Chapter 1
Aaron looked impatient as his twin toddler girls held tight to Andrew, Katelyn on the other hand was pressing soothing hands onto each of their backs. The girls had been attached to Andrew’s hip, arms, legs; really anything they could get their small hands onto, as soon as their parents had entered the apartment.
“I know you two want to stay, but you’ll get to see him Monday.” Katelyn assured the two girls. It was currently Friday and miraculously both Katelyn and Aaron had gotten the weekend off.
That seemed to be enough for Lucy who immediately let go and trotted over to her mother’s arms. Claire on the other hand refused to let go of Andrew, her small pout seemed to win Aaron over because a moment later he squatted down.
“Claire, I know you love Uncle Andrew but you have to come home now. You’ll get to see him in a few days.”
Andrew sat through the whole exchange with a frown, even after four years he still couldn’t fathom why these two adored him as much as they did. He hadn’t changed much since his college days. He was till brutal, still cold, but somehow the barrier he had built to protect himself had opened for these two.
“I’ll see you Monday,” Andrew said quietly, handing a screaming Claire over to Aaron.
When the small family finally left, Andrew went to the kitchen and grabbed a pint of ice cream and a bottle of red wine from the cabinet. He pulled a cork screw from one of the many drawers and popped open the bottle, taking a swig before settling in on the new leather couch he had purchased recently.
A book lay discarded beside a pile of paperwork his managers had demanded he get done before the weekend was up. The Exy team he played for had required that alongside his managers he hired a PR manager for himself. The alternative being that they find one for him, Andrew couldn’t bring himself to care either way.
Andrew settled into the couch, working his way through the double fudge ice cream and reading a book. The tv played quietly in the background until it was well past midnight and Andrew decided it was time for bed.
—
Since both Aaron and Katelyn worked as doctors, it was hard to find a babysitter who would put up with odd hours. Aaron found it much easier to drop the twins off at Andrew’s anytime he was on his way to work.
Andrew didn’t mind either, keeping up with the girls was much easier than looking after Kevin had ever been during college.
Andrew has just managed to get a few chores done when Aaron knocked and opened the front door. Claire was the first to stumble through the door, dressing in a yellow dress and white shoes, her platinum hair pulled back into pigtails. Lucy, always the late sleeper, was half-awake in her father’s arms.
“Here’s the diaper bag, I’ve been up all night with Lucy. Think she has a cold.” Aaron mumbled, looking no better than his sick daughter.
Andrew nodded, taking the diaper bag and Lucy from his brother, careful not to make any unnecessary contact. Aaron bent down to give Claire a hug before heading for the door.
“Mommy will be back to get you,” he paused, frowning, “sometime tonight.”
The girls didn’t seem to mind, already climbing onto Andrew’s couch and snuggling into the cushions. Andrew draped a fuzzy red blanket over the two girls and continued with his chores, using a kids movie as background noise.
—
A few hours pass of Andrew aimlessly cleaning, a steaming pit of soup on the stove for Lucy and two cut out sandwiches for himself and Claire. Lucy was sitting up, her face a light shade of pink, when Andrew brought the dishes into the livingroom area.
Claire grabbed for her sandwich, almost immediately sinking her teeth into the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Andrew gave the toddler sized bowl to Lucy before settling in between the girls.
“What show?” Andrew glances at the two of them, scrolling through the kids section on Hulu.
“Hm,” Claire pursed her lips, something she had picked up from Katelyn. “You pick!”
Andrew scrolled through the selection until he settled on a movie instead, Frozen. The girls giggled in delight at his choice.
“You always pick the best movies, Uncle Andrew!” Claire all but screamed after the movie was over, Lucy had fallen asleep leaned against Andrew’s side halfway through.
“Shh,” Andrew places a finger to his lips, “don’t wake your sister.”
The other girl nodded and snuggled closer to Andrew.
—
When Katelyn arrived to pick up the girls, Lucy was still asleep. A worried frown graced Katelyn’s lips. “How long has she been asleep?”
“Since 2, she at least ate some soup.” Andrew informed her.
The relationship between the two was still rocky at best, but Andrew thought it was only right to let Katelyn know about her child. Aaron and Andrew has been attending joint therapy sessions since the end of college so their relationship had improved a bit.
And of course with Andrew being the unofficial babysitter of the girls, the three had grown to an understanding. Andrew would do just about anything for the girls, and actually enjoyed spending time with someone other than himself. It was hardly any work at all actually, as much as Aaron had worried if he would be a good father, the girls so far were well mannered and cried hardly ever.
Andrew shut the door behind Katelyn and the girls after a long goodbye. Claire, once again, not wanting to leave and Katelyn bribing her with ice cream whenever they returned home.
Andrew tugged off his armbands and settled into bed with a book and the tv turned on for background noise. Before opening his book he stared out at the tv and thought about what he was going to do when the girls started going to elementary school.