Cole Ward bounced the baby boy on his hip as they waved goodbye to the child's parents. Gratefully, baby Vihaan was happily sucking on his own fingers rather than crying. Less gratefully, his big sister Addy had sat down and began sobbing as soon as her parents tried to leave.
Cole smiled to hide the pain he felt at the screeching wails, leaning over and hooking a hand in the back of the toddler's sweater to pull her back and free her poor father from her grip.
"Now, We'll be gone for a week, and we will be on the plane tonight, but we promise to call every night after that. Mommy and Daddy love you, our sweet Addy Bear. We need you to be good and help Mister Cole take care of you and your little brother, okay?"
Addy's wails softened to a quiet sniffle when her mother crouched down and hugged her. She then dropped a small peck on top of the toddler's small head and moved to get up, though she didn't manage before Addy grabbed her and gave her a big wet smooch goodbye.
Cole chuckled as he scooped Addy up into his free arm, letting her soak her tears into his apron. "Don't worry, Dr. and Mr. Chopra, Addy and I have got this down pat, everything will be fine. If you hem and haw much longer though, you're going to miss your trip." He said, not subtly pushing one of the suitcases out the door with his knee.
Mr. Chopra smiled and took his wife's hand and tugged her towards the door. "Alright, alright, message received. Come on, Love, we have a flight to catch." The red haired man successfully started pulling his reticent wife out the door, even as she continued to shout out instructions until the lock was flipped, and she was fully out of ear shot.
"Remember, the emergency numbers are on the fridge and in the desk, and if you can only shout, the home assistant can call, and Addy's play phone has a button with a superhero on it that will call 911. Don't forget to give her her medicine every day at lunch, and if you go outside, bring her epipen-!"
Cole just smiled peacefully as the door finally closed and he could hit the lock button on his side of the key pad.
Finally letting himself roll his eyes, he glanced over at the desk. Had Dr. Chopra really forgotten about the binder of childcare instructions that her husband had written and forced him to memorize before they left the first time?
Cole had nightmares sometimes about Mr. Chopra giving him a pop quiz about something that the binder had no reason to cover. The regular quizzes were stressful enough, even if he didn't begrudge the man taking the time to confirm Cole still knew what he was doing. His job history did tell a dark and sordid tale after all.
Walking over to the kitchen island, he carefully wiggled the cute little firey headed infant into his high chair before fetching a cloth to wipe Addy's face. The little girl's sniffles finally started to slow down, and she looked at him with her big dark eyes.
"Coco?" Addy asked, finally. "Can I braid your hair? and then can we bake cookie? and watch a movie?" Cole could barely hold back his laughter at the small little devious smile the girl was trying to hide.
"Oh I see how it is. I'm the bad guy when mommy and daddy are here. But when they leave, suddenly I'm Coco again?" Cole said, stifling his smirk before suddenly tickling the toddler, laughing with her as she screamed with glee.
Cole was a big brother through and through, and while he was sorely tempted to keep tickling her until they were both gasping for air, when Addy cried "Stop, Coco! Stop!" He carefully righted his little charge and made sure she was okay.
Cole's own little sister would have been proud of his growth as a human.
Or tickled him. They were siblings after all.
He would have felt worse about potentially upsetting little Addy, had she not immediately started pulling out all kinds of ribbons and bows to stick in his hair. Cole quickly resigned himself to his fate, scooping Vihaan back up to take him to his play mat instead. That way, Cole could sit down on the couch while Addy tried to pull his shaggy purple hair out.
He had been meaning to get a haircut for a while, but he didn't have as much time lately, since he had taken up residence with the Chopra's. Most of his free time was spent sleeping or doing homework- the one free day he had managed to claw out for himself so far had been used replacing the glasses that Vihaan had knocked off his face when they were out on a walk.
His sister claimed that these new frames looked even better on him. Not hard for her to judge, since the two of them were twins and looked immensely similar, but Cole's favourite part was mostly that they were plastic. Now, at least, when the children inevitably broke the new pairs, he wouldn't have to worry about trying to clean up glass.
With that thought in mind, he did take them off and fold them carefully onto the coffee table however, half closing his eyes as he let the four year old girl yank on locks of his hair. Cole wasn't entirely certain she knew how to make a braid, but she made up for her lack of talent with sheer enthusiasm.
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Four hours later, and Cole was tucked between two happily dozing children, watching the end credits to Mulan for the fiftieth time that week.
He carefully extricated himself, putting a pillow between them so neither fell over, before getting the diaper bag and pulling out some wet wipes to clean the chocolate off of Addy's face, and the arrow root cookie off of Vihaan's. The little boy was still toothless, but he still loved gumming everything he could reach into little tiny bits.
Cole knew it was poor form to just feed the children milk and cookies- but in his defense, the cookies were peanut butter chocolate chip. So there was protein in it at least. And the two wee things were tuckered right out from the excitement earlier in the day.
He carried Vihaan to his change table, getting him clean, dry, and in his onesie, and then inside his sleep sack, before placing him in his crib. Then Cole went and gently roused Addy long enough to get her to go potty, brush her teeth, and then help her get into her jammies- after spending ten minutes of half mumbled directions, half charades, in order to pick out the 'right ones.'
The right ones turned out to be her space, knight, and princess phoenix themed pajamas that Cole was relatively confident the Chopras had had custom designed for the toddler. If only because he had never seen a princess phoenix anywhere else.
Thankfully, she was still sleepy when Cole tucked her in bed next to Vihaan's crib. "Coco" She mumbled. "Sing to me?"
He smiled and patted her head, careful not to muss the black braid he had put in earlier. "Of course, Addy."
Cole cleared his throat and started to sing the song his own nanny had song when he was little. "A la nanita nana, nanita ella, nanita ella~" He crooned, sleep becoming thick in his own voice, but he kept going until the little girl's eyes had closed again, and soft whistling little snores started coming at even intervals.
"Goodnight Addy. Goodnight Vihaan. Your mom and dad love you so much, and I love you too." He whispered, carefully walking backwards to the door, dimming the light, and swinging it mostly shut behind him.
Cole made it back to his own room and hit his bed like a magnet, drawn in. His eyes drifted shut, knowing that he too should brush his teeth and change into pajamas, but not even having the energy to undo the tie on his apron.
He could have been there for five minutes. He could have been there for five hours.
All Cole knew was that one minute he was hitting his bed, the next minute he was bolting out of the room as the screams of "COCO!!!!!" Echoed through the condo.
He grabbed the emergency bag on the way, slamming his glasses on his face, regardless of whether that poked him in the eye. He was not pulling the EpiPen out yet, but was making sure the compartment was within reach of his hand if he needed it.
Cole was prepared to find out Addy had fallen from bed and cracked her skull. He was prepared to find out that Vihaan was choking on his own saliva.
He was not prepared to see two frightened children in pillars of bright light as they start to float up from their resting places. Mr. Chopra's book did not have a section for what to do when paranormal activities started happening. The closest Cole could come up with was the case of what to do in a natural disaster, so he did as he had learned.
He ran forwards, grabbed the children, grabbed the diaper bag, and tried to get the hell out of dodge.
The fact that the lights were following them, and then grew to cover him as well did not serve to encourage Cole. Nor when he stopped making progress forwards as his feet slipped off the ground, leaving him completely unable to keep going forwards. Floundering for something more to do to keep them safe, he tried to grab anything he could, the light overwhelming him to the point he had no idea what was in his hands.
When the lights finally dimmed, and his feet touched down once more, he had no idea where he was. And his hard won reward for running for safety? A container of cookies. Helpful.