Babysitting
There was a knock on the door, disturbing their breakfast. Alex jumped, her mouth half full of fruit salad. "I'll get it." she sighed seeing as she was already half out of her chair. Logan watched unabashedly as she walked towards the front door. He figured it was his job as her boyfriend to perv on her every once in a while, to boost her self esteem. Alex opened the door, the smile plastered across her face genuine. At the door stood their neighbours, a couple and their eighteen month old daughter. "Reese, Matthew come in, please." Alex ushered them in, "Did you want anything?" The couple took a seat on the lounge as Logan cleared the table of the remnants of their meal. He could hear Alex coo at the child from the kitchen and, when he looked across the counter to see her, he was hit by a wave of emotion. Alex was sitting with the baby in her arms, she was bent over, leaving little room between her and the child's face. One of her fingers was grasped by the tiny hand and all Logan could comprehend was how beautiful she was and how much he wanted a family with her. He walked back into the populated area and sat beside Alex, tickling the little girl's feet and giggling when she did. "We were wondering," Reese began, "Since Matt got a promotion and the boss wants him in London for a week," Alex interjected, "Oh my goodness, congratulations!" realisation hit her, "Tell me your going with him." she begged, intrigued. Reese smiled at her husband, "I was hoping to." Matt took her hand and visibly squeezed it. "We were wondering if you would like to babysit Becky while we're gone. You know, practice for the real thing." Logan looked at Alex, who had turned her attention to the child in her arms. "Yeah, sure. We'd love to." Alex looked up at him, her eyes wide but narrowed as if trying to find an ulterior motive whilst internally happy dancing. "But don't expect us to return her." he laughed, the couple laughing with him. All Alex could think was, 'we're not kidding, she's adorable.' A week later their house was bombarded with nappies, formula and baby wipes. Logan could barely navigate the bathroom without bumping into something. But he never regretted their decision. Every morning Logan would catch Alex playing primitive hand clap games with the girl and every evening he would stand idle at the threshold of the spare room, watching Alex rock the child to sleep, sometimes singing softly. He fell in love all over again. On the third night both Alex and Logan were woken by the screams of the eighteen month old. She didn't quite speak English yet but "Mama" was almost evident in her desperation. Alex rolled over from their entwined position and moaned. Logan, startled by the lack of body heat, rubbed his eyes and got out of bed, mumbling, ''I'll get it." Alex conceded, too tired to be her stubborn self but not quite tired enough to return to the land of dreams without a certain body next to her. Suddenly, the crying stopped. She ripped the blanket form her body and trudged to the room where the sight stopped her in her tracks. Logan stood in the centre of the room, Becky in his arms and a smile pulling on his lips. He slowly rocked on his heels, creating a soothing motion and his voice was low. "Hey Becky," he said, not condescending or belittling. "What's wrong? Bad dream?" Alex shouldered the door frame, crossing her ankles and arms lazily. "You know you can tell us anything, right? You know, I was having a bad dream too." Logan continued as if Rebecca was responding. His voice washed over Alex, sending shivers down her spine and warmth to her cheeks. "Alex wasn't around and I couldn't... I tried to..." he faultered as he tried to recall his dreams. "It doesn't matter." he concluded, "All that matters is that it was just a dream and so was yours. You're okay now. I've got you." Alex's jaw hung slack at his confession. She watched Logan cradle the little girl for a few more moments before he knew she was asleep and tucked her back in. He turned to face her. "How long have you been standing there?" he asked, moving closer. Alex pushed off from the door frame and hugged his waist. "Long enough." she whispered before capturing his lips in a kiss that made her feel like jelly. "I can't lose you." he returned before their kisses turned lustful. ~ It wasn't until the next morning that they realised something had changed. Alex and Logan were sitting on the carpet with Becky standing between them. Alex was holding her beneath her armpits so she wouldnt fall and both Logan's and Alex's legs were spread so that if she did fall, she had a small square of carpet to fall onto and their legs to hold onto. "Okay. Becky, are you ready to walk to Logan?" Alex asked, Becky nodded excitedly. Logan opened his arms and Alex let go of the girl. She took a small step and fell into Logan's arms. They all laughed as she giggled playfully. Repeating the process helped boost Becky's confidence. Slowly, they expanded the floor space between them, giving the toddler more space to practice walking. She fell a few times, but not to hurt herself. She was walking to Logan's outstretched arms. She too had her arms outstretched. She was clapping like a seal and smiling giddily. "Daddy!" she laughed, falling into Logan's hug. Logan lifted his head to look at Alex for help but she simply looked at him with this unconditional love in her eyes. Her smile was radiant and her nodding told him she had predicted this. A god awful smell wafted upwards and hit him like a train. "Oh my god." he tried to say without breathing in. He smiled sweetly at Alex and gently pushed Becky towards her. Alex immediately understood, "Oh no. Its time 'Daddy' changed the nappy." Logan looked defeated. "I don't know how." he admitted. Alex got up and held out her hand like, 'I'll help you.' She didn't. Alex just hugged him from behind and watched from over his shoulder. She laughed when Logan scowled at the plastic tabs he couldn't get off and buried her head in his shoulder when he faltered after removing the nappy. "Alex, seriously, what do I do? She's a girl! I feel like a paedophile!!" he moaned, exasparated. Alex moved his hands from her position behind him and guided him to the necessary places. "How observant of you, what gave away that Becky's a girl?" Alex spoke as he pulled the new nappy closed and lifted the toddler to his shoulder. His nose crinkled as he looked at her. "I'm just going to go over there with the sole person in this house that actually likes me and respects my feelings." he proclaimed like a drama queen. Alex laughed and Logan pulled her into a hug. "I think its Becky's bedtime." he concluded when he saw the girl's tired eyes fluttering closed. "At least you can get one girl to bed." Alex delivered sarcastically when he returned from tucking the toddler in. "That was a low blow. Very below the belt." Logan pretended to double over in pain but he was bent over so as to hide his smile and get a better view of Alex's legs. He lay down to complete the 'you kill me with your wit' charade. Alex strutted over to him, pressing herself against him, straddling him the way he craved. "That doesn't mean you can't have me anywhere else though." she winked, grinding into him before standing completely and swinging her hips slowly on her way to their bedroom. Logan grunted in annoyance, she had him wrapped around her finger. He stood, smirking. "You know, Alex, if you wanted to have kids you could've just asked. Not this whole 'I'll feel you later, go ahead and fantasise' routine." He caught up with her and pressed her against the inside of their bedroom door. Alex scoffed, trying (and failing) to retain her uninterested facade as he kissed her. Everywhere. He took her advice and didn't take her to the bed. He had her just about everywhere else though.
