100 Baby Daycare One-Shots

Gingerbread (Part 1)

The air was crisp with Winter and even with the heat provided by werewolf genes, herding a small army of children across streets was the worst activity Austin could imagine. He chased a number of kids up the stairs of his house, yearning to stop and just sleep on the steps.

He lost track of the number of kids, but there were at least two of them. Possibly five but no more than eight. He was pretty sure anyway. He followed the stampede up until they all reached the living room and finally dispersed into different areas of the building.

He sighed with relief, tossing his jacket over a nearby chair only for it to fall to the floor. A tower of sewing supplies--measuring tapes, pin cushions dotted with needles, a tiny stack of thimbles--were teetering on the back of the chair. He raised an eyebrow, slowly picking his jacket back up. "Bri? What's going-"

He froze. The room was covered in a sea of brown fabric, spreading across the floor in waves and dominating all the couch space. Bottles of various colors and sizes were lined up on the coffee table in what probably started out in an organized order, now all mixed up in patterns that made no sense. Plastic bags full of what looked like cotton balls in all colors of the rainbows were stacked underneath the table, along with a wooden crate of pipe cleaners.

Austin stepped over a river of fabric and picked one of the bottles up. 'Pure White Puffy Paint; created perfect for cotton and synthetic material' he read. "Uh, Bri? What's all this?"

"I got roped into helping with the kids' Christmas pageant this year," she explained, not looking up from her place on the floor in front of the couch. Two pieces of brown were strewn across her lap and she held a hot glue gun steadily in her hand, sticking her tongue out of the side of her mouth in concentration.

"They have a Christmas pageant?"

Bri tried lining brown fabric with the hot glue, but nothing came out. She shook the gun and jiggled the cord. "All of our kids were banned last year, but this year they made a rule that everyone who wants to has to be allowed to participate."

Austin pushed the hot glue plug farther into the wall and wandered to the kitchen while Bri glued away. "And all our kids wanted to do it?"

"It was Bells' and Evan's idea."

"Of course it was."

No sooner had his heart rate started to calm, the serenity was abruptly broken again as Brady and Jaxton raced in from the hallway, shouting and throwing pipe cleaners stolen from the floor.

"Get over here!" They ran past the counter stools, knocking into one. It spun in place, rocking on one leg for a dangerously long time before settling.

Austin ran a hand down his face, internally groaning. "Guys, watch out! You're gonna knock something over and hit your mom." He flopped into a kitchen chair, watching the mayhem tiredly.

"Sorry mom!" The two yelled in tandem. They zipped around the kitchen, twice, back again. Brady ducked under the dining room table and Jaxton was right after him, sliding like a seal right across the floor and jumped to his feet on the other side.

As they neared the back door, Coraline appeared on the balcony and stepped in front of her brothers. Not stopping in time, the two ran straight into the angel and collapsed into a tangled heap on the floor. She gently kneeled next to them, patting their heads.

"Ugh, was that necessary Cora?" Brady groaned.

She enthusiastically nodded. "Mhm!"

He sneered and rolled back, flinging himself back up onto two feet. He helped Jaxton up, who threw one more pipe cleaner at his head before darting across the room on all fours, scaling the back of the couch and settling on top.

Austi snickered and Bri openly laughed. "Brady, be nice to your brother," she said.

"Michael started it!"

"And where's Michael now?"

He sighed dramatically, climbing up onto a kitchen chair. "In his room." He slumped forward, laying his head on his hand, muttering under his breath.

"Then I guess I don't have anyone to help me with these costumes..." Bri trailed off, a teasing smirk playing on her face.

Coraline's face brightened. She flew the short distance to her mother and delicately landed next to her, taking up a bit of fabric and puffy paint. "I can help you mom!"

"Aww, thank you!" Bri patted her head, smiling. "You're so sweet."

Brady sat up straight in his chair. "Hey, I'm sweet too! Move over Coraline!" He stormed over, grabbing the paint out of her hand and starting dotting lines on a gumdrop. His sister let him take it and just smiled softly and Austin couldn't help but wonder if that was her plan.

'That's my daughter.'

He felt a tugging on his pant leg and looked down. Jaxton stood silently in front of him, holding up his arms expectantly. "What?" He kept his arms up. "Aren't you a little old to sit on my lap?" Austin asked.

Jaxton looked up at him with pleading eyes and Austin sighed. "No you're not. Come here."

Grinning, he ran over and practically jumped onto his father's lap, cuddling up into his chest. Austin ruffled his hair and went back to just watching Bri and the kids. Coraline took up a pair of scissors and stood up with a roll of fabric. She held it up next to herself, measuring carefully with estimated guesses without actual measuring tape and started snipping away.

Outside, snow flurries started to fall. Soft white pellets sticking to the sidewalk and grass and probably replacing the pool water with sludge. The air inside melted back into a sense of calm, no one spoke and the only sounds being the occasional footsteps overhead and the slick slicing of the scissors.

Bri hummed and lightly dotted a thin stripe of white fabric with glue then swiftly pressed it along the edge of half a gingerbread man costume. She put it aside, setting it flat on the ground and laying a cook on top to keep it on until it dried. Sighing, she wondered if it was a blessing or curse that all her kids would be gingerbread men. Made getting patterns right easy, but the monotonous measuring, cutting, sewing, and gluing grew tiring after a while.

She sat back against the couch, letting her bones relax for the first time in hours, and just watched her kids. Brady seemed content with gluing for the time being, making intricate patterns on what would end up being his costume no doubt. Coraline was happily cutting out the pieces to be sewn together. The scissors easily glided along in her hands and Bri was thankful the more angelic child was the one holding the sharp objects.

A new wave of peace overcame her and picked the hot glue gun back up. Her kids would no doubt be banned again next year so at least they'd have the best costumes this time around.

Jaxton wiggled in his father's arms, maneuvering to gaze up at him. "Daddy I wanna go play on the trampoline."

"Well I'm not stopping you." Austin nodded towards the window, the view of the town now obscured completely by a steady stream of snow. "Go on outside and play."

"But I wanna play with you and Dax," Jaxton pouted.

"I don't know where he is! Brady!" He called out. The young wolf in question didn't look up from his puffy painting but did tilt his head vaguely in his father's direction. "Where's Daxton?"

"I don't know! He said something about Santa and ran off."

The hot glue gun dropped from Bri's hand and Coraline yelped. She met Austin's glazed over expression with a horror-stricken one of her own. Anxiety-inducing flashbacks of cookies, threats of shanking, decorations, and having to get a new toothbrush raced through his mind and his grip on Jaxton tightened. "...What about Santa?" he asked, keeping his voice light but still shaky.

Brady shrugged, narrowing his eyes at the two identical bottles of green paint in his hands. "He said he saw Santa Claus or something in the park and wanted to see him."

A beat of heavy silence that hung in the air before Austin abruptly stood up, swinging Jaxton onto his shoulders. "We're going to the park! You know stranger danger? I'm, uh, gonna teach you on a new thing called Santa danger!"