SOMETHING UNEXPECTED

Chapter 21

Lucy's POV

"Babe, wake up." All I got in response was a grumble from Tim.
I had been trying to wake him up for half an hour now.

"Lucy, let me sleep and come back to bed with me. Today is our day off. It's 6.30am, why are you already dressed and so motivated?" he said, looking at the alarm clock and then at me.
"We have to be at Angela's in 30 minutes."
"Why? Did someone die?" Tim asked, turning on his other side in bed.
"No, no one has died."
"Then there's no reason why we have to be at Angela's at 7 in the morning, she's probably still asleep." 
"There is a reason Tim. Yesterday after the Gender Reval party and our engagement I talked to Genny and Angela and we came to a decision."

As soon as I said that, Tim sat up straight in bed and was wide awake. "Why do I have a feeling that this conversation you had about me doesn't mean anything good for me?"

"It's not so bad what we talked about, but it made me think so much that I ended up deciding something with Angela."
"What did you decide? Do I have to sell a kidney for something?" Tim asked me and you could tell he was nervous because he didn't know what I had discussed with Genny and Angela.

"Genny told Angela and me yesterday that you never looked after your nephews until they were 7 years old. You refused to even pick them up when they were babies or do anything like feed them or change a diaper. You've never held or looked after Angela's children either. We have come to the conclusion that you are afraid of babies and small children. You should lose that fear before our sons are born." 

Tim had to start laughing. "Lucy, I'm not afraid of babies. I've just never had time to babysit, so that doesn't mean I'm afraid. Tim Bradford isn't afraid of babies or small children."
I looked at him and had to stifle a grin when he talked about himself in the third person, he only did that when he was insecure or scared.

"Then it's good that we have time today. Angela came up with the idea that we should train your fear away today and look after her children all day. If you're not afraid then that won't be a problem for you today."
Tim looked anything but enthusiastic when I told him this.

"I have no problem with us looking after Angela's children. But I can still sleep until we have to leave." He was just about to lie down again.
"Tim, we have to be at Angela's in 15 minutes. We'll look after the kids from 7 in the morning until 9 at night. Angela and Wesley wanted to take a little trip out of town."
"You're not serious? 14 hours? Where are they going? To another country or what?"
Tim got up and quickly got dressed.
I pressed a cup of coffee into his hand because I knew that he couldn't function without a cup of coffee in the morning and his mood would be unbearable. After he had quickly drunk the coffee, we drove to Angela's.

When we arrived at Angela's, she opened the door for us and explained what we needed to know. "So on the fridge are the emergency numbers for Wesley and me, Wesley's mother, the pediatrician, the hospital and the poison control center. You only call in an emergency. They've both been up since 5 a.m. and had breakfast. The milk for Erin is in the fridge. She takes her first nap at 10 am. At 1pm they have lunch and then from 2pm to 3pm they both have to lie down for their nap. At 6 p.m. they have dinner and then a bath. At 7.30pm they have to be in bed. Jack is learning to use the toilet but accidents still happen. If you go out for longer or when he goes to sleep, he still gets a diaper. He doesn't always tell you when he needs to go to the toilet so you have to ask and remind him often."

I already knew most of this because I'd looked after them several times, but Tim didn't know anything and wasn't awake enough to listen to what Angela was explaining, so she tested whether Tim was listening to her or not "If they get on your nerves, just give them a beer. Did you understand that Tim?"
"Yes Angela, I got it. Eat, bath, sleep and a beer. It's not that difficult."
Angela and I both laughed.

She looked at me and said, "Good luck with the kids, but especially with that one. He'll probably make your life just as difficult or even more difficult than my children today."
"Thanks Angela, I'll manage it with him and the children. I'll call in an emergency."

Angela gave the children a kiss, they were sitting in the kitchen and then she went to the door with Wesley. The two of them left the house and we were alone with them. Erin was 6 months old and Jack was now almost 3 years old.

Erin started crying as the door slammed shut and Jackson got up and undressed himself.
I took Erin out of her high chair and comforted her. "Jack, can you please get dressed again?" I said and Jack just shook his head.

Tim just stood in the doorway of the kitchen and watched everything.
He said he wasn't afraid of small children but kept a safe distance of 2 meters from the two of them.

Today I would really test him and make him lose this fear. 
"Tim can you please put some clothes on Jack. I have to change Erin's diaper."

Tim went in the direction of Jack's room but Jack stayed in the kitchen without his clothes and didn't follow Tim, which he only noticed when he was standing alone in Jack's bedroom.
I had to grin and went into Erin's nursery with her in my arms.