Unstable (Sequel to Twisted)

Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

"Come here, Lottie, we just need to get you dressed."

"Nooo, I don't want to get dressed."

I held the small, yellow, thin-material dress in front of me; I saw nothing wrong with it. Sighing, I tried again, "Girls don't walk around in their undies."

Lottie hummed lightly under her breath, scampering in the opposite direction of me and sitting rather roughly on the ground. She was sporting only a thick wad of diapers, her little legs waddling from the width, and she was refusing to get dressed for me.

See, I was terrible with children. I didn't want to be mean-I wanted to be nice. But how was I going to get this dress on her if she refused to wear it? I wondered if Gemma wouldn't mind having her daughter stroll through the house in diapers...would she mind?

"I'll help you put it on." I suggested, sitting forward on the couch and hoping she'd concede.

Of course, I had no such luck.

According to Gemma, Lottie was newly potty-trained, however, she still liked to keep diapers on her, in case an accident happened. And when Lottie had to use the restroom, she would generally look my way and ask, and I would have to hold her hand and escort her to the bathroom. Gosh, honestly, I had no idea taking care of a child was this draining. I felt years older looking after her, and I've been watching her for a few hours now.

Everyone in the house, excluding Harry and I, went out for a, well, day out. Gemma had a day off today, so she wanted to go somewhere. But Lottie was extremely grumpy this morning, putting up a fight just when we tried getting her to eat. So because of this, we decided Lottie should stay here, in an attempt to avoid a tantrum in public. So of course I volunteered to watch after her-Harry wasn't here this morning, since he left so early.

Once again, I knew he was meeting someone involved with Ed. I didn't like that-I knew he shouldn't even consider getting involved with them.

I was definitely going to let him know that later. But for now...

Lottie was singing under her breath some nursery rhyme, and she was pulling a small pink box full of those letter cubes. She sat comfortably on the ground, her hair in messy curls atop her head, dropping them all out of the box.

I felt resigned, setting the dress next to me and leaning back in the couch. I was hungry, but I would feel weird to just walk away and have the little girl out of my sight. She seemed to always be moving around, which made me nervous.

"Lottie," I said finally, "if you don't come here to let me dress you, you'll go in time out."

The little girl instantly got off the floor, trotting over to me and obediently raised her arms. I felt myself beam in victory, picking up the dress and pulling it over her head.

"Have you brushed your teeth?" I asked her, grabbing her wrist before she ran off again.

She nodded.

"Are you hungry? Do you need to use the restroom?"

She shook her head.

I raised an eyebrow, "Are you positive?"

She turned over her shoulder to stare at me, nodding once more. I released her wrist and she went back to her letters, just as I saw Harry's form coming down the stairs. He was just pulling a shirt over his head when he saw me, and then he saw Lottie.

"Where is everyone?" He asked.

"They went out." I replied quietly. "We're babysitting." I looked back at Lottie, rubbing at my temples. The soft sound of her humming was a drone, and Harry was making his way into the kitchen for something to eat.