Flambae babysitting Robert's daughter
Chad’s just pulling the cupcakes out of the oven when Sunny asks, completely out of nowhere, “Chad, what does it mean when someone says they ‘admire’ someone else?”
“Uh, it’s like…you know, they look up to them and shit,” Chad answers distractedly, looking for his pot holders so he can safely set the pans down. “Luma, go find me some pot holders.”
While Luma does that, he looks back down at Sunny, trying to explain a little better. “They respect them and like them a lot and think they’re doing a good job. That kind of thing.”
“Why do you wanna know?” he asks, turning to see what’s taking Luma so long, only to find her peering into an empty drawer where the pot holders are supposed to be. “And where are all my goddamn pot holders? I literally used one yesterday!”
“I’ll help you look!” Sunny volunteers brightly, sliding off of her stool.
About a minute passes as Chad directs the girls to look in different places in the kitchen, all while trying to blow a stubborn, loose strand of hair out of his face. He’s just about to stick the pans back in the hot oven to help them look—even though it’ll dry out the cupcakes and nobody likes dry fucking cupcakes—when Luma pops up from one of the lower cabinets. “Found some!”
“Ugh, those are the Christmas ones,” Chad complains. “Fine, fine, put a couple down on the counter. I’ll find the other ones later.”
His niece, used to helping him in the kitchen, already knows how to lay the potholders out at a good distance so the pans won’t touch the counter top. Sunny watches the process with rapt attention, soaking it in like she does with everything.
The twins may have completely different personalities, but that’s one area where they're exactly alike—their fascination with learning and experiencing new things. It kinda makes Chad wonder what Robert was like when he was younger.
It’s easy enough to picture—all he has to do is think of Robert’s son with a fuck-ass chip in his ear, and that’s probably exactly what he looked like as a kid. Except James is quiet, and Robert probably ran his mouth a lot even back then. He probably went off on little tangents about the stuff he liked. He probably bugged the shit out of everyone.
He was probably pretty cute.
Shaking the thought out of his head, Chad sets the baking trays on the pot holders, pushing his hair back now that his hands are finally free.
“Why do you wanna know about admiring?” he asks again, twisting his hair up into a bun. He really should have fucking known better than to bake with his hair down. So annoying.
Sunny looks up from the cooling cupcakes and blinks at him for a moment before brightening as she remembers. “Oh yeah! I just wanted to know because that’s what Robert said about you, but I didn’t have time to ask him about it before we had to get ready to leave.”
Chad stops fiddling with his hair. “What?”
“He said he admires you,” she tells him, very matter-of-factly.
“No he didn’t,” Chad says stupidly, his mouth suddenly very dry. That stubborn strand of hair falls back into his eyes. He leaves it.
“Yeah, he did!” Sunny insists. “I asked him if you guys are friends and he said he’s not sure but he really admires you.”
That can't be true. Robert just said that because Sunny really likes Chad, and she would be upset if he and her dad weren’t friends. Robert just wanted to cushion the blow because he’s a soft little bitch for his kids. Yeah, that’s probably it.
…But Robert did say he wished he was as good with the twins as Chad is with Luma. And he asked Chad for help learning how to cook for them. And he said Chad’s one of Sunny’s favorite people.
And there is a lot to admire about Chad. He’s pretty much the whole fucking package—he’s funny, powerful, strong, good with kids. Plus he’s super fucking hot and beautiful, no doubt about that.
…Does Robert ever think about him like—?
“Uncle Chad’s blushing!” Luma shouts, pointing at his face, and then the two girls burst into shrieking laughter.
“No I am not!” Chad protests, raising his voice to be heard over the racket. “I’m not blushing, shut up! Don’t tell your father!”
Sunny only cackles louder.
“Sunny, I mean it! If you tell him about this, there will be no more dessert for you ever!”
“Nuh-uh, you can't do that!” Luma butts in, wagging her bossy little finger at Chad. “Mama says it’s Not Safe to keep secrets with a grown up!”
Chad blanches. “I mean…yeah that’s true. But this is totally different! It has nothing to do with you guys, it’s my secret!”
“Your secret about how you like Robert?” Sunny asks, bouncing on her toes and grinning like this is the best thing that’s ever happened to her. She looks just like her dad when he gets into one of his Teasing Little Bastard moods. Chad’s going to fucking kill himself.
“Stop that,” he says firmly, pointing at her. “Both of you listen very carefully because I’m literally only going to say this once: I do not—”
“Chad and Robert sitting in a tree,” Luma interrupts, and then Sunny joins in for, “K-I-S-S—”
“That’s it, no cupcakes!”
“No, no ‘aww,’ I warned you fair and fucking square! We’re boxing them all up and we’re taking them to the nearest bake sale. And don’t you dare do the thing with the eyes, because it’s not going to work on me. There will be no cupcakes for any little girls today!”
…He lets them each have two, but only after extracting a promise from Sunny that she won’t tell Robert about their conversation.
And then that creates a whole other fucking problem, because then he’s thinking about the whole Keeping Secrets with Grown Ups thing, and obviously he starts to fucking worry about how easy it was to buy Sunny’s silence.
“For real though,” he says for at least the fifth time later that day, when Luma’s been picked up and it’s just the two of them in the car on their way to Robert’s apartment. “If any other adult wants you to keep secrets, that’s fucked up and you should always tell, okay? Okay, Sunny?”
“Uh huh,” Sunny says absently.
“Sunny, are you listening to me?” Chad insists, glancing in the rearview mirror to find her looking out the window and kicking her little legs in Luma’s spare booster seat. “This is important shit!”
“I know,” Sunny groans in irritation.
She stretches out one leg and starts trying to kick the back of the driver’s seat, and Chad squawks at her, “Ey, ey, no fucking shoes on the upholstery! Who’s raising you? That was a rhetorical question, by the way, I know exactly what kind of wild animal is raising you.”
“We already talked about secrets, like ten whole times,” she complains, kicking her shoe off and continuing to jam her foot into his seat. “I already know it’s Important Shit.”
“Don’t tell your father you got that phrase from me,” Chad says reflexively. “Fuck, wait, that’s another secret—okay okay, stop kicking, I’ll shut up about it! You want the radio on? Let’s turn on the radio!”
Robert swings open his apartment door looking relaxed and happy—his day with James must have gone well. Chad tries not to stare too obviously at the easy smile that pulls at his lips as his eyes fall on Sunny.
“Hey, kiddo,” Robert greets, opening the door wider so she can go past—they all know that after being separated from her twin for an entire day, there’s only one person in the world Sunny wants to see, and it’s definitely not Robert.
“Hi!” she chirps, skipping into the apartment. “Jamie! Me and Luma baked cupcakes and I saved the yellow one for you!”
“Cupcakes, huh?” Robert asks, smiling wryly up at Chad. “Should I be worried about a sugar crash?”
“You should be thankful for a sugar crash,” Chad scoffs, ignoring the stupid skip in his heartbeat, “I’m the one who had to deal with the sugar high. And not just one, but two. You have no idea the kind of ungodly energy two little girls can harness.”
Robert snorts. “I can very easily imagine it, actually.”
“How did things go with James?” Chad asks, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms.
Robert’s face softens, and his voice gentles to match. “Good. I think he had fun.”
Chad nods for him to go on, struck dumb by the tender look on his face.
“He’s talking to me a little more,” Robert says quietly, as if saying it out loud will somehow jinx it. “Usually, he only really talks to Sunny. Chase can get him to say a few words here and there, but it’s always kind of a fraught process.”
He leans in closer and lowers his voice even more—like he’s telling a secret—and Chad has to hold his breath to hide the stutter in it. “Today he was asking me questions. About the exhibits, about the fish. He asked me how they clean the tanks. He clammed up again after we left the aquarium, but he was actually talking to me.”
There’s something wrong with Chad. He should be happy that James is coming out of his shell, and that he and Robert are bonding—and he totally fucking is! But at this very moment, staring into Robert’s wonder-filled face so close to his own, the only thing he can bring himself to feel is the desperate urge to get closer.
He swallows thickly and croaks out, “That’s great.”
Robert grins up at him, and the sight is like a punch to the chest. “And of course I have you to thank for looking after Sunny.”
Chad can feel the very tips of his ears warming dangerously, and prays they’re not actually burning. “Pfft, it’s nothing. I’m fucking great with kids, of course I was the first choice.”
“Still, thank you,” Robert says seriously. “You’ve been good with her. I don’t know how well I trust some of the other team members with her, but I always know she’s fine with you.”
Something swells in Chad’s throat, and he stares silently down at Robert’s earnest face—brown eyes glinting in the dim light, mouth pulled into a small smile, the space between his eyebrows relaxed.
Is this what admiration looks like on Robert?
“We’re hungry!” Sunny calls from deeper in the apartment, breaking the moment.
“And that’s my cue,” Robert says dryly, stepping back into the apartment. "Thanks again."
“Try not to burn the fucking place down while you're trying to cook dinner,” Chad says, standing up straight and backing away from the door. “I’m not coming back here a second time to save your ass if you get set on fire, so just remember that.”
Robert rolls his eyes. “Will do. See you Monday.”
Chad turns and starts walking away before the door is even shut.
He drives home with the radio off, the car completely silent except for his own racing thoughts.
