carry on

5

"Hey baby girl" I coo as Toby slowly wakes up from her nap that she had on my bed. It was just the two of us for a couple more hours since I dropped Atticus off at pre-school today for the first time in a while. "Dada" Toby babbled as she reached out to me, I freeze and stare down at the baby in shock. I'm not her daddy and I never will be but at 8 months old she won't understand that. I choose to ignore her first word and lift her up and stand her in front of me.

She let out a loud giggle and shriek as I lifted her up in the air a bit before bringing her back down, she seemed to really enjoy it so I did it a couple more times before laying her back down on the bed in front of me. I straighten her clothing and bow a little before grabbing my phone and snap a photo of my beautiful niece. I play with her for a little longer before taking her downstairs and into the kitchen.

I had purchased a high chair for her yesterday so I place her down in it before walking over to the cupboard where I keep all the baby food products and grab out a jar of baby food and a baby spoon before taking a seat in front of Toby. There was a bib already on the counter so I pick it up and velcro it around the baby's neck before I started feeding her slowly. She loved banana baby food so she was smashing down this food with a huge smile on her face. While she chewed I checked the time on my phone to see it was 11:30am and Atty needed to be picked up at 3.

I place my phone down on the counter and continue feeding Toby until the jar was empty. I stand up and take the jar and spoon over to the sink and rinse them before grabbing a bottle of milk from the fridge, I walk back over to Toby and lift her up from the high chair before carrying her out of the kitchen and into the garage once I had my keys and wallet that were by the door. I unlock my car before placing Toby into her carseat, i buckle her in before passing her the bottle of milk which she happily accepted. I reach in and grab the diaper bag that was on the floor under her car seat and pull out a pair of white socks that were in there and slip them onto her little feet. Once I knew she was going to be fine I shut the back door and climb into the drivers seat. 

- 

"Aww who are these cuties?" I stop as I hear somebody speak to us, it wasn't just some random though. It was James' my best mate. I haven't really seen any of my friends since the incident or spoke to any of them. "hey man" I say as I pull him into a hug and he tried to squeeze the lift out of me, but I quickly pulled away with a laugh. It was then when I noticed we weren't alone, there was a beautiful girl with James, I turn to him and raise an eyebrow. "I didn't know you got yourself a girlfriend" I say which resulted in her laughing. 

"I'm not his girlfriend, I'm his sister" I turn to James and raise my eyebrow at him again "NO" James quickly objected as if he knew what I was thinking. "Hey, I'm Luke" I introduce myself while James glares at me. "Hey, I'm Ellie, and who's this little one?" Ellie questions as she turns to Toby who was now in James' arms babbling. "that is my niece Toby" I say as she reached out and tickled the bottom of Toby's foot which made the baby squeal which always makes me cringe and smile at the same time. That child has a set of lungs on her. 

"Aww cute, are you babysitting?" The question sort of broke my heart. I wish I was just babysitting for a short amount of time, I wish i could give her back to her mum and dad later this afternoon. "Ellie" James said and shook his head at his sister. "It's okay Jamie, my sister and her partner passed away. So i am the legal guardian of two kids" I explain and before she could say sorry I beat her to it. "Don't worry about it, it's fine"

She smiled softly at me which I returned before looking towards James who was bouncing Toby up and down making her laugh her head off. "Be careful, I don't want her to vomit" James stopped bouncing the baby and turned so they were both facing me. "Uncle Lukey is a mood killer isn't he Tobes?" James spoke in a baby voice to Toby making me roll my eyes.

"Dada" Toby exclaimed as she reached a hand out to me, I let out a sigh at my new nickname and grab the baby from James, she immediately cuddled into me and put her fingers in her mouth. "So dada, where to next?" James teased, I send him a glare before pulling my phone out to check the time. "I have to pick up the little troublemaker in an hour, so I don't mind" I say as we start walking together, James was pushing the stroller which I was happy about.

For the next hour we walked around the shopping centre, looking in random stores and buying odd things. We finally left the centre and James said he'd come by later with the rest of the lads to hang out, I allowed this under the strict rule of no yelling. I now had both children in the back of the car, Atticus was telling me about his super cool day at pre-school. "I'm glad you had a good day at school baby" I say as I turn the car off and get out of the car.

I walk up the couple stairs that led to the door and unlock it before walking back to the car. I choose to get Atty out first so I get him out of the car, place him on the ground. As soon as his feet touched the ground he ran inside to get undressed, I shut the car door and head to the other side of the car where I unbuckle the sleepy baby and lift her out. I close the door and head inside to find Atty laying on the ground in front of the tv watching some show he managed to put on himself. I walk over to Atticus and place Toby down on the ground beside him, the floor in the lounge was carpeted so I didn't have to worry about getting something soft for her head.

"Can you watch her for a second bub?" Atty nodded his head so I quickly walk into the kitchen and make a sandwich for Atty and grab two bottles before walking back into the lounge to see Atty was sitting up and helping Toby sit up beside him. I put the bottles on the couch and quickly snap a photo of the children before walking over to the two. I place the plate with cut up sandwich beside Atty. I bend down and carefully pick up Toby before taking a seat on the couch.

I adjust the baby so she was laying down in my arms before putting the teat in her mouth. She greedily began drinking which brought a smile to my face, she will no doubt pass out in a matter of minuets which is why I told James no yelling when him and the lads arrive, I wanted a full nights sleep so letting this little one have one last nap before bed time is going to help so much.