ryan sighed in relief as he heard the doorbell ring. he thought he had been stood up again.the ringing was five minutes late, but there nonetheless. that was the most ryan could have hoped for.
"look out." the man murmured , sliding the three year old away from him as he climbed off the cereal crumb-coated couch. swinging the door open, he was met with a warm pair of brown eyes.
"hi!"
"hey, you must be brendon."
"that i am." the man confirmed, holding his hand out. ryan shook it as he heard a fit of giggles come from the living room and a new cartoon theme song started blaring.
"i'm sorry i don't have time to like give you a full detailed tour of the apartment, but i'm running late right now," he explained as he let brendon past him and shut the door, "this is the living room obviously. that's the famous marcus watching cartoons. uhh, courage the cowardly dog is his favorite. in case he gets pissy. kitchen is free game. ah, shit. i really got to run. we can talk more when i get home?"
"yeah, man, that's cool." brendon shrugged, staring at the animations that flashed across the television screen. he definitely wasn't ryans first choice, but he was the only one cheap enough to take $35 for 8 hours of childcare.
letting out a sigh, the father looked over the place one last time before he kissed his son's cheek and bounded out the door, leaving brendon to his own devices.
brendon gave an awkward nod, choosing to take a seat across from the toddler and grimacing when he felt crumbs of ancient snacks press into his skin. the child peered over at him in curiosity, hands clamped around a stuffed puppy.
"hi." brendon gave a small wave and chuckled as the boy shyly grinned.
"i'm brendon."
"brennin." the younger echoed, resting his chin on the stuffed toy.
"brenDON." brendon repeated, enunciating the 'd' more.
"brennin."
the babysitter just rolled his eyes, returning his focus back to the tv. it was only seven in the morning and kids weren't his specialty to begin with. he just needed the $35. the offer seemed easy; all he would need to do was feed the kid and put on cartoons, right?
it couldn't be THAT complicated.
and it didn't seem like it would be, for the first five minutes anyways. marcus silently watched cartoons, a small smile creeping on his face occasionally. he was a cute kid, slender framed with curly brown hair and matching doe eyes. there was a small scratch on his rosy cheek, presumably from rough-housing, and a bugbite beside it. he didn't look much different from his father.
brendon just laid his head back on a frayed pillow and scrolled through his phone.
"puppy!" marcus exclaimed, his small finger pointed at brendons feet. his had socks peaked out from under his beaten vans, revealing a pug pattern.
"that's right." brendon replied, reaching over to ruffle the boys loose curls. the toddler grinned again, hiding it behind his own puppy.
"look, there's another puppy." brendon pointed out, gesturing to purina commercial on the tv.
"no. thats a dog." marcus deadpanned, glaring at brendon as if he were an idiot.
"well excuse me." the older huffed and rolled his eyes.
"excuse you." the boy repeated, a mischievous smirk on his lips.
brendon gave him an annoyed glance before he returned back to scrolling through twitter, tuning out the sound of teen titans. it was only 7:34.
