Emergency babysitting [for Essie]

[bachjones]

Things were running into one big mess. Bach thought he had it all in order for tonight. Sundays were for sleeping with Emily, which meant that Isaac would spend the night at Mrs. Gordon's. Bach could do his thing, show up silently in the early hours and pick up Isaac before he was awake. They did it twice a month and it worked.

Mrs. Gordon had the flu, and now Bach had seventy minutes to find someone to watch Isaac and be on time with his customer. He considered family, neighbors, Hana.
It was Isaac playing with his toy guitar that gave Bach another idea. Essie. "Let's go see Essie, don't you think, Isaac? Come on, bag, guitar, blanket, go go go!"

Fifteen minutes later they were in front of Essie's enormous house. It took Bach a moment to locate the bell, before ringing it, long.

Comments

[wakingwakewood]

Oh, shit. Now she'd done it. Wincing slightly she looked down at the precious little face looking up at her and completely melted. Probably better Bach thought she was a hopeless cause because she probably was.

"You can have one, so long as I get the other one, okay?" At least they were the organic ones, right? Still probably enough sugar to have him vibrating all the way home, but at least it was actually sugar and not some unpronouncable chemical.

Heading over to the pantry, she opened the door and grabbed the box, glad she kept some on had for those mornings when she couldn't fuction well enough to eat an actual breakfast. Pulling out the packate of two tarts, she reached in again for the dog treats. If one kid was getting spoiled she might as well spoil the other one, too.

"You wanna give Dan a treat while I pop these in the toaster?" She offered Isaac the bacon puppy treat.

[bachjones]

"Of course!", Isaac beamed. At least he was easily satisfied. Or easily satisfied with whatever Essie said or done, just because he - Bach sighed and stuffed the rest of the bagel in his mouth to prevent himself from saying or doing anything wrong. Essie was good with children and Isaac was good with women, it wasn't necessary that there was something more going on.

His son sat down on the floor again, whistled something for the dog to come over and broke the already little treat into smaller pieces. It was another picture that was so far outside Bach's world that he didn't know if he should love it or hate it.

He swallowed and opened the fridge again, pouring himself another glass of juice before recognizing that he was being too familiar. "Sorry, still thirsty. I'll - eh, get you a new bottle."

[wakingwakewood]

"Don't worry about it, help yourself."

The coffee finished brewing and she grabbed a mug from the cabinet, pouring it full with no cream or sugar before taking her own seat at the island. Dan was in heaven, tail wagging, and doing his best to give Isaac a tongue-bath, laying right in front of him so he wasn't towering over the seated boy. It was so domestic and cute and Essie had to grit her teeth to keep from giggling at the sight.

She'd never wanted kids. Never wanted to expose them to the crazy that was her extended family, but now that she had Levi and this home here? Now that she had lived a life where all she wanted were kids, it was hard not to think about it. Here she was, barely past old enough to drink legally in the US and she was... useless.

[bachjones]

'Help yourself', and Bach couldn't even come up with anything dirty enough to push them firmly back into familiar territory. Sleeping with women meant sex with women, but last night might have been the best night he had since ..since forever.

Seriously, could you get a boner because of happiness?

Isaac was almost purring as loud as Alfred, and Bach could tell himself that there wasn't really a need to hurry as long as he was happy and Essie didn't mind. She hadn't even finished her breakfast, it was going to be fine. Right?

"Is Dan giving you a shower, Isaac? That's not going to get you out of your morning wash, and you know it. You've had enough food now, waste master?"

[wakingwakewood]

Essie felt like she needed to just do something. Move. Get out and the happy puppy was probably the best excuse she had. "I should probably take him out for a w-a-l-k before there's a puppy puddle there, too. You guys can finish up, don't feel like you have to rush or anything."

Dan's leash was on a hook in the pantry and he perked right up when he saw her grab it, coming over and sitting at her feet expectantly. He was probably the most well-beahaved puppy she'd ever seen. Not that she had any great experience, but he was uncannily... aware of what she wanted. And generally agreeable, although he kept looking at Isaac as if he expected him to come with as they headed towards the back door.

"If you go while we're still out, go by the front door and hit the lock button on the security pad when you go?" She could use her own code to unlock the back door when she returned. Or they could let her in. If they were still there. Although as awkward as everything still felt, it would probably be better if they left. "I'm sure I'll probably see you guys around, okay?"

[bachjones]

He was being dismissed by this ch- Bach disgusted himself. And usually he was much better with picking up clues. As was Isaac.
"We're not .." His son looked at him, looked at Essie. "Coming?"

"We need to get you in a bath and go feed Alfred. Remember Alfred, our cat. He needs us." Bach was sure that walking the dog was boring anyway. "Thanks again for everything, Essie. I really appreciated it. Appreciate it. And don't think I'm going to forget about drinking you out of juice, okay? I'll get it back to you."

"But -"
"Go get your stuff, Isaac. We need to find our way out of here before the lady of the house returns."

[wakingwakewood]

Essie almost broke, but stopped herself, giving the boy a smile as she opened the door. "I'm pretty sure you Dad has things you guys need to do. Can't keep you all to myself all day." As much as she might want to. They weren't hers, she was stupid to think she had any claim on them. Bach had been desperate and she shouldn't, couldn't, read anything else into that, even if she thought there had been... something the night before.

She was just projecting. That's what they called it, right?

Opening the door, she had to tug a little to get Dan to head outside. "And honestly, don't worry about the juice. Pretty sure the market has plenty, I'll be fine. And it was my... pleasure. Not a problem. Have fun today, okay, guys?"

And with that she escaped into the morning air, tugging Dan along as she headed them towards the beach. It was going ot take a long walk before she felt like she could go back without tears in her eyes.