Work Text:
Hmmm…more orange.
Or maybe blue?
Ooh, green.
Jimmy Jr. felt his tongue poke out from between his lips as he scribbled on the piece of construction paper, peeking up at the truck every once in a while to make sure it was still there.
It had been since that morning, when his mom had brought him and his brothers down to the restaurant after breakfast.
Jimmy Jr. didn’t necessarily like trucks, but it was something new and different, and it was certainly more entertaining than pretending that the salt and pepper shakers were rocket-ships.
He made the wheels of the truck an array of colors, preferring that to the plain black that they actually were. He wasn’t the strongest reader, yet, so he couldn’t figure out what the words on the side of the truck meant - he substituted them for some loopy flowers and squiggly lines.
Next to him, Andy and Ollie squawked back-and-forth to each other, speaking the same made-up baby language that Jimmy Jr. wasn’t privy to.
Not that he was jealous - he was too old for made-up baby languages.
Still, he did his best to tune them out, like his dad always suggested he do when he complained about their babbling. He hummed along to the song playing over the restaurant’s speakers, instead, though he didn’t understand what it was about.
While he reached for another crayon, a figure exited the backside of the truck, carrying a stack of cardboard boxes. The man staggered under the weight, nearly toppling over as he skidded down the ramp to the asphalt below.
The man had been doing that all day, occasionally joined by a woman. She didn’t seem to struggle with the boxes as much. Jimmy Jr. wondered what might be in them.
Maybe this new family had a boy his age to play with? He had seen a few toys being taken out of the truck, though most of them had looked pink and girly.
It would be nice to be around someone his own age, someone who didn’t speak made-up baby languages that he couldn’t understand.
Sighing softly, he went back to scribbling, drawing two purple stick figures carrying bright yellow boxes.
In the middle of giving one of the stick figures a curly red perm, something outside caught his eye - there was something skittering along the sidewalk on their side of the street, and whatever it was was moving fast.
Looking around, he didn’t see either of his parents - they were probably in the kitchen, or in the big freezer that Jimmy Jr. wasn’t allowed to go near.
The front door was open - his mom said that it was more “welcoming” that way. All Jimmy Jr. would have to do was poke his head out…
Scrambling off of his chair, he tip-toed to the door, eyes shifting around for any sign that he was about to be caught.
When nobody came running, and no adults shouted his name in their angry voices, he figured it was safe to move.
He slowly leaned, keeping his toes firmly behind the threshold. He wasn’t technically breaking the rules if his feet were still inside…
Spotting the object that had caught his attention, he reached for it, pouncing like one of the big cats that they sometimes showed on TV. He imagined that he was a tiger, with his red hair, and he was hunting a big, scaly snake.
“Gotcha!” He lisped, imaginary paws closing over his prize. The snake let out a shrill cry, unhappy about being thwarted.
Jimmy Jr. pulled, reeling it in, proud of himself for catching it and for keeping his toes inside the restaurant.
The snake cried again, before losing its footing on the uneven pavement and landing in an ungraceful heap at Jimmy Jr.’s feet.
The snake, as it turned out, wasn’t a snake at all.
It was a baby, with black hair tied into pig-tails on top of its head. It was wearing little pink overalls, and a pair of light-up sneakers that looked comically large on such tiny feet.
Jimmy Jr. looked down at the object in his hands - fuzzy, brown, and attached to the back of the baby's overalls. The cartoony face of a monkey grinned up at him from underneath a trembling chin, and Jimmy Jr. was reminded of the look that the twins always gave him right before they burst into tears.
Feeling slightly panicked and a little uneasy, Jimmy Jr. did the only thing that he could think of - he tugged on the monkey’s tail, leading the baby into the restaurant as gently as he could.
He assumed that it was a little girl, based on her outfit, but he wasn’t sure - sometimes their mother dressed Andy or Ollie in pink.
“Come on,” He urged, ushering her towards the table where the twins were still sat in their high-chairs. “My mommy will know what to do.”
He lifted her up to sit on his chair as best as he could, teetering unsteadily under her weight as she kicked her feet into his knees.
“Stay still!” He hissed, nearly dropping her - Andy and Ollie watched with rapt attention as their big brother struggled.
Finally, he was able to wrangle her into a sitting position, shoving one of his crayons into her hands.
“Andy, Ollie, watch the baby.” He ordered, sliding his drawing to the edge of the table so she could reach. He wanted to keep her distracted, to keep her from wailing while he searched for his mom.
Jimmy Jr. hurried to the kitchen, hoping that she would be there, instead of in the big freezer that he wasn’t allowed to go near.
Pushing the door open tentatively, Jimmy Jr. was relieved when he spotted her leaning over a cutting board, a paring knife in her hand and a pile of tomatoes in front of her.
“Mommy!” Jimmy Jr. yelped, a little louder than he meant to. She turned to him at once, her eyebrows raising in concern. “I need help.”
“Are you okay?” She gasped, dropping the knife and rushing over to him. “What’s wrong?”
Jimmy Jr. grabbed her by the hand, yanking her towards the dining room.
“You’ll see!”
“I mean…should we call someone?” His father asked, eyeing the landline on the bar with nervous eyes.
“Who would we call?” His mother replied tersely, “The fire department? Is this something they’d take care of?”
Jimmy Jr. didn’t really know what she meant by that, but he thought that he was already doing a pretty good job at taking care of it.
The girl was scribbling furiously over the truck that he’d drawn, splotches of red and green and purple covering up all of his hard work. He let her do it, though, because his mom had looked at him proudly when he’d explained to her what he’d done.
He liked it when his mom and dad were proud of him, and if letting the baby he’d found ruin his drawing made them feel that way, he didn’t mind.
His parents continued their hushed discussion, their arms crossed and their faces grumpy.
Jimmy Jr. kicked his feet, wondering what they were planning on doing.
He hoped that they weren’t planning on keeping this baby - they already had their hands full with Andy and Ollie, and he wasn’t looking to share their attention with another person. He’d throw a big fit about it, if he had to.
His dad was just reaching for the phone when a loud voice made everyone jump, their heads whipping around to look outside.
“LOUUUUUUUUISEEEEEEE!”
It was the woman from before, the one that he’d watched move boxes out of the truck. Her hands were cupped around her mouth, her eyes wide behind her glasses as she turned her head from side to side.
“LOUISEEEEEEEEE?” She yelled again, “Where are you, honey?”
Her husband, the one that Jimmy Jr. had drawn with a curly red perm, followed her outside. After a moment, he was yelling, too.
Both of his parents turned to look at the little girl, and then his mom was bending over, addressing her with a small smile.
“I have a feeling that your name is Louise.”
“Oh, my baby!” The woman, who had introduced herself as Linda, cried. She scooped Louise off of the chair that Jimmy Jr. had put her on, pressing frantic kisses to her tiny face. “I was so worried!”
Louise let go of the crayon that she’d been gripping in her tiny fist, and it fell to the carpet below. Jimmy Jr. waited for someone to scold her, the way that his parents always scolded him when he threw things on the floor, but nobody did.
“We had her tied up, right over there, but she’s a sneaky little thing!”
Jimmy Jr. saw his parents share a look, their eyes following the finger that Linda pointed outside, to a tree next to the big truck.
“You…tied her to a tree?” His dad asked, his voice taking on the same edge it sometimes did when Jimmy Jr. was caught in a lie. “Like a dog?”
“Just for a second, but she’s faster than she looks.” The man, who was apparently named Bob, groaned. “We didn’t think that she’d be able to untie herself.”
“Well, I’m just glad that we were here.” His mom smiled politely, placing a hand on the top of Jimmy Jr.’s head. “Jimmy Jr. is the one that found her, actually.”
Linda gasped, and then she was passing Louise off to her husband. She crouched down until she was at eye-level with Jimmy Jr., smiling brightly.
“Jimmy Jr., huh?” When he nodded shyly, she continued. “Well, I think we owe you a “thank you”, right, Bobby?”
“Huh?” Bob asked, struggling to hold onto the now-flailing baby in his arms. “Oh, right. Thank you, Jimmy Jr.”
“That was very smart of you, bringin’ her in here and gettin’ an adult! You should be proud of yourself!”
“I am.” Jimmy Jr. said, his chest puffing up with pride. Linda reached forward to ruffle his hair, which he didn’t like - now, he’d have to ask his dad to comb it again.
“And thank you, for comin’ to get us!” She said, leaning forward to shake both of his parent’s hands. “Glad to know that we’ve got such great neighbors around.”
“Of course,” His mom replied, and then she was peeking out the window, towards the street outside. “I don’t want to overstep, but we’d be willing to keep an eye on her, for a bit. So you don’t have to worry about her while you’re unloading the truck.”
“Oh, would you?” Linda gasped, nodding eagerly. “You have no idea how helpful that’d be!
“It’s no trouble,” His mother assured, gesturing to the table where the twins were. “I’ve got another highchair she can use, so we shouldn’t have any more escapes.”
Linda smiled nervously, sharing a look with her husband. “I know it’s a lot to ask…but…would you be willing to watch two more?”
A few minutes later, Linda and Bob were walking back into the restaurant, each of them holding onto a much smaller hand.
Jimmy Jr. bounced slightly on his feet when he saw them coming, hopeful that this time, he’d have someone his own age to play with. Not a baby, like Louise, who he’d have to let color all over his drawing, but someone who he could actually play with.
“Jimmy Jr., I’d like you to meet Louise’s siblings!” Linda said, pulling them forward until they were all face-to-face. “This is Gene, and this is Tina!”
Jimmy Jr.’s spirits rose, only to come crashing back down - while Gene was certainly not a baby like Louise, he was still significantly shorter than Jimmy Jr., and his face was covered in what looked like melted ice cream.
“How old is he?” Jimmy Jr. lisped, pointing, even though he knew that pointing was rude.
“Gene is three, sweetie.” Linda replied kindly, seeming to sense his disappointment. Hoping to divert his bad mood, she quickly directed his attention towards her oldest child. “You and Tina must be about the same age, though!”
Jimmy Jr. looked at Tina, and she smiled bashfully in response, tucking her face into her father’s side.
“Is she going into kindergarten?” His mom asked, giving Jimmy Jr.’s shoulder an encouraging squeeze. When Linda nodded, she leaned down so that they were at eye-level, giving Jimmy Jr. a look that he knew to mean be nice. “See, honey? You two might even end up in the same class.”
“Yeah, you should get to know each other!” Linda cheered, watching as Bob handed off a now-wailing Gene to Jimmy Jr.’s reluctant dad.
Jimmy Jr. scowled, glaring down at his shoes.
He didn’t particularly want to get to know Tina - she was a girl.
But…she was also his age, so he decided that he could overlook that, just this once.
Reaching forward to tap her on the shoulder, he waited for her to show her face again. When she slowly turned her head, her cheeks turning pink under her glasses, Jimmy Jr. gave her the toothiest grin he could muster.
“Do you want to see my drawing I made?”
Tina looked up at her parents, seeking permission - when her dad gave her the go ahead, she nodded rapidly.
“Okay, come see.” Jimmy Jr. said, grabbing her by the hand before tugging her over to the table, where his box of crayons still sat. His mother pulled up a chair for her, and then they were both scrambling up, their palms still attached.
Jimmy Jr. presented his drawing to her with a flourish, holding it up under her nose so she could see it clearly.
“What is it?” Tina asked, eyes crossing slightly as she blinked down at the piece of construction paper.
“A truck?” Jimmy Jr. replied, his brow furrowing in confusion. Maybe he wasn’t holding it close enough - she was wearing glasses, after all.
“How come it looks like that?” She questioned, tracing her finger over one decidedly messy spot.
Jimmy Jr. grimaced, having nearly forgotten Louise’s additions to his work- he didn’t want Tina to think that he’d been the one to color it so poorly.
“Your baby sister did that part.” He said in a rush, before poking at a few more splotches. “And that one…and that one.”
“Oh…” Tina trailed off, peeking over at her siblings - they’d been set up next to Jimmy Jr.’s brothers, the four of them creating a cacophony of noise that made him want to cover his ears. Turning back to him with a guilty look on her face, Tina leaned closer and covered her mouth with her free hand before whispering, “She’s not very good at drawing, is she?”
Jimmy Jr. shook his head, giggling, and Tina smiled brightly in response.
“Do you know how to draw?” Jimmy Jr. asked suddenly, and Tina shrugged.
“I can draw a horse. And a unicorn. And a pegasus.” She listed off, holding up her fingers as she went. “And a giraffe, but that’s just a horse with a long neck.”
Jimmy Jr. was impressed, and he liked the way that Tina’s eyes lit up when she spoke of all the things she could draw.
“Can I see them?” He asked, grabbing another piece of construction paper for her to use.
“Okay,” Tina agreed, before looking down at their still clasped hands. “I’ll need this back, though. My hand, I mean.”
“They look like they’re getting along alright, huh?” Linda grinned, poking her husband in the ribs. “Our teeny Tina’s got her first boyfriend!”
“They’re five, Lin.” Bob replied, batting her hands away with a wince. “Don’t you think it’s a little too soon to be thinking about that?”
Linda brushed his negativity off with a derisive snort, instead turning to her new neighbor.
“What do you think?” She asked, nodding over at the table of children. “Any wedding bells in our future?”
“Lin.” Bob groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose as he shook his head.
“Whaaaaat?”
“I’m sure they’ll be great friends.” Jimmy Jr.’s mother interjected, watching as her son dutifully handed crayon after crayon to the girl at his side. She was glad that he’d finally had a chance to make a friend his own age, even if her parents were a little on the odd side.
“Yeah, yeah.” Linda tsked, arms crossing over her chest in annoyance. “But I’m tellin’ you both now, when they start dating in a few years, you guys owe me money.”
“Deal.”