sugar babysitter ➟ muke

eighteen

guess who's back, back again
sugar babysitter's back, tell a friend

writer's block sucks; i haven't touched this book since july of last year and i finally got over it and forced myself to do some writing for this! i know it's definitely not my best writing; trust me, i'm definitely working on my writing skills. i'm definitely going to write a lot less cringe than before :,)

geez how many times can i say 'definitely' before someone points it out

———

Just when Michael thought that Luke's features couldn't get any prettier, he had the pleasure of sitting across from him at the bonfire and witnessing the way the amber-hued fire lit up his face and made the perfect shadows. He could tell that Luke was thinking the exact same thing, a secret smile tucked away as he helped his daughter properly stack the chocolate on top of the marshmallow.

"Michael, it's not working and my arm's hurting," Matt complained with a slight whine in his voice, causing Luke to send him a warning look. Michael took the skewer from between Matthew's fingers so that he could hold the untainted marshmallow over the fire a bit closer for Matthew, so it would burn perfectly for s'mores.

"I'll just hold it for you," Michael smiled down at the little boy, studying in his mind the way Matthew was nearly a spitting image of his father; the only thing that contrasted between the two was Matthew's dark brown eyes, which Michael assumed he must've inherited from his mother. Either that or it was a recessive trait, since Mazie had eyes almost bluer than Luke's.

"Are you cold, Mike?" Luke questioned with his eyebrows furrowed; he must have noticed the way Michael's torso was shivering. Before Michael could even open his mouth to respond, Luke was handing his marshmallow on a stick to Mazie and standing up, "I'll go get you a jacket."

"Me, too, Daddy," Mazie yawned unintentionally, causing Luke to laugh as he bent down and rested his hand on the top of her slightly frizzy hair.

"Tired, sweetheart?" Luke grinned widely before collecting his daughter into his arms, carrying her with ease. She held onto the marshmallows as Luke brought her into the house to retrieve some jackets, leaving Michael and Matthew to themselves.

"See the way they're starting to turn golden?" Michael asked, nodding towards the two marshmallows he held over the dimming fire, "Just when they seem a goldenly-brown, that's when they'll be perfect for s'mores."

"Does Daddy love Mazie more than me?" Matthew asked in a small voice, and that question could break anyone's heart. It just caught Michael off guard, and then he had no idea what to say. He had to recollect his thoughts, and then he held the marshmallows a little higher so they wouldn't toast as fast.

"Of course not, bud."

"Why is he harder on me than her, then?" Matthew looked down to his lap, but he didn't seem like he was going to cry. That made Michael think that he had already come to terms with the fact that he wasn't the favored child, so Michael knew he had to fix this. Unfortunately, he wasn't the one to fix it, but he knew just the person who could.

"I think we should go inside," Michael said softly as he stood up, "I know he doesn't favor Mazie, but you know I'm not the one you need to talk to about this. You and your dad need to talk this out, Matt."

"He'll yell at me." Matthew hung his head as Michael poured some water over the fire to cease it, and then the two walked back into the house where Amber was half-asleep at her bowl of water. She had her chin against the rim of the bowl and she laid on her stomach on the floor, but her tail began to wag as she heard Michael and Matthew enter the house.

"No he won't, and if he does, I'll knock some sense into him." Michael put the marshmallows on a plate and playfully held his fists up, hoping it would make Matthew at least smile. He succeeded, and the five-year-old giggled and sat down at the kitchen table.

Michael showed Luke's son how to take the marshmallow off of the stick and put it on the graham cracker, and once he knew Matthew knew what he was doing, the teenager walked over to Amber and bent down to her level. Her tail-wagging intensified as Michael started to stroke her back, so without much hesitation Michael picked her up and brought her over to the kitchen table.

"Look who wants to say hi," Michael smiled genuinely, holding Amber against his waist as her tail hit his back. Matthew grinned and scooted forward in his chair to be able to pet Amber, his smile growing wider as the dog began to lick his hand.

"Hey, Mazie could hardly keep her eyes open, so I helped her through a quick shower and put her to bed," Luke announced as he walked into the kitchen, instinctively going to stand next to Michael. He smiled down at Amber as his hand went to rub the small of Michael's back, "Are you ready for bed, kiddo?"

"I guess," Matthew mumbled, jumping down from the chair and reaching for his father's hand.

"Be right back," Luke spoke against Michael's ear as he accepted Matthew's hand without much of a glance at him.

"Yeah, talk to him, Matt," Michael insisted before they walked away, flashing Matthew a supportive smile. He knew it was wrong to force such an important talk, but if it didn't happen now, chances were it would never happen, and Matthew would grow up forever feeling inferior to his sister.

Luke frowned, but he didn't question it as he heaved Matthew up to carry him towards the twins' bedroom and bathroom (maybe they were getting a little too old for Luke to carry everywhere, but he'd never admit that; he wanted them to stay little for as long as possible).

"Well, it's just you and me, Amber." Michael looked down to the Shiba Inu in his arms, and as if responding to his words, Amber stretched up to lick his jaw. "Thanks, baby. Let's take this to the couch; I think there's a Friends marathon on tonight."

——

a/n is anyone gonna get tickets to the meet u there tour?

if so, when?