Given The Same Reputation (Labels)

Chapter 39 - Paxton Lenox

I parked my car outside of Faye's house and walked up the steps to her front door to ring the doorbell. She didn't know I was coming. It was a surprise.

The door slowly opened. "Who are you?" There was a small boy with black hair and glasses standing at the door. He was wearing denim jeans and an orange shirt that read 'will trade sis for food.'

"Hey, I'm Paxton."

"Gerry, I told you not to open the door. You needed to wait for me," she spoke.

She came to the door. She was holding a small child in her arms, balancing him on her right hip, against her gray flannel and black jeans.

"Paxton, hey. Come in." She stepped to the side.

I walked in, past Gerry and closed the door behind me.

"I'm going upstairs." Gerry, the young boy, ran up the stairs.

"Robby, want to go upstairs and play with Gerry?" she asked him.

He nodded his head. She put him down, and he also ran up the stairs.

"Hey." She came closer to me and wrapped her arms around me.

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her. "I missed you. I came by to surprise you, but I see you already have a few boys here," I joked.

"Yeah. I'm babysitting. They're my cousins. Gerry, the older one, is seven and Robby is three. My aunt and uncles came to visit. My parents and they went into town for something. To be honest, I think they just went shopping. Either way, I offered to stay and watch the kids. And what sucks, my cousin, Sara, left with them. She's their older sister. She's around our age. I thought she was going to stay and help me watch them but I guess not," she explained.

"Sounds tough. I can stay and help you watch them," I offered.

"I don't want you to waste your Saturday."

"I'm not wasting it. I came over here to spend it with you. Unless, you don't want me to stay."

"No! It's not that. Alright, go ahead, stay and help me watch them. Just so you know, they're a handful."

"Just so you know, I've never really taken care of kids," I admitted.

"Then this will be awesome," she smiled.

°°°°

"Faye!" I called out. She was probably upstairs.

"Up. Up." Robby was reaching his hands up in the air, looking at me.

I picked him up and held him in my hands. He was looking at me. I didn't know how to hold him properly.

"Faye!" I called out another time.

I positioned Robby so he was sitting on my shoulders and grabbed his small legs so he wouldn't fall back. His small hands tapped gently on the top of my head.

"So high!" I heard him. "Wow."

"You called?" Faye came down the stairs. Her eyes went straight to Robby.

"Yay Yay. Look, so high," Robby spoke.

"I can see that." She smiled. "So fun, huh?" she asked Robby.

"So why does he call you 'Yay Yay?'"

"It rhymes with Faye."

I nodded my head.

"Want some apples, Robby?"

"Please," he answered her.

We went into the kitchen. I still had Robby sitting on my shoulders. Faye walked over to the fridge and took out a small container. I sat Robby down on a chair. Faye handed him the apples, and he started eating away.