Mr. Mom

20

"You be good for Uncle Fred and Aunt Hermie ok?" FP tells Ellie as he straightens out his collar in the mirror. She's sitting on the counter next to him, smiling away as she waits anxiously for her and Aunt and Uncle's arrival.

"I'm always good, daddy!"

"I know, I'm just telling you." He pecks a kiss to her head and scoops her up into his arms. "How do I look kiddo?"

"Handsome, daddy!"

He smiles. "Thanks honey. Did you finish your card for Allie?"

"Yeppers!"

"Why don't we go give it to her?" She nods excitedly and he sets her down so she can go get it.

"Ooo Allie you look pretty!" He hears Ellie squeal from the other room.

"Why thank you, so do you."

He walks out and feels his breath hitch as he looks at her, she does look pretty, gorgeous even. She's just got on a pair of jeans and a blouse but she's stunning.

"Daddy," Ellie whispers, tugging on his hand and only then does he realize he was staring. She waves him down to her level so she can whisper in his ear. "Tell her she looks pretty." She tells him before skipping off to retrieve the card she made for Alice.

"Gotta agree with the kiddo on this one, you look very pretty."

Her cheeks heat up, her entire face heats up and she smiles. "Thank you. You look pretty good yourself."

There's a knock on the door and then Fred and Hermione let themselves in. "The best babysitters in the world are here." Fred announces.

"You and Ellie made smoothies without the blender lid on, are you sure you're the best babysitter in the world?"

"That's why I'm here." Hermione points out.

"Now this is the best babysitter in the world." He pecks a friendly kiss to Hermione's cheek and takes both she and Fred's coats.

"But I'm the fun one!" Fred insists.

"Allie, close your eyes!" Ellie tells her. "Uppy!" Alice obliges and lifts her up, keeping her eyes shut. "Okay open!" She holds the card up as Alice opens her eyes.

"Oh wow! Did you make this?" Ellie nods. "This is the best card I have ever seen in my entire life."

"See? That's me and that's you!" She points to the picture. "We're picking flowers and in this one," she opens up the card. "We're watching a princess movie!"

"I love it, Ellie. This is the best birthday ever, thank you." She pecks a kiss to the girl's cheek and Ellie gives her a hug before Alice sets her down and she runs over to her Aunt and Uncle.

___

Bowling is a much more fun activity than going to dinner or a movie.

"Strike! Ha!" FP exclaims as the board lights up.

"Oh big whoop you got one strike, I've gotten two in a row." Alice teases as she picks up a bowling ball.

"Whatever, just a strike of luck." He smirks as he takes a seat on the bench and watches her take her turn.

They both watch as the ball travels down the middle and she throws her arms up in victory as she gets another strike. "Ha! Turkey, beat that."

"Oh I will-" he doesn't get the chance to beat her because the board lights up saying she's won. "Damnit. This is the second round you've won!"

"Don't worry, you can beat me some other time. Or, more likely, I'll beat you some other time." They laugh as they put on their coats, getting ready to head home. It's nearly 1 A.M and they've got two babysitters at home that are probably exhausted.

"Oh your shoelace is untied." FP warns her and she shrugs.

"It's fine, the car's not that far." They walk out into the night air and she nudges him with a smile. "I had a lot of fun tonight, I've got to say. Maybe you're right about celebrating birthdays and making a big deal about them."

"I'm right a lot, you'll figure it out." He teases.

"Oh no, I'm always right, Jones. That's a fact."

He raises an eyebrow at her and laughs when she accidentally trips, catching her hand and keeping her from falling. "Oh look who was right about tying that shoelace!"

"Oh shut up." She gives him a playful shove but to his surprise doesn't let go of his hand, instead she holds it the rest of the way to the truck.

___

FP opens the door as quietly as possible so he won't disturb Ellie. Though he quickly finds out it's not just Ellie he has to worry about disturbing as both Hermione and Fred are passed out too. The latter of whom has bows and glittery clips in his hair and some nice sparkly makeup on. Looks like Ellie was giving makeovers while they were out.

Hermione stirs awake and groggily greets them. "How was bowling?"

"Fun, sorry we're so late."

"It's okay, we were watching a movie and I guess we all fell asleep." She tells him, gesturing to the tv that's playing the title card of a movie on a continuous loop.

"Was she good?" FP asks as he walks over to the couch. He pulls the blanket off of Fred just enough to get Ellie, who's curled up on his lap, fast asleep.

"She's always good." Hermione tells him.

"Good. Thank you for watching her."

"Yeah, anytime." She turns to Fred as FP walks down the hall to put Ellie in her bed. She shakes him awake and he wakes up with a start.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" He looks down. "Shit, where's Ellie?" He asks in a sleepy panic.

Hermione and Alice both laugh. "FP took her to bed, we fell asleep."

"Oh, they're home." He rubs his eyes and smiles at Alice. "How was your date?" Hermione slaps his arm. "Ow! What?"

"It wasn't a date, we just went bowling."

"Yeah, bowling." He winks at bowling.

"Seriously, we were just celebrating my birthday, that's all."

"Oh yeah, happy birthday by the way."

Alice chuckles. "Thank you."

"Did you have a good birthday?" Hermione asks.

FP walks out of Ellie's room and back into the room as Alice watches him. "Yeah. One of the best."