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 Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 5:42 pm
Vincent had decided; he needed a job. He needed a way to make money for himself, without stealing it. He needed to be able to buy what he wanted without being pestered about it. He put up an ad around Barton. Babysitting
Experienced sitter, from angels to elves and everything inbetween.
Will provide activities and snacks for children
Call Vincent Sadril at 224-5632 Right. That ought to do it, he thought. People all over Gaia knew his parents, maybe they would call and ask to babysit. He was rather good at it, really. With several younger siblings, cousins and the like. He really hoped someone would hire him. He really needed the gold. Or so he thought. It was unfortunate that on this occassion he was supposed to be babysitting his younger brother as well. Maybe that would make it more fun? He decided not to write that on his ad. "Vinny, you don't need all these signs," Kaleb pointed out. "With all the friends you've got, you could just ask."
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 5:57 pm
"No, Phoebe, please, stay away from the boo -" The desperate plea was interrupted in mid-cry by a loud ker-THUMP and a tearing sound, followed by a profuse amount of giggling. "....Books," Jadyn said, rubbing at the stress headache she was quickly developing. The poor dark elf was being run ragged by one little pink-haired ball of total annoyance that masqueraded as cute innocence. Speaking of which, here she came now, big pink eyes squared up and watered, and a pout squaring her lip to the utmost degrees of cuteness.
"Sowwy, J-mama.... I'll help you fix the books I broked," a tiny, pathetic-sounding, somehow utterly ADORABLE voice said as Phoebe grabbed her tail in her hands and started stroking the feathers on it. Her adoptive mother let out a heavy sigh and shook her head, scooping the toddler up and being careful of the two talons the little girl bore on her feet.
"No, Phoebe, it's alright, I'll get them. . . they're too heavy for you yet, kiddo. Now stay here while I take care of them," Jadyn said, placing the toddler at the seat behind the counter as she went to try and clean up some of the mess."
Phoebe seemed rather disappointed, but nodded and stayed still like she was told. . . until her adoptive mother was out of sight. Then the tiny hybrid child slipped off the chair and tiptoed to the door, dropping to all fours and wriggling out through the cat door without a single problem. J-mama didn't know that she could get through the kitty door, and this made Phoebe glow with pride at herself and her deviousness! No-one would ever catch her!
Five minutes later, Jadyn returned to the front of the store to find Phoebe playing nicely where she'd left her, crumpling a ragged piece of paper in her hands.
"What have you got there...?" She asked quietly, taking the paper from the toddler's hands and reading the ad on it. Quickly a plan formulated in her mind and she stroked the toddler's hair, picking up the phone to make a call.
A night out would be the perfect thing to relax her.
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 6:22 pm
"Hello? Sadril residence," Vincent had answered the phone, sure it wouldn't be for him. That was his humility kicking in, really. He never expected to recieve a phone call. He hoped it would be about the ad he'd put up. He enjoyed babysitting, when it wasn't his own family.
He could only hope the child of his future client was well behaved. Like Kaleb--well, Kaleb was sometimes. Sometimes Vincent wondered how he could be so giving; but of course, Kaleb was liberality. Quite the opposite of greed, and his older brother had trouble comprehending.
"First call?" Kaleb asked, looking up at his brother. "I told you you'd get one. Where to?"
"Shh. I'm waiting for a reply," Vinny said.
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 6:37 pm
"Yes, hello?" Jadyn asked, keeping one eye on the wriggling toddler so that she didn't escape and start to cause trouble again. "I was calling about your ad for babysitting? I was wondering if you'd be willing to come over right away, I'll pay you double what a normal rate would be if you could watch my daughter for the rest of the day and part of the evening. I have some work that absolutely must get done an really can't be with a toddler underfoot..." She paused and caught Phoebe reaching for a quill pen on the desk and frowned at her, causing the little one to yank her hand back and pout.
"Her name's Phoebe, and the residence is the Nightshade Bookstore in the west district of Barton, if you'd like the job, please come as soon as you can."
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:00 pm
Vincent was amazed; double his normal rate? That was twelve dollars. A smile crossed his features. "I'll take the job, of course. My little brother will be tagging along as well, I hope you don't mind. He's promised to be very well behaved." He looked at Kaleb, and flashed him a grin. It wasn't a friendly one. It was a 'If you don't, I'll prove how very demonlike I can be' grin. He nodded at the address. He knew the book store. His mother had wandered into it on ocassion. "I'll see you in a few."
He hung up the phone and picked up a bag full of coloring books and a box of crayons, some board games; the bag he'd prepared for his babysitting job. "Come on Kaleb, it's close enough to walk."
The two teens made their way to the book store. Vincent wasn't especially impressed by how it looked. They entered. "We're here."
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:33 pm
Phoebe heard the door open and was out of the chair in a flash, running up to the two entrants and prowling around them on tiptoe, sniffing at them a bit. After a moment, she came to a standstill and beamed her most innocent smile up at them. "H'llo! I'm Phoebe, are you here to play wiff me?"
By the time she'd finished her sentence, the tired-looking dark elf had made her way over, ruined books in her arms, and smiled weakly at the teenager and child in front of her. "Thanks for coming so quickly. . . the living quarters are upstairs, I'll be in the basement for the next few hours doing repair work on these books, then I'll be heading out. I'm more than willing to adjust your payrate as needed," she added, knowing full well what a little terror this seemingly oh-so-innocent child really was.
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:58 pm
Vincent was instantly reminded of a certain cousin of his; a cousin who could pull an innocent smile with ease. So reminded of Howl was he that he decided this girl must have been a spawn of the demon of pride. "Hi Phoebe, I'm Vinny. This is my brother, Kaleb," he gestured to the boy behind him. "Sure, we're here to play. As long as you behave." He had a tool in his bag for pride children; he had babysat for Howl on ocassion. A pocket mirror could work wonders.
"I have a special prize for the best behaved," he told her. "If you're the best--well..."
"You get the prize," Kaleb put in. "But if I'm the best behaved, I get to keep it." Which would have been a punishment for Kaleb as well; he loved giving things away.
Vincent nodded at Jayden. "You look tired," he observed. "Go rest for a while. If we need help, I'll send Kaleb to find you. Don't worry!"
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 7:59 pm
Phoebe blinked and tilted her head. "A special prize? I'll get it! I'll win! I'm the BESTEST!" Someone else might have thought that the toddler was being overconfident - in fact, Jadyn did for certain, but the little girl believed in herself and her ability to win any prize from anyone. The pink-haired toddler eyed Kaleb up and down, and then stuck her tongue out. "You won't get the prize! I deserve a prize, I help J-Mama lots!"
Jadyn nodded and patted Phoebe's head. "Yes, you do," she said, silently adding, 'Just about as much as you destroy everything.' Then she smiled at the two boys and headed down to the basement. "She's in your hands!"
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Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 12:29 pm
Vincent grinned. Yes, Phoebe was quite like his younger cousin. Vincent on the other hand, he couldn't say he understood this kind of behavior. He was too humble, had too much of his angelic father in him. "I'm sure you'll win," Vinny told the toddler with a smile. "As long as you're good."
Kaleb returned the gesture and stuck out his tongue at the toddler. He still hadn't gotten used to the fact that he was older now. "I'll have you know I've won three times in a row," he bragged. When Vincent had babysat their relatives, who were highly disobedient children, he had used the same tactic. Of course, this put Kaleb in a position of wanting to give the prize away. Especially when the children threw a tantrum when they realized they wouldn't be getting one.
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Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 12:37 pm
"I can do it," Phoebe insisted, sitting down and folding her arms toggether as she stuck her lip out in a pout. "I can win the prize!" She seemed very upset that her current watchers has less confidence than she did. "I can win and I can HELP, too, need help? Can I help?"
Up she went on her feet again, running around the two older children in fast circles, pigtails flying out behind her. "I can help, I can win! Win and help, win and help, win and help and wiiiiiin~!"
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Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 12:45 pm
"Not right now," Vincent tried reassuring the hyperactive toddler. "Want to watch a movie? Color a picture for your mother? Maybe we can play with some toys?" He hoped he could calm her down; why hadn't her mother warned him that she was hyper? He suddenly realized why Jayden had offered a price double his normal amount. This girl was like three toddlers at once.
Kaleb gave Phoebe a smile and sat on the floor. He pulled a backpack from off his back. "Come on," he invited her. "I have some toys for us to play with. Vinny's got some coloring things if you want." Kaleb unzipped the bag and started pulling out plastic figurines. Disney movie characters, plastic animals, dolls that looked like they belonged to a doll house.
"Borrowed some from Sammi and Reiya," he added, seeing his older brother's look. "Thought if we babysat a girl, she'd like them."
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Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 3:22 pm
"Ooooh...." Phoeve murmured, stilling in her tracks and cocking her head as she peeked at the toys that were being unloaded in front of her. She looked up at the bigger of the two who were here with her and frowned, sulking a bit. "Colors SMELL funny!" She declared, before plunking herself down beside Kaleb and rooting through the toys. The toddler frowned and put the dolls together and the animals together, looking up at Kaleb as she did so.
"The dollies want t' be wiff ovver dollies, not wiff the animals," she chastised, smoothing out the dolls' hair and clothes, and trying to make them "comfortable". "It's mean to stuff them all in one bag! That could hurt!"
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Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 7:18 pm
"No they don't," Vinny assured her. "They don't smell funny, don't worry." He sat down next to the two younger children, exchanging a look with his brother. He gave a nod, before looking back at Phoebe. He had a feeling this toddler was going to be harder to supervise than any other he'd taken care of.
"You're right," Kaleb agreed, wanting to keep the toddler happy. "I shouldn't have put them together--but I thought the dolls might like some animal friends too, you know? Like they could be their pets or something. Do you want to play with them with me? We could make sure they're comfortable now."
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 12:04 pm
"Yes they do," Phoebe said, making a face at the oldest of the trio, before going back to making the toys around her comfortable. "Okay," she said to Kaleb, patting at the dolls. "Animal f'iends are okay, but all these animals would SQUISH the dollies!"
Downstairs, trying to get some work done before she went to sleep for a bit, Jadyn listened for what she knew were the inevitable crashes and screams - just because nothing had happened yet didn't mean that it wouldn't, after all.
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