a/n: heyy, i’m not a huge fan of this but i hope you enjoy, it was fun to write.
summary: Y/n and Daniel take care of Lavender (Jack’s daughter) for a day....but i decided to make it interesting so in this imagine, y/n doesn’t particularly like taking care of kids lol.
“Alright.” Jack set Lavender down on her feet from his hip and crouched down in front of her. “You three have fun, okay?” He spoke gently, brushing a strand of her already untamed hair from her face. The two adults stood in front of them nervously, particularly Y/n. “Are you guys sure you can handle this?” Jack asked again, furrowing his eyebrows teasingly.
“Yeah!” Daniel replied confidently.
“Nope.” Y/n murmured beside him. Daniel glared at Y/n out of the corner of his eye. He watched her tug the sleeves of his hoodie further up her palms in nervousness and shuffle her feet haphazardly.
“Don’t listen to Y/n.” He assured, pulling a tight smile at Jack.
“Okay.” He replied hesitantly, pressing a feather-light kiss to Lavender’s forehead. “Be good.” He stuck his forefinger out solemnly. Lavender only giggled in front of him, spreading a cheeky grin on her father’s face too. “Promise.” He held out his pinkie and Lavender interlocked her small finger with his.
Daniel crouched down beside her too, “we’re gonna have so much fun, aren’t we?” Daniel cooed, tugging down the brim of her purple, crooked bucket hat sweetly. Lavender nodded cheekily, unknowing of the peculiar events to come.
“K, well I gotta go.” Jack stood up and grabbed his backpack from the sofa beside him. Daniel sauntered behind him, guiding him towards the door. Meanwhile, Y/n walked precariously behind the two boys, foolishly dodging the toddler who was plodding behind her.
“See ya, dude.” Daniel said. They shared their usual handshake. Daniel assured Jack profusely that if anything happened, he would call him as soon as possible. Daniel turned back to Y/n and Lavender after he shut the front door and waved goodbye. “Okay, what should we do first?” He clapped his hands together.
Y/n walked up reluctantly and pulled Daniel to the side, away from Lavender enough so she couldn’t hear. “Why did you have to agree to this?” She whispered sharply.
Daniel knew babysitting wasn’t Y/n’s cup of tea, but he assured her gently with “Y/n, he’s busy and no one else could do it...It’ll be fine.” He chuckled, resting his forearms on her shoulders. Y/n merely dropped her gaze to the floor. “I mean look at her, she's so cute.” He shuffled behind her so she had a good glance at Lavender. She was playing quietly next to Daniel’s messy heap of music sheets next to the piano. Y/n huffed and closed her eyes for a moment in thought. “Fine. But I need Starbucks first.” She said seriously. Daniel’s subtle frown broke into a grin, and he chuckled gently, placing a comforting kiss to Y/n’s lips.
---
The group of three had finally made it to the Starbucks around the corner. After nearly an hour of trying to get the booster seat perfectly set in Daniel’s car, they finally worked it out – thanks to Jack who was guiding them through it on the phone - and were travelling smoothly through the drive thru.
“Okay, iced coffee for me, iced coffee with extra caramel for you...” Daniel spoke like a true gentleman, holding out the plastic cup of coffee with an extra toothy smile just to ease her anxious thoughts.
“Finally!” Y/n leaned forwards in her seat and pushed her seatbelt away, nearly snatching the coffee from Daniel in a fit of excitement. She lolled her head back as she sipped her drink and closed her eyes in pure delight.
“And a chocolate milkshake for Lavy!” Daniel cooed, leaning over the side of his car seat to gaze at Lavender lovingly. She giggled sweetly from her spot in the middle back seat and took the cold drink from Daniel with a “thanks”, nearly spilling it right then and there if it wasn’t for his quick reflexes. He turned back to the front. “I swear if she spills it all over my precious car…” He tisked lightly, grazing the surface of his leather seat fondly.
“Let’s hope not.” Y/n commented with a laugh.
The group enjoyed their cool beverages in peaceful silence. Daniel kept his gaze downcast on his phone, Lavender looked out her window to the vibrant, blossoming nature and Y/n focused on the tiny specks of dust that danced in the shaft of afternoon sunlight that sloped through the agape windows. All seemed to be going smoothly and well until an unwanted, faint spill was heard from the backseat. Daniel snapped his head back swiftly. His wandering gaze met the tragic sight of his leather seats covered in chocolate milkshake, though Lavender’s clothes were perfectly free of any stains, and she merely looked up at him sweetly. He sat there, open mouthed and wide eyed, with his elbow leaning against the arm rest, virtually paralysed in shock.
Y/n barely noticed what had happened until Daniel had finally shot back into reality and was stumbling out of the front into the back seat. “Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.” He repeated shakily. Lavender remained still in her booster seat as Daniel rummaged through the scattered mess of supplies in the trunk. “My poor baby!” He breathed sadly, completely dodging the toddler and rushing inside the car to clean the stain.
Lavender squinted up at Daniel’s obvious panic and uttered out the kindest, “sorry” that Daniel had ever heard, so much so that the concern brimming all over his face melted into a smile and he pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head.
“It’s okay.” He whispered kindly.
Y/n leaned back over to see the mess and tried her best to muffle her giggles with Daniel’s hoodie. “Hey,” She started as she opened the car door. “Let me handle this.” She said confidently, rolling up her sleeves and setting her hands on her hips.
---
Much to Daniel’s relief, Y/n had come to the rescue and scrubbed the stains – with only napkins - until her knuckles were white, leaving Daniel’s car looking good as new. They had finally arrived at the mall. The midday sun bathed the building in its warm light and rays of sunlight cascaded brightly through the skylight above them. Daniel was way too eager to enter the mall, already having filled the small journey there with talk about what he was going to buy. “Baby,” Daniel looked at Y/n with a smile from a couple paces ahead, “make sure you hold her hand, okay?” He reminded gently, pulling a tight smile.
“Uhm-uh...okay” Y/n barely had time to utter out a word before Daniel was turning back to head straight into the music store, he’d been eyeing through the clear entrance. She looked over her shoulder to gaze at Lavender who was walking beside her. “Uhm, o-okay.” She muttered hesitantly as she grasped Lavender’s little hand and intertwined her small fingers with her own. They began walking closer towards Daniel when Y/n felt a vigorous jolt to her left arm. Lavender’s curious mind led her to walk in the direction of the mural in the distance. The wall of different patterns and shapes was a vivid mosaic of colour.
“Hey Y/n” Daniel looked over his shoulder to show his girlfriend the fancy, brand new electric guitar in his arms, only to be met with a cold breeze and no sign of his girlfriend or Jack’s daughter. “Y/n.” Daniel called gingerly, placing the guitar gently back into place. He spun around briskly to look for her. Daniel felt his heartbeat start to race and shouted, “Y/n! Lav!” in a fit of panic.
Y/n had been dragged to the nearest women’s clothing store by a seemingly innocent Lavender whose attention was caught by the sparkly t-shirts on the rack high above. Y/n’s gaze strayed to the clothes on the other side of the store and soon she was unknowingly pulling Lavender along with her to shuffle through the racks of clothing.
She obviously dropped Lavender’s hand so she could flick through the racks of clothes. Lavender suddenly caught a glimpse of the indoor playground and took the fleeting opportunity of independence to slunk off into the distance. Y/n held up a sage toned shirt from the rack and tugged it to the sides in front of her shirt. She glanced back to where Lavender was seconds ago. “Hey, La-” Y/n’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Lavender!” She raked a hand through her hair in exasperation, dropped the shirt and headed for the exit swiftly. “Daniel’s gonna kill me…” She breathed, looking around for Lavender as she walked through the mall.
A glimpse of purple had shot into Y/n’s vision, and she narrowed her eyes to peer into the distance. “Boo!” Lavender shouted, popping up behind her mischievously.
Y/n shot her head back, looking extremely startled and then in embarrassment, hid her face with her hands. She took a strained deep breath and stomped towards Lavender. “Where were you? What were you doing?” Y/n rushed out sternly as she set her on her hip. Lavender merely looked at Y/n bashfully with infectious giggles escaping from her lips. Y/n could help but let her serious expression break into a smile too and she let out a relieved sigh.
“I can’t believe you...” She tisked, shaking her head in disbelief.
In almost perfect timing, Daniel came bolting across the mall. He nearly crashed right into Y/n in his haste. “Where the f-” Daniel rushed out to the girls standing at the store entrance. Y/n glared at him with Lavender in her arms and he cleared his throat before continuing. “Sorry.” He mouthed silently to Y/n. “Where the heck were you guys?” Daniel asked again, offering out his arms to take Lavender from Y/n who was visibly uncomfortable. “Were you just being cheeky?” He asked sweetly to Lavender, tickling her sides as she let out giggles.
After a moment, when both adults had calmed down, Daniel set a squirming Lavender to the ground and held her hand strongly. He trudged over to Y/n with a benevolent grin playing on his face. She was happily enjoying own space from far away while on her phone. “Hey, good job.” Daniel tossed his free arm over her shoulder and placed a kiss against her ruffled hair. Y/n snaked away from him.
“That was terrifying.” Y/n breathed, taking a few steps back.
“What?” Daniel stared at her in sheer confusion.
“Absolutely terrifying” She repeated quietly, pressing a hand to her chest. Daniel chuckled at her dramatics, looking cheekily back at Lavender.
“You’re just the scariest little thing, aren’t you?” He asked sweetly, crouching down in front of her. Lavender nodded shyly, earning more laughs from Daniel and he took her hand gently to make sure that the rest of the day would run smoothly.
