RP: Lending a Hand

[olddognewtrick]

Date: 14 August 2001
Characters: Sirius, Molly, Quin, Tracey
Status: private
Summary: Sirius and Tracey watch Quin for the evening to help out Hermione while Charlie's withdrawing
Completion: incomplete

Comments

[tracey_schemes]

By the time Tracey got back to the flat, she had two bags full of food. She had no idea what babies ate so she'd gone down the aisle at the market and gotten one of everything with a baby face on the packaging. There were jars of gross looking stuff that was supposed to peas and carrots, and a box of biscuits and several other things that seemed baby-ish

[olddognewtrick]

Tracey was back! And she had two large and very full bags from the market. Sirius winked back at her and finished the last verse of the song.

"Thanks for the help, Quin," he said, grinning as he put his guitar back into the case.

"Bought out the whole market, did you?" he teased as he got up to kiss Tracey hello. A chaste kiss, since Quin was watching them interestedly.

"This is Quin. You saw each other at the party last week. Hey Quin, do you remember Tracey? She's going to play with us today as well!"

[tracey_schemes]

"Not the whole market," she said before she pouted. "Just part of it."

She kissed him lightly and then looked down at the baby. She hadn't paid that much attention to him at the party since she'd been nervous about meeting Friends of Sirius and then had just sort of stayed out of the way. "He's like a tiny little person," she said with a smile. When she realized how stupid she must sound, she glanced at Sirius. "I mean, well, fuck. I'm not used to being around babies and children and haven't given them much thought."

"Hi Quin," she said before she sounded even more ridiculous and Sirius decided she was too brainless to date anymore.

[quin_gw]

"Hi," Quin said. Then he scowled briefly. "I not a baby. I big!"

However, there were toys, and this was someone to play with, so he grinned. "Tum play. Dere a shiny bunny, an a bots, an... other 'tuff." She didn't seem so sure, so he tugged at her hand. "You haves to sit down foost, den we see in dat bag."

He looked up as she didn't come with. "It easy! Tum on!"

[olddognewtrick]

He kissed her cheek affectionately. "Relax, he's a really easy kid. And, er, watch your mouth. He picks up words like nobody's business. Hermione called me an 'old cur,' and now he thinks that's my name."

"Nobody said you were a baby," Sirius said, ruffling Quin's curls.

"C'mon, Love," he said, nudging Tracey toward Quin, "he doesn't bite, I swear."

[tracey_schemes]

"Watch my mouth?" she asked as she frowned. Then she realized what she'd said and made a face. "Sorry. I didn't think. Old cur, huh?"

Then the kid was tugging on her hand and she was reminded of Kensi when he really wanted attention. Maybe babies were like puppies? If so, she wasn't too bad at dealing with the latter. Though, this one could talk, a lot, and said things that didn't really make a lot of sense. She understood a few words and was able to follow him well enough but he talked fast.

"Is he normal for that age? I mean, he seems kinda talkative and not stupid," she said as she reluctantly followed Quin to the bag of toys. She sat down and looked around curiously. "The clerk at the toy store suggested all these things. I had no idea what he'd like."

[quin_gw]

Quin waited for her to sit down, then peered into the bag. "Dis one," he decided. It had lights. And buttons. They must do something.

He took it to her and climbed into her lap with his back against her front. "Hewe," he said. "How it goes on?"

She didn't take it right away, so he turned it over in his hands. "It haves fings," he said, pointing at the shapes and letters with one fingers, "But I tan't know what it says."

He held it up again, confident she would know how to make it work.

[tracey_schemes]

He was on her lap and holding some box with a bunch of buttons. She looked at Sirius with a 'help me' expression and then back at the Muggle toy. "Um, well," she said as she adjusted him so she could reach the toy. She read it and still didn't know.

"I think it's a game?" she said slowly. She pushed the button marked 'on' and it made some odd beeping noises then had a flashy light. She grinned. "It's on! And look, it's all sparkly and bright."

She bit her lip and pushed another button, watching as the tiny blank screen started to flash with what looked like a frog and oddly shaped lily pads. "I guess this is why it's called Frogger," she mused as she shifted the kid and pushed another button. "Oh! He jumps if we push that."

[quin_gw]

Quin made fists and shook them with excitement. "Dat frog go jump!" he bounced on Tracey's lap. "Do again!"

He watched her push buttons, examining the screen, until, "Uh-oh. Now dat frog go boom." He looked up worriedly. "It beed."

He glanced back at the sceen. "Oh! Now it all better. You fitsed it!" He grinned up at her.

[olddognewtrick]

"He's a bit advanced for his age. I don't remember Harry talking that much at a year, but then again, he didn't have Hermione Granger for a mum. At this rate, he'll have read 'Hogwarts: A History' by his fifth birthday." Quin seemed to take to her quickly, which was a relief. Tracey, on the other hand...

Sirius resisted the urge to laugh at the expression on Tracey's face. It really was funny how intimidated she was by the idea of babysitting, especially since Quin was about the easiest kid in existance.

He scooted over next to where she was sitting, and snaked an arm around her to rest on her hip, leaning in close. "Good job with the frog-fixing," he quipped, peering down at the screen with the little pixelated frog on it. "Might want to watch those trucks, though." He spoke too late, and the frog went splat once more in the road. "This game doesn't seem very kid-friendly, what with all he frog-squashing going on..."

[tracey_schemes]

"It isn't kid-friendly?" she asked as she looked at Sirius and frowned. "I told the clerk that it was a little child with curly hair and he seemed active. Why would he sell me a game that wasn't meant for a child?"

"Maybe we should choose a different toy," she said. "I don't want him scarred by frog-squashing. I didn't realize it was so violence. Violence is bad for kids, isn't it?"

"Would you like to choose a different toy, Quin?" She put the game to the side so there would be no danger of trauma regarding fake frogs being squashed.

[quin_gw]

Quin peered over her arm as she set the game aside, then looked up. "Why you 'tops? Does you need a 'nack?" He twisted around. "Otur, Twacey need a 'nack. She det tired alweady!"

He turned back around. "Does you get bistits?"

[olddognewtrick]

Sirius nodded, agreeing with Quin's analysis. "I think we could all use a snack." He kissed Tracey's cheek and stood up to see what she'd bought. The bags were full of little glass jars and boxes.

"Er, what exactly did you buy, anyway?" he asked, picking up one of the jars, which was filled with some sort of green goo.

[tracey_schemes]

"Yes, there are biscuits," she said, pleased that she understood his question. She looked at Quin and then looked at the table.

"He's not getting up," she murmured to Sirius, slightly panicked. Having him on her lap while she was sitting was one thing but she wasn't about to try carrying him because she'd drop him and he'd break and Sirius would not be happy.

"I bought baby food," she announced proudly. "There is some sort of vegetable goo and some biscuits and I don't know...I bought things on the shelves that had little kids on them."

[quin_gw]

Quin looked at Tracey strangely. She wasn't getting up. "Wet's go see," he urged, turning to arrange himself for better carrying.

She still didn't get up, so he scowled and moved off her lap, waiting for her to get up so he could hold his arms up for her.

[tracey_schemes]

"Okay. Let's go," she said as she waited for him to move. Finally, he got up, though he was scolwing at her.

She stood up and started to walk to the table when she noticed him holding his arms up. "He wants me to carry him?" she asked Sirius, giving him a 'please don't make me drop the baby' look.

Quin looked very annoyed so she quickly reached down and picked him up, trying to hold him sort of like she did Kensi but this kid wiggled even more than her dog. "I won't drop him. I won't drop him," she muttered to herself as she carefully carried him to the table to join Sirius.