Babysitting and Dreaming

Promptly, Tim Bradford arrived at the Lopez Evers house at 6PM. Angela answered the door in a dress suitable for the nice restaurant she was planing to go to with her husband for a romantic date night. "Hey, Tim, Wes is almost finished feeding Emmy, and then we'll be out of here."

"Great. Are you about to give me the rundown of all of your rules?" Tim asked.

"No, you know the drill by now. Let my daughter sleep as much as possible and have fun with Jack. He's gotten really fast lately, so don't lose sight of him for even a minute."

"You got it."

"Tim," Wes greeted him. "Thanks so much for agreeing to watch the kids so last minute."

"Oh, he doesn't mind," Angela spoke on his behalf. "It's not like he ever has plans anymore."

"I thought we talked about cutting him some slack," Wes reminded her.

"Fine. Let's get going. I don't want us to be late for our reservations."

Wes offered Tim an apologetic smile, but he only shook his head, because babysitting little Jack and baby Emmy was never a punishment. "Have fun. The kids and I sure will."

"Make sure Jack goes to bed by nine, okay? Don't try to be the cool uncle and keep him up too late."

He smiled and watched as Wes and Angela kissed their son goodbye.

Wes exited the house first, but Angela stayed back for a moment. She had a glint in her eye as she asked, "Did I spoil your night?"

"No," Tim answered coolly.

She hummed, not really believing him but also uninterested in pressing further when she had a date night to attend.

Tim waved her out the door and twisted around to pick Jack up and spun with him in his arms until he laughed uncontrollably. "Let's have fun today, kiddo. How about we play with your blocks?"

"BWOCKS!" Jack responded excitedly, failing to pronounce "blocks" properly but excited to play with them nonetheless. He wiggled until he was set down on the ground and went to the box housing his favorite toy to dump them all out on the ground. As he started building a structure, there was a knock at the door.

"Did you forget something?" Tim called and then he checked the peephole. The sight changed his whole demeanor. He opened the door and smiled. "What are you doing here?"

Instead of answering his questions with her words, Lucy flung herself against him and kissed him long and affectionately.

"Wow," he whispered a little breathlessly. He could never forget how his nerves would sing her name every time her lips met his, and he could never tire of it either.

She grinned as her hands roved over his shoulders and arms. "I've missed you."

"You saw me on shift."

"That was an hour ago," she pouted, begging for another kiss, but he only gave her a quick peck that left her wanting more.

"I gotta take care of Jack." He glanced back at the toddler to see him happily building something alone.

"Yeah, I know, and I'm staying."

"What? No. You can't. Angela will find out we're back together."

"She won't. Jack can keep a secret. He and I are besties." She stepped around her boyfriend to greet the little one, who was so immersed in his own activity he had not noticed her presence. "Hi Jacky!" She cooed as she crouched to meet his eyes.

"WUCY! WUCY!" He greeted her adorably given his inability to pronounce his "L"s.

After giving him a tight squeeze, she asked, "Can I stay and hang out with you and Uncle Tim?" Jack nodded vigorously in response. "Okay, but can you keep a secret? Don't tell your mommy I was here, okay? Promise?"