Who: Audrey and Rose When: Late August Where: Baxter Bakery What: Random Encounter Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete when posted
Audrey was at the bakery. People had seemed a bit grumpy lately, and this week there was a lot of chocolate being sold. Muffins, donuts, cookies, cakes. Though, she didn’t sell as much of that stuff as Peeta did at his bakery, she did sell a few.
The mood was a bit higher this week, though. People were happier. Audrey had Ben in his play pen in the back, and was flitting around the shop greeting customers, taking wholesale orders via phone and helping to train new employees.
It was a good day so far.
Rose had had a long week. She had been in an exceptionally bad mood the previous week and had decided that she should probably avoid talking to some people, and then Cal had shown up to, apparently, drag her back to her wedding. She had avoided actually talking to him thus far, but she knew she was going to have to.
But all in all, coming to work helped cheer Rose up. Especially when Ben was there. She still had a couple minutes left on her break, and she was using them to play peek-a-boo with him.
Ben was at a really fun stage in his development. (If you discounted the poop and stuff.) He was standing in his pack and play, eating more solid foods, making some baby talk, and definitely playing peek-a-boo and patty-cake. He was thrilled to have someone to play with, and squealed with laughter.
Audrey glanced over from where she was talking to one of her bakers, and grinned at the sight of Rose with Ben. “You’re so good with him.” She said, softly, moving closer.
Rose hadn’t noticed Audrey approaching, but when she spoke Rose turned to her, smiling. “Thank you,” she said. “I love babies, and he’s just so well-behaved.” There weren’t a lot of babies that could come sit in a busy bakery like this one and not become fussy.
Audrey grinned. “Well, he’s had a lot of experience being here at the bakery. He’s practically lived here since I finished Maternity Leave. Though, he spends time with his Daddy at Stark sometimes, too.” She smiled and reached over to pat the baby’s head.
Ben gave a coo, a gurgle, then a laugh, making grabby hands up at the pair of them.
“Soon he’ll be he’ll be helping mom bake too, won’t you Ben?” she said, and when Ben made grabby hands she couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, may I hold him?” Rose asked.
“It’ll take a while before we let him use the oven,” Audrey teased, then broke into a brighter smile. “Of course you can! Here.” She moved over to the pack and play and lifted the baby up into her own arms, then passed Ben over to Rose.
Ben was just past seven months old, and a very active boy. Not particularly squirmy when other people held him, though. He simply stared with big, bright eyes up at the pretty lady, hands gripping onto her clothes.
Rose took Ben into her arms, bouncing him gently on her hip. He was adorable, and Rose couldn’t wait until she had children of her own. It was a long ways off - she was far too young now, and had to still finish school and find a career. With the recent major changes in her life, she really needed to get settled in before she could even seriously consider having babies.
“He’s such a beautiful boy,” Rose said. “You must be so proud. How old is he?”
“I am ridiculously proud,” Audrey said, beaming. “And happy. He was born on Christmas, so… eight months? He’s really trying to walk and crawl and do all of those big boy things. But he’s not quite there yet on his own.” She reached over to run her hand over the baby’s head. “You’re good with him,” she repeated. “Do you have much experience with children?”
“I can’t imagine any greater Christmas gift,” Rose said. “Unfortunately, I don’t have as much experience with children as I would like,” Rose said. Her mother would have never permitted her to do anything like babysitting, but she had enjoyed playing with the smaller children when she had grown up.
“It was pretty amazing. People around Orange County were having their wishes granted for Christmas”--now that probably sounded completely insane--“and I wished for a smooth, easy, healthy labor and delivery. And out came Ben!” She beamed. “Well, you can spend as much time with him as you like.”
“So these phenomena aren’t all just giant spiders and and the end of the world? I find that hard to believe,” Rose said, the corners of her lips turning up in a playful manner. Her experiences so far hadn’t exactly been the nicest, though it stood to reason that they couldn’t be all bad. “That’s so kind, Audrey. I would like that quite a lot.”
Audrey shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure why we haven’t had anything fun or whimsical lately. We used to get those sorts of things a lot. It’s been fire and brimstone for a while, maybe we’re due. Though, now I’ve said that, it’ll be like Murphy’s Law, I’m sure.” She grinned, playfully. “Sure. I’ll even pay you for it sometimes if you want. Babysitting? I’d love to be able to go out for a romantic evening with my husband.”
“Oh, what kind of things would we normally get?” Rose asked, curious. She had accepted magic and vampires about as well as anyone could, and though she really wouldn’t mind seeing some good come out of all of that instead of everything that they had been getting. “I’ve never actually babysat before, but I would absolutely love to if you would trust me with it.” Especially with a good child like Ben.
“I don’t know… people swapping bodies? Being inexplicably connected to someone they’ve never met before? Sometimes our technology goes all wonko and people get random text messages from strangers. Or they can only speak the truth, or speak only in riddles or song.” Audrey had seen all of those things happen. Sometimes it was funny, other times a little embarrassing… but those kinds of events were hardly ever fatal like the lightning storm or spider invasion or zombie attack.
“Of course I would! Ben likes you. And I know where you live,” she teased. “Just let me know when you’ve got a free evening. Merlin and I would love to have a night out.”
“None of those sound particularly appealing,” Rose frowned. For a very brief moment she wondered why, out of all the places she could have decided to go to school, she chose this place. But this place had brought her to Jack and her other friends that she had made, and even with all the strangeness, it was better than going back with her mother and Cal.
“I will most certainly let you know,” Rose said. “I would be honoured if you’d let me take care of little Ben for a night.”
“Perfect. You’ve got my cell number, right? You can text me and let me know when you’re free.” Audrey gave her a bright smile. “As for now… we should probably get back to work.” She teased. “But we’ll meet up for coffee later.” Audrey still loved coffee. One of the perks of owning a cafe/bakery was sampling the wares!\
Rose coloured a little, glancing at the clock. She had managed to lose track of time and go over her break, but at least she had been doing it by talking with the boss. “Yes, my apologies,” she said, straightening up from her position by Ben’s play area. “Things are a little hectic right now, but I will text you as soon as things settle down.” Once Cal had left and she’d feel safe making plans like that again.