groupie // lrh

1.8

"seth do you want any dinner yet?"

victoria cradled her baby niece in her arms trying to rock her to sleep after being given a bottle of milk. her five year old nephew ran into her living room gripping a hairbrush in one hand and a captain america figure in the other.

she was babysitting for a week whilst her half-brother went on a business trip (extended to a holiday) with his wife. seth and ella had been at her apartment for almost four hours and she was already exhausted.

vic had spent the night at lukes, where she had been for the past two weeks since returning home. the late night was taking its toll along with the energy required to keep a young boy entertained as well as a four month old baby.

her brother, christopher, had already face timed twice from the airport. he was clearly anxious about his first time away from his kids for more than a day. vic had left luke's house before he had woken up, neglecting to inform him of her current lodgers.

the little boy peered at his baby sister, kissed her head, and then looked up at vic.

"fries?" seth asked batting his big brown eyes at his aunt.

"momma would tell me off if i only fed you fries for the week bud" vic laughed, "lets see what i've got in"

she stood up still holding a groggy ella who was chewing on her fist.

"how about chicken, veggies and some mashed potato?"

seth didn't look too impressed with vics suggestion but gave in.

"ti, can i watch tv?"

victoria nodded and he hugged her legs before running off immediately. she loved that her nephew still called her 'ti' or 'ti-ti' from when he was younger and couldn't master 'auntie'.

she decided not to bother with the battle of trying to set ella down. the baby was clingy at the best of times. vic held her against her chest using one hand so she could fill a pan to boil some veggies and prepare the mashed potato.

once dinner was underway vic curled into her new armchair watching seth's excitement over the cartoon he was engrossed in. ella was peering around the room with curious eyes.

vic missed spending time with her family. she wasn't close with her extended family, contacted her parents when she could and only spoke with her brother on a weekly basis.

over the past few months she had seen chris less and less. she didn't know if it was because of work or luke or life in general but she missed time with her nephew and sister-in-law. with her newborn niece she was reaching out again, instantly volunteering to look after them for the week.

by half past seven seth was fed and bathed, tucked up in his bed in the spare room and sleeping soundly. ella had slept for half an hour whilst they ate before screaming the apartment down. vic had fed her again, changed her and was in the process of putting her to bed as well.

chris had warned her that ella was still too young to be sleeping through the night so her crib was set up on the far side of vic's bed.

"i can tell you're tired baby. you're really forcing those eyes to stay open" victoria cooed.

the ludic speech was foreign to her but it felt right and she was just copying how every other adult spoke to a baby.

she wanted to jump for joy when the tiny girls breathy snores filled the room.

two kids asleep before eight, definitely a first night success.

victoria poured a small glass of wine (still aware of her responsibilities) and put on a movie that she had been waiting to watch for days. she stretched out across the couch wriggling her toes.