I wrote this little ficlet for the 1SM over at the LJ community anderson_bros.

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Adventures in Babysitting

It was one week before Cooper's thirteenth birthday when his parents got desperate.

"Cynthia cancelled five minutes ago and we're supposed to be there already. Do you think you can handle him for a couple of hours?"

"Sure. I can just put on Sesame Street or something."

"Cooper, you are the babysitter, not the television," his mother says with a warning note in her voice as she touches up her lipstick in the hall mirror.

"Fine, Mom." Cooper turns away from her hawk-like gaze before rolling his eyes. "I'll think of something for us to do, okay?"

His mother nods her head and slips the tube of lipstick into her clutch. "There is a list of emergency contact numbers next to the phone in the kitchen just in case."

"Why a whole list?" Cooper wonders aloud. "If there's an emergency wouldn't I just call 911?"

"Are you expecting something emergent enough to need to call 911?" His mother's eyes are just this side of maniacal.

"No, Ma. It'll all be fine. Don't freak out."

"We'll call to check on them," his father reassures her, swooping a giggling Blaine into Cooper's arms before ushering her to the car. Tardiness is his father's biggest pet peeve.

"Whatcha wanna do first, B?" Cooper asks.

"Snack," Blaine answers without even a moment's hesitation.

"Didn't you just have a snack?"

Blaine shrugs and makes his very best innocent expression.

"Don't try that one, little bro. You've still got a bit of apple in your hair."

"Where?" Blaine asks, laying his head back on Cooper's shoulder and looking up in an attempt to see his own hair.

Cooper laughs and plucks the piece of apple out of Blaine's curls. "Right here."

"Thanks," Blaine says and plops it into his mouth. "All gone." He shows Cooper his empty hands. "Snack."

"Well, no one can say you aren't persistent. Fine, snack time. But don't tell Mom and Dad on me."

Blaine's favourite snack is raisins. His eyes widen to impossible size when Cooper plunks the entire container full down in front of him on the kitchen island. "You want it?" he offers. When Cooper shakes his head and tells him they're all his, he stares at the container of raisins in amazement.

He eats them slowly, pinching each individual raisin daintily between his thumb and forefinger before cramming them into his mouth. He wiggles in his seat the entire time, like he's dancing to music that only he can hear.

When he's been at it for ten whole minutes, he looks up at Cooper with a worried expression. "Gotta pee."

"Oh, okay. Let's get you to the bathroom quick..." And there is pool of liquid on the stool Blaine is seated upon. "You have to pee, Blaine, or you already peed?"

"Uh oh," Blaine says and lifts his legs to look underneath.

Cooper pulls a face and tries to figure out what to do first. Should he clean his brother or the chair? And, crap, now the floor too. "Why didn't you tell me you had to go earlier?"

"Dunno," Blaine says with a little shrug.

Cooper heaves a frustrated sigh and grabs a roll of paper towels. He feels a light pressure on his arm and looks down to see a plump little hand resting there. "I sorry," Blaine tells him.

"It's okay, B. I'm not mad. Even if I wanted to be... It's impossible to get mad at someone whose eyes take up, like, half their face. Seriously, you're like some kind of adorable alien or something."

Blaine just gives him a funny look and another little shrug.

"Guess we'd better get you in the bath, huh?"

A beatific smile breaks over his brother's chubby little face. "Bubbles?" he asks hopefully.

"Sure, B. Of course."