." the two small children groaned together but did as they were told.
"Syrus..." Zane blinked, "What was the big idea of pranking me anyway?"
"We were bored." Syrus giggled as he and Connar worked together to click the ottomen cover back in place and Atticus laughed.
'There's nothing more dangerous in this world than bored children." Atticus teased, "Especially little girls~" she squealed as he tickled her, "You're right Zane...she really IS a cupcake~ haha!" he laughed, " Anyway... my job here is done now...So I better get back to my own little sister." He grinned,"Call me again next time you don't need my help~" he snickered.
"Good bye, Atticus!" Zane huffed all but kicking his friend out the door and releasing a heavy sigh.
"He was fun~!" Connar giggled.
"That's Zane's friend Atticus." Syrus shrugged,"He's weird."
"Really?" she blinked, "Well I like him!" she said between giggles.
"You like him?" Zane feigned sadness,"You don't like me?"
"No! I like you too, Zane!" Connar gasped and hugged him,"Don't be sad-EEK!" he jumped scared her playfully as he swooped her up and tossed her high catching her like a falling princess,"See? I can be fun too!" he chuckled, "it's not fun to be pranked though, is it?" he teased.
"Maybe not...but sure is FUN-NY!" Syrus giggled.
"It was all SyRy's idea anyway~!" Connar giggled.
"Oh it was~ was it!?" Zane huffed.
"Sure was~!" Syrus beamed and giggled,"And you fell for it too!"
"Well then I'll just have to get him too won't I?" he aid winking at her.
"Yeah! Get him!" she cheered.
"Uh-Oh." Syrus gulped, " N-No wait-Ahh! Connie you traitor!" the little boy tried to escape but found himself captured instead in Zane's other arm, now holding both of them in each.
"See what happens next time you decide to prank me~!" he said as he kicked open the ottoman lid once again.
"Zane...What are you doing!?" asked Syrus, "Zane! No-stop-I'll tell Mom-ZANE!"
"Eeek!" Connar squealed as Zane dropped both his brother and the small girl in the hollowed space, replacing the lid, this time sitting on it while the children squealed and laughed trying to pound it open once again.
"ZAAANE!" Syrus called out, "Let us out!"
"...Something smells funny." Connar stated inside, stopping mid-struggle as she was trying to wiggle out of their cage.
"I imagine so!" said Zane as he crossed one leg over the other, "It's a foot rest!
"No... she's right Zane..." said Syrus as he sniffed, "And it's not your your foot odor!" he stated.
"Oh like MY feet are the ones that stink, huh!?" the older Truesdale huffed, "have you ever gotten a whiff of yours before, little brother?"
"Is...something burning?" Syrus asked.
"Say what? Burning?" Zane blinked taking a few whiffs of the air, "Something burning?I don't-" suddenly he gasped,"THE CHICKEN NUGGETS!" He panicked and pushed himself off of the cushion. The children worked together and popped themselves free of the lid, just in time to catch visual of Zane hurrying to the kitchen to rescue the over cooked bites from the heat and a smokey stove while the children began cough.
"Uhh...lunch is ready-~!" Zane tried to say in a solid breath.
"Eeeew no!" Connar giggled.
"We're not eating those, Zane." said Syrus.
"Why not?" Zane blinked,"They're fine-and lunch is important-"
"I think You burned them Zane." Connar giggled.
"What? Pshh...Nooo They're...uhh..." He took one in his oven mit and tapped it audibly against the counter,"Extra crispy?" he blinked.
"...Zane..." Syrus blinked, "...You burned them."
"All right fine." Zane sighed,"Let's order a pizza..."
"Yeeeeeah~!" Syrus and Connar cheered and giggled together.
xxxxx
Talk about a heck of a first day...
Zane thought to himself as he gently covered the tuckered out Connar who slept soundly next to Syrus on the floor.
First I lose the kid...then...I burn her lunch...
He sighed.
Admittedly...that was a lot more lively than I ever would have expected from babysitting a little girl...but...
He blinked as he held his gaze on her sleeping face and chuckled.
...Dare I say... that was pretty fun.
He opened the door to the sound of gentle tapping where a snazzily dressed Mokuba Kaiba stood staring into his phone.
"For my first evaluation..." Mokuba stated softly,"...We received no phone calls." he stated.
"Indeed..." said Seto Kaiba as he stepped up next to his little brother,"Which I must say...has me rather concerned."
"No need." Zane chuckled shaking his head and motioning his finger to his lips to urge them to speak in a hushed tone,"She's asleep~" He chuckled and pointed to the sleeping children and both sets of Kaiba eyes went wide.
"Seto...she's asleep." Mokuba blinked.
Needless to say he was surprised.
"I see that, Mokuba." the older Kaiba blinked,"Hmm...no phone call...not a single complaint...and she's tuckered out." Seto hummed and pondered for a moment, taking a moment to put on a playfully dramatic display of dropping to his knees and praying for thanks.
Mokuba rolled his eyes and shook his head chuckling, urging the young Treusdale not to take it personally-
"...I'm impressed." he stated as he brought himself back to proper stature once again, "What would you say about making this a full time gig?"
"Pardon?" Zane blinked.
"Not during your school schedule or anything like that." Mokuba chuckled, "We wouldn't want to distract you from your education or jepordize your future or anything." he explained,"Just you know...on weekends... or during some of the free time in the Summer when things get too busy for us to be with her all the time..." he sighed, "Believe me when I say we'd much rather be home with Connar." he chuckled as he gently stroked the pink haired girl's head before carefully lifting her into his arms and holding her against his chest. She slept like a brick.
"You are of course, free to refuse." said Seto,"We appreciate it enough that you were willing to take her for today."
Zane blinked and pondered a while as he shifted his gaze between his younger brother and little Connar in Mokuba's arms.
She certainly gave him a scare...
But she got along so well with Syrus.
He felt like it would make his little brother sad if they didn't get to play again. Besides that...even with the events that occured in a single day...
Houdini Connie...
And even burning the chicken nuggets...
It was an over all good day.
He even had fun himself, more so than he expected to.
the small girl shifted in her uncles arms and her eyes blinked open sleepily turning over to Zane and granting a sleepy smile.
"Bye bye Zane..." she said softly, waving her hand limply, "Thank you..."
Zane felt his heart stop a bit...his cheeks blushed a little at how cute that was...he chuckled softly and whispered, waving back.
"Bye bye, Connie~"
"Can we maybe...play again some day?"
"Ah..." he didn't know how to react to that.
She was actually requesting to come back?
"You bet we can Connar...but you need to go home now and get some sleep first okay?" he smiled, "We'll definitely play again...I promise."
She returned his smile and sighed happily before shifting back into her uncle's arms and nuzzling into him.
Mokuba felt his heart stop and he smiled glancing over at Seto.
Zane hummed softly as he watched her fall asleep and chuckled looking up at them, pondering their initial offer.
How could he say no, now?
"I say..." He paused a moment before looking up at the Kaibas with a bright smile,"...Bring her back any time~!"
He grinned.
To Be Continued...