MAEVE’S POV
The doorbell rang and we paused the movie.
“I want to get it!” Bella jumped off Brock’s lap and looked to me for permission.
“No I want to!” James whined.
“Come on,” Christian stood up. “You can both get it together.” I handed Christian the money and he crouched so Bella could jump onto his back before the three of them set off down the hallway.
I pulled out some plates, glasses and bottles of drink. Christian called for some help carrying the boxes and Mitch went to the door. They came back carrying the pizzas and a roll of garlic bread.
“Dinner’s up,” I announced and they all pounced on the table. I grabbed a couple of slices and sat up on the counter, pulling out my phone to check my twitter. Yay for multi-tasking.
WATonighters #WATUpdate The boys are babysitting right now
KatieHowell @WATonighters how could you possibly know that?
WATonighters @KatieHowell I just delivered pizza to them. Christian and Mitch answered the door with two little kids.
MrsBrockJays @WATonighters @KatieHowell awwww! They are so precious! Does anyone know whose kids they are?
I looked up and over at all of them at the table. I got into instagram and snapped a cute picture of Luke and James. James was sitting on Luke’s lap with tomato all over his chubby little cheeks and Luke was holding a glass of coke and laughing down at him.
maevekerrc Aww, my boys!
I scrolled down my feed and saw the others had posted a couple of photos.
brockjays “Brock, we both start with Bs so we can be best friends” – My new best friend, Bella.
The picture was a selfie of him and Bella both pulling faces with their tongues out. I liked it and added to all the comments saying how cute they were.
christianwat Best babysitters ever @mitchelcave @taylahjays
Christian, Mitchel and Taylah were crouched with James and Bella in front of the TV with Nemo on the screen behind them.
“Come on munchkins,” I jumped down off the bench and put my plate in the sink. “PJ time. Let’s go.”
“Luke, come see my room,” James pulled him upstairs by the hand. Bella and I followed behind them.
“Go put you jammies on Bel,” I nudged her towards her room and went into my own next door. I grabbed a jumper and a pair of shorts from my dresser and pulled my hair up into a ponytail out of my face.
“Nice look,” Luke whistled from the doorway and I laughed, leaning against the edge of my desk. “You’re really good with kids.”
“I’ve had a lot of practice,” I shrugged. “You’re not too shabby yourself. James practically worships you.”
“He’s a good kid,” he smiled fondly. “Coming back down?” I nodded and we left the room. Bella and James ran out of their rooms, wearing adorable little onesie pyjamas.
“Can we have ice-cream, please Maeve!” Bella begged, pulling off a perfect puppy dog face. I nodded and the four of them cheered. By the four of them, I mean the kids as well as Christian and Taylah. I rolled my eyes and pulled a tub of ice-cream out of the freezer. Brock took the job of scooping it into bowls and I covered them with chocolate topping.
“Thank you Maeve,” Mitchel said childishly, grinning as I handed him a bowl.
“Alright, say goodnight now,” I told the kids when they’d finished their bowls. “I want you both in bed in ten minutes, no buts.”
They did their rounds of saying goodnight to all their new friends before traipsing upstairs, yawning even as they protested that they weren’t tired.
“They’re awesome,” Brock laughed when they were gone. I just smiled, they were pretty good kids.
“So where’d your aunt go?” Taylah asked.
“Business trip,” I explained. “She usually works at home, she’s a journalist, but she had to go away for the weekend, so I’ve got the kids for a couple of nights.”
“Want us to stay and help you out?” Georgia offered. “We can take the kids out tomorrow, do something fun.”
“That’d be awesome,” I said, and I actually meant it. It’d be nice to have some company. “We can stay down here, push the couches back. Do you girls want to borrow some clothes to sleep in?”
I led them upstairs to my room. They sat on the bed while I pulled out some clothes for them to change into. Before I handed them over I hesitated.
“I know you’ll all find out eventually,” I said slowly. “And I know you should have found out before now, so I’ll tell you guys why I live with my aunt.” After I’d told them they jumped up and hugged me. I gave them the clothes and went back downstairs.
As soon as I walked into the lounge I was attacked by a group hug. Luke stood back and smiled at me apologetically, I just shrugged and smiled back before hugging the four boys around me. The girls came back down and we pulled out a couple of mattresses and doonas.
We convinced the boys to let us watch A Walk To Remember. We all ended up crying by the end. I leant on Luke’s shoulder and he put an arm around me. We’d ended up being the last awake. Taylah and Mitchel had drifted off at opposite ends of the couch. Georgia was sleeping with her arm across Christian next to us. Brock was curled up in an armchair and Tyrone was stretched out across the second couch.
“Sorry I told them,” he said quietly. “They practically begged me. Sorry for invading your house as well.”
“Don’t be sorry,” I shook my head, “for either. It’s probably better that they know, and I’m glad you guys are here. It’s better than being alone, that kind of freaks me out to be honest.”
“Well then you’re welcome,” he chuckled and I smiled into his shoulder.
