Babysitter [cake au]

👶8

Chapter 8

Calum

"Is that Luke?" Ellis yelled, jumping up and down in excitement and running towards him, despite my attempts to stop him. Damn, my own kid was embarrassing me, and probably Luke and his boyfriend.

"Ellis, will you please get back here – oh lord."

He'd clutched onto Luke's leg like a limpet, grinning hard as Luke went bright red. The guy he was kissing turned away, touching his lips as if they were made of gold. I rushed down the path to pull Ellis off and apologise.

"Oh my god Luke, I'm so sorry. Ellis, what do you say?"

Ellis made a pouty face as I lifted him up onto my hip. "Sowwy. I just really want to see Luke! Hey daddy can you go to work again so he can babysit us?"

I bit my lip, walking away. "Ellis, you can't just do things like that, okay?" I turned quickly and apologised again, heading with Blair and Perro back to ours.

Honestly, I didn't know Ellis liked Luke so much. He seemed pretty indifferent with Jack – so it was strange how attached he was already. Furthermore, I was surprised how he wasn't fazed at all by the fact that Luke was kissing someone. When people kissed in films, he'd cover his eyes and giggle.

What made me slightly happy was that Luke had been kissing another guy. Something about it – I couldn't quite work out what – was just really nice to learn. I mean, it wasn't as though I liked him or anything, but it just made me feel happy and warm.

I supposed it made up for the part of me that wasn't allowed to like boys when I was younger. My parents were very strict (if you hadn't worked that out already) and brought me up with the impression that I was only to like girls.

That changed when I was about fifteen, because I started taking more notice of guys and although I did really love Holly, it was a different kind.

Anyway. That was all in the past. I was a single dad now, with no intentions on getting in a relationship – I didn't exactly have the time.

"Bath time, Blair! It's almost your bedtime," I shouted from upstairs. I'd been running a bath for the past five minutes whilst she worked out how to take her shoes off herself, and I could hear the dog yapping away, probably laughing at her. "Blair? Are you sorted?"

I trampled over the books and clutter on the stairs and saw her sitting on the bottom step, still not understanding that once the Velcro was off, you weren't supposed to stick it back down again. "Daddy, help?"

Then I popped her in the bathtub, chucking in a couple bath toys to keep her amused whilst I picked up dirty laundry from around the house. Ellis was absorbed in a book on his bed, so I didn't have to worry about him – Perro on the other hand, had just done a lovely pile of poop on the kitchen floor. Honestly, for a dog his age with the training he'd had, I wasn't quite sure why I hadn't put him up for adoption yet.

Once the poop was cleaned and Blair was wrapped up like a burrito in bed, I kissed Ellis goodnight and headed to my room for some quiet time. It had been a long day, after all.

Luke

Fuck my life.

What had I just done? I had not only made a complete fool of myself, but also given Trace the wrong idea. He was probably gonna approach me at school tomorrow, asking me to go to the bathroom with him or something.

When Calum was out of sight, I told him to just go home, storming upstairs to my room and locking the door, leaning against it with my eyes squeezed shut. And that was where I was now, the shock still in my system.

It was nearing nine. I could watch some Netflix, or get back to what I was doing earlier. My mind wasn't quite in the right place for lyrics, but I wrote down what I could.

Most of my life I sat on my hands

I don't make a sound

Getting it right, I made all my plans

Lost, never found.

"Luke!! Calum's here to see you!"

Honestly, what was it with people wanting to see my today? I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I put my pen down carefully, standing up from the wooden chair that matched the furniture in my room. I slipped on a hoodie, because it was getting chilly outside, and headed down.

"Oh, hey Luke! Sorry to bother you this late, but would you mind popping in to watch the kids for two hours? Something's come up at work and they need me," he asked, a tired and beseeching look in his eyes. I felt bad for the guy, I really did.

"Yeah, sure – wait, lemme just get some stuff."

I grabbed some homework (which I knew I wouldn't do), and told mum where I'd be, then followed Calum out. It was only then that I noticed he was wearing a very posh suit indeed. Maybe he was going to dinner with someone? He didn't have to lie.

"So where are you going?" I inquired, walking down the path in my front garden.

"Gotta fill in for one of my colleagues at the hotel valet service. His wife's just gone into labour – and I know how important that he be there, so I offered to go in – only I didn't realise until just now that Blair and Ellis would be home alone. They've already been put in bed, too... I really am sorry about this."

I smiled. "It's okay, I don't mind."

"So, was that a moment with your boyfriend Ellis disturbed earlier? Again, something that I need to apologise for..."

"Oh, no he's not my boyfriend."

He stared blankly back at me. "So... What is he?"

I panicked, knowing that whatever I said just wouldn't be right because truth was, I had no idea what he was, so I replied, "Just someone confirming their sexuality."

It didn't hit me how sad that made me seem, and how hurt I sounded. "Wow, that must feel great... look, if you're not up for babysitting honestly it's fine, you look tired anyway and-"

I have no idea why this happened. It was in the moment – the moon left a gorgeous sheen on Calum's face, and he was wearing a fitted suit, and I couldn't help but stand on my tippy toes and kiss him.

***

luke's kissing everyone lmao

kimmy xx