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Your brother had called you shortly after you'd gotten home from work, wondering if you could watch his daughter - your niece - for a while. His wife was out of town for the week, and something urgent came up at work. You immediately agreed, wanting to help out in any way possible, as well as see Harper, but you also let your brother know that Tom was home. The two of you had been dating for a while and were now living together, but somehow, even though he'd met most of your family, he'd never met your niece. Even though it was supposed to be your date night, Tom was excited to help out; he loved kids and really wanted to meet Harper since you talked about her nonstop.
"She's probably going to be shy at first," you told Tom as the two of you raced around trying to clean up a little and make the apartment safe for the three-year-old.
"Babe, kids love me! I'm Spider-Man, it'll be fine!" Tom protested, shaking his head as he folded a blanket and placed it over the back of the couch neatly.
Laughing, you nodded, "I know kids love you, baby. And I know it'll be fine; she's just gonna be shy at first."
Before Tom could say anything else, there was a knock on the door, effectively ending your conversation. Tidying up a few more things, you quickly made your way over to the door, throwing it open to find your brother and niece, "Hey guys!"
"Hey, Y/N, thank you so much," your brother spoke. He looked pretty frazzled as he turned to his daughter in his arms, "Harper, you're going to hang out with Auntie and her friend while Daddy goes to work for a little bit, okay? You're going to have so much fun, I love you, sweetie!" He quickly passed Harper off to you, handing Tom a bag full of stuff she might need, "Here's a bunch of toys she likes, and she'll eat pretty much anything. I'll pick her up later tonight, thanks again, guys."
After the door closed, you turned to your niece in your arms, giving her a huge smile, "Hey, bug! Are you ready to have some fun?" Harper gave a hesitant nod a moment later, glancing away from you to look at Tom who was watching the two of you with a smile. She lifted a hand, pointing at Tom with a questioning look, not saying. "That's my friend Tom, can you say hi?"
Her head shook from side to side, burrowing into your shoulder causing you to laugh a little and give Tom a pointed look, knowing that you were right. Tom shrugged, giving her another smile as he opened the bag that your brother had handed him, "Can I see what kind of toys you have in here, Harper?" She didn't reply but lifted her head to watch as he moved to sit on the carpet in the living room.
You set Harper down on the ground, and she immediately went to hide behind your leg, "C'mon, bug. Let's play!" She followed behind you slowly as you moved to sit on the ground across from Tom. After a moment, Harper sat down in your lap, watching Tom closely as he pulled out some of her toys.
Tom pulled out toy after toy that was princess themed, along with a baby doll or two. Finally, he found some superhero toys that had been packed at the bottom of the bag. There was Captain America, Iron Man, and of course, Spider-Man. A smile grew on Tom's face, and he looked up at Harper in excitement, "Whoa! I love superheroes! Which one is your favorite?" You'd actually been the one to get her the superhero toys, knowing how much you'd loved superheroes when you were younger, but you weren't about to tell Tom that.
