The Babysitting Wars

[Poppy Lockwood]

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| Tagged: Mercedes Allen |

|OOC Note: Muahahahaha this will be fun |

Winter. Holiday. Christmas. Snow. New Year. Celebration.

It was what December was all about.

So a couple days before the twenty-fifth of December, Poppy Lockwood stood outside the gates of the Roy residence. If it were up to her, she rather spend her night in her dorm drinking hot cocoa and read a book in the company of her cat before returning home in a few days for Christmas. But the Roys were a friend of her mom and this was a favor for her.

The couple was going out for a Christmas work celebration and needed someone to babysit their six munchkins. The request was last minute but they offered to pay double so the brunette agreed. With not much experience in babysitting -- having only babysat her brother -- and never had met the Roy's children, Poppy had no idea what the night had in store for her. Or the other surprise she would encounter.

Pushing through the gates, the brunette hurriedly walked up the steps leading to the front door. She rang the doorbell. Feet scuffling from the other side of the door could be heard as she waited to be let in. Come on, come on, it's cold out here.

[Mercedes Allen]

    Mercedes surprisingly loved kids, especially the younger ones. That's why when she heard that a local family could use a babysitter she couldn't pass up the opportunity. It was only for the night, and given that it payed well she figured it was a pretty sweet deal.

She had showed up only moments before Poppy had and was in the process of removing her coat by the door, greeting the Roys with a charming smile and a comment about how cold it was getting. When the door was knocked Mercedes lifted her head in confusion, hanging her coat on the rack beside her before opening the door.

    She instantly recognized the girl as the brunette from the lab, and the urge to slam the door the door in her face almost became too much to resist, the only think keeping her from doing so was the fact that her employers were standing right there. "Hey, what are you going here?" she asked, faking a smile.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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The moment her eyes met with the other person who stood across from her, her face fell. You have got to be kidding me. Poppy instantly recognized the girl -- Mercedes.

Miss Uptight from the science lab.

"Well I'd appreciate it if you could let me in," she said as she pushed through the ginger to get into the house where the heater was turned up and it was all warm and cozy. "Some dude's nuts could have freezed off out there."

Brushing the snow off her jacket, she proceeded to greet the couple -- happily ignoring the ginger. "Hi, Mrs. Roy. You spoke with my mom earlier. I'm Samantha's daughter." The woman smiled warmly at her and told Poppy how she had her mother's looks. That was partially true -- the brunette had her father's brown eyes.

"So um..." She pointed towards the other girl in the room. "Is this err one of your kids I'd babysit tonight?" The confusion was clear on her face. For one thing Mercedes looked like someone who would be very much capable of taking care of herself. Poppy mentally groaned as she thought of Mercedes as a Roy. Hopefully, the ginger would not be breathing down her neck for the whole night.

[Mercedes Allen]

     Mercedes pursed her lips at the girl's rudeness, moving further out of her way. Well then, why don't you make sure yours haven't fallen off yet. She thought it, but she didn't dare say it out loud. With a sigh she closed the door, hoping that the beaker girl would be gone soon. Very soon.

    She watched the interaction between the couple and Poppy with a crinkle in her brow. Mercedes gave Poppy an exasperated look, "I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm the same age as you." With that she turned her attention to the Roys. "I'm confused, I thought I was supposed to be baby sitting. Did I mess up the days or something?"

    Mrs. Roy then explained the situation, Mercedes listened politely, nodding at the end. "So, should one of us leave?" she asked, pointing her thumb to the door behind her.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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"Oh bite me," the brunette replied snarkily. The two girls looked the same age though they were only one year apart.

It seemed Poppy Lockwood was not the only person in the room confused. The ginger was as well. Everyone was mixed up in the confusion. Luckily the couple managed to put two and two together and quickly cleared the air.

The Roys were looking for a babysitter -- but it was a little last minute. So when they had not heard any reply, Mrs. Roy called her friend, Sam Lockwood, for a favor hence why Poppy was there. But at the same time apparently Mercedes had also heard about the job and decided to take it. Therefore, now the couple was left with two babysitters.

When Mercedes mentioned if one of them should leave, the brunette gladly wanted her gone. But before anything happened, the Roys waved the idea away. "Oh no, it's fine. Both of you. Our kids might be a handful."

Putting an tolerant act for her employers, she fake a smile towards Miss Uptight. Not long afterwards, the two girls were introduced to the children; Alex the infant. Lucy and Lilly the toddler twins. Albert the 11 year old. Millie, 13 and Georgie, 15.

The door shut behind the couple as they left. "Well, I'm not sure if it's a pleasant surprise to see you here."

[Mercedes Allen]

    Mercedes held back a groan at the suggestion, instead smiling an choking out a "That sounds perfect." She completely missed the forewarning about the kids behavior, too aggravated by the thought of working with Beaker Girl for the rest of the night.

    As soon as the couple left her smile towards Poppy dropped, "Likewise." With that she turned to the kids. This shouldn't be that hard. The only ones who looked like they actually need a babysitter were the twins and the infant. The others looked old enough not to need the constant care.

    "Hey guys-" she started, but before she could continue the eldest, Georgie, interrupted her with a scoff, looking both the girls up and down with a disapproving look before bringing her eyes back to the cellphone practically glued to her hands. Mercedes blinked in surprise, glancing at Poppy to gauge her reaction before looking back at the teen.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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The other girl did not acknowledge her much -- except for that one word -- as soon as the couple walked out. Well. If that was how it would be, it was exactly what Poppy expected out of her.

She could tell that the ginger remembered their recent encounter with each other. It was hard to forget for the brunette since the other girl treated her like a child -- even if they were about the same age! Her distaste towards the situation was clear. The thought of spending a whole night with Miss Uptight Mercedes irked her.

As Mercedes made the first attempt of interacting with the children, Poppy stood back and watched the entire thing played out with the eldest, Georgie. It was clear she gave no shit towards the two babysitters. What kind of fifteen year old did? This caused Poppy to scoff. "Look we all know you think you're capable of taking care of yourself. No dice, sunshine. We're here."

There was not really anything else to say. The babysitters were certainly not going home. Turning to the other kids who had been silent, Poppy questioned, "Have you guys had your dinner?"

[Mercedes Allen]

    "Yes," Millie answered just as Albert chimed in with a "No". They immediately sent each other heated glares.
"Albert, we've already had dinner," Millie stated matter-of-factly, staring down her brother.
"No we haven't," Albert countered, raising his eyebrows pointedly.
"Have so!"
"Have not!"
"You're an idiot!"
"No, YOU'RE AN IDIOT!"
"I'M NOT THE IDIOT, YOU'RE THE IDIOT, IDIOT!"
"JERKFACE"
"WEASELBREA-"
    "STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!" Mercedes interrupted, looking at the both of them rather sternly. The pair shut up immediately, but continued sending each other dirty looks. "Now this is just ridiculous. She asked you a simple question. All it needed was either a yes or a no, not a full blown argument," she scolded. "Now, can one of you be mature enough to give us the right answer?"

[Poppy Lockwood]

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One question. That was all she asked. One. Just one. But the two teenagers made it a point not to resolve on just one simple answer. Instead the Instead, Albert and Millie were going for each other's throats and the brunette babysitter wondered if this was a normal occurrence in the Roy's family.

Their mini bicker ticked Poppy off but it was the ginger that lost her cool first. In a way, she was glad Mercedes had interrupted them. If they had kept at in, she might have done something her employers might not have approved of.

The two kids that argued refused to give Mercedes an answer. On the other hand, the twins -- Lucy and Lilly -- stepped up. "Y-" Lucy began but stopped when her sister nudged her. Then the both replied with a haunting smile, "No." Whilst Poppy was glad for the short answer, the way it was delivered crept her out a little to be honest.

"Oookaaay," she said as she eyed the two toddlers warily. "So what shall we order?" And then every single Roy in the house spoke at the same time.

"Pizza!"
" I want fried chicken!"
"McDonalds!"
"No, pasta!"
"Fish!"
The baby cried.

Oh boy.

[Mercedes Allen]

    Was it too late to leave? Mercedes suddenly regretted entering the household at all, but the fact of the matter was that she along with Poppy were stuck there for the next few hours. Great. If they both were stuck in this situation they might as well work together.

    She turned to Poppy, all traces of aggravation towards her gone for the time being. "Do you want to take care of the baby or dinner?" she asked, secretly hoping that she'd choose to take over the dinner side of things because the nauseating looks Albert would occasionally send the pair were not the looks any sane female college student would want to be getting from an 11 year old. And Mercedes didn't feel like snapping at a pubescent preteen to keep his eyes to himself while debating over pizza or McDonald's.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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Ugh. If this was a court, the children would definitely not make a good jury because they seem incapable of coming to a unanimous vote. Everyone was only thinking of themselves and their own empty stomach. It kinda reminded her of a friend of hers, Cash Hunter. Vain and constantly hungry. With him, it was only a single person but now she had a handful of them.

At the choice given, Poppy was quite very glad the other girl had offered her the chance to pick -- rubbing off the annoyance she was feeling when she first saw the ginger that night. However, it was a different story for the brunette. "I'll take dinner." To her, she viewed it as an easier task. Whilst she had nothing against babies, she did not have much experience with one. She did have a five year old brother, but when he was born, Poppy was constantly at the academy. So she saw very little of him during his baby years.

Striding into the kitchen, she picked up the phone and scanned through the various pamphlets stuck on the fridge. Dialing a number for a shop that sold western food, she waited to be dealt with. The kids were still bugging her, asking what their dinner was. And the twins were shouting towards Mercedes to get the baby to shut up.

And Albert was giving her looks. The nineteen year old rolled her eyes.

Finally, once the other line picked up she placed her order for a bucket of fried chicken, a hamburger, a fish burger, a bowl of lasagna, three large packets of fries and two large pizzas -- one for the babysitters. Since the Roys had left some money, Poppy was not worried about what each of them wanted. And a treat for herself and the ginger.

"Hey, everything okay there?" She called out.