The Brocade Baby (Rewrite) Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Babysitting

10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 18:10

 

For the next few days, Timotheos and the Blumenthals grew more accustomed to having Ambroise around and enjoyed spending time with him due to his innocence and curiosity naturally charming almost everyone around him. Audrey along with Brielle and her husband Julien also came over whenever they had the time, with Audrey and Brielle bringing gifts for little Ambroise every time. When Julien himself met Ambroise for the first time, he also found him to be incredibly adorable to the point where he wanted to take cute photographs of him (as he himself was a professional photographer). Miranda allowed him to do so and he brought his polaroid camera to the Blumenthal residence so he could get some good pictures. Timotheos and the others also got to partake in some of the pictures as it would be a personal gift from Julien to the Blumenthals, with the ones featuring his daughter and wife being kept for himself and the Larues. Once the second week came, Ambroise grew more accustomed to being cared for by the Blumenthals as Miranda, Timotheos and Barnim would take turns feeding the baby. When Miranda was at the clinic, Timotheos and Barnim would take care of Ambroise but when Timotheos was working at the Gringore store on Wednesdays and Thursdays, it would just be Miranda and Barnim. Audrey would also pitch in to help as she was absolutely smitten with the baby and wanted to be as close to him as possible. It got to the point where other girls began mistaking her for Ambroise's sister, to which she was both flattered and annoyed by (it also didn't help that she never bothered to correct them). Nevertheless, Ambroise and Audrey were shown to get along swimmingly as he enjoyed playing with her and having her read books to him (though whether he actually paid attention or not is still a mystery). Miranda was surprised when Audrey proved to be an effective babysitter/nanny for Ambroise as she was able to handle changing his diapers, bathing him and feeding him a lot better than she expected. It helped that Audrey already had experience with babysitting before and enjoyed being around children as much as Timotheos. Though Audrey couldn't babysit him on Tuesdays, as that was when she worked at the HausWart store, Miranda and the rest of the Blumenthals were able to care for him. Overall, no one had any issues with Ambroise other than the usual fits of crying and sleepless nights that babies often caused. It seemed as though despite the sudden appearance in their lives and how busier it made them, the Blumenthals were happy to have him around as he brightened their day. They even started bringing him on their walks (with and without the dogs), causing them to become the center of attention due to the Larues talking about him to their other friends (though it was mostly because of Ambroise). Timotheos found himself being asked questions regarding his new "baby brother" during his shift at the Gringore while Miranda was questioned by the other nurses and staff members on how Ambroise was found. Even Barnim was unsure as to how to respond to the various townsfolk asking him on who Ambroise was and where he came from. Though the Blumenthals were understandably overwhelmed by the sudden amount of attention they were being given by the other townsfolk, they didn't really mind as some of the townsfolk were kind enough to help out with taking care of Ambroise because he was that cute. Barnim even joked that they could exploit Ambroise's cuteness for their own benefit if they wanted to which Miranda and Timotheos both gave him dirty looks, prompting him to assure them that he was just kidding. Nevertheless, as the second week passed by, Ambroise quickly found himself being the center of attention by almost everyone in town.

"It's funny really," Timotheos began as he watched Ambroise play with some of the Duplo blocks on the living room floor. "I don't think we've gotten this much attention from the townsfolk, well not since the tram incident."

"I know right?" Audrey replied as she helped Ambroise keep himself from falling over. "I mean, it's not every day you find out that a neighbor of yours suddenly has what's basically a doorstep baby in front of your house. How are you going to keep that a secret?"

"Well, we weren't going to keep it a secret," Timotheos explained. "We were just going to tell you and your parents and naturally let it spread throughout the town so that it will blow over within a couple of days. We never thought it would get THIS big when it came to Ambroise. Seriously, when I was at Gringore, both the customers and the other staff members kept asking me if he was a cousin of mine or some kind of 'love child' that my mom had. I mean who asks that?!"

"Yeah, that's not something you ask even if they do have a baby," Audrey said while grimacing at the news. She still felt guilty for implying that Ambroise was Miranda's illegitimate child and shared Timotheos' annoyance at being asked such an inappropriate question. "Sorry you had to go through that nonsense, Timmy."

"It's okay," Timotheos reassured Audrey. "It's just that I'm not used to this kind of attention by others even if they technically revolve around Ambroise. However, I want to make sure that Ambroise doesn't suffer from the negative consequences when it comes to the attention." Audrey smiled at how determined Timotheos was when it came to Ambroise, who was currently chewing on one of the blocks. She admired how protective he was when it came to Ambroise, especially towards the more grabby and overly affectionate townsfolk that accidentally scared the baby or made him cry. Audrey and Timotheos had started to babysit Ambroise together whenever they had the time and didn't have conflicting schedules regarding their jobs. As a result, they began spending more time with each other at his house because of Ambroise (not that either of them minded). Barnim was just walking the dogs outside like usual while Miranda was in the backyard watering the various flowers and vegetables that were planted there for the summer. She was very good at gardening as she had what folks called "the green thumb ability" as it seemed that whatever she planted came out just fine with no signs of bile or rotting of any kind. Her personal boombox (which was a smaller version of the usual rectangular shaped ones) was placed outside for her to listen to and it was plugged in from one of the outlets that was placed outside of the house. Though the 2 teens and the baby could hear music playing from the backyard though it wasn't as noticeable due to them focusing on Ambroise.

As Audrey continued to play with Ambroise, she couldn't help but notice how Timotheos grew over the years both physically and mentally. Since they were best friends, she would know what it was like to be around such a kind-hearted, brave and friendly young man like him. Though she did have a (now embarrassing) crush on Johan, something that Timotheos constantly teased her about, the reason for this was very different compared to what he thought. It wasn't necessarily because he represented the ideal man that she wanted to see in a man but it was because he reminded her so much of Timotheos. That was the REAL reason why she had a crush on him and why she continued to have a crush on him until she became a teenager. It was to distract her from realizing her budding feelings for Timotheos as she feared that he wouldn't return them and make their relationship more awkward. How do I tell him without making it too obvious? She thought to herself as she tried not to blush in his presence. As Timotheos placed Ambroise in his lap so he could play with his little arms, making the baby laugh in amusement, he noticed that Audrey was looking nervous and became concerned.

"Hey, Audrey you okay?" he asked while keeping Ambroise steady on his lap. This snapped Audrey out of her thoughts, causing her to blush and become flustered over being caught.

"Huh? Oh oui! I'm feeling fine! Just dandy!" she replied with a rather forced smile on her face. Timotheos wasn't buying it and frowned in suspicion as to why she was acting so strange.

"Are you sure? Your face is really red, like really, really red," he commented, causing Audrey to place her hands on her cheeks in embarrassment as she began to laugh nervously.

"Ahahaha, I guess it is!" she replied while desperately trying not to make things even more awkward as it already was. She tried to turn away a bit so she could take a deep breath and close her eyes before turning to face him. After calming down a bit, an awkward silence remained which filled the room. It was so quiet a cricket could be heard chirping, metaphorically of course. It was so awkward that even Ambroise stopped playing for a bit to turn his head and stare at both teenagers, who were now blushing. A few seconds passed before Audrey finally decided to speak up.

"You know what's funny about this whole thing?" Audrey tentatively asked.

"About what?" he replied with curiosity.

"About this," she said pointing to Ambroise before gesturing at herself and Timotheos. "I mean, given that we both like Ambroise and we're both taking care of him as if he were our… enfant?" He didn't understand what she meant at first until he took a quick look at Ambroise and Audrey before it finally hit him. He blushed even harder than he did before as he wondered how others would react to something like this. He nearly facepalmed for not realizing this sooner as he initially thought this would be nothing more than a friendly visit from his old childhood friend and nothing more. But now that Audrey pointed out the implications of her coming over, he began to wonder if this meant something more than "friendly relations".

"Um…. Well… I mean… yeah?" Timotheos responded while nervously rubbing the back of his head while Ambroise continued to stare at both of them.

"Yeah… ehehehe…" Audrey replied as she tried not to look into his eyes, with Timotheos joining in on the awkward laughter.

"But in all seriousness," she began while composing herself in a more dignified manner. "Ambroise is special to both of us and is not just some random baby that was found here but rather he seems to be the one who lightens up everyone's day."

"Yeah you're right," Timotheos replied as he smiled in agreement. They both watched as Ambroise slowly crawled his way over to Audrey so he could sit on her lap, to which Audrey eagerly lifted him up and placed him on.

"But it does seem like he is our son," Audrey explained. "You're the papa, I'm the mama, he's our cute little bébé," she continued while holding him up and nuzzling his cheek against hers. "And this whole thing seems looks as if we were a…*Gulp* married couple." As Audrey finished her explanation, her face turned even redder than it should have, making her almost resemble a tomato at this point.

"R-right," Timotheos stammered as he tried not to think too hard about this but couldn't. For years he tried to convince himself that he only saw Audrey as a good friend and nothing more. Yet at the same time, he didn't know what to feel when it came to Audrey's words as it opened up his eyes to the scenario. In the past, he would have laughed at the idea of him and Audrey being married as adults, along with showing the usual ickiness to romance in general, but now he wasn't so sure if he wanted to keep that up.

"Timmy?" Audrey asked, causing him to look at her and notice how meek and vulnerable she suddenly looked. Tension filled the air as he wanted to know what she was going to say.

"Yes?" he replied with uncertainty.

"I…" she began with Timotheos looking curious and hopeful. "I…. I think I…"

Then "Careless Whisper" started playing which ruined the moment for both of them. As it turns out, Miranda had just finished watering the garden and brought the boombox inside the house with that George Michael song playing. While Timotheos didn't mind his mother playing her favorite songs on the boombox, he really didn't like how it had to play right when Audrey was going to tell him something important.

"Mom!" Timotheos shouted in annoyance as Miranda placed the boombox on the table.

"Oh sorry! Didn't mean to startle you guys," Miranda replied. As she looked at the 2 of them, she noticed how they had a slight blush on their faces and quickly put the 2 and 2 together. "Oh my, did I interrupt anything important?" she asked in a teasing voice, making Audrey blush even further.

"N-no Mademoiselle Blumenthal!" Audrey stammered as she quickly placed Ambroise back in Timotheos' lap before getting up. "I was just about to leave! Yeah that's right!" Audrey let out a nervous and forced laugh as she awkwardly walked towards the door in a stiff manner and put her shoes on.

"Sorry, Timotheos! I have to go back home now! Thanks for letting me come over and babysit!"

"You're welcome I guess?" Timotheos replied as he didn't know how to respond over Audrey's sudden departure.

"Okay gotta go now, au revoir!" she said as she opened the door and ran out but not before slamming it shut in a hurry.

"Au… revoir?" Timotheos said as he wasn't sure how to process this sudden turn of events. Sensing that she may have made things more awkward between them, Miranda slowly approached him and sat down beside him in the living room.

"Timmy? Is everything okay?" Miranda asked with concern.

"Huh? Oh sure, everything's okay," Timotheos said in a rather forced tone with a smile matching it. Miranda didn't buy it and became worried that she did something wrong.

"Are you sure?" she asked again.

"Oh yes, I am just feeling peachy at the moment," he said in a slightly more irritated tone. After a small pause, he sighed deeply before looking at his mother with an annoyed frown. "Okay, fine I'm not. She was gonna tell me something but you're music kind of ruined it." Feeling even more guilty, Miranda placed a hand on her son's shoulder in an attempt to console him.

"I'm so sorry, Timmy," she apologized. "I didn't know you and Audrey were having a private moment together."

"It's okay, mom. It was probably nothing too important," Timotheos said before picking up Ambroise and carrying him upstairs to his crib. Though Timotheos assumed it was nothing too important, a small part of him knew that was a lie. Could Audrey have been trying to… Nah, it couldn't be. There's no way she's interested in someone like me. Could she? As Timotheos was deep in his thoughts regarding Audrey, he placed Ambroise in his crib before tucking him in his lavender blanket. He turned the key on the Wiegenlied music box before placing it on one of the small desks close to the crib so it could lull him to sleep.

While Timotheos was trying to watch the baby he considered a little brother, Audrey ran all the way to her home without stopping to catch her breath. The moment she arrived home, she quickly got inside and slammed the door shut before finally catching her breath. This alerted her mother who was cooking something in the kitchen and caused her to look in her daughter's direction.

"Audrey, dear is everything alright?" Brielle asked with concern.

"Mama, please I'm not in the mood right now," Audrey said before taking her shoes off and running upstairs to her bedroom in frustration. She slammed the door shut before running to her bed and face planting herself into her pillow before letting out a loud cry of anger, frustration and sadness. While she didn't hold it against Miranda to ruin her chance of confessing to Timotheos (as she knew that she would never do something like that on purpose), Audrey still felt upset over not being able to tell Timotheos how she felt about him. As she looked at the picture that her father took of her and Timotheos holding Ambroise together, which was kept on top of her personal drawer, she laid on her bed and looked at her ceiling in dismay. If only I could have told him much sooner…