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"Again, I'm so sorry to ask this on such short notice..." Gilbert apologized.
"No worries, Gilbert. I'm glad I can help," Cole reassured his friend. It had been a complete surprise when Gilbert had shown up at his doorstep earlier that day asking for help. Apparently, Bash and Mary were away for the weekend to spend some time together and rest, at Gilbert's urging. Gilbert had offered to take care of Delphine, their daughter, but the problem was that Gilbert went to help Dr. Ward in Charlottetown every weekend, and because Marilla had a cold, she couldn't take care of Delphine. It took a lot of convincing and the promise that Gilbert would pay Cole before his mother allowed him to watch over Delphine, so Gilbert could leave.
"Everything should be in the house, and I will be back before dinner, so you won't have to cook anyth-" Gilbert was cut off when the front door suddenly barged open and someone stormed in. Cole could barely contain his laughter upon seeing who it was.
"Sorry for being late! I wanted to leave earlier, but Prissy kept going on and on about dresses, and I wasn't allowed to leave," Billy explained. Gilbert looked beyond confused.
"Billy, what are you doing here?"
"That's my fault," Cole admitted, "I invited him here because I could use the help and company. I probably should've told you earlier..."
"That's alright, I don't mind. Just, please, stay away from anything breakable, Billy. That includes the baby. I trust you as a friend, but I wouldn't trust you with porcelain even if my life depended on it."
"That's ridiculous! I've never broken anything in my life!" Billy exclaimed, feeling like his pride had been hurt.
"Except for a vase or two at Josephine Barry's place..." Cole teased.
Billy rolled his eyes, "alright, alright, I'll be careful."
"Thank you so much, guys. See you in a few hours!" Gilbert said, and he left the house. Cole and Billy were now alone with Delphine.
The two of them went to the room the baby was sleeping in, quietly opened the door, and entered. Apparently, it had been for nothing, as Cole quickly found out that Delphine was wide awake and smiling brightly at the, to her, unknown company.
"She's adorable..." Cole smiled back at the baby. "Do you have any experience with babies?"
"Not really. Prissy is older than me, and I never went too close to Jane again as a baby after she spilled food on me. She was a really stubborn and messy baby, or so my mother says."
"Really? I guess it must run in the family," Cole teased.
"Are you calling me stubborn, Cole?" Billy responded, moving closer to the boy who had won his heart.
"Only in the best way possible..." Cole put his arms around Billy's neck, a tactic he loved using against him. Billy hated being reminded that he was the smaller of the two, and immediately pressed his lips against Cole's before the taller boy could tease him. However, the duo was quickly reminded of the fact that they weren't alone when Delphine started crying. Cole and Billy broke apart.
"What do we do?! Is there a guide on crying babies?" Billy asked.
"Calm down, she just needs a baby bottle. I'll get one, you stay here," Cole answered, leaving the room. He immediately got some milk and put it into the bottle. To his surprise, Delphine quickly stopped crying. Perhaps Billy was good with babies without knowing it... Or maybe the baby had just gotten tired of crying. Either way, Cole took the bottle back with him to the room. When he got closer to the door, he heard Billy's voice. Maybe he really was good with babies... Cole tried to open the door as quietly as possible, and thankfully Billy didn't hear it. The blonde was sitting next to Delphine's crib and was indeed talking to her.
"Come on Delly, say 'shit', it's really easy. Or maybe try 'damn'. I know you can do it!"
Right. Cole had forgotten he had to watch two babies.
Billy was so caught up in his effort to prank Gilbert that he didn't notice Cole standing in the door opening with his arms crossed until he called Billy's name. Billy's face turned red and he turned around.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough."
"I thought it'd be a fun prank, okay?" Billy explained, "but I don't think Delphine is ready to start talking."
"And you can thank the Lord for that. Mary and Bash would have had your head if their baby started swearing."
"Alright, I'm not exactly father material... How about you watch the baby, and I'll get firewood?" Billy suggested. Cole quickly grabbed the drawing supplies he'd brought with him while Billy went outside. Thankfully, Gilbert always had a supply of logs in the shack. Billy just needed to chop them down. He grabbed the axe and started chopping the wood. For Billy, chopping wood was as easy as walking to school, so he quickly finished the job. Maybe teaching a baby swear words wasn't the best idea he'd ever had, but he thought it was funny. Cole didn't seem to share that feeling, though Billy suspected he could probably laugh about it too. At least he wasn't angry at Billy. The blonde took the wood with him inside, and couldn't help but smile at the sight of Cole trying to draw Delphine, while she was constantly fussing around, making it hard to concentrate.
"I see things are going well here," Billy remarked, stoking the fire.
"I've drawn people who move even more, and that includes you."
Billy laughed and got up, "that's because you're the most beautiful boy on this planet, it makes it hard to focus." Cole put his drawing supplies aside as Billy moved closer and pressed his lips against Cole's. Billy couldn't resist, he loved the fact that he was the taller one now that Cole was sitting. The tall artist happily kissed back the boy he loved so much, letting him have his little victory. Kissing Cole never lost its magic to Billy... He could do it forever. Billy briefly broke from Cole to caress his cheek and admire the greatest (and only) love of his life.
"I love you so much," Cole said, and Billy was about to respond by kissing Cole again. The couple had a near heart attack when Delphine suddenly started crying.
Cole and Billy immediately got up and looked at the crying baby, trying to figure out what was wrong.
"Not again..." Billy sighed.
"She just wants to have her baby bottle," Cole reassured, and he grabbed the bottle he'd brought earlier. Cole tried to feed Delphine, but she slapped the bottle away. "Or not."
"Cole, you're the baby expert here. Please tell me you know what to do."
"Well, if she's not hungry, then she probably needs changing..."
"I'll just... get some more firewood!" Billy stormed out of the room, and Cole let out a sigh. He knew that was just an excuse so Billy didn't have to change Delly’s nappy. Not that Billy even knew how to do that. Thankfully, Cole did, and he quickly changed Delly's nappy and threw the old one away. The adorable baby immediately started smiling and fussing again. By the time Billy came back without firewood, she had fallen asleep, and Cole had resumed drawing her. Billy sat down next to Cole and put his arm around the artist.
"The only thing that's unfortunate about us being together is that I'll never have any children..." Cole sighed.
"We can always be amazing uncles to Prissy and Jane's children, or even the children of our friends," Billy tried to comfort him.
"That's true," Cole smiled at the thought, "though I don't think they'll appreciate having their children's first words be curse words and 'uncle Billy is amazing.'"
"Then their first words will be 'uncle Cole is amazing.'"
"You really never stop sweet-talking me, do you?" Cole kissed Billy's cheek.
"I'll keep going until the day I die." Cole continued drawing Delly, who was peacefully sleeping, while Billy just watched Cole do his magic. Once the drawing was finished, the two boys were so peacefully cuddling by the fire that they slowly managed to fall asleep. When Gilbert arrived, he was surprised to hear silence in the house. He opened the door to Delphine's room and saw three people sleeping. He smiled upon seeing the drawing of Delphine. He hung it on the wall, closed the door, and started cooking dinner. Gilbert couldn't find it in his heart to wake anyone up.