babysitter

Viero had never been a family person before. Not by their own design, but because they really hadn’t experienced a true family life until they started dating Beetle. At first, they didn’t realize that being with Beetle meant being absorbed into his family dynamic. Mom was intense but very loving. Dad was huge guy with a big heart to match. The eldest sister, Coco, was hilarious but wrapped up in her own world. The smallest sister, Poppy, was cute, enthusiastic, and a bit bratty. It was clear where Beetle fit into this household. He was the middle child, the only son. He was kindhearted, polite, full of energy, and fiercely loyal. It left Viero wondering where exactly they fit into all of this.

Viero grew up lonely. The group home they lived in, basically an orphanage, took care of them well enough. There were adults in their life that they could consider parental figures, but they were never theirs. They went home to their real families at the end of their shifts. The other children moved around a lot, being either adopted or fostered or taken back by their families. Adoption never happened and fostering never worked out well for Viero, so when they were old enough, they asked to be put up in an apartment. Alone.

Having Beetle’s family dote on them like their own was a new, slightly scary but not unwelcome change. Did they see Viero like another child? A visitor? An intrusion? They didn’t know, but they were frequently invited to dinners, movie nights, parties, and everything in between. Apparently, Viero was even trusted enough that they could stay over whenever they wanted and be given extremely important tasks… like babysitting.

Mom and Dad were on some sort of trip, and Coco was staying at her friend’s house. That left the fairly big, suburban home to Viero, Beetle, and Poppy. It was early in the morning when Viero woke up. The sun had recently risen, and they were trapped in a tangle of their and Beetle’s limbs. Viero took a while to admire their sleeping boyfriend before gently freeing themself from his arms. As much as they enjoyed seeing their cute boyfriend so relaxed, a slight sense of dread settled in them at the thought of having to handle Poppy’s rambunctious energy alone so early in the day.

The first time Poppy demanded Viero share their morning medication with her was an omen for the sort of relationship the two of them were going to have.

It’d been one of the first nights that they slept over with Beetle. The older squid had been standing in the bathroom barely awake, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes while they pulled out an orange bottle and plopped a small white pill into their mouth. Poppy had seen this while waiting for her turn in the bathroom and was immediately upset that Viero had some secret treat that she didn’t. The child held out her squishy hand and fixed Viero with a firm stare. “Can I have?” Viero stared back incredulously and obviously told her no. Giving Synthroid to a child was a horrible idea. The rejection made her eyes well up with tears and she screamed for her mom. Viero learned after that… you can’t simply tell Poppy ‘no’.

It was now far from the first nights that they stayed over and they were prepared.

Viero decided to let Beetle sleep in and trudged to the bathroom. It was thankfully silent as they brushed their teeth and used some concealer Boa bought for them to hide any particularly damning marks on their neck. Thanks, princess. They were looping their shredded hair into a messy bun when they heard the pitter patter of little feet darting toward the bathroom.

“Viewo! Good morning!” Poppy looked full of spit and vinegar, her round eyes sparkling with excitement for the day. Viero smiled softly and waved, but inside they were already feeling a little smug. They pulled two orange bottles out of their toiletries bag, and Poppy gasped at the sight. The secret snack! Viero opened one of the two bottles, smirking as they did so. Little did she know that they only take one medication in the morning.

The preschooler squid stuck out her hand in a silent demand. “Mm, you want one of my pills? These are just for grown-ups, you know. Not for little babies.” Viero decided to give her a hard time about it just to see the way her little eyebrows scrunched up.

“I am not a little baby! Give me one!” Her squeaky voice commanded, and Viero sighed dramatically before giving in. She smiled smugly as they knelt down and shook out a small white tablet into her awaiting hand. Big blue eyes stared at it in wonder for a moment as Viero took another tablet for themself, plopping it in their mouth and savoring the flavor before making a big show of swallowing it whole. Filling one of their empty medication bottles with mints was one of the best ideas they’ve had.

Poppy followed their example and placed the tablet in her mouth, and it only took a moment before her big eyes shot wide open in horror. She spit the offending candy onto the ground and lolled her tongue out of her mouth. “It’s spicy!” She screamed and Viero almost doubled over in quiet, wheezing laughter. They’d like to have a full-on giggle fit, but the child was in genuine distress from the minty fresh sensation in her mouth.

Viero stood to grab a small pink toothbrush covered in butterflies and squeeze out some child-safe toothpaste onto it. “Here, kiddo, scrub it out.” Poppy took the toothbrush and got to work doing just that as Viero lifted her high enough to reach the sink. “Can still taste it.” She grumbled after spitting the paste into the sink and stuck the brush back in her mouth for round two.

“Aw, that’s too bad. I told you it was only for adults! It might be stuck in your mouth forever.” Viero said with a teasing lilt. They did their best not to smile as the child looked up at them in terror. There were probably only a few precious moments before she had a meltdown.

“Unless…” Viero expertly curved. Those wide blue eyes shone at them with some hope instead of impending tears. “Unless! …We make some chocolate chip pancakes to cover the taste.”

The smile Poppy gave them was full of sunshine, genuine and reaching her expressive eyes. The only person that could rival that smile was her brother; it made Viero’s heart melt a little bit. They assisted her in finishing up brushing her teeth and fixing her hair for the day. At her insistence, they tied it up in a messy bun with one of Viero’s scrunchies just like they’d done with their own tentacles. She had a lot of tentacles for a still-squishy kid. They vaguely wondered what she’ll look like when she can change form.

The little squid darted off to the kitchen when she was done, and Viero followed her after swapping out their glasses for contacts and taking their actual medicine. The kitchen was much bigger than the one in their apartment, which made cooking a lot easier. They lifted Poppy onto a chair at the table before seeking out ingredients. Thankfully there was some boxed pancake mix and still plenty of mini chocolate chips in the bag that they had snuck a handful from last night.

“You want one big pancake or a bunch of little ones?” The older squid asked as they laid out their ingredients and got to measuring things.

“Little! So I can hold them.” Poppy’s answer sounded very enthusiastic. It made Viero’s soul shrivel a little bit, picturing the mess of syrup, butter, and melty chocolate they’d have to clean up if she ate with her hands. With a sigh they resigned themself.

“You got it.”

For all the things people assumed about them, being an expert rollerblader and X-rank player and all, they did enjoy the very domestic task of cooking. It’s a meditative process and it’s fulfilling to see smiles on people’s faces at being given food even if Viero couldn’t eat it themself, like in the instance of pancakes. They poured dollops of the batter into a heated and buttered skillet. A small smile crossed their face as they remembered making pancakes in cooking class. Their bodybuilder-esque tablemate, Jijo, flipped one with so much force it stuck to the ceiling.

“I want a butterfly shaped one!”

A small but powerful voice interrupted their daydream. Viero turned to raise an eyebrow at Poppy. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she remembered her manners a little too late. “Please! Thank you.”

“Man. You’re really busting my balls here, squirt.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s not important.”

Viero wasn’t an artist, but they attempted to fulfill the request by making two heart shapes and connecting them with a line down the middle. Part of them wondered why they were doing this in the first place. They didn’t have to offer to make breakfast and they certainly didn’t have to fulfill their boyfriend’s little sister’s ever want. I guess I just enjoy it, they finalized that thought to focus. Making pancake bugs was kind of a delicate process, one they tried not to mess up even as they heard a loud yawn from behind them and the sound of Poppy jumping in her chair.

“Beetle!” The child greeted her groggy brother. The taller squid’s bowlcut stuck out in a few directions and his horns looked like they needed to be redone, however he managed to do them in the first place.

“Viewo is making butterfly pancakes.” Poppy announced proudly with her fists resting on her hips.

“Sounds good! You seem excited!” Beetle answered just as enthusiastically, but when he looked at Viero a gentle, thoughtful look crossed his face. It made Viero’s heart twist in a strange way.

“Morning, handsome.” Viero greeted sweetly as their boyfriend joined them at the stove. An arm wrapped around their waist as Beetle’s free hand tilted their chin up for a brief, chaste kiss.

“Good morning, beautiful.” Beetle said softly, putting a lovesick grin on Viero’s face, before releasing them and turning back to his sister with much more pep. “Good morning, cutie!” He strode over to the table and leaned in to plant a kiss on Poppy’s forehead. She swerved to avoid it — at her age, cooties were a real threat against her life. Beetle instead settled with patting her hair and taking a seat next to her.

“What happened?” She asked her brother with some concern.

“What do you mean?”

“Your neck is messed up!”

Beetle’s fingers trailed up to his neck curiously, and his round eyes went wide as he felt a dull ache there. His face instantly flushed from embarrassment. He turned to Viero, looking at them like them like they were their only lifeline, but Viero was trembling from trying to hold in their laughter at watching their boyfriend get caught for having hickeys. Evidently, he didn’t go on a makeup shopping trip with Boa to get concealer as they had done.

“Well, um…” He trailed off, at a complete loss. You can’t simply be honest in these situations, and with Poppy, you couldn’t simply refuse to answer something that she was really curious about.

“He got attacked by those monsters that sleep under beds.”

The siblings whipped their heads to look at Viero at that statement. Viero was smiling, but Beetle knew that mischievous glint in their eyes. He closed his eyes and sighed slightly while Poppy regarded Viero with wonder.

“Really!?” She asked. Viero nodded their head firmly.

“Yeah, didn’t you know that monsters only get you if you forget to brush your teeth before going to bed? It’s what your brother gets for being nasty.”

Viero gave their boyfriend a sly wink. Beetle chuckled both out of amusement and the slight embarrassment at the double entendre. Poppy turned her attention from Viero to her brother to give him a questioning look. It was too deep into the charade at this point, so he just shrugged and nodded solemnly.

“Shouldn’t… shouldn’t you be super hurt? If it was monsters…” Her eyebrows knitted together in genuine concern. It was pretty cute.

“Oh yeah, he totally would’ve gotten splatted… if I wasn’t there to protect him!” Viero turned to the two fully and put their thumb to their chest, brandishing the spatula they were holding like a sword. Poppy looked at them with amazement and a soft ‘wow!’ while Beetle erupted into loud laughter. His partner was a very cool, soft-spoken person. It wasn’t often that he got to see them be silly and over-the-top like this, but maybe they just had a certain way with kids.

“I’m very lucky to have a crafty partner like Viero! Thanks for saving me.” Beetle gave them a cheesy wink at that double meaning, and Viero laughed lightly before turning back to the stove.

They plated up some mini, questionably shaped like butterflies pancakes on one plate and some normal sized and shaped pancakes onto another. Beetle made them both some tea while Viero dished out breakfast complete with some juice for the smallest squid. They gave her a fork with the hope she would spare them the cleanup of hands-on eating, but they all knew she wasn’t going to do that. Viero’s own breakfast was an apple and the tea their boyfriend made them.

The siblings both dug into their food with wide smiles on their face. Viero watched them fondly. They looked so much alike, and they had a deep familial bond that Viero had never experienced for themself firsthand. There was a small lonely part of them deep down that was jealous, but it was largely overshadowed by the love and gratitude they felt from being able to experience this sort of domestic life with their boyfriend’s family now, even if they still felt a bit like an outsider. It was still kind of new, but they felt like they were well suited for it.

Beetle stopped to take a sip of his tea when he caught Viero looking at him and his sister with a distracted gaze. He reached out across the table for their hand and intertwined their fingers. They smiled slightly at him, and he fixed them with that same gentle, thoughtful expression from earlier. Viero wasn’t sure what that look was all about, but their heart twisted again and their smile widened. Yeah, they were very well suited for this kind of life.