The Cover Says It (Shifty X Handy)

Chapter Eleven

The following day to be a babysitter has finally come to a start, as Handy pressed the door bell to the front door of Pop's home. It was friday and Handy had made plans to take care of Cub when no other babysitters were available around town.

And to be frank, Handy was slightly nervous of the job. This was his first time helping someone that requires no tools or do any mechanic work. And being a babysitter was none of that. He do however had personal experiences when he used to look after his younger siblings. But that was during his teenager years, therefore, he didn't really expect much from his skill.

He snapped back into reality when the front door opened, showing Pop in a different attire. It wasn't in his usual red bathrobe, but rather a red button shirt and pants. Handy can speak for everyone that Pop has never been seen in a different clothing until now.

Nonetheless, Handy smiled and greeted him, " Hey Pop. I'm here to babysit Cub." Pop opened the door wider when he saw Handy by the doorway, " Handy! I was just about to finish things up. Come in." He beckoned Handy into his home and he did what he was told to. The beaver looked around and explored a bit while Pop was doing something else.

" Where's Cub?" Handy looked over to see Pop holding a bag. The father gesture his arm towards a different door, " He's at him room, playing with his toys."  He said, adjusting his hat later on. He then place his other hand on his shoulder, getting Handy's full attention, " Now listen here Handy, you have to keep an eye on Cub at all time or i'll make sure you'll never see the light of day again..."

His voice darken for a moment there before he shifted back to his casual tone once more, " Oh and don't forget to feed him his bottle later." Handy slowly nodded, unsure what to react from that warning. " You have my word.." he promised. Pop patted his back, looking rather pleased, " Now that settles... how's Shifty doing?"

" H-huh?" Handy stammered to his question. His genuine reaction made Pop laugh, letting Handy more time to come up with a decent answer. It was surprising to say the least. He wouldn't thought anyone would asked a question that was related to Shifty. The way Pop emphasized his words made it sound like Shifty and Handy were best buddies. Handy felt his face heat up a bit, "  He's doing alright.. i haven't talked to him in a while."

Pop removed his hand after he finished laughing, " Oh? Did something happened between you two?" They both head over to the front door as Handy's scarlet face didn't seem to go away any sooner. It wasn't the kind of anger he was feeling, just mentioning that rascal made him feel, embarrassed? He wasn't certain with himself. For once, he never felt this emotion towards someone he dislike before.

" We're not close.. I hope." Handy seemed unsettled with how he's answering this to Pop. But Pop took it without a second thought no less, " Ah, i thought you're good friends with Shifty?" Handy shook his head rather early, " I'd drop dead if he was." It wasn't the right move to said something a bit inappropriate. Especially when Pop had a wife that's six feet underground somewhere outside of Happy Tree Town. Handy hoped that doesn't trigger Pop whenever death came into topic.

He then added something else, not to make this go south too quickly, " Anyways, Shifty and i are only acquaintances." Pop nodded, understanding  his boundaries, " Alright, i just thought you two were starting to get along." He said and stepped out from the house, " If you have any concerns, don't hesitate to call me." Handy's face eventually turned back to his original color, he nodded, " I will."

Pop bid him farewell and turned to go. As Handy closed the door with his arm, he immediately head towards the room where Cub should be. He peeked his head out a little and saw Cub on the ground, playing with several toy cars. Handy pushed the door further to see a better view. Various toys scattered all over the floor, seemingly untouched from the baby's previous playtime. It appears the room had not been clean before by the amount of mess a baby could possibly created.

Handy stare with little to no concern. His job was to look after Cub, not clean up the place that has nothing to do with him. When the baby finally paid attention to Handy, the adult hunkered down to meet his level, " While your dad is out, what do you think we should do kid?" Though he knew the baby would not understand what he said, Cub let out a babble and suddenly got up from his tiny feet.

Handy was surprised to see him taking small steps towards the beaver without the face of nearly crying for his father. He smile to himself, arms splayed out for Cub to approached him enough to pick him up. With no difficulty, Cub was now in his arms as Handy lifted him up in the air, then cradle him afterwards. The baby face lit up in glee, " Let's put you somewhere else that's less crowded.." Handy said, walking away from the mess.

-

It's nearly two in the afternoon with Handy prepping for the bottle for Cub to feed. He struggled to open the cap and other steps that requires hands, which of course, was insulting to him. He grunts to his unfortune as he took his time to carefully add the powder into the bottle. But it got interrupted when Cub decided to cry all of the sudden. 

Some of the powder got everywhere on the counter from his hand jerked out of mild shock. It quickly recovered when Handy can feel a headache about to form. Handy set the bottle and powder aside to check on Cub. He continue to whine nonstop in his high chair, his face red as tears streaked down on his cheeks. " Shh, don't cry, don't cry," Handy repeated his words and picked him up out of reflex.

It didn't change anything after he was in his arms and Cub cries only grew louder. His patience was beginning to wear thin as Handy eventually put him down on the living room. Where another set of toys could be play with in the mean time, away from the kitchen where he could hear less from his whining. After that issue has been temporarily solved, Handy walked back to the kitchen to continue where he had left off.

It took him minutes to screw the cap back on after he poured hot water in it. He chose not to put the bottle into a boiling pot on the stove because he knew better with his disabled arms. It could risks danger knowing how often bad luck can occur at any time. People believes the bad luck has got to do with the curse, it's a logical reason as to why town folks keep getting into death accidents every single day.

Handy set the bottle aside and wait for it cool down for him to later mix it together. While he left the bottle on the counter, his mind started to drift somewhere else. A thought came into mind, a thought that he wishes not to be reminded of. Yet, it's been secretly bugging him since he arrived here to babysit Cub.

The sight of his vase in the morning at his place can not be avoided.

It's clear that pretending was futile when he obviously saw his vase in it's original placement on the shelf in his home. Of course, his first thought was to rubbed his eyes, hoping his vision weren't deceiving him. But the second he blinked, the vase remained on the shelf. Ever since that morning, he couldn't help but think, was Shifty trying to screw him around?

This only added more to his paranoia than it should be. And he was not supposed to be paranoid to begin with as well. No one knew the vase was his heirloom other than Shifty. And no one can sneak into his home without waking him up except the raccoon brothers, which is Shifty in this case. So what more logical statements he needed to pin point towards the only person that'd accompanied him on that day?

His train of thoughts broke when he eventually noticed how awfully quiet the place has suddenly become. Cub's cries didn't sound muffling anymore and the air filled with silence instead, which was far for his comfort. Handy didn't hesitate to inspect the reason of the abrupt silence, and check if the baby was alright as well.

But the moment he moved his feet, he heard a sound of a crash coming outside of the house. The floor quaked beneath his boots, indicating the sound happened near the area. Handy heart stopped beating when he saw the front door was unlatched. A gap enough to fit a baby to slip through, and his thoughts were quick to assumed the worse. Handy dashed out of the kitchen and towards the front door, hoping his thoughts weren't right by the time he rush out of the house.

-

End Of Chapter.