Yours, Until Needed
Chapter 23: Babysitting

Chapter 23: Babysitting

There was no way out of the entire routine: leg splits, jumping jacks, and even burpees. I even had to take off my heels and wear an additional layer of socks for that. What’s worse is that I already did this earlier this morning.

But Lily was relentless. She kept on looking over, trying to find fault in my stance. Baby, I’ve been doing this my whole life.

After the cooldown, I handed her bottled water. She tried saying no, but I told her that hydration is essential and that we both know that water must be consumed after the morning drills. Then, I handed her some snacks under the guise of having to prepare study materials.

"Have you already mastered counting from 1 to 1000? And counting in odd, even, or other steps? Are you still at MDAS or now at PEMDAS?"

Realizing that my questions really had something to do with studying, her glare lightened. "No exponents yet. The tutor refused to teach topics of 10-year-olds. I’m only allowed 8-year-old topics."

I’m not surprised; it’s probably their way of lessening the chances of getting a second coming of Lucian. We went as far as we could manage during our time, and since the three of us studied together, we had a semblance of competition.

Prior to the age of seven, we were studying at a pace far faster than even advanced children, but we were having fun. Lucian, whom I even called Luci back then, was still adorable despite being mischievous. But by age seven, a demon may have possessed the cute little boy and turned into the guy we now know.

He became ruthless, and Rina started exclaiming how Lucian was too much daily as more and more things to learn and master started piling up.

That may have also contributed to Alexa’s personality. She attempted to join when Lucian, Rina, and I had already made much progress. Rina wasn’t bionic like Lucian, nor was she as studious as I was, but she could even wipe the floor with Alexa underfoot with everything she learned from Lucian’s new obsession.

Lucian also did not want to return to studying materials that weren’t even for children aged seven, Alexa was that bad. They attributed it to her being sick and fragile, unable to study like we did.

Utter horseshit.

So she couldn’t join, but from then on, she started making so much trouble for us, well, for me. I’d even see my homework being forcefully submerged in the pond, only for her to claim that she only wanted to make me paper boats. If only she didn’t purposely gloat after that.

From then on, I learned to leave nothing for later. Assignments never ended up as homework; they were always finished as soon as possible. If anything, Alexa probably contributed to my work or study speed.

"I see, so we’ll do these exercises first." I hurriedly wrote down a couple of problems ranging from basic MDAS to fractions. I’m buying time, so I even scribbled down word problems.

She obediently accepted the writing materials and the questionnaire. But having an inkling of how soon she would finish that, I hurried in to make a connect-the-dots questionnaire.

Once completed, the answers to my questions would appear like this: shaped like a bunny’s head. She’s a young child, and I know how boring studying can be sometimes, so I’ve learned to do things like this for my enjoyment.

True enough, she had better expressions after answering the second and third rounds of questionnaires, both turned into drawings once every item was answered correctly.

I originally intended to discuss basic Chemistry next; the periodic table of elements should take time, but Oliver suddenly knocked.

"Are you here for the registration?" I asked Oliver, who was followed by someone carrying several gadgets.

"Yes, ma’am, we just need a moment to take your prints and scan you for facial recognition."

"Then, Lily, kindly color the answer sheet first. I’d like to see your art progress and understanding of the color theory." She’d probably complain if I just told her to color, but asking about her familiarity with the color theory would be different.

Oliver seemed surprised at Lily, who only squinted her eyes before opening the art materials. I’ve always preferred using colored pencils, so that’s what we have now, not your typical children’s crayons.

His reaction meant he knew about her opinion of me and our marriage. So, her behavior wasn’t something that he expected.

But she’s actually very tame. Seriously.

If these people had seen what Lucian was like when he was younger, they’d be surprised. Lily only asked about my credentials, but Lucian would have started preparing a comprehensive test.

He did not like wasting time learning from someone who couldn’t teach him what he wanted to learn, so we always had different teachers until we found a tutor who was as crazy as him.

That all ended when we entered high school because we’d already tackled the minor or shared university classes by then.

Looking at Lily actually made me feel better. She’s still at that age when Lucian felt and acted like an actual child.

"Do you know if their meeting is about to end?" I asked Oliver while scanning my fingerprints.

"It should be soon, ma’am. It’s slated to end before lunch."

By the time Oliver and the staff finished signing me up for identification, they actually asked Lily for an update on her permissions. After all, she hadn’t been here for a while, and her data must have been from when she was a baby.

So she got up from her seat and obediently did as told. Looking at her like this, you won’t believe it’s the same girl who played hookey just this morning.

I realized she didn’t like being stared at, so before she could ask grumpily, I returned to checking her partially colored work. I say she’s got great fine motor skills, can color while staying within the lines, and is artistic enough to show me her secondary color skills by mixing for them instead of grabbing the actual colored pencil.

Lily’s face was being scanned when suddenly a loud "snap" caught my attention. Suddenly horrified, she clenched her fingers into a fist.

She doesn’t like looking like a mess, I guess.

"Stop scanning, and please fix my hair first," Lily told Oliver, who looked bewildered. Oliver and the staff exchanged looks. What kind of fix can these two bachelors offer? That’s what’s evident in both of their expressions.

Lily was probably used to having maids around her who knew how to fix her hair, so I offered my services.

She looked like she was about to cry, and failing at this point would just depress me, so I might as well do it.

"I’ll do it for you since it’s not the best idea to bother corporate workers for non-corporate work. We’ll just jump into personal grooming lessons while we’re at this."

She hesitated while looking at my short hair, probably thinking about my skills when I don’t even sport such a hairstyle. But seeing how clueless the other people were, she still sat in front of me obediently.

Her apprehension was apparent when I removed her remaining pigtail, but she tried not to move. Cute.

I don’t really have more elastics with me, but as a short-haired girl, I lived on bobby pins.

Before she started panicking, I began explaining while combing away the marks of her earlier hairstyle.

"We’re going to do a Twisted Tieback. It’s good when you’re out of elastics but have managed to keep at least two bobby pins."

In what sounded like an actual demonstration, I explained parting her hair, twisting both ends and then tugging on them to increase their size. It was really easy and fast. Pinning both twists and smoothing out her remaining hair almost took no time.

Without two mirrors, it would have been difficult for her to check the back of her head, so I took a picture instead.

From the front, she looked like she was only sporting a half-ponytail, but from the back, she’s got twists that actually resembled delicate braids. It would’ve looked nice with some small flowers or gems.

I guess she liked that because her eyes widened, and she had a light blush. I’m not surprised because the hairstyle was perfect for a princess.

The two men who watched us seemed surprised at how easy and fast that was.

"That looks great, young miss," said Oliver, the wingman.

"Thank you." She said as she straightened her back and walked towards the scanning apparatus.

What was funny was how she sat after returning. Instead of resting her head on the backrest, she sat like a poised bamboo, probably afraid of ruining her new hairstyle.

Kids are really adorable, even little stowaways.

Just as Lily resumed coloring, the giant office door suddenly opened to reveal several people clad in corporate suits. Their faces were expressionless, probably genetic, but Aunt Serena looked like she was about to call in the big guns.

Next to me, the little girl suddenly shuddered.

Ah, good luck, little baby. I can’t save you now.