Never - A Haylor Fanfic [discontinued]

Chapter 4 - Help with the kids?

 
I bolt up, listening intently. Sure enough, the doorbell rings again. Clambering out of the covers, I slide across the polished wooden floors, ignoring the inevitable bed head I'm currently experiencing, and speedily race across the landing.

Suddenly, I freeze on the second stair. Wait, who could be knocking on my door? Could it be... Harry? Has he come to apologize for how he treated me last night?

Ignoring the sudden fluttering in my heart, I leap back up the stairs and into the bathroom, yanking out a hairbrush and fixing the bird's nest that seems to have found a home on top of my head.

The doorbell continues to ring repeatedly as I hurriedly splash my face in an effort to try and look slightly less like I've just crawled out of bed, before hurtling down the stairs and wrenching the door open.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, darlin'! Did we wake you?"

I try not to pay attention to the inevitable sinking in my heart, and instead smile half-heartedly at the family standing on my doorstep.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it... I just- um- so how can I help you guys?"

I smile at the woman standing in front of me, reaching to tug on Kelly's ear, making her giggle.

"Well, actually, me and Robbie have a really, really urgent book club meeting to get to, ya see, and with our eldest son, Jason, comin' into town and all that, it just completely slipped our minds to hire a babysitter. Would it be possible-"

Instantly, a grin overtakes my face as I realize what she's asking.

"-for you to keep an eye on these three monsters for a while?"

"Of course, I would love to! Come on in guys!"

Within a second, Benny has darted out from where he was successfully hiding behind his mothers floral skirt, and raced into the house, giggling as he dives onto the white couch that only just arrived the other day.

"Oh, thank you so much, we really do owe you one!"

I step to the side slightly, and notice Rob is standing right beside Susie, a broad grin on his round face.

"Go on, Kelly. Taylor's going to look after you and your brothers for a little while, alright?"

Kelly smiles up at her dad, before releasing his hand and shyly shuffling past me, joining Benny on the couch. That's when I notice the stroller resting under Rob's other hand. My body is overtaken with a warm fuzzy feeling as I peer down at the tiny baby boy swaddled in blankets before me.

"Now this-"

Susie's usually lively tone is replace with a softer, gentler one.

"-this is Joey. He's just had his breakfast so he'll most likely sleep through anything, so you don't need to worry about him."

She finishes with her typical, high-pitched chuckle.

"Thank you so much, again, Taylor, we'll be a few hours at the most!"

I wave to them as they climb back down the porch steps, before clambering into the large navy SUV that sits parked outside their house.

As I wheel the stroller into the house, I see that Benny and Kelly have found an empty cardboard box in the kitchen, and are satisfying themselves by clambering in and out of it repeatedly, laughing uncontrollably as the box tips over, and they roll out onto the tiled floor, clutching their stomachs and howling with joy.

Giggling, I lift Joey out of his stroller and hoist him onto my hip, gently bouncing him up and down, when I hear the doorbell ring. Still carrying Joey, I make my way over to the door and manage to pull the door handle with my elbow.

Leaning on the doorframe in a very agitated manner is Harry. I can't help but notice that his black shirt is half-unbuttoned, making me blush slightly, but thankfully he takes no notice.

"Harry?! Hi!"

I grin at him, and he returns my greeting with a disgusted nod towards Joey.

"What are you doing with that."

His undisguised lack of manners and hatred for seemingly everything doesn't surprise me anymore.

"This is Joey, the Wilsons' baby. Isn't he cute? I'm babysitting their three kids right now."

Harry ignores me yet again, and a serious expression overtakes his features.

"Look... I'm... I'm apologizing for losing my temper last night."

I feel a fluttering in my stomach, finding it endearing to see someone as cold as Harry give up his pride and apologize. Maybe he does have some regard for other people's feelings.

"Sorry."

He mutters.

"It's alright Harry. I guess I shouldn't have tried to open that door."

Harry raises his eyebrows.

"Wait...You're forgiving me? Just like that?"

Smiling, I give him a slight nod of my head.

"Everyone deserves second chances."

For the first time since I met him, I notice the slightest hint of a smile flicker at Harry's lips. For a few seconds, we just stand there staring at each other, when I hear a loud crash echoing from the kitchen, and remember that I'm meant to be looking after two mischievous kids.

"Gotta go, Harry."

I say, hurrying off to check what it is they've shattered. As I walk into the kitchen, I see Benny standing next to a pile of broken china, which I presume was once a plate.

"Oh, Benny...That was very careless now, wasn't it?"

I say, feigning anger as the little boy peers up at me. He apologises instantly, so I sigh and tousle his hair, before grabbing a dustpan and brush. As I'm sweeping up, I hear a voice behind me.

"There's someone knocking on that door."

Turning around, I see Harry standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Really? Might be a delivery guy. Can you watch the kids while I go check?"

Before giving Harry a chance to reply, I pick Joey up and hand him over. Harry holds the giggling baby at arms length.

"It's sticky."

I roll my eyes playfully at his comment, and skip out the front door, over to the Wilsons' place. Sure enough, knocking pointlessly at their front door is a man, probably around my age, clutching a suitcase with one hand.

"Excuse me,"

I call out to him. As he turns to face me, I see that he has big brown eyes, edged with smile lines, and a mop of fluffy blonde hair. He throws me a smile almost as friendly as my own.

"Hi! Are you a neighbor?"

I nod in reply, and ask how he knows the Wilsons. Still grinning, he answers in a light-hearted voice, followed by a chuckle.

"Oh, I'm Jason. I go to college in Nashville, and I was planning to fly over here tomorrow to spend the summer with my family, but I managed to get an earlier flight. I wanted to surprise them, which probably isn't the best idea I've ever had."

I laugh, enjoying his energy and cheerfulness.

"Well, your parents aren't gonna be back for a couple hours, but I'm babysitting your siblings. You're more than welcome to come in and stay until your parents come back."