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"Thanks, Uncle Mer!" Maddie exclaimed, squeezing him in a brief hug as Darren handed the carseat to John. "You're a life saver!" She dropped a quick kiss on his cheek then set the diaper bag on the kitchen table.
Casey wove through the adults and immediately homed in on the mid-sized mutt who was eagerly awaiting her with his stuffed toy in his mouth. "Scooter!" She enthusiastically hugged the dog, small arms thrown around him with joy.
"Casey, be good and listen to your uncles!" Madison called out after her.
"Yes momma!" she yelled back as she began to wrestle the dog for the toy.
After a few brief instructions about feeding and nap time schedules, they left. Rodney waved at Madison through the kitchen window, sipping his coffee as he watched Darren back out of the driveway. It was a bit surreal; he'd gone from saving civilizations across two different galaxies to babysitting duty. He shook his head as he cradled his coffee cup in his hands. The jury was still out on which one was more difficult.
"So, Miss Casey," John asked as he unbuckled Braden from his car seat. "What would you like to do today?"
"The park!" she yelled exuberantly, jumping up from the front room floor where she'd been rolling around with Scooter. "Wanna swing!"
"Sure, just let me-WHOA!" John exclaimed as Casey narrowly avoided running into him.
Rodney's eyes widened as she barreled past him, Scooter hot on her heels. The dog slammed into his legs and he scrambled to keep from dropping his cup.
"No running in the house!" he yelled, but she already had the back door unlatched, letting Scooter run out into the yard. She was half way down the steps before he caught up.
"Whoa, Casey!" He put a hand on her shoulder. "We have to wait for Uncle John and to get Braden ready!"
She crossed her arms and pouted. "But I wanna go now," she said plaintively, then sat on the steps, setting her chin in her hands. "Braden's boring an' smelly an' noisy an' mommy's always feedin' him an' stuff an' she never pushes me onna swings!"
When her lower lip began to wobble dangerously, Rodney started to panic. "Uhm..." he cast about desperately for an idea to stave off tears. "Hey! Why don't you help me get Scooter back inside and then you can have a cookie while we wait. Then we can go to the park and I can push you on the swings all afternoon, ok?"
He face broke into a smile and she impulsively tackled him with a hug before scampering into the yard to chase Scooter around. By the time they wrangled the dog back inside and set Casey up with some milk and cookies, John had Braden changed and settled in the snuggly. Rodney was just grabbing the diaper bag when Casey wriggled down from her chair and skipped over to the door. "Can we go now?"
And so they set off on a meandering walk down the street. As usual, Casey inspected the trees on the way, the flowers in Mrs. Zick's garden, and took a moment to pet the cat sunning itself on the sidewalk when the turned down the next street. Then she caught sight of the park and gave a happy little shriek that made Rodney wince.
"Unca Merry!" Casey tugged at his wrist in an effort to make him go faster. "Come ON!" she demanded, tossing her curls to glare at him over her shoulder. "You promised to push me onna swing!"
He let himself be dragged along, unable to keep from smiling. "So I did!"
***
After 45 minutes of swinging, Rodney finally coaxed Cassie down.
"But I wanna swing so high I go to 'lantis!" she said, another pout in place.
Rodney suppressed a groan. She was nothing if not determined. "I promise you can swing more later," he said, then motioned to the kids waiting nearby. "But it's only fair to let the other kids have a turn, right? You know how you feel sad if other kids don't let you have a turn."
She sighed and slid off the swing. "Kay, don't wanna make 'em sad," she agreed, then turned and ran over to the play structure with climbing nets and slides, scrambling to the top in seconds.
He followed at a more sedate pace, gratefully lowering himself onto one of the benches set around the playground. Sad that he needed a rest after pushing a kid on a swing, but this was his life now. After a moment, John came up beside him.
"I think the bloom is off the rose," he commented, falling into the rocking sway common to all people who held babies. Rodney glanced up. Braden was forward facing, feet kicking, one tiny fist crammed in his mouth, avidly watching all the kids on the play structure.
"Well, she's not wrong," Rodney replied, turning his attention back to where Cassie was trying to climb up the slide. "Babies are boring when you're 4 years old and ridiculously intelligent." He gave John a pointed look. "I know. Speaking from personal experience here."
John rolled his eyes then looked down at Braden. "Don't listen to him, buddy," he said, running a hand over the little boy's wispy hair. "I think you're delightful the way you are."
Braden suddenly started bouncing in the snuggly, babbling and waving his hands. "And here comes Miss Casey," John said, smiling at how Braden reacted as soon as he saw his big sister.
Rodney groaned. "I just sat down!" he said plaintively. "Here, give him to me. You go push the demon child for a while."
"I thought she was ridiculously intelligent." John smirked at him as he undid the clasps to free Braden from the carrier and set him in Rodney's arms.
"Ridiculously intelligent demon," Rodney replied, settling the baby on his lap. Braden tried to shove his fingers in Rodney's mouth which he deftly avoided. "Oh no, no sharing spit, thanks," he said as he retrieved a colourful teething ring out of the diaper bag. Braden immediately lunged for the toy, shoving it in his mouth to gum it with great gusto.
"Eww, gross!" Casey wrinkled up her nose at Braden's antics before looking at Rodney. "You promised to push me again!"
John took her hand. "How about I take a turn pushing you?" he asked as he led her away. "I bet I can push higher than Uncle Meredith."
"Yeah, whatever," Rodney muttered as they walked away. He looked down at the little boy in his arms. "Sometimes it's good to be boring."