Mobile Tumblr won’t let me paste stuff, but I’m too excited to share so I’ve hacked into my own account (and by that I mean I remembered my own password) and got this to work.
Enjoy Matthias babysitting! .—.
“And Lambert?” Matthias huffed. He wasn’t sure why he asked. He knew there was no use getting out of it. Rodrigue was already here with his sons.
But, Phelan was down in Charon visiting her family with his own two sons, which meant he would be alone with Glenn and Felix. And that was something he’d never done prior.
“Lambert is still away. He doesn’t get back for another week. Matthias, are you really that opposed to it? You know I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t trust you.” Rodrigue had a point. Still, there was something nerve racking about being alone with his oldest friend’s two kids.
Perhaps he was being stupid. He’d fought more vigorous battles with Sreng. Two young boys would hardly be a challenge. Of course he wouldn’t be fighting the two boys, hopefully. He just had to watch them and make sure they didn’t get into mischief. That would be easy enough.
He soon found that it was not, in fact, “easy enough.” Glenn was far more energetic and un-self-sustaining than Miklan. He demanded attention at every turn, insisting Matthias entertain him. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Felix were a little more independent. But the youngest Fraldarius son was fragile and meek, flinching at the sound of every creek and bump made by the old manor. Matthias really needed to have those stairs replaced.
He had reluctantly let Glenn practice his sword technique in the house, while he kept hold of Felix. Though when Glenn nearly knocked over Phelan’s favorite flower pot again, Matthias decided that maybe this wasn’t a good indoor activity.
“Alright, Glenn. That’s enough sword practice for today. How about we find something else to do?”
“No.” The little boy carried on as if Matthias hadn’t spoken. Apparently he needed to be a bit more firm.
He sighed, “Glenn, I wasn’t asking.”
“Then why did you say it like a question?” This boy was going to be the death of him. Did he always question adults like this? Did he do this to Rodrigue?
“Because I was trying to be nice, now go put the sword back.”
Glenn huffed and dropped his arm, along with the sword, “Finee.”
“How about some chess? Do you like chess?” Matthias tried to redirect the child’s frustration.
“Chess is boring.” Yeah…he was Rodrigue’s son. He should’ve known better.
Matthias shifted Felix from one leg to another, flinching as the little boy whined at the sheer possibility of being let go or put down. “Well, what else do you like to do?”
“Hmm.” Glenn thought for a moment, then gasped, jumping up and down, “Read! Momma reads us stories!”
“I’m not reading you a story.”
“Why? Because you can’t read?“
Matthias frowned, “Go get a book.”
Glenn cheered and ran off. But, as soon as the boy was out of sight Felix started to whimper.
“No, no. It’s fine. Glenn is coming right back. He went to get a book. Do you like books?” Felix was having none of Matthias’s attempted comfort. He burst into tears, full out wailing at the top of his little lungs.
How in the Goddess’s name did Rodrigue do this?
Glenn came back no less than a minute later, carrying not one, but seven books in his arms. “Why’d you make Felix cry?”
Matthias closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Yes, he wanted to Felix to cry. He loved listening to this. That was his goal. “Glenn. What would make you think I made Felix cry?”
“You’re holding him. And he’s crying.” He stated like it was obvious.
Oh the logic of a child…. Sometimes Matthias wished things were so simple. “He’s crying because you disappeared.”
Glenn frowned, dropping the books on the floor and stepping over them to get to his brother. “Oh, Fe! You don’t have to cry. I’m right here, silly. This is Margrave Gautier’s house. You don’t have to cry here. He’s nice.”
Matthias couldn’t help the small smile that fell upon his face at that. Despite his own concerns with the arrangement and the minor frustrations that came with dealing with children other than his own, he couldn’t help but feel glad that Glenn found comfort in his care.
Felix seemed to take his brother’s words to heart, reducing his teary display down to a few sniffles. Matthias wiped the boy’s tears with the edge of his sleeve, “See, Glenn’s right here. He’s not going anywhere.”
“C-can we read?” Felix’s wobbly voice asked and Matthias couldn’t say no.
Glenn and Felix were perched in his lap while he struggled to hold the book in front of them. He had no idea what the book was about, mindlessly reading the words on the page. Both boys were listening with rapt attention, enthralled with whatever story about this knight they were being fed. Matthias had no complaints. They were content and most importantly, not crying.
Then came bedtime.
Glenn, for once, went down without a fuss or a snarky comment. It seemed that all the energy he had during the night had tuckered him out.
That left Felix.
Felix was the one Matthias expected not to have to fight with. He thought that Felix’s gentle personality would prevent too much pushback. Apparently he was wrong.
“Bunny isn’t tired.” Felix told the Margrave quietly.
“Are you sure bunny isn’t tired? It’s awfully late.” Matthias pressed, even nodding for emphasis as he crouched in front of the little boy.
Felix looked down at the stuffed animal, worn and dirty from years of being drug everywhere the kid went. “I’m sure.” He decided.
“Why don’t we try to sleep? Sometimes we don’t realize how tired we are until we lay down. Bunny might be tired once he lays down.”
Felix shook his head, “No.”
“Felix….” Matthias used his warning voice. It was a last resort, really. Such a thing could make Felix burst into tears.
He stood strong though, wavering for just a second before nodding to himself, “Are you going to make me cry? Papa would be sad.”
Was that…blackmail? Was he warning Matthias? What was happening?
“I don’t want to make you cry.” He answered honestly, voice weary. Since when was he worried about a five year old’s words? Well, since this apparent personality shift, he supposed.
“Then it’s not bedtime.”
What a little shit. Matthias sighed. “Felix.”
“I’m going to be sad. Then Papa will be sad.”
“Are you blackmailing me?”
Felix frowned, looking down at Bunny. “This is Bunny. Not mail.”
“No-“ Matthias paused, closing his eyes. This was pointless. “Felix, it is bedtime. Would you like to sleep with Glenn? He’s got a big bed, you can sleep with him. Would that make you feel better?”
“No. It’s not bedtime. Bunny said so.”
“Bunny doesn’t make the rules, Felix.” Matthias tried again, “Now, come along. Let’s get you to sleep.”
Felix lightly stomped his feet as if to root them in place, “I said no thank you.” Matthias was actually a little proud of him. That was the most confident display he’d seen out of the young Fraldarius in…well, ever.
Because he wanted to encourage his strength, Matthias compromised. “Alright. How about this? We can read two more stories if we go lay down. How’s that sound?”
Felix considered the deal for moment. But when he opened his mouth to reply, Matthias wasn’t ready for what was to come, “Let’s play hide and seek! You count!”
He bolted then, sprinting around the corner and down the hall with speed Matthias had only seen come from Felix’s tear ducts.
“Felix!” He chased after the child, thankfully having the length of his legs as an advantage. He scooped the boy up, hoisting him up over his shoulder while Felix giggled, “You cheated! You have to count to twenty!”
“Felix. We’re not playing hide and seek. We’re going to sleep.” Matthias sighed, carrying him and Bunny back down the hall to the guest bedrooms. He plopped the boy down on the bed, listening to his gleeful laughs at the small sensation of falling.
“Again! Again!” Felix cheered, holding his arms out to the Margrave.
He shook his head until Felix’s lip started to wobble. “Fine. Only a few more times, ok?”
The tears immediately receded and Matthias couldn’t help but feel as though he had been played.
Soon enough, Glenn came to see what the commotion was about, whined because Felix got to stay up and play, and then proceeded to demand a turn. In the end, Matthias spent most of the night tossing each child onto the bed, even well after his arms were ready to fall off and die.
Eventually the boys grew tired of the game and even, praise the Goddess, tired in general. Glenn insisted Matthias lay with them and read more stories, but he wasn’t going to complain if it meant his arms got a rest.
He lay in the middle of the bed, Felix clutching Bunny, while curled up against his right side. Glenn was less clingy, simply resting his head on Matthias’s left shoulder so he could still see the pages. Both boys listened intently and without a peep while Matthias flipped through the pages, until they all fell asleep huddled up together.
And late the next morning, that was just how Rodrigue found all three of his boys.
