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I let out an irritated huff, glancing over my shoulder as I dried off the last of the dishes. By the time we were done eating and making the itinerary for New Orleans, Blake woke up. Never mind the fact that he woke up from our arguing and my yelling, but he woke up nonetheless. My punishment was cleaning up the kitchen while Josh watched Blake.

I hung up the washcloth and then rolled my sleeves back down, making my way to the couch where Josh sat with Blake, both of them watching Toy Story on the TV at the front. It was really just Blake watching the movie while Josh sat with his head tipped back, struggling to keep his eyes open. I stood to the side of the couch, resting my knee on the armrest. "Hello."

Josh looked over while Blake focused on the screen, absentmindedly playing with the stuffed toy of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh.

"I thought you were supposed to put him back to sleep," I said, reaching over and ruffling Blake's hair.

"He just woke up half an hour ago, he's not going back to sleep any time soon," Josh replied.

I glanced at the clock. It was starting to get kind of late, almost nine now. "I should get home," I said. I felt Josh's glare before I saw it.

"You're not going anywhere until Jenny comes and takes Blake back home."

"He's your nephew."

"I can't watch him on my own. I don't know everything about babies."

Just almost everything then.

"Then learn. You have a nephew to babysit."

"We have to babysit him," he corrected.

I rolled my eyes, sitting on the armrest instead. "Do you expect me to wait here until midnight and then go home? Are you kidding? I'm not staying here until then and I'm not going home all by myself at that hour either."

"Take a cab."

"I would if this neighborhood had any at this hour, which I know it doesn't. It's a residential area, everyone here has their own cars. So either you let me leave before then or you drive me back home once Jenny gets here. Your call."

"I'm not driving you home, nor are you leaving," he argued. "We both were told to babysit him. Actually, as far as I know, she might have just told you and you lied to me."

I glanced at the arm Josh kept around Blake. "Are you mad about it?"

He didn't answer and resorted to watching the movie.

I sighed to myself, leaning back into the couch and watching the movie since I had nothing better to do.

About twenty minutes later, I heard Blake's toy falling to the floor with a faint thud. I looked over and saw that he had thrown it away. His attention wasn't on the movie anymore and he was getting restless. My eyes went to Josh who had fallen asleep on the couch, one arm draped over his eyes with his head leaning back. Blake started shifting around, trying to stand up.

He must be getting hungry.

"Josh," I called out, only to get no response. "Josh," I said again, a little louder this time.

He only hummed.

"Joshua!"

He sighed calmly and pulled his arm down, facing me. "What?"

Blake grabbed Josh's shirt, brought himself to his feet, and held onto the couch before he started stumbling over to me.

"I think he's getting hungry," I said, catching him and standing up, holding him in my arms.

"So use the formula," he mumbled, putting his arm over his eye again.

I reached for the cushion and threw it at Josh's head full force, earning a little giggle from Blake.

"Poppy—"

I cut him off before he scolded me again. "I will go make milk with the formula if you watch him. I can't just leave him here."

He sighed and stood up, fixing his shirt before taking Blake from me. "Fine. Go."

I grabbed Blake's bag and took out the milk bottle and the formula before going to the kitchen and setting some water to boil. I grabbed the formula box and began reading the instructions on the back. I'd seen Jenny make it for Blake before, but it's better to be sure about the process. I'd rather be sure than admit I didn't know how to do this.

"You don't know how to use the formula, do you?" Josh asked, walking in, setting the baby bag on the counter.

I continued reading wordlessly until he snatched the box out of my hands. I clicked my tongue, reaching for it but he pulled his arm behind his back, staring down at me. "Give it to me," I demanded. "I'll figure it out."

"And if you fuck it up?"

"Stop swearing around him," I scolded, reaching around him.

He pulled his arm up instead as I crashed into him, quickly taking a step back afterward. I glanced at Blake as he played with Josh's hair, patting his head consistently.

Josh looked different once he came out of the shower. Normally, with his hair pulled back neatly, he looked more... mature. Not older, just mature but right now with his fluffy dry hair falling over his forehead, he looked a lot younger.

Almost charming, but I'd rather die than admit that, so...

I went up on my toes but Josh was still much taller, I couldn't even graze the box with my fingertips, not even my nails. I gave his chest a push and he rolled his eyes, pushing me out of the way.

"Move." He turned the kettle off before the water could completely boil. "You don't boil it. Just make it warm," he told me, grabbing the milk bottle off the counter and twisting it open, still holding onto Blake. "The bottle is probably washed, but you still rinse it," he glanced at me while washing the bottle, shaking it thoroughly before pouring the water out. "You pour the water in," he mumbled mostly to himself while pouring the fresh warm water into the bottle.

I leaned my hip against the counter, watching him in amusement. It seemed like the one thing he genuinely enjoyed doing was spending time with his nephew.

He adjusted Blake on his arm before opening the formula box and taking the spoon inside, taking one big scoop and dropping it in the water. He opened his drawer, took out a spoon, and mixed it in properly before grabbing the lid. He managed to put it on with one hand and then faced me. "Your hand," he demanded.

I held it up, my palm facing up.

He rolled his eyes and flipped it over before pouring a bit onto the back of my hand. "Not too hot? Not too cold?"

I nodded silently.

He seated Blake on the countertop and handed him the bottle. "Drink up."

Blake took the bottle, his legs rocking back and forth, and began drinking the milk slowly.

"Watch him," Josh ordered before cleaning up everything and packing it all back into Blake's bag.

"It looks like you know all about babies after all," I remarked as he turned to Blake again, brushing his hair out of his eyes with a single finger.

"I only have one nephew," he replied nonchalantly. Blake held his bottle in one hand while reaching for Josh with the other. Josh took the sign and scooped him up in one arm, glancing at me over his shoulder. "Come on."

I followed them back into the living room and settled on the couch, Blake sitting between us.

"If he needs his diaper changed, that's your duty," Josh said without looking at me. "We take turns. It's only fair."

"Sure it is," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

I can't change the diaper if I fall asleep first.

»»————　➴　————««

"Poppy."

I hummed, feeling physically incapable of opening my eyes.

"Poppy."

Who the hell is that?

"Poppy."

My eyes snapped open when I felt my chair being dragged away from the desk that I was sleeping on with my head down. I groaned softly, rubbing my elbow that hit the edge of the table. I looked up, glaring at Josh. "What?"

"It's our turn," he said.

I whined softly, moving to put my head back down.

Last night, Jenny didn't come to get Blake until two in the morning, which I didn't even understand how the hell they kept the restaurant open till then, but she said it was a lot of cleaning up after customers that night. I fell asleep on the couch at Josh's apartment numerous times, so did he. And Blake was dabbling between both sleeping and waking up as well.

Luckily, Jenny offered to drop me home on her way back, so I left with them and got back to my apartment by then.

After that, for no real reason, I just couldn't fall asleep, no matter how hard I tried. I lay in bed, tossing and turning for hours, and just when I was falling asleep, Josh called me up saying he couldn't sleep so we should go over the itinerary one more time. He made sure, no matter what I did, I was awake.

I didn't sleep until almost six in the morning and then woke up two and a half hours later to get ready and come to work. I dozed off without realizing when I put my head down on the table to take a break and now I'm getting this rude awakening by the one and only Joshua Nilsen.

I sighed as I felt him grab my arm and pull me up calmly. I thought he would yank me up, holding my arm tight enough to make it bruise or something since I know I have a natural talent of riling him up, but he didn't.

"Poppy."

I forced my eyes open and stared up at him, grabbing the journal and my phone. "Okay, I heard you," I mumbled, tucking my hair behind my ear before patting my hair down a bit.

He eyed me once and then nodded. "Let's go."

I followed him out, my arm bumping into the door on our way out. We reached Lydia's office and he knocked on the door before we were let in. Taking our seats across from her, I chose to just stay quiet and focus on staying awake while Josh did all the talking. He explained to Lydia that we would do it, we'd be partners for the magazine, but we both decided that our articles would have to focus a bit more on solo adventures.

To that, she immediately said, "No. Focus more on couple activities. The priority here is honeymoon activities and destinations. The solo bit is just because you two can't stand each other. Make sure all these places," she ran the back of her pen over the page, "you visit together. At least try it before whining and giving up. Why is she half asleep?"

Josh nudged my elbow, pushing it off the armrest and I groaned, "I'm not. I'm not half-asleep, I'm just tired. I'm listening, Lydia, continue. Honeymoons, together, yes, I hear you." When there was silence, I sighed, glancing at Josh. I found him already staring at me, amusement swirling in his eyes.

He shook his head faintly at me and then turned to Lydia. "She's awake. I'll catch her up on it anyway. The last thing is the places we need bookings for as well as the hotels."

"Hotels? Plural?" Lydia questioned.

Josh kicked my shoes gently and I cleared my throat. "The first half of the trip, all the places we're going are more on the outskirts of the city. For the second half, we'll stay at a different hotel that's close to the center of the city. And of course, we need separate rooms at both hotels," I explained.

She nodded after a moment. "All right, fair enough. I'll make all the bookings and email you the details. Is that all then?"

Both Josh and I nodded.

"Okay then. It's final."

Final is such a committed word.

"Josh and Poppy, this month, New Orleans is all yours. You're free to go."

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