Ranger's Apprentice One Shots

Blissful Babysitting

Will stared at the baby. The baby stared back.

"So," Will drew out slowly, "what to do with you now?"

The baby started to move and Will flinched, making the baby smile.

"Sorry, go on," Will said, feeling like an idiot.

The baby crawled around and started picking up random things. his tiny hand went towards his knife that was lying in the ground. Will scooped the baby up quickly and yelled, "oh no! Not for you!"

He held the baby awkwardly, his arms outstretched and holding it by the underarms. The baby swung his feet playfully.

"Aghtht!" the little boy gurgled.

"Right..." Will said. "So um... wanna shoot some?" then Will rolled his eyes. "But of course you can't because your...well.. A baby." After a few seconds' pause, Will rolled his eyes again and said, "aaaand now I'm talking to a baby."

The baby boy lost all interest in Will and started crawling to the couch. It clawed on the cushions, trying to stand up, but the boy wasn't able to stand yet.

"Want to get up, huh?" Will asked. "Here." he lifted the baby onto the couch and stood back, hands on hips.

"Aghtht!" the boy cheered.

The boy started crawling to the edge of the couch, and thankfully Will noticed. "Oh no! No no, get back," Will moved the baby back.

Tired of standing, Will sat down causing the cushions to bounce up and down.

"Ehahah," the baby squealed.

Will gave a sideways look at him. "What? You like that?" he bounced on the cushions again and the baby laughed.

Will laughed. "Who knew?" He continued to bounce on the couch and made funny noises to amuse the baby more.

He loved the laugh. It was a carefree, innocent, lovable laugh. All Will wanted to hear it more and more. Finally, the baby got bored of the bounce, and looked around the room for something else. His eyes caught on the window.

"Should we go to the window?" Will asked. He picked the baby up, holding him tightly around the waist and propping him up on his hip. He walked closer to the window, and pointed outside.

"Look! It's a... squirrel. And...what else do we see? A.. bird?" The boy's eyes were glued to the window, his alert eyes catching everything.

The boy held out a tiny hand, wanting to feel the glass. Will leaned closer, allowing hin to touch it.

The boy did, and quickly withdrew his hand when he felt the cold panes.

"It's cold, isn't it?" Will asked, smiling.

The boy looked at him, then went back to the window.

Around fifteen minutes later, the boy started to cry. Will picked him up and tried to distract him, but nothing he did seemed to help. The longer and harder Will tried to distract him, the louder the baby's cry got.

"Oh, come on," Will pleaded, "what do you want already? A ball? A toy? Milk?"

At the last word, the boy hesitated.

"Milk? You want milk?"

Will scoured around the back for the milk and quickly poured some into a mug. "Here, here you go."

The baby held onto the cup with Will and drank as if his life depended on it.

"There you go, shh," Will cooed.

What was he supposed to do now? He remembered Alyss saying that the baby should be put to bed in the second hour. The glanced at the sun outside. Second hour was only a few minutes away.

"All done?" Will asked. "Good. shh, shh," he said, cradling the baby and rocking back and forth. The boy's eyes got heavy but he determinedly kept them open.

"No, shh, close your eyes," Will whispered, "it's okay. It's time to sleep. Shh."

Will was amazed how much he enjoyed taking care of the child. It was only an hour or so, but the baby, so innocent and non-judgmental, meant something to him.

"Shh, shh."

Eventually, the baby fell asleep in his arms. When Will was absolutely sure he was asleep, he put the baby in his bed, positioning his blankets in a nest-type circle around the boy. The baby had put his thumb in his mouth by the time Will had finished.

"Good night, baby, see you soon," Will whispered, exiting the room.