The Babysitter ✯ Kellic

Chapter Six

btw, kellin's parents in this are more based of off Free Now instead of his actual parents. Irl his dad left and his mom took care of him, not the other way around.
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"Are you sure this is totally okay? I mean, you don't have to do this for us, honestly."

"Copeland is growing and needs new baby clothes. And since you don't have a job, I decided to help out. What's so hard to understand about how okay I am with helping?" Vic asks in reply to my question. I sigh and he smiles, turning us down another road.

"You're even driving us there. I feel so bad for not being able to pay you..." I say. He waves one hand, keeping the other on the steering wheel, a way of showing me it's no big deal. I sigh and look out the window.

"Let me tell you a little secret, Kellin," he says. I glance at him and he looks at me without moving his head, just his eyes. "I'm okay with you not paying me because I like to think I'm a good guy," he continues. That's not much of a secret. "Well, and because my parents are filthy rich and spoil me. I might as well pay it forward and help someone else out, ya know?"

I gape at him and he smiles without even looking my way. "I guess that makes sense..." I say, putting two and two together. "There's always food in my fridge despite the fact that I don't put it there; you have a car and a bunch of nice clothes; and all that from babysitting? I knew there was another reason." I look at him again and he simply nods.

"Is it okay if I put on music?" he asks, completely changing the subject. Which I'm thankful for, because I don't want him asking about my parents. Oh, my dad has hardly given a shit about me my whole life and my mom left when I was a little kid. Perfect parents.

"Well, that depends. Is it Copeland appropriate?" I ask in return. He shrugs and switches on the radio anyway. He flips through the stations before he finds one on a commercial break. I raise an eyebrow at him in confusion and he just smiles. In a few seconds, Green Day's American Idiot is playing through Vic's car radio.

And I certainly wasn't arguing with Green Day.

• • •

"I guess you like Vic, huh, Cope?" I ask the baby as she plays on the floor with the new baby toys Vic bought her. She giggles, pushing buttons on some battery powered thing. I sigh and sit back on the couch, sinking into it more. "I think I do, too." I surprise myself by even saying that.

Katelynne left two days after Copeland was born. I was so shocked that she just left her baby with me like that. I thought that the moms of babies usually fight to keep them. But Katelynne really just forced Copeland on me. I wish I didn't remember it as clearly as I do.

"This isn't going to happen," Katelynne says, almost no emotion in her voice. I gape at her and she sits down next to me. "You have no money, and we're both still in school. I get called a 'whore' or a 'slut' every single day of my life when I'm around you."

"It isn't my fault-"

"Yes it is! Copeland is your daughter, too!" she yells standing up, despite just sitting down. I sigh and just stare at the floor. "That's why I'm leaving you. You can keep your daughter, I don't want either of you in my life anymore. Kellin, I just can't do it."

And with that, she was out of my life. I haven't seen her ever since then. My friend Nick said that her parents took her and moved far away from me. It wasn't like our daughter was an accident, but I'm guessing Katelynne told her parents that she was. I would hate for Copeland to ever feel like she wasn't meant to be here on this earth.

I feel a tear slip down my cheek and I wipe it away, not wanting to cry in front of Copeland. Because Katelynne was my past, and this is my future. And, as odd as it is for me to say this, I really want Vic to be a part of that future. I already feel myself crushing on him more than I should. Which isn't bad, but I hardly know anything about him.

My phone starts ringing in my pocket and I take a deep breath as I read the caller ID. It's my dad. "Hello?" I answer, trying not to sound annoyed that he's calling me.

"Hi, Kellin," my step mom answers, confusing me. I have her number in my phone, so why is she calling on my dad's? "Look, I wanted to talk to you about your daughter." Oh, fuck.

"What about Copeland?" I ask, making sure to use "my daughter's" name. I hear my step mom take a deep breath on through the phone. My heartbeat speeds up as I begin panicking. I doubt this is something good.

"Have you found somebody to take care of her?" she asks. "Or, somewhere else for her to go?" I calm down slightly and watch Copeland play with her toys.

"Kind of, yeah. Why? You and Dad didn't care before. Why does it matter to you now?" I ask, slightly annoyed. Another deep breath.

"Well..." she pauses, sounding slightly of guilty of something. The panic rises in my chest again. "Your father called Child Protective Services, and they're going to be at your house real soon."