✅1️⃣ Trusting the Babysitter

Chapter 9 - A Small Deception

"Okay, can I get some clean clothes?" Claudia asked.

"I should have thought earlier. Sorry." Adam didn't turn back to look at her, which was a blessing. He was still apparently compelled to obey her orders, and she had told him to keep facing the wall until he said otherwise. Without that, he would probably have turned around automatically when she spoke to him again, and invaded her privacy before he realised what he was doing.

"Okay. Let's go to my room and get some." She reached out and took his hand, a gesture which surprised him. He decided not to question it, figuring that whatever made her more comfortable had to be the right option. And it gave him a small reason to smile as well. "You can stop looking at the wall now. But please don't look at me until I've got a skirt on. Does that count as an order?"

"I don't think so. Maybe it's the tone or something, or it sounds more like a request. But I won't look, because that's just good manners. It doesn't need to be a command. Did you manage to get a diaper on okay?"

"Yeah. They just about fit."

"Such a clever baby. Now let's get you dressed, okay?"

He felt her hand stiffen, and it somehow took a second to realise why.

"Sorry. She told me to tease you about being a baby. I guess that for the last few minutes I haven't been able to think of a condescending way to say those things. But you should tell me to stop treating you like a baby if that bothers you."

"No. I was thinking about it, and Lorelei knows she has all the power. From the demon stories, I guess she's done this before. Maybe it's the same with every babysitter, so she knows how this stuff works better than Mum does. This could be the first time she's had a babysitter smart enough to start looking for loopholes."

"You got it before I did," he shrugged. "I only really understood when you yelled stop. Such a clever girl." He managed to bite back the words before he said anything else in that vein.

"Anyway, she knows the rules. If she knows we're cheating she might tell us not to talk or something, and we'd be stuck. Better to follow her instructions. Who knows, maybe she'll feel like she got her revenge. So keep on talking to me like a kid, and pull me around if I'm not moving quickly. We can't let her notice."

"That's why you took my hand?"

"You sound disappointed."

"Well, I thought you might need a little help walking, you're only... God damn, this is hard. Is there anything worse I could have said?"

"Probably what you were really thinking. But you're doing well, and I know you don't think of me as a baby. So it doesn't really bother me. Not that much. I mean, it's not like you're telling me I'm beautiful, like the only thing that interests you is some sexualised fantasy of–"

"You shouldn't be using naughty words like that," Adam interrupted, and then groaned as he realised what he'd just said. "You're too little to be thinking that stuff, and nobody's going to say you're not a little cutie."

"And you're looking for another slap?"

"If it makes you feel better. It's like I don't think what I'm saying until it's too late. You know I don't want to upset you. Don't you, sweetie?"

He half expected that to merit some kind of punishment, but she just reached past him to open the door. Lorelei was standing outside, hands on her hips.

"You took a long time! You're not a very good babysitter, are you?"

"Sorry," Adam mumbled, not sure how long he could get away with this. "But she's all diapered now. I need to wash her clothes, and clean the floor downstairs. And Claudia needs some clean clothes too. So let's–"

"No! I'm the big sister. You got to do what I say!"

"Okay. But your mum said I have to clean up. I need to do that as well or we'll all get in trouble. Now I think Claudia's being a good girl, she's not being any problem. So we can let her play by herself a bit while I do the cleaning. What do you want to do?"

In any other circumstances, he would ask about her favourite toys, or maybe try to think of some suggestions. But right now it seemed that Lorelei wanted to think she was the big sister. She wanted to be in charge. So as well as treating Claudia like a baby, which she had demanded, he decided that talking to the little girl like an adult might make his life a little easier. Even if it frustrated her after a few minutes, she might feel like he was taking her seriously. And he really didn't want to think about what she had made the other babysitters do, that made them too scared to even talk about it.

"No. she's a naughty baby. She got to punished. Claudie cleans up herself. But you can help her. Tell her she's a dumb baby. Say she's doing it wrong and laugh. You got to be super mean. You got to!"

Adam took a deep breath. That kind of angry tone, the way she was speaking down to him like she was on the verge of a tantrum, seemed to make all the distance. It made it clear she was demanding and not just asking, and he was starting to realise that's what made her words feel like a command to him.

"Come on Claudia," Adam nodded, barely thinking about it. "Can you clean up after yourself like a big girl?" He marched her back downstairs, and he could see the glare of rebellion in her eyes. He knew that she'd considered fighting him, and she might have been able to hurt him. But she had some self-control still, and she knew that this wasn't something he wanted to do. She was being treated like a little kid in need of humiliation, but she was the one who could actually bring herself to do the rational thing.

"There's a good girl," he said, and grabbed the laundry basket from the landing on the way past. He could feel the muscles tense as he held onto her wrist, but for now she would let him pull her around like a naughty child.