effortlessly // k.s.j fanfic (on going)

16: Wow

Cassidy's POV

Kenneth decided for us to babysit Noah for the night. Noah was such a sweetheart and he was a very cheerful little boy. He reminded me of my little nephew, Seth. I've grown mentally attached to the little boy and we had a crazy bond. Just to be clear, it's not like a Jacob and Renesmee type of bond, but Seth and I were like bestfriends.

Unfortunately, Seth passed away when he was 4 years old because of a car crash. I was super crushed because I've never been so close to a toddler before.

As soon as Kenneth's parents and uncle left the house, Kenneth sat down on a couch with little Noah on his side.

"Cassie, I'm really really sorry for ruining this date. I truly am. This should be the night that we—you know, have a little us time. I'm so sorry," he pleaded. He locked his hands together and he was facing down.

"Kenny, there's nothing to feel sorry for. You're just taking care of your responsibility for being a good big brother for Noah and I understand that. I mean a night with you and Noah doing nothing productive, what could go wrong?" I sat next to him.

He lifted his head up and tilted to meet my gaze when I said the last question. Slowly, a huge smirk was plastered on his face.

"What?" I asked, feeling guilty.

"So you like the idea of spending time with me now, huh?"

"And Noah!" I shouted.

"Oh, shush. Your red cheeks answered it perfectly," he said as he pinched my cheek.

There should be an official regulation about a prohibition for Kenneth to point out my blushing and make me blush even more because that crushes me.

Kenneth stood up and picked Noah up into his arms. "You coming?" he asked me.

"Where to?"

"Noah and I are gonna watch some movies," he said. "Actually that was a bad question, Kenneth. You're coming with me, Cassie, obviously." He walked slowly to the stairs to head to his room.

"Is it okay?" I asked as I stood up, barely following him.

He stopped at the mid stairs and turned to me, "Really, Cassie? You've slept there before," he said popping an eyebrow.

My eyes are automatically widened hearing Kenneth's answer. "You made it sound so wrong!" I said as I run towards him.

We found ourselves racing to Kenneth's room playfully and Noah started giggling. "Watch out for Cassie!" Kenneth said to Noah and he started laughing more.

As we entered Kenneth's room, somehow still chasing, Kenneth threw Noah on his bed slowly and playfully and we both started tickling Noah's stomach. Noah giggle was unstoppable until we decided to stop.

"What are we gonna watch anyway?" I asked as I sat down at a sofa chair beside the bed.

"The Incredibles?" he offered as he scooted closer to me and he was currently sitting at the edge of the bed with Noah lying beside him.

"Cassie's down," I approved as I rest my back at the sofa chair. Kenneth rested his back against the wall but he was somehow still sitting at the edge of the bed with his left leg hanging down.

The movie was about to start so I folded my legs up to get the comfiest position to relax and watch a Disney movie—and may I add, with Kenneth San Jose.

And Noah.

As the movie was about to start, I could feel Kenneth's gaze on me. It was obviously irritating but all I did was changed my sight to him and I didn't even tilt my head.

He then immediately looked up at the ceiling playfully—aware that I noticed him gazing at me. I shook my head and tsksed quietly as I changed my attention back to the movie.

A minute hasn't even passed yet but I could feel his eyes are darting at me again. I darted my eyes at him—sharply this time, without tilting my head again. I raised both of my eyebrows as a question of is there something wrong? He shook his head repeatedly and mouthed "nothing", then he pouted his lips.

Okay, that was cute guys. He looked like a puppy, supported by his big brown dreamy doe eyes.

I rolled my eyes this time and I was fully attempting to pour all of attention to the actual movie and just forget about Kenneth—regardless if he's staring at me or giving me the death glare.

Again, as I did see it coming, he was staring at me again. This time, I tilted my body to face him and asked him in the face with a slightly high tome, "Can I help you?"

"Well, I would be glad if you could but I believe you can't," he answered with a mild high note, same as mine. "You're so distracting. A-and you're just," he paused.

"Irresistable," he said with his eyes still darted at mines, sharply.

Silent.

"Can you help that?" he asked, still with his high tone—but added with a slight smile.

My mouth was stuttering like a fish out of water that's gasping for air—slightly similar because I was secretly gasping for air too. It looked like I was about to answer his question but I have nothing in mind. My mind was full of explosion at that moment.

A few seconds after the last word were being spoken in that room, Noah whined as if he was about to cry. From our awkward staring contest, we immediately drifted our attention to whining Noah.

"You okay, buddy?" asked Kenneth as he lightly patted Noah's back.

Noah pointed at the floor and mumbled in his baby language that I couldn't seem to understand. "What was he saying?"

"Walking," Kenneth answered. "He wants to walk around the room."

Kenneth picked Noah up and put him on the floor. He grabbed both of Noah's hand and led him to walk from behind. They were heading to the window and so I did too.

As they were hovering around the room, Kenneth's phone vibrated and a notification popped out. I didn't look at the notification all though my sight automatically drifted to the buzzing phone.

"Who is it?" he asked, signing me to check it for him.

The atmosphere between us was somehow still awkward but I pressed the unlock button of his phone anyway, "It's your mom."

He picked Noah up into his arms to let Noah look out the window, "Well, what does it say?"

I swiped the notification to read more of the message.

       Ken, how's Noah? Has he cried already? Does he want to eat? Can you take a picture of him?

I looked at Kenneth who was thinking of an answer to his mom and I chuckled because he looked like a really responsible big brother and that is another reason to love Kenneth San Jose.

"Can you take a picture of me and Noah and send it to my mom?"

"Password?" I gave him his phone to unlock it. But instead of typing in his password or using the finger ID, he told me his password. It was somewhat unexpected the way the trusted me already.

I stood up from the bed and positioned myself to get the perfect angle for the photo. Kenneth wasn't looking at the camera, unlike Noah. As soon as they both fit in the frame well, I pressed the capture button.

Surprisingly and unnecessarily, the flash went on and it apparently made the three of us shook, especially Noah. He was definitely not ready and he got scared of it. I sent the photo immediately and Noah started bursting into tears.

"Hey, hey, hey. That's alright, buddy. Just a little flash won't hurt you, right?" Kenneth tried to calm Noah down by patting his back.

Noah kept crying, screaming, and hitting on Kenneth's chest which made him looked away. He looked at me, eyes full of worry. I put down his phone on the bed and went closer to them.

I opened my arms and Kenneth handed Noah to me. As soon as he was in my arms, the images of Seth flashed in my mind. Seth always felt safe in my arms and he often rested his head on one of my shoulders. I rested my chin on top of Noah's head and I did try to calm him down.

Noah was still crying but he wasn't hitting or fighting me. I paced by the side of the bed slowly and patted Noah's back repeatedly. Kenneth was on the other side of the bed, answering his mom and he looked panic.

Sometimes, Seth cried in the middle of the sleep and the only way that I could calm him down was to sing him lullabies. Will it work on Noah? I really wanted to sing him Seth's lullaby in case it worked but there was Kenneth in the room. I somehow felt insecure of my voice since Kenneth could definitely sing better than I do.

Noah's scream kept getting louder and louder and the only thing that I could do was to sing him a lullaby. Slowly but surely, I whispered to Noah's ear.

"Sun goes down and we are here together," I sang. Noah wasn't crying as hard as he did and all that's left was just sniffling. Thankfully, Kenneth was still busy with his phone so he didn't notice me singing.

I took a deep breath and I turned around, my back against Kenneth, and I continued singing, "Fireflies glow like a thousand charms."

Noah's sniffles weren't as bad as before. I could feel his eyes getting droopy and heavy.

"Stay with me and you can dream forever," Noah wasn't sniffling anymore so I continued patting his back gently and continued, "Right here in my arms."

"Tonight," I finished. The room was suddenly tranquil and I noticed Noah's little snores so I turned around to lay him to bed.

As soon as I turned around, Kenneth was gazing at me with a smile. He was listening to me singing lullaby to Noah all this time. My face went immediate red I stopped. Oh crap, get ready to get a bad feedback from Kenneth San Jose, Cass.

"Wow," was all he said.
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A/N
YALL i was super hyped writing this chapter and i don't even know why lmao. And please note, the date is not over yet cs this night is a long night😏 ANYWAY AS ALWAYS don't forget to vote and comment if you know where the lullaby is from!! love yaa❤️