Same disclaimers as always!

As Zack Addy boarded the bus to spend his Saturday evening watching Kylie and Sweets' three-year-old daughter instead of watching reruns of Firefly, he did not know what to expect, nor was he sure he wanted to do it. He never had much fun watching his nieces or nephews, mainly due to his difficulty connecting with them whenever they wanted to play. Where they were playing with their cars, dolls and trains, he was already playing with a calculator he'd found on his older brother's desk. Toddlers were the biggest hassle to care for, he decided, because of their never-ending energy and persistence, so why he'd said yes to Kylie was beyond him.

"Please?" she looked up at him with sad puppy eyes.

"And you're certain you couldn't find someone more qualified?" Zack sighed.

"She loves you," Kylie assured him. "She always asks when you're going to visit."

"Does she?"

"She really does," Lance nodded. "I think you're her favorite. She might even like you more than she likes Angela."

"Like mother, like daughter, I guess," Kylie joked.

"Very well. I will supervise her," Zack decided. If their daughter liked him, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

"I see you have an abacus," Zack said to the little girl, who had finally settled down on the floor after running around the living room in circles and was currently sliding the beads back and forth, giggling with each sliding motion.

"What's an abacus?" Rebecca Anne Sweets looked up from her toy.

"It was used for counting back before a formal writing system was invented," Zack explained, oblivious to the idea that she would have absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

"I don't know what that means," she shook her head. "You're silly!"

"No, I'm not," he frowned slightly before asking, "Do you know how to count?"

"One, three, five, four, six, eight, ten!" she said proudly with a big smile.

"Not quite," Zack couldn't help but smile. "Would you like me to teach you?"

"But Mommy says that's correct," she insisted.

"It's not," he shook his head, wondering why Kylie would lie about something like that. "But I could teach you the proper way if you want."

"You can teach me to count to ten?!"

"I can teach you to count up to as much as you'd like," he promised her.

"What about infinity?"

"Infinity can't be counted," Zack never thought a three-year-old girl would elicit a laugh out of him, but it did. "We can start with fifty for now."

"Fifty?!" her chocolate brown eyes widened. "But that's a lot!"

"I know," he lightly patted her on the head. "Would you like to try?"

"Not really," she shuddered at the thought of the big number.

"Okay. How about twenty?" Becca appeared to pick things up quickly. If he could get her to successfully count to ten consistently, he figured twenty would come sooner or later.

"Twenty," she repeated. "That sounds good," she nodded in approval.

"Then we should get to work," he grabbed the abacus with a gloved hand before remembering they hadn't eaten yet. "After we eat," he added as an afterthought.

"Okay," she reached up to grab onto one of his gloved hands. "Time to eat!"

"Is mac n cheese your favorite?" she asked as she stuffed a spoonful into her mouth after Zack had placed her in her booster seat at the table.

"Yes. Is it yours, as well?"

"Yes!" Becca perked up before her face fell slightly. "But Mommy says I can only have it twice a week because it's not healthy."

"She's right," Zack agreed. "A balanced diet is best."

"What's a diet, Uncle Zack?"

"A diet refers to the kind of food you eat," he explained to her. "I think your mom and dad would be able to explain it better."

"Can we count now?" she asked.

"Not until you are well nourished," he replied.

"Nourished?"

"After you've eaten your mac n cheese," Zack mentally slapped himself for not remembering he was talking to a three-year-old.

"Okay!" she perked up and continued eating before getting distracted Zack's gloved hands. "Why are you wearing gloves?"

Zack froze. Becca was a very curious three-year-old, he mused.

"To protect my hands," he gave her the simplest answer he could, but she didn't stop there.

"From what?" she asked curiously.

"Do you still want to learn how to count?" he changed the subject as quickly as he could, knowing that both Kylie and Lance would disapprove of him telling his story.

"Okay! All done," she showed him her empty bowl.

"Very good," he placed her empty bowl in the sink, taking his gloves off to wash it.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten! I did it, Uncle Zack!" Becca clapped her hands together excitedly about half an hour later before noticing the skin grafts on Zack's hands. "What happened to your hands?"

I suppose I should add observant to my observations, Zack thought. "I burned them." In an explosion that was supposed to be for one of my best friends.

"How?"

Was she going to keep persisting like this? He had gotten better with emotions since his time at McKinley, and while they were still not his strongest point, he couldn't help but feel like he would make her cry if he told her, and he certainly didn't want to deal with a crying toddler, Kylie and Sweets' daughter or not.

"I don't think we should talk about it," he replied.

"Why not?"

"It's a grown-up thing," he echoed what his parents told him whenever used to ask question he shouldn't have been asking.

"You're sad," the toddler looked at him worriedly and brought the abacus with her to sit on his lap. "Why are you sad?"

"Because I was remembering something sad," he answered her honestly.

"Are you sad because of what happened to your hands?"

"That would be correct," he nodded, impressed with her ability to make the connection and relieved that he hopefully wouldn't have to tell her the whole story.

"You shouldn't be sad, Uncle Zack," she grabbed one of his hands with both of hers. "They're all better now."

"Yes, they are." There was a lot more to it than that, of course, but that was something he could agree with. "Are you ready to count to twenty?"

"Yes! I'm ready to count to fifty!" she said.

"You can't count to fifty before you've counted to twenty," he smiled, securing her on his lap as she held out the abacus in front of her.

"Okay!" she swished her head around and proceeded to glide the beads one by one, row by row.

"…and adding two gives you how many?"

"One, two, three, four, five!" Kylie and Lance exchanged smiles as they heard Zack and Becca interacting in the living room.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Becca jumped out of Zack's lap and greeted them at the door. "Uncle Zack taught me to count to twenty! And addition, too!"

"Did he, now?" Lance chuckled, picking her up. "Thanks for looking after her. I know you would've rather been watching Firefly, so it means a lot."

"It wasn't a problem. She is quite amusing. She's very curious."

"Tell me about it," he rolled his eyes with a smile. "I'm gonna get her ready for bed, give you two some time to catch up. It's time to say good night, okay, Becca?"

"Already?" the toddler's bottom lip began to quiver.

"We're all going to bed soon, Becca," Kylie stepped in. "Uncle Zack has to get to bed too, right?"

" Not for another…" he began before she gave him a look that told him to play along. "Yes, I will be going to bed soon, as well."

"When will Uncle Zack come back, Mommy?"

"We'll see him again soon," Kylie assured her daughter before Lance took her to her bedroom.

"You didn't have to give me a ride," Zack said as Kylie pulled out of their driveway. "Taking the bus would have been sufficient."

"Hodgins only lives ten minutes away," she chuckled. "It's no big. Besides, you're my best friend, remember?"

"Yes, of course," he nodded before deciding to bring up the previous conversation he'd had with her daughter. "Becca asked about the Gormogon incident."

"What did you tell her?" Kylie asked curiously. They hadn't mentioned that to her, so she wondered how it came up.

"I didn't have to tell her anything, actually," he admitted. "She only asked about my hands, and she made the connection that it was upsetting to talk about.

"Really?" Kylie raised her eyebrows, impressed.

"Yes, she told me I shouldn't be sad because my hands were better. Though I'm fairly certain she will ask me again next time. Would it upset you if I told her?"

"What exactly did you say when she asked about them before that?"

"I told her it was a grown-up thing."

"Let's keep it at that for now," Kylie decided. "Lance and I have already taught her to not ask anymore when we say that, so let's keep it that way. Otherwise she'll just keep asking until she gets an answer and it'll drive you nuts. We learned that the hard way."

"Her cognitive skills are quite impressive," Zack commented. "She is a fast learner."

"It's a little scary sometimes," Kylie admitted. "She can remember even the littlest things. But you had fun?"

"Yes, actually I did," he shrugged. "She's quite entertaining to talk to."

"See? Told you it wouldn't be so bad," she lightly shoved him as they arrived at Hodgins' mansion. "See you at the Jeffersonian on Monday?"

"Of course," he said, getting out of the car. "Unless you become ill between now and then, that is. In which case I'd advise you to stay away from the lab so that you don't infect everyone."

"Hey Zack?"

"Yes?"

"I know Lance already thanked you earlier, but really, thanks for watching Becca," she smiled. "I know you've never been the most comfortable with kids."

"It's what friends do," he shrugged, and Kylie swore she saw him smile back a little. "I would do it again if you want me to. Good night, Kylie."

"Night, Zack."

Sorry for taking so long to update, but this story is officially finished! I hope y'all enjoyed it as much as I have writing it. Thank you so much for following/favoriting/reviewing all the way through! If you'd like a one-shot spin-off of this or a continuation of the one-shot I've already posted, let me know and I'll see what I can do, time permitting, of course.