✅1️⃣ Trusting the Babysitter

Chapter 37 - Incrimination

There was no reason to worry. No reason at all. Even if Lorelei hadn't left the tablet to fall asleep while she was enjoying the power trip of being a director, there was nobody who would take that hypothetical video as being anything but a joke. They could both reassure themselves, as Lorelei tweaked the scene little by little, that this would only ever be funny to the child.

It was amazing how long it took without the little kid losing interest. At her age, they might have expected her to have a shorter attention span. But it seemed like she really wanted to be in the theatre, and loved making people act out the same scene over and over, with slight variations. It was overcast now, and starting to get cold. But Lorelei didn't seem to care, and Adam and Claudia both knew they had endured worse.

At some point, Lorelei seemed to decide that she didn't want to talk while they were acting. Instead, she told them to wait while she ran back to the lounge to get a colouring book from the toy chest. She wrote instructions on some of the pages in giant scrawled capitals. And in case they were in any doubt, she told them that they had to obey the directions when she held them up.

After what seemed like forever, the little kid smiled and said they were ready. She'd changed what she wanted them to say so many times now, the words were all turning into a blur in Adam's memory. But he was sure he could repeat what she'd had him say the last time.

"Put it on again!" Lorelei demanded, and passed the tablet back to her big sister. Claudia obediently unlocked the screen, and a quick glance told her that Lorelei had been using the camera. She took it back and pointed it at them, holding the device in both hands. Adam didn't particularly want to be in front of it, but he knew that he didn't really have any choice right now. The camera was on him, and he heard a faint chirp which probably meant that it was recording. All he could do now was ham it up as much as possible, in the hope that anyone who ended up seeing this video would be unable to take it seriously.

"Okay again!" Lorelei demanded. "Like last time!"

"I'm such a big baby," Adam mumbled, putting his thumb in his mouth half way through the sentence so that his voice was sure to be inaudible. Lorelei somehow managed to hold up the book with her '𝓢𝓤𝓒𝓚' sign showing at the right time, gripping the top edge of the tablet in one hand while not quite dropping it.

She looked around and balanced the tablet on one of the chairs while Adam continued his incomprehensible monologue. She walked around the chair to look at the screen, and seemed satisfied with what she saw. Only then was she ready to turn the page and hold up the next page, where words practically obliterated a n outline picture of some fairytale princess.

"I'm such a big baby," Adam repeated, removing his thumb from its place so he could speak clearly. "I love being a baby girl. It's so much fun. I like making a mess with my food, and throwing toys, and dressing up in pretty dresses. I'm the biggest baby princess in the whole wide world. Look, I got a pretty dress like a real princess. I love playing princess."

"Me too!" Claudia joined in on cue. She crawled over to Adam, while Lorelei kept the camera focused on him, and put her arms around him in a clumsy hug. They both complied when Lorelei showed them the '𝓕𝓪𝓛𝓛 𝓓𝓞𝓦𝓝' sign, and then struggled to sit up so the hypothetical viewer could see their matching dresses. Then she continued: "I love playing baby girl, and Adam is the best babysitter in the world, and the best little baby girl too. Such a silly little girl! We even got matching diapers 'cause we're both silly little babies."

She was blushing, but still couldn't help laughing when Lorelei held up the '𝓖𝓘𝓖𝓛𝓔' sign. The next sign was simply '𝓒𝓐𝓡𝓡𝓨 𝓞𝓝' and they both knew their lines well enough by now.

"I'm such a baby girl, I love being a real baby," Adam offered.

"So do I. But we need a grown-up to change our diapers, don't we Adam?"

"Yep. I'm such a naughty baby, I love making stinkies in my diaper," he answered, trying to ignore his blushes, and treated the camera to a huge smile when Lorelei held up the card with the appropriate stage direction.

"It's so much fun," Claudia answered. "Someday we might make stinkies together, just like a real baby. Then we'll be proper baby girls."

They were both blushing now, the camera on them intensifying the shame, but they'd got to the end of the scene now. Adam gave a sigh of relief, but the '𝓖𝓘𝓖𝓛𝓔' sign was on show again, so the two of them both broke down in obviously-fake laughter with stupid smiles on their faces. After that, there was no way anyone would consider this video as something serious, even if they didn't manage to delete it as soon as Claudia had the tablet in her hands.

Lorelei turned the page, to show them a direction they hadn't seen before. This one was written in different colours, that looked like a highlight marker. It must have been written before they even came here, just waiting to surprise them. The double page was filled by the giant letters '𝓟𝓞𝓞𝓟', with '𝓓𝓞 𝓘𝓣 𝓝𝓞𝓦' in smaller letters beneath. There was no misunderstanding the order, or the fact that it was a command. Adam wished there was a way to fight it, but that would have meant disobeying a direct order. He closed his eyes automatically, the only way he could think of to ignore the camera pointing at them, and started to push.