Disclaimer: Of course I don't own the characters.


Playing House

Chapter 1: My Poor Nephew, Having to Deal with Idiots

It was January, in the city of Twilight Town. The new year was finally upon them as students got ready to start another semester at the university, Naminé included. But there was still some time left of the holiday, which was just fine with her.

It had only been 3 weeks since her sister's wedding and yet, there was already a video all over YouTube of her being ridiculously smashed to her extreme disappointment. Along with her attempts to kill Roxas, an asshole from high school (who was at fault in all of this mess as far as she was concerned) and there was this red-haired guy who tried to set something on fire. Overall, Naminé escaped severe judgment from her mother, since Aqua had fun either way and was too busy with Terra to notice that Naminé had vomited all over the ice sculpture swan.

But life goes on and Naminé was due to meet her girlfriends down at the local coffee shop. Getting up, she grabbed her phone and keys and locked up her loft (she didn't need a lot of room). She wrapped her scarf more securely around her neck, her low cut shirt not providing her enough warmth in the chilly weather. Quickly walking over to the bus stop, she boarded.

'No seats… figures…' she thought, noticing that there were plenty of guys that weren't going to offer her a seat. 'Chivalry is dead.'

Just then, her phone went off. She silently hoped it wasn't her mother but when she looked at the caller ID, she wasn't much happier.

"Yes, Aqua?" she asked into the iPhone, trying to keep it short.

"Hey, Nam, baby sis… Remember the time I helped you with those college applications?" Aqua asked her. "And how you ruined my wedding?"

This is how Aqua always started conversations when she wanted something… Reminding you that she did something for you and that basically you owed her back. Naminé rolled her eyes, but kept her voice neutral.

"Sure, what do you want?" she asked.

"Well… you see, Terra has to go to Hollow Bastion and I have to go to Castle Oblivion for work. Lots of traveling, not much outside connection, you know, since we'll be in the field…Unfortunately, we'll be out for about 5 months and the doctor said that we shouldn't take Ventus because he'll develop attachment issues," Aqua explained.

Naminé waited for her part in all this.

"As you know, Terra has gotten Ventus' godfather to come out and watch him, but… I don't really trust him," Aqua rushed out. "He seems like a good guy, but he's inexperienced and I was just hoping that you'd stop by to see if he and Ventus are okay… I mean, you don't mind, do you? I know how much you care about Ventus."

She didn't know the half of it… Naminé adored Ven. Anyone on the street could look at the pair together and think that he was her child. He was the only good, decent, and pure thing that came out of her family. A true treasure.

She'd be damned if she let some nobody stranger care for baby Ven. They didn't know to sing to him when he was crabby. They didn't know that his favorite baby food was apples and chicken nor when he'd want his crib versus sleeping on someone.

And Aqua knew Naminé couldn't stand by and not check on him.

"When do you leave?" asked Naminé.

"Now." Aqua said, quickly. "We got a cab to the airport. We're about to board now. I just snuck away to call you so Terra wouldn't think I went behind his back. He's seriously happy with his decision for the godfather but I'm still not sure. I know you'll look after Ventus and also the rest of the home," Aqua said. There was a rustle before Aqua whispered, "Thanks Naminé, gotta go. We'll Face Time when we get there!"

And the line was dead.

Naminé stood thinking. Aqua was really asking a lot of her this time. To look after an actual child, a 6 month old baby, for five months? On top of her own life and school? And it would be more than Ven; she'd have to watch the house too. However, if the godfather (who she never met) was there, maybe she was worrying for nothing. Aqua was prepared for anything and everything. She would've left detailed instructions on the play-by-play of Ven's life.

But if Terra picked him… the godfather was probably stupid.

Naminé made her decision to just drop by the apartment before the coffee shop. Just a quick peek. Just to calm her nerves. She leapt off the bus at the next stop and walked down a couple of streets. It was times like these that she wished for a car. Aqua's nice two bedroom apartment was in the upscale part of town: Sunset Hill. Reaching the second floor, she tried to peek through the window, but the blinds stopped her from seeing anything. She sighed and knocked.

No answer.

Naminé knocked again but no answer.

Getting impatient, she unlocked the door with her key and opened the door to find the horrible sound of a baby's cry. Naminé's gut clutched as she recognized it was Ven, and her motherly instinct she didn't even know she had kicked into gear.

She took two steps before bumping her foot lightly on a big cardboard box. Looking down, she had to curse at Aqua. The floor was filled with half opened moving boxes. Furniture wasn't put in an orderly fashion; only the sofa looked like it was put in the right place.

Ven's cries got louder and Naminé maneuvered through the labyrinth to walk down the narrow hallway. Following his voice, Naminé finally saw her nephew: Little Ven with his eyes squinted in distress and his little face turning an angry red as he wailed. Even when he was screaming, he was adorable. Naminé walked into the nursery hurriedly, noting that Ven's handler wasn't holding him right.

"Sorry to barge in but I just heard that my sister left and I thought I'd check up on you guys to make sure everything was okay," Naminé said loudly, making her presence known.

The man holding Ven turned around and Naminé almost chocked on her own spit.

"You!"

"Oh, shit."

It was Roxas…

The two stared at each other for a long time before Ven's cries got louder. Naminé glared at him.

"You're holding him wrong," she said matter-of-factly.

"I think I can hold a kid," the devil replied, coolly.

"Which is why he's crying, right?" Naminé retorted.

Roxas just glared before shrugging and handing Ven over to her. Instantly, like her arms were made for him and him alone, she cradled the crying baby securely. Ven didn't stop crying but he did open his eyes to see Naminé and soften his screams. One look told her what he wanted.

"Do you miss your momma?" she cooed, looking into his eyes and holding his attention. The baby sniffled. "Yes, I know, I know… I would've been here earlier, Vennie… I'm sorry…"

Roxas just watched with a weird look on his stupid face as she gently swayed Ven back and forth in her arms, smiling at him. Naminé took her eyes off Ven's face for a quick second to look around the nursery. There was the plush glider in the corner, to which she started to walk towards, grabbing Ven's favorite security blanket along the way. As she sat, she hummed to him, bunching up the blanket and treating it like a stuffed animal.

The blanket still smelt like Aqua, something that calmed the infant down enormously. Naminé looked at Roxas.

"He'll need a bottle made; can you handle that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

He glared again, walking out of the room to busy himself. Naminé turned back to the baby in her arms, sniffling and hiccupping, staring back at her with sad eyes.

"Momma's gonna be gone for a while, sweetheart," Naminé said, speaking softly. "But I'll be here to look after you."

And then, she was singing to him. It was soft, but it calmed him as well as her as she rocked back and forth in the chair.

"Baby mine, don't you cry," she sang softly. "Baby mine, dry your eyes. Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine…"

Ven held on to the blanket, stuffing it into his mouth to chew and glazed up at her as Naminé lightly stroked his head, the small blonde hairs tickling her palm. She wiped at his tears, smiling at him as he put his complete trust in her. He even smiled back at her.

"I have the bottle ready…"

Naminé looked up at Roxas, realizing he was covered in baby formula. She gave him a questioning glaze.

"Uh, thanks…?" she said, taking the bottle.

He just looked back at her and Ven; not letting go of the bottle.

"I didn't even know you were close to Terra," she asked, impatiently trying to get the bottle from him.

"We trained together for a bit," Roxas said shortly, letting go of the bottle finally.

"Right…" she said, testing the liquid by squeezing a few drops onto the sensitive part of her wrist. She jumped at the temperature. "Oh, god, this is way too hot…" she said exasperated. She set the bottle on the nightstand to cool, repositioning Ven as she did so.

She finally looked up at Roxas, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?" Naminé questioned him. Then it clicked. "God, I'm going to kill Aqua for tricking me. You hear, Vennie?" she said softly, turning her attention to the calm baby. "I'm gonna murder your momma for setting me up like this," she coaxed.

Ven, of course, gave a smile, not understanding what Naminé was saying.

"You know that you just confessed to pre-mediated murder in a baby voice, right?" asked Roxas. "I'll never understand why people talk in that voice when talking to kids."

Naminé rolled her eyes. "It's comforting to the baby. They can sense a friendly voice so it's soothing," she explained like she was talking to an idiot who should know better. She grabbed the bottle again and after testing it and approving, she stuck it gently in Ven's waiting mouth.

"So, you're gonna live here for 5 months and take care of my nephew?" Naminé said doubtfully.

"Look, obviously I'm stuck with you as family now so I don't see why we can't be civil towards each other…" Roxas started.

"Because the last time you proposed that, you locked me in a closet with Twilight High's number one creeper," Naminé spat, getting up from the chair but still securely feeding Ven. "I'd be a fool to trust you with my back turned."

"True," Roxas said, chuckling at the memory of Naminé and Seifer stuck in a closet. "But Terra trusts me so I guess you'll have to deal."

Naminé walked out of the room to look around. "I don't have to be happy about it," she said grumpily.

She was surprised that the apartment looked this bad. Aqua was the golden child in the family. She was neat, orderly, prepared, married the right guy. And yet, the apartment was a mess, dysfunctional, and a best, a whole weekend project. 'It must have been an emergency that she left so soon,' Naminé thought. Aqua would never leave Ven for any other reason for so long…

Plus, they didn't even tell her until today.

Naminé looked back to Ven, who was snoozing but still drinking. She gave a half smile before looking at her phone to see she was already an hour late to meeting her friends. the text messages started to flow. She turned around to see Roxas watching her still.

"Here; on a scale of how easy he is, he's at a two," Naminé explained, handing Ven over to Roxas. Ven opened his eyes lazily before closing them again. "I'll be checking up on you guys often, but I have plans right now so I'll leave you to it."

She looked around, finding a scrap piece of paper.

"This is my cell number, address, phone number, and Kairi's number, and Sora's number," Naminé explained after writing it all down. "I always pick up my phone but in case I don't, Kairi or Sora always knows where I'm at. Call if you have any questions about Ven. Don't bother calling me for anything else, got it?"

"Sure…" Roxas said, looking apprehensive.

"Don't kill him," she said sternly before softening her expression and lightly stroking Ven's head. "I'll see you soon, buddy."

Naminé didn't want to leave, but she was supposed to be getting ready for the next semester at the university with the girls. She was a junior now and needed to look at med school applications now in order to get into the right program. She supposed that's why Terra asked Roxas to take the job. Terra was always conscious that she had a life outside of the family, while Aqua behaved like Naminé existed only to help her out.

Naminé paid no attention to Roxas as she turned to leave. "Good luck," she said, one last look at the pair before shutting the door.


A/N- I know... I shouldn't be making another story when I have others that I should be working on. But... I've had this done since April (Nanowrimo Camp) and this is more fun to write now. I'm working on the others but let me know if you like this one too. :D

~Ice