Through the Ice ― Nico di Angelo & Will Solace

―ii. babysitting duty

ISAAC SHOULD HAVE REALIZED THAT, with Nico staying at Camp Jupiter for Christmas, his break would not be going according to plan.

It started out that way—he got to sleep in for once and enjoy French toast for breakfast instead of having to shove cereal down his throat in order to not be late. He spent the rest of the morning helping his mom out in the bakery, the smell of fresh bread and all the pastries she was known for making his stomach growl almost as soon as the French toast digested.

Isaac pulled a tray of cupcakes out of the oven, setting them on the cooling rack without burning himself (something that, unfortunately, happened quite a bit). He stuck a toothpick in the middle of one and, seeing no crumbs, patted himself on the back. He'd had absolutely no hand in the actual baking process, seeing as he hadn't inherited his mother's eye for measurements (or her ability to make the simplest things absolutely delectable), but she let him do most of the decorating, which was honestly more fun for him.

It was just after the lunch rush, so there was still a decent amount of chatter out in the dining area but not much around the counter. He could hear one of his mom's employees, Amber, taking someone's order, but the lack of rush in her voice told Isaac there wasn't a line at the register.

Isaac grabbed the piping bag and scraped some plain white icing into it. Apparently these cupcakes were for a gender reveal party—a concept that seemed a bit premature and a lot stupid to Isaac, though that could have been because what would have been "revealed" if his mom had had one of those parties when she was pregnant with him was decidedly wrong.

There was also that fiasco last year when some blue fireworks set a building on fire for one of those dumb parties, but maybe Isaac was just being picky.

He iced the cupcakes with practiced ease and speed, sprinkling the requested gold sprinkles and glitter over them. At his mother's approval of the end product, he boxed them up and took them up front for pickup.

"Isaac!"

Isaac looked up to see Naomi and Nico walking in through the front door.

"Hey," he called as he wiped his icing-stained hands with a rag.

"Friends of yours?" Amber asked, not waiting for an answer. "Great, you can take over register."

Isaac rolled his eyes but accepted the switch. "Go check on the scones in the oven," he called over his shoulder.

"You got it," she said, turning back to give him a mock salute.

He rolled his eyes again and turned back to his cousin and Nico. "What can I get you?"

He put in their orders—a chocolate éclair for Naomi and a banana-nut muffin for Nico (bleh)—and put them together, handing them over.

"How long are you here for?" Naomi asked as she accepted her éclair.

Isaac glanced at the clock. "Couple more minutes, then I'm off to the skatepark with some friends."

"You can skate?" Nico asked, sounding offensively disbelieving.

"Wha—yes, I can skate!" Isaac said, practically indignant. "Can you?"

"He can't," Naomi said, her eyes gleaming with something Isaac didn't trust. "You should teach him!"

Isaac and Nico both stared at her.

"What?" Nico asked.

"C'mon, it'll be fun!" Naomi insisted. "More fun than shopping with Delaney and me, anyway."

Isaac grimaced. She had a point there—shopping with Delaney was, in his opinion, a type of medieval torture. How a single person could try on that many clothes in one trip and not have a meltdown in the dressing room... well, he certainly couldn't relate.