Flash Fic Friday–Saturday Edition

Babysitting  Ugh.  I thought I’d been doing a good thing.  But all I had to show for it was a split lip.

My husband, Ian, couldn’t understand why I’d said yes in the first place.  But my sister was desperate.  Her regular babysitter cancelled at the last minute and she had to work an extra shift.  So I had agreed, and then hauled my ass out of bed at an ungodly hour of the morning so she could drop them off.  Jayden was two and a half, Elaina was one, and they both loved their Uncle Scott a ridiculous amount.  I loved them back just as much.  But they’d been nothing but cranky all day.  Apparently they didn’t like getting up at five o’clock in the morning either.  And it was very possible that my sister had fed Jayden pure sugar for breakfast because he was bouncing off the walls, running constantly, and nearly took a header down the stairs before I thought to block the entrance with a sturdy wooden chair.

And Elaina was cutting another tooth, so she was a feverish, temperamental, slobbering mess.  I was thankful that Ian was being a good sport and had gotten up to help me ride herd.  I didn’t know how my sister did it by herself.

I was never more relieved to see three o’clock roll around than I was today.  When my sister, Jessica, pulled into the driveway, I nearly wept with relief.  Neither child had taken much of a nap—I’d only gotten about an hour reprieve—so we’d been chasing them all day.  I was exhausted.

“Holy crap!” Jess exclaimed when she walked into the house.  She took her daughter from me and cuddled her close, her eyes never leaving my face.  Elaina had only calmed down in the last few minutes, when I’d given her a cold washcloth to chew on.  “What happened to you?”

Ian gave an amused snort.  “He was trying to change the baby’s diaper.”

“And how did that result in a fat lip?” Jess asked quietly.  She reached out to touch my face, but I leaned back from her hand.  It had barely stopped bleeding.  I didn’t want her to aggravate it again.

“She kicked me in the face.”

There was a beat of silence.  Then Jess asked, “What?”

I sighed heavily.  I was actually pretty good at diaper changes and I was a bit embarrassed.  “Elaina didn’t want me to.  She was throwing a fit.  And I was trying to wrangle her and clean up the poop without it getting everywhere.  She wrenched her foot out of my hold, and kicked me right in the mouth.”

“And then she laughed,” Ian said.  His amusement was clear.  I shot him a glare.  I hadn’t been going to add that part.

Jess tried to hide her chuckle, and I appreciate that.  She went about gather up her children, and I helped her get them and all their stuff into the car.  When I closed the door on a now smiling and cooing Elaina, Jess turned to me, her eyes soft.

“Thanks, Scotty.  You’re the best big brother.  And the world’s greatest uncle.”

I touched my tongue to my tender lip.  “You’re welcome, Jess.”

I stayed outside until the car disappeared down the street.  Going back into the house, I headed straight for the couch and collapsed face down.  After a few moments, I felt a hand rubbing soothing circles on my back.  I heaved a sigh and flipped over, lifting my legs so there was room for Ian to sit down.

“You’re really good with them,” Ian said softly.

“Thanks,” I responded in the same tone.

Ian gave me a smile.  “I love those kids.”

I nodded.  My smile was tired, but it was there.  “I do too.”

A beat of silence passed between us, and Ian started rubbing my feet.  Eventually, he said, “You ever think about—”

“No.” I cut him off fast.  He quirked an eyebrow at me in question.  I shook my head.  “I don’t want kids of our own.”

We’d been married for a year, and together for three.  But somehow, we’d never had the talk about kids.  It never seemed to come up.  Suddenly, I was worried that Ian actually did want children.  Could I do that for him?  I enjoyed kids, but I didn’t want to be a full time parent.  That wasn’t something that interested me at all.  Would I be able to change my mind if that was what Ian wanted?

“Oh thank god,” Ian breathed.  He sounded so relieved.  “Because as much as I enjoy them, I don’t want any either.”

I relaxed.  Just like everything else, we were on the same page.  “We could get a dog,” I mused.

Ian nodded.  “Sounds good to me.  A furry kid is about all I want.  Plus, we can lock it out of the bedroom when I want to ravish you.”

“Perfect,” I murmured, my blood starting to heat at his suggestive grin.  But then my jaw cracked with a wide yawn.  “How about we get to that after a nap?”

Ian laughed, and rolled his eyes.  He stood, and then helped me to my feet.  He had to tug me in the direction of our bedroom.  I followed along docilely, and then fell onto the bed with a grateful groan.  Ian pulled off my jeans, then snuggled up behind me, his hard chest pressing to my back and one hand snaking down to cup my cock.  He liked to sleep all wrapped around me, with his hand possessively holding my package.  I’d long ago stopped getting hard at just that touch. It was about comfort now.  Of course, that wasn’t to say that my body didn’t respond when he started touching me with intent.

His breathing evened out almost immediately.  And I couldn’t stop the grin that stretched my lips.  I winced as it pulled, my lip still sore.  Yeah.  We didn’t need kids.  This was more than enough.  And all we needed.