The BabySitter (NBH)

"Now are you sure that you'll be okay? I mean…you haven't really watched over both of them at the same time without my help before…" Stella looked at her husband who was struggling to feed the two little children in high chairs. "No, no! We're fine, right guys?" Noeltan looked at his children, and dodged a piece of baby food flung at him. He gently picked the two infants up and out of their chairs, and brought them to their frantic mother, "See? They look fine don't they? They can't be any trouble! They're just precious little angels~" Stella rolled her eyes a little when Noeltan said "angels".  He simply continued, "Besides, if you don't go to that Halloween Convention, then you can't pull off a perfect Halloween right? The townsfolk are depending on you. You can't let them down!" Stella looked at the three smiles shining at her, and gave in, "Alright…but you know my number, and my parent's numbers. Give us a scream once and a while, alright? Oh! And make sure to give them their bottles at lunchtime. And remember that Pumpkin likes her bottle colder than Nicholas'. And Nicholas doesn't like being away from his stuffed bat and Pumpkin needs her elf doll. Give them a bath before they go to bed, and a snack before the bath. And also, they want to hear a story while they sleep, and-" She was cut off when her husband started nudging her to the door, "Yes, yes! I know exactly what to do. I'm not that new of a parent! I even have that handy Parenthood Book. Nothing can go wrong!" Stella gave each person a little kiss, her husband just a little longer than the children, then she walked out the door. A black taxi was waiting outside, and as it drove her away, she opened the window and waved.

With his wife out of sight, Noeltan closed the door with his foot, and it slammed as it closed. The loud noise startled the children, and they both let out ear piercing screams and cries. Noeltan gasped in panic; he tried to rock his children back to happiness, but he soon found out that it wasn't going to be that easy. He put the two in their high chairs, "Maybe some food will help? You didn't get to finish eating your snack from earlier!" He pushed the bowls of baby food toward the two, and they pushed it away as a response. Noeltan then took two spoons, scooped some food, and aimed each spoon into the crying mouths. Pumpkin took the bite and swallowed slowly, while Nicholas wacked the spoonful of food which flung and landed on Noeltan's shirt. Noeltan sighed as his children started giggled. He probably should have lectured his child to not do that…but it seemed to make the two stop crying. That's all that he cared about at this point…

After he got them fed, he noticed that they both started to smell a bit…and not the pleasant smell of gingersnaps and cinnamon that he knew. He hesitated…this was the first time that he had ever changed both of their diapers. He was in charge of changing Pumpkin's diapers, since she was closer to him on a parent-child level. But Nicholas? His wife made it look so easy…but he knew that Nicholas gave everyone and everything a hard time. Sure, the little boy was much closer to his mother, which would explain his unruly behavior, but with her gone Noeltan had to find a way to do this efficiently and quickly.

He started with Pumpkin, since she was the more sweet and gentle one. He placed Nicholas in the baby cradle in the nursery, while he took Pumpkin across the room to get her changed. He was used to this routine: get the diaper off, place baby on new diaper, put on the powder, and then wrap it up. It was kind of like Christmas…in a very strange way…

Now that his daughter was all better, he put her in the baby cradle and reached for Nicholas. The little red-head started to cry as soon as he picked him up, and Noeltan struggled to understand why. "Nicky! Please, please, please calm down? For your dad's sake?" But no matter how much Noeltan tried to talk reason with his son, it just ended with louder screams. Noeltan tried to think, but with all this crying it was starting to make him go crazy! Even Pumpkin was starting to make little whiny noises in the cradle. "Trust me…" he said, "You two both scream like your mother…very loud and I bet perfect for scaring other children for Halloween…wait…" Noeltan tried to think…his wife might have said something that could help him…what was it? Pumpkin's bottle…story while sleeping…then it hit him.

He left their favorite toys in the kitchen. That might calm them down! He rushed to pick up Pumpkin, and with both children whining in his arms, he rushed back to the kitchen. Sure enough, there they were. The little stuffed bat was lying on the floor, and the little elf doll was still on the chair. He brought his son close to the bat, and as soon as he saw it he stopped crying and reached for it. When he finally had a good hold, Noeltan rose up and brought his daughter to her doll. Pumpkin too stopped crying and grabbed the doll, embracing it wholeheartedly. Noeltan gave a sigh of relief…how could he overlook the simple mistake of separating his children from their favorite toy?
With both children much more calm and happy, Noeltan brought them upstairs and finally finished changing Nicholas' diaper. Of course, Nicholas couldn't help but cause some trouble, and when Noeltan was about to finish wrapping up the little bundle, the little baby boy got a hold of the powder and started to shake it. It was still open, and of course the white powder exploded everywhere. It caused a blizzard of white powder, covering Noeltan and the table. Of course, he checked to see if his baby was alright, and Nicholas just started laughing being barely covered in the powder, and his father decorated with it. Noeltan sneezed, causing a white dust to float in the air. Again…he was just glad that he got the task done, and paid no heed to his entire upper half being covered in baby powder. He simply put the kids in the cradle with their toys. "How about we take a nap, okay? Now no more trouble~ Remember that Santa Claus knows who the naughty and nice children are. I have the list downstairs to prove it!" He tucked his children in when suddenly he heard the doorbell ring. Under his request, the doorbell wasn't one that screamed when pulled; rather it was a regular one from the human world. He still got chills whenever he would visit his in-laws and have to ring that screaming bell, and he was glad that it didn't startle the kids and make them cry again. He made his way downstairs and opened the door to see a very familiar person…his mother.

"Where are they? Where are my precious grandbabies? ~" she hollered, and Noeltan could hear upstairs that the children started to cry. Obviously they heard their grandmother's entrance. Noeltan gave a groan of defeat, "Mother, why are you even here? What on earth do you need at this time of day?" His mother simply rushed past him, and went upstairs to the nursery. She grabbed both babies and cooed them back to slumber. Noeltan couldn't believe his eyes. "How do you do that? It takes me twice as long…and that's just for one!" His mother gave a laugh, "I've just got more experience! Besides, you were just like this too. I see a little of you in each of them. Especially your daughter! She's almost like a carbon copy! But then I look again and I can see some of my daughter-in-law in her too. They both are perfect little angels…aren't they?" Noeltan laughed, "Yes…they're my little angels…that's for sure. But they also can be a bit devilish too." His mother looked at him, "But that doesn't matter does it? You love them very much, and even though you may feel helpless at times, you've just got to let them do what they have to do." Noeltan looked at his mother with a puzzled look and she simply gave him the, "You'll know when they're older." talk. With his mother's help, they got the twins fed, bathed, and put to bed for the rest of the night. His mother left when she was sure that the babies were fast asleep, and she kissed Noeltan goodbye. "I miss you. You should come back more often you know? I'm a parent too. I miss my baby just as much as any mother." she spotted orange headlights head toward the house, "And it seems that the mother of my grandbabies is finally home. She must have missed her children and you very much." Mrs. Claus bid farewell, and got into a red car which drove away back to ChristmasTown. Noeltan walked outside to greet the orange pumpkin headlights, a sure sign that Stella had returned. A mummy chauffer opened the door for his Pumpkin Princess, and passed her the luggage from her trip. Stella tipped the mummy a couple of soul coins before running into the waiting arms of her husband. They embraced and kissed for a long time, until the mummy's moaning interrupted them. Stella gave a nervous laugh, "Ha…ha…you are permitted to leave now. Thank you for your service." The mummy bowed and mumbled, "Thank you Princess" before getting in the car and driving off. Stella and Noeltan walked into their little home, and continued their embraces and little pecks of affection. But it didn't last long, and Stella pushed a disappointed Noeltan off, "I'm very happy to see you too dear. But I want to see our kids too. I miss our babies you know." Noeltan nodded, and taking his wife's hand, they both walked up the stairs to the nursery. Stella peeked inside and gasped, "I…can't believe it. You got them in bed, and they're fast asleep! And the room isn't a complete mess! I must say, I'm impressed." Noeltan shrugged, "I guess I'm just a really good father." Stella laughed, "As much as I don't doubt your fathering skills…you had help from your mother didn't you?" Noeltan raised his arms in the air, "You got me. Yes, they were a handful, but my mother did help…a lot." Stella almost tackled her husband, snuggling on his still baby powdered scented shirt, "That's understandable. You still did a very good job. I'm so very proud of you~" The two were about to kiss again, when they both heard little whines from the nursery. "It seems that the kids found out that their mother has come home…" Noeltan sighed. Stella held her husband's hand, "Let's go together. I'll help you get them back to bed." They both went their ways for each baby, Nicholas immediately calmed down when he was held by his mother, and Pumpkin fell back into sleep in her father's arms. Noeltan gave a sigh of relief, something he'd been doing all day, and looked at his wife. She mouthed the words, "I love you" as she rocked the little boy to sleep. Noeltan mouthed back, "I love you too." before he took his free hand, and embraced his wife as they held their children, and were once again a peaceful family.