burning - topper thornton s1 & s2

one

"so astrid, why do you think i should hire you?" the woman asked the dark haired girl who was seated in front of her. she cleared her throat and put her hands together, resting them in her lap.

"well ma'am, i'm great with children, i have three younger siblings myself, and you already know that your children adore me. plus, i can clean while the kids are sleeping or watching tv." astrid tells the woman and she watches the girl's body language before sighing, a tight lipped smile forming on her lips.

"okay, i'll hire you. i have to leave for work in... 25 minutes so can you start then?" the woman asks and astrid smiles at her.

"i'd love to, thank you." she says and shakes her new boss' hand as the two stand up.

"oh and astrid, whenever my oldest son is around please leave him be, he has a girlfriend." the woman says and gives astrid a pointed look. astrid looks taken aback for a moment before nodding.

"yes ma'am." she answers and walks out of the office and into the living room.

"astrid!" thaleia screeches and astrid smiles widely at her, opening her arms for the young girl. she runs over and wraps her arms around astrid, squeezing her tightly as astrid pretends to be pained by the girl's tight hold.

"i want hugs!" theo complains as he walks over to the pair, joining in on their hug.

"yeah, i want hugs too." a different voice says and astrid looks up from the twins to see topper who had just walked in and was heading toward the kitchen.

"oh, uh hi topper." astrid greets him and he simply nods in her direction before continuing to the kitchen.

"what do you guys want to do?" astrid asked the two twins who were at hip level on her. they looked at each other before grinning and looking back up at their babysitter.

"paw patrol!" they both yelled at the same time and astrid cringed at their high pitched tone.

"okay okay, shhh, i'll turn paw patrol on." astrid tells them and walks to the large tv, grabbing the remote from a side table. she turns it on and clicks her way through the channels before finding it.

"i love paw patrol." thaleia said as the twins plopped down onto the couch.

"are you guys hungry?" astrid asked them and they nodded their heads, silently watching the tv.

"pancakes?" astrid asked and they nod again. she walks into the kitchen and searches through the cabinets for a whisk once she has a bowl out.

"what are you looking for?" topper asks as he enters the room again. she looks over at him, a bit scared by his sudden voice.

"oh a whisk, if you have one..." she trails off and he stares at her for a moment before walking over toward her. she backs up slightly and he opens a drawer, searching through it before pulling out a silver whisk.

"here." he hands astrid the whisk and she takes it, trying not to touch his hand in the process.

"thank you." she mumbles and goes to the pantry to grab pancake mix and syrup.

"making pancakes?" he asks and she nods wordlessly, mixing the pancake mix and water together. the butter sizzles on the pan as she pours the mix onto it in an almost perfect circle. she made about a dozen pancakes, putting them all on a plate to cool before the kids at them. she also made a couple smaller ones just in case they wanted those instead.

"mm pancakes." topper says and grabs one from the plate. astrid gasps and smacks his hand but he still holds it, raising one of his eyebrows at the girl in front of him.

"excuse you!" she says in a sort of hushed tone as he eats the pancake.

"those are not for you." she tells him and he simply shrugs.

"pancakes!" he announces and astrid glares at him as the kids squeal, running to the kitchen.

"i want pancakes!" theo shrieks and she sighs before smiling down at the two children. astrid grabs two plastic plates and put two pancakes on each.

"syrup?" she asks and the two both nod quickly. she pours some syrup on and puts a fork on each plate.

"can you cut them or do you need help?" she asks as she scoots past topper to put the plates on the table.

"i can cut it." theo says and grabs a butter knife, sitting down on his seat.

"me too!" thaleia says and does the same, sitting next to theo.

"mmm!" theo hums and she smiles softly at them before going back to the stove top to turn it off.

"topper?" a soft voice calls out through the house as astrid hears a door close.

"i'm in the kitchen." topper says as astrid grabs a pancake for herself and puts it on her own plate.

"oh, hi astrid." sarah says as she walks into the kitchen with a beach bag on her arm.

"hey sarah." astrid says kind of awkwardly as she walk over to the table.

"what are... what are you doing here?" she asks as topper walks over to her, glancing between the two teens in the room.

"she's their babysitter." topper answers and kisses sarah's cheek. she hesitates before nodding.

"i'm leaving!" topper's mother announced as she walked into the kitchen.

"oh hello sarah, it's lovely to see you darling." ms. thornton said to the girl and she blushed in response.

"you as well mrs. thornton, are you ready for the hurricane tonight?" sarah asked.

"there's a hurricane coming tonight?" astrid asks, shocked she hadn't known before.

"yeah, hurricane agatha. is your father boarding up at home?" sarah asks and astrid hesitates, knowing she should be home.

"i'm sure he is. thank you." astrid smiles gently before eating a piece of pancake.

"mommy look, astrid made us pancakes!" thaleia said to her mother who smiled at her daughter.

"tasty huh?" mrs. thornton asks and she nods, chewing her pancake piece.

"well i have to go, be careful. i might have to stay at the hospital overnight. if that is the case, make sure you get home at a decent hour astrid." mrs. thornton says.

"i will, thank you ma'am." astrid said happily and the woman blew a kiss to her children before leaving.

"paw patrol!" theo screeched as he saw it back on, running over to the couch.

"uh we're gonna go. have fun." topper says and leaves without another word. astrid sighs before cleaning up from breakfast.