Happy that it was finally Friday but pissed off that I only got to leave now two hours later than usual, I decided to go to the park and maybe read there for a while to relax. I got home and quickly changed in a hoodie because it was September and slowly started to get colder.
I walked on the path, my book under my arm and took an empty bench near the playground. There were some kids playing around, laughing cutely. My mind was too occupied to start reading so I watched the kids for awhile being remembered of my nephew I would see next week. He was an absolute sweetheart and well behaved thanks to my brother and sister in law being good parents. I admired them for it and hoped that I would be a great parent as well one day.
There was this one girl, she couldn't be older than two or three, who climbed really high on that net-like play-thing. As I saw her getting farther up I grew worried and got to my feet to walk over to catch her if needed. Where were her parents? I looked around but couldn't notice anyone who had an eye on her.
Now I stood directly next to the climbing construction and hoped that the girl wouldn't fall. Just now I thought that her tiny arms didn't reach high enough for the next rope but her grip was already too loose. She screamed helplessly as she noticed her mistake. Almost like in slow motion I saw her losing her balance so I dived out to catch her before she could hit the hard ground.
Luckily the small girl landed in my arms unharmed. She was however horrified of the accident and started sobbing.
"Sh, honey, it's okay" I cooed, letting her down and kneeling in front of her.
She clamped her tiny arms around my neck with more force I would have expected for such a small child. She really got quite frightened.
I rubbed her back soothingly, still looking around for someone who seemed like being in charge for this girl.
"I-I want Uncle Mikeyyy!" she sobbed out against my shirt.
"Sh, sh, honey. Calm down a bit and then tell me where we can find your uncle" I suggested to her with a soothing voice, in hopes of distracting her from crying.
"Bandit? Bandit, honey, where are you?" I heard a male voice shout. The girl looked up at that and stopped sobbing, only sniffled.
She let go of me right as a tall, fairly skinny man with blond hair and sunglasses came into view. So I guessed this was 'Uncle Mikey' as she threw herself onto him.
The man bent down immediately and scooped the girl, Bandit, up. As he saw her tear streaked eyes he turned to me, demanding answers.
"Bandit what happened?" He asked her in a calm voice, watching her carefully, probably looking for injuries like I did earlier.
"Fell down the play-thingy and the nice lady catched me" Bandit mumbled into his jacket. He rubbed her back, his gaze immediately softening and turning to a thankful one.
By now I had gotten up from my spot on the ground along with the man who held Bandit tight to him.
"Thank you for saving my niece. God, I had to take this call and asked the man over there to have an eye on Bandit and I swear she was sitting at the ground when I left! Gee will kill me when he hears about this!" The man rambled, while rubbing subconsciously the back of his niece. As he talked he pointed to a man engrossed in his phone and gave me a guilty look.
I had the feeling that he was only voicing his thoughts, more to himself than me but I answered anyway. "The gentleman over there probably wasn't the best choice, but hey, I was there and catched her in time, so everything's alright. I'm assuming you're 'Uncle Mikey'?" I questioned.
He looked up surprised by the mention of his name. "Yeah, that's me. Did Bandit mention it?"
I nodded. "Yup"
"And if I might ask who's her saviour?" Mikey asked, scanning me, a smile tugging on his lips and his head tilted slightly. Just now I realised he must be around my age and of course pretty hot. Why did my mind had to point that out now?
"I'm Y/N" I answered trying to suppress the sudden nerves. Where did they come from? It was not like I never ran into a stranger before. A hot one who was good with kids, a tiny grinning voice in my head added. I started fiddling with the hem of my hoodie.
Mikey now smiled really at me. "Cute name. May I invite you for a coffee as a thank you?" He asked smoothly.
I grinned at him. "You may"
"Great!" Mikey turned to the girl in his arms "Would you want to go for an ice cream with me and Y/N?"
"Yes!" She squealed excitedly, already forgetting the incident that first introduced us.
I looked at him confused. "Like now?"
With that question I must have shattered his enthusiasm because Mikey faltered a bit and looked at me with sad eyes.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to force us onto you" he apologised.
I shook my head. "You didn't, you took me only by surprise a little. And doesn't she have to be home by now?" I asked, hoping to not sound rude but noticing the time.
"Oh, she's staying with me for the weekend, her parents have a date night" Mikey explained to me after he checked his own watch. "But yeah, coffee's probably a little bit late. Maybe you want to come for dinner instead? I promise it's not far away and I'm not a creep."
First I contemplated his offer. Not that I had much waiting for me at home and I didn't really feel like cooking so I said yes.
It really was only a block away and we talked the way there more or less introducing ourselves. I learned that he was half a year older than me and worked as a music teacher in the same school as his brother who was three years older and an art teacher. I told him about my job and a little bit about family too.
As we arrived at his apartment our conversation stopped and I looked around curiously. There were some toys flying around from Bandit, telling me she was either often here or was pretty messy. In the corner of the living room I could see a bass case standing that was currently covered in blankets, probably from Bandit. Overall it seemed slightly messy but inviting.
"Sorry, I didn't clean up, but in my defense I didn't think I would bring someone with me" Mikey told me from the kitchen where he was already preparing pasta.
"No problem. My apartment looks most of the time worse, trust me" I told him chuckling, following him. Bandit was playing around with the pan he needed and banged it against the counter, giggling to herself. God, that was adorable.
Mikey laughed. "Well then, make yourself at home."
He struggled to get the pan back, prompting his niece to pout.
Giving me a pleading look that reminded me strangely of the two-year-old on the ground (what made him even cuter than he alrea-... you just met him, stop it!) and asked: "Can you maybe take Bandit out of the kitchen? I'm scared she'll hurt herself. But I fully understand if you don't want to."
I smiled at him, hopefully passing the message that I didn't have a problem with spending time with both of them. "Sure thing. I don't want her to get hurt either, besides she's cute."
"Thank you and sorry for making you play the babysitter although I invited you for dinner." Mikey apologised before I exited the kitchen.
I sighed. "Really, it's no problem. Honestly I'm honoured that you trust me enough to leave me alone with her."
That seemed to calm him down. "Hey, you saved her earlier so I don't think you would do something horrible now. And have fun you two!" He directed the last sentence to his niece who took my hand eagerly and dragged me away.
I sat down with Bandit in the living room to play with her and she immediately instructed me on what I should do. I liked kids and had quite the fun here.
Bandit giggled cutely as she stacked the Lego as high as she could reach, so I grabbed her tiny waist, lifting her up to get even higher.
"Uncle Mikey does that too!" She exclaimed still giggling.
She jumped up, getting something and then running back to me. I leant back against the sofa, curious what she got.
It was a book. Bandit clambered in my lap, taking me by surprise. I wrapped my arms around her instinctively as she looked up at me expectantly. "Read to me pwease?" Bandit begged.
I giggled and took the book, opening it so we both could look at it. "Of course, Hun"
On the first page was the outside of a farm with tiny explanations along certain items. Bandit pointed excitedly at the ones she knew and described them to me but listening calmly to me reading out loud the ones she didn't knew. I instantly fell in love with this sweet little girl.
"Y/N?" She asked at one point.
"Yes, hun?"
"Are you Uncle Mikey's girlfriend?" Her hazel eyes looked at me innocently.
I on the other side had trouble of not choking on my own spit.
"Why do you ask honey?" I wanted to know.
"Because I like you and Uncle Mikey wasn't happy but you make me happy so you make him happy too" Lord, that was deep for a two-year-old.
"Thank you, Hun. You make me happy too" I told her honestly.
She seemed to be content with that answer and cuddled closer to me. I read on, growing more quiet as I heard her breathing slowing down and feeling her relaxing even more against me. Slowly I put the book away and instead wrapped my arms once again around her frame.
I sat there on the floor in content silence until Mikey came back in to tell me that dinner was ready. Quickly I motioned for him to be quiet and he nodded.
Carefully I picked Bandit up while Mikey guided me to her room to set her down. He tucked her in and gave her a peck on the forehead.
"She must really like you when she sleeps in your lap" he pointed out as we walked back into the kitchen where he had set the table up for the two of us.
I sat down, a grin on my face at the compliment. "Nah, she was probably only tired, the shock and all" I dismissed it.
We started to eat in silence and I had to say it tasted fantastic.
"That's great!" I complimented him.
Mikey grinned proudly. "Thanks, it's a recipe of my Grandma."
"That woman knows how to cook for sure" I mumbled around my next bite, making Mikey laugh slightly.
"Totally. Come on, tell me more about yourself? What do you do in your free time when you're not running around saving toddlers?" He asked genuinely interested.
"Well I like to read a lot and listen to music, also visiting some friends. The normal stuff"I told him slightly embarrassed that I couldn't tell him about some cool hobby. But why did I want to impress him?
His face lit up at my mention of music and books. "Yeah? What kind of music do you listen to? And what do you like to read?" Mikey wanted to know, leaning closer.
I listed him a few of my favourite bands and books, making him almost jump in his seat. Apparently we had a similar taste so we started a discussion about which was the best Black Veil Brides album.
We talked the whole night, getting to know each other and laughing a lot. I hoped we didn't wake Bandit but Mikey assured me that that girl could sleep through an earthquake.
By the end of the evening as Mikey brought me to the door we decided on meeting again after exchanging numbers and both of us grinning. I definitely was looking forward to the next time. The smile wasn't leaving my lips all the way home in the taxi Mikey insisted on calling me because he didn't want me to walk alone in the dark.