#evil 2019

 Having finished yet another minor repair on the Bouchard residence Ben wandered off for a second, not yet wanting to walk downstairs where Kristen was helping her daughters with their different homework. Didn't want to hear the loud overlapping chatter when he finally said his farewells, he thought, as if that really were something that annoyed him.

 A sound distracted him from his aimless wondering. A cry, or something that was very close to becoming one, was coming from Kristen's bedroom.

 "Hey, Kristen...?" He tried calling her from the stairwell, chattering stopping in obvious curiosity.

 "Yes, Ben?"

 "The uh, the kid's awake." Not 'your kid'. The kid. Ben didn't have anything against him, of course, he was just a baby, but knowing he was only here because of Leland's machinations, and with the clear intent of further fucking with Kristen's mind, made his skin crawl.

 Downstairs the girls started gushing with excitement as their mother tried to calm them down to not avail, and Ben couldn't help but smile.

 "Is he okay? Is he crying?"

 "Not yet. He's just... Mumbling."

 "Can you check up on him? He's probably a bit groggy from sleep. I'll go in a minute."

 "Sure."

 Well.

 Ben approached Kristen's bedroom carefully to avoid startling the baby, but the second he appeared on his small field of view his weary mumbling stopped altogether, and Ben didn't dare to breathe. The last thing he wanted was to provoke him to cry and yell. Instead, the baby's eyes watched him like saucers, mouth open in innocent curiosity.

 "Bet you don't see many Muslim people around here, do you?" He asked once it was clear he wasn't going to react badly.

 The kid didn't respond.

 Ben circled the cradle, both trying to test the waters and to make time, and the baby kept looking at him as if he was the most interesting thing he's ever seen in his life. Which, considering his age, might at well be. Although, considering his early upbringing, was doubtful. To that last thought, Ben huffed a laugh.

 "So, I heard you were the Antichrist, is that right?" The baby wriggled at the sound of his voice, blinking, and Ben smiled a bit. "You don't seem that demonic to me... You don't have a tail, or little horns, or whatever it is an Antichrist is supposed to have."

 He tapped the kid's head to emphasize his point despite the fact that he couldn't understand a word of what he was saying, and that finally cracked his demeanor. The baby cooed, throwing his arms around in what Ben originally thought was an attempt to slap his hand, before he managed to grab it with his itty bitty fingers. When he tried to get his hand back with a small tug it was met with resistance, and maybe the baby felt challenged or engaged enough, because his big saucer eyes split with the force of a smile equal to a thousand suns.

 Ben laughed.

 "Okay. Fine. You're adorable. Is that what you want me to say?"

 The baby laughed, high pitched and melodic.

 When he finally let go of his hand he went back to his usual baby sounds, moving on his cradle like he wanted something unidentifiable until he met Ben's eyes again, and smiled like it was the first time he saw him. In another circumstance, perhaps Ben would be wondering what was taking Kristen so long, or hoping that whatever it was that was keeping her downstairs would quickly pass, but as it was, his initial weariness for the kid slowly melted away as his hands clawed at the air between them, and he understood what it was supposed to meant.

 With a sigh, Ben gave up. Carefully, he reached for the baby -for Timothy- who excitedly cooed when he held him on his arms, hand supporting his small head as he knew was the correct way to hold them. Timothy's smile shinned as he mapped Ben's face with his hands, tugging at his ear and playing with his curly hair.

 "You're not gonna tear my hair off my scalp or claw at my eyes, are you?" He asked, feeling ridiculous the moment he said it. "Of course you won't... You've got a good mom now, you know? No more... I don't know. Satanic rituals. Goat's blood. Whatever the hell Leland tried to do with you..."

 It was impossible for a baby to understand the meaning of his words, but between coos and smiles it almost looked like Timothy paid attention to what Ben was saying. Eyes enraptured. It reminded him a bit of the other Bouchard girls, his half-sisters (his sisters, for all intended purposes) whenever he caught their attention. It reminded him of their mother, too, when life wasn't too hard on her and she let herself be silly.

 The reminder of the last one made Ben smile, heartbeat picking up, and he silently cursed at himself. Ah, fuck. With no imaginary Djinn to fault for the intrusion it was harder to ignore, he really was growing fond of Kristen, wasn't he? Kristen and her loud and messy family...

 Suddenly, as his thoughts evoked them, he became painfully aware of the eerie silence around him, only broken by Timothy when his eyes wandered to the door before letting out a happy squeal. When he turned, Ben was met with four pairs of overly excited eyes on faces that were just waiting to burst struggling to keep themselves quiet, and a fifth surprised yet pleased expression. Kristen was poorly hiding an amused smile under her hand and Ben opened his mouth, feeling like a deer on the headlights, when Laura broke the silence.

 "Oh, my God. Ben the Magnificent, he loves you!"

 Like a balloon that finally popped all the girls started exclaiming around him, Timothy following his sisters with incomprehensible yet equally excited coos and laughter, and Ben looked at Kristen again for help. Visibly swallowing her amusement she quickly put on her serious face, raising her hands in attention.

 "Girls, girls! Don't think I forgot that you still haven't finished your homework. We're all going downstairs again in a minute."

 "But mom-"

 "No buts!"

 "Can Timothy come study with us? Please, please?"

 "You're not gonna get distracted with him in the room?"

 "No we won't!"

 "We swear!"

 Lila put herself on her knees and the rest of her sisters followed, while Kristen kept looking at them with faux severity. Ben looked at the scene from afar, a scornful smile hiding genuine endearment before she turned to him with a conspiratorial look.

 "What do you think, Ben. Should I let Timothy come study with us?"

 Her face was serious, but it was oh so easy to see the smile at the edge of her eyes.

 Four sets of varying degrees of puppy eyes now turned to look at him; five, if he counted Timothy who now looked up at him in curiosity, and he pretended to consider it for a moment before wincing.

 "I don't know, you all seem pretty distracted to me..."

 This was silly, part of Ben thought, they must know that Timothy was going to be brought downstairs either way, and yet it was Lexis who stepped in this time.

 "We'll finish all of our homework. We promise."

 Ben and Kristen exchanged looks, before he hummed again, shrugging.

 "That's a solid deal if you ask me."

 Kristen looked at her daughters in the eyes, one after the other, and finally smiled.

 "Okay, you girls get the baby chair ready and don't forget your promise."

 A number of "Yes mom", "love you mom", and "thank you Ben the Magnificent" rang through the air, accompanied by the baby's laughter at the seemingly happy resolution of whatever had just happened. Ben looked at them go, and finally turned to Kristen to handle her her kid back, but she simply looked at him with a smile before refusing him with a shake of the head and a raised hand.

 "Didn't thought you'll be this good with a baby."

 "Yeah, well, you know..." He looked at Timothy, who smiled brightly when they made eye contact, and it became really hard for Ben to remain nonchalant. "Bouchard kids just can't resist the charm of Ben the Magnificent I guess."

 Kristen snorted, grabbing Ben by the upper arm to guide him upstairs, but not before resting her head on his shoulder with an equally fond smile.

 "Must run in the family. C'mon, the girls are waiting."