The Babysitter (Broadchurch Fanfiction)

Chapter 2

After the eighth episode of Peppa Pig, Alec thought that if he had to hear that awful opening song one more time, he would definitely eat fish and chips to death. Fred was happily humming along, still cuddled against his chest. He noticed that his humming wasn't as light as it was before, as if something was in his mouth. He lazily lowered his sight on the boy, ready to tell him to stop chewing his dinosaur when he actually saw what was in his mouth. The remote control. He was actually chewing the remote control. Alec paled and shrieked:

"Oh god, Fred, don't eat that!"

The little boy took it off his mouth with a 'pop' and looked at the adult, curious. When did it happen? Did Alec fell asleep for a second and the child took the opportunity to switch the dinosaur for the remote? He grabbed it and put it on the coffee table, looking back at Fred.

"You can't eat the remote," Alec said, searching for a justification. "If you do--" Your mum will kill me, he thought. "It won't work anymore and we won't be able to watch more TV. You don't want that, do you?"

The boy shook his head.

"How many episodes did we watch?" he asked.

"Some."

Right. Helpful. Alec scratched his beard and sighed. The boy's stomach growled. Alec raised an eyebrow and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. It was already past noon and it was definitely time for Fred to eat something. The kid's stomach made noises again and he giggled.

"Alright, time to eat, don't you think, wee mate?"

With the kid's noisy approbation, Alec got off the couch and took him to the kitchen, convincing him to sit on the chair – and stay sit on it – while he was looking for food. Alec knew kids. He had one so he knew he had to keep them focus for them to stay calm. The memory of little Daisy being so difficult to please as an infant floated in his mind for a second, drawing a small smile on his face. He knew that to make the boy stay still, he had to include him in the conversation. He opened the fridge and hummed:

"Hm, I wonder what Mum made us for lunch! I'm sure it will be so good!"

"Mum's food is always good!" Fred squealed.

"Really? I will eat everything if it is!"

"No! It is my food!"

Alec flashed a smile at him as the young Miller crossed his arms and started pouting. He looked very much like his mother doing so. Alec picked a carrot ballot and showed him to the boy.

"Is that it?"

"No! It's in jars!" answered Fred.

"Oh," Alec said, faking deception. "What jar? That jar?"

He picked up a pickles jar. He thought that of course it would be in jars, because Ellie Miller was actually quite terrible at cooking but she didn't want to disappoint her son, even if Alec was pretty sure Fred would love everything his mom would make because she was the one making it.

"Ew no!" laughed the child, crouching his nose with disgust. "That's pickles!"

"Oh really? It doesn't look like pickles to me!"

"That's pickles! That's pickles! That's pickles!" sang the boy.

"A big lad like you don't eat pickles?"

"No, they hurt the tongue!" Fred stated, as a matter of fact.

Alec nodded, he was right.

"My mom used to say pickles turned children green, like Hulk."