Don't Stop | Michael Clifford

Chapter 82

"Need... to... do... something..." I moan as my legs are literally over the back of the couch, Michael lying with his head on my stomach. And, Boomer coming over every once in a while to lick my face, I just lightly pushed me away. Just on cue, Michael's phone started ringing.

"Can you reach that?" Michael lazily asks. I reach out for it, and if it had just been to grab it, I would not have tried so hard. But someone was calling him, so might as well actually try. I get it, looking at the caller ID. When I see it's Luke, I decide on answering it myself.

"Hello stranger, how's the New Year going?" It was two weeks into the new year, which Michael and I had spend on doing absolutely nothing. I wasn't going back to work until next week, right before my birthday.

"It's going good, but I'm actually calling to ask a favor from the two of you," he says, Michael now lazily trying to grab the phone from me. "I was wondering if you guys would be willing to babysit for a few hours. Maddie and I haven't been able to have some alone time since Philip was born."

"One sec," I say, taking the phone away, looking at Michael.

"Luke wants to know if we can babysit tonight," I say, not thinking of how we were going to take care of a barely one month old baby. I mean, like... this should freak me out.

"Like, alone? Just the two of us?" Michael obviously realizing this babysitting thing before I do. I just lie there, staring at him. Sometimes we forgot to feed Boomer, HOW THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO TAKE CARE OF A LITTLE INFANT!?

"El?" Luke is heard through the phone again. "It'll only be a few hours, Maddie will get seperation anxiety if we're away much longer anyways."

"I, err... I guess–" I don't get to say more before Michael then grabs the phone.

"Hey, bud," he says, then standing up as they talk a bit. It doesn't take long before he sits down next to me again. "Only for a few hours, there will be milk, we just have to change dirty diapers and such."

"But it's an infant. Not only that, but he's only a month old." Michael nods, looking into my eyes. Just like that, I'm convinced it'll go just fine. He grabs my hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Luke will be here in about an hour, he wants to get ideas from you of what to do," Michael says, kissing my cheek. I just nod, looking down at where Boomer is coming over, trying to jump up on the couch in between us.

To say it short, Luke came and asked a thousand questions of what to do and what not to do. It was like he was going on a date for the first time or something. But it was more what would be appropriate and all. I really just told him to be himself and make sure to read Maddie. And then just a nice dinner or something, maybe a walk in Central Park or something (and point out the place where she got a nose bleed and had to walk inside a store to borrow their bathroom)

And then I also got to style his hair. Not cutting it or dying it or anything, but I did style it up in a quiff, which I know Maddie has been wondering how he would look like with his "now more mature face than it was when he was 18". It looked weird, but in a good way. I guess I'm just used to it being more flat. He did say something to himself that he should bring back the quiff now and then. Then we all drove back to their place. Maddie was sitting with Philip, probably taking every piece of him she can before she had to be separated with him for a few hours. "Oh my god, your hair," she smiles, slightly laughing but also clearly loving it. Luke just laughs, holding his hands to the side, his body-language saying "I know"

"You're gonna be alright?" I ask, walking over, picking up the little boy.

"For a few hours, probably yeah," she says, looking anxious though. "I don't know, I'm already freaking out."