Blue Plaid

Found

In which Stella doesn't feel so lost.

//

I had just stepped out of the shower when Tyson burst into my room. Horrified, I clutched my towel tighter around my body and fixed him with a heated glare.

"What the hell, Kingsley?"

He didn't bother rolling his eyes or stating the list of things he'd rather do than see me naked. Actually he looked pretty frazzled, his hair left messy and further mussed by his fingers as they ran through it.

"I'm really sorry, but I have to ask a huge favor," he panted slightly.

I raised an eyebrow warily. "Alright..."

"My boss called me into an emergency staff meeting this morning and I know I'm supposed to look after Cooper, but there's no way I can bring him to the restaurant, so can you watch him for a couple hours?"

"Tyson, I have a shoot today," I sighed. "I told you that last week."

"I know!" he replied quickly. "But I really can't afford to get fired and you know I wouldn't ask unless it was an absolute emergency. Please, Stel? I'll owe you."

Well, that was an intriguing thought.

"Fine," I said. "I'll take him to my shoot. He's pretty low maintenance, so I'm sure I can find a way to keep him entertained while I work."

"You're a goddess," he sighed in relief. Leaning forward, he quickly pecked my cheek and I found myself utterly horrified when my cheeks heated at the contact. "Like I said, it's only for a couple hours. Text me the address of your shoot and I'll come pick him up when I'm done."

"No problem," I replied quietly as he shot me a grateful glance and hurried out the door.

A few minutes later, I made my way down the stairs to find Cooper– we were still living in the house as we looked for a more affordable place – dressed super casually in dark wash jeans, a gray t-shirt, and my favorite navy blue boat shoes. I never dressed up to go into shoots because I figured they'd just end up changing everything anyway.

Tyson had left Cooper in his play pen in the living room, where he sat contently, pushing a large toy car across the floor. The toddler looked up as I approached, grinning widely as he dropped his car and held up his arms, insisting I pick him up. I obliged, bringing him to my hip and immediately dropping a kiss to the top of his head. On instinct, I sniffed his hair to find him smelling of baby shampoo, meaning Tyson had already given him a bath.

As I walked towards the kitchen, I wondered if that meant that Tyson had also fed Cooper. I received my answer in the form of a post it note stuck to the refrigerator door which read 'Bathed and fed Cooper cause I'm awesome'.

I rolled my eyes. Apparently Tyson was well versed in the art of sucking up. But if he thought this meant he didn't still owe me, he was sorely mistaken.

"Alright, bro," I cooed, settling Cooper into his high chair. "Give me like ten minutes to eat and grab my stuff and we'll head out."

It actually took me about eight minutes to toast and scarf down a pair of frozen waffles, grab my purse and the diaper bag Tyson had so graciously packed (boy really knew how to kiss ass when he needed to), tuck Cooper into his stroller, and head out the door.

We were doing print ads which would be sent to fashion magazines for their fall issues, which meant that the shoot was at the headquarters for the company of which I was currently the face.

As I pushed Cooper's stroller into the lobby, his diaper bag hanging off one shoulder and my purse nestled in the crook of my elbow, I was well aware that I was receiving many confused looks. I'd actually gotten pretty used to it. Most of our temporary neighbors knew the situation, so they didn't ask questions, but that didn't mean they didn't stare whenever they saw Tyson or I loading Cooper into a car or pushing his stroller down a sidewalk.