Sidestory:
Babysitter: Wanted

by Angie, Rachel, and Tami

Jack Reilly frowned down at the tablet resting on his knees. There was something wrong, something just slightly off, and it bothered him. Looking up, he squinted across the park, into the sun. After a moment, he nodded, satisfied with something he had seen, and turned back to his tablet. A quick flick of his eraser obliterated the inconsistency and he bent over the page again, newly determined. His shaggy dark hair slid down at the movement, shading his eyes as he worked in happy silence.

Not far off, a middle-aged man was being dragged around by his rather loud daughter. The older man looked exhausted and pale as his daughter turned around to glare at him disapprovingly.

"Pop! It isn't a jog if you aren't -jogging-, y'know!"

Felice Ina bent over to put his hand on his knees and gasp for air. "We've - we've jogged for a couple of miles! I'm tired, hon!" he wheezed and straightened himself up with a groan.

Marisse rolled her eyes. "You are so pathetic. Wanna rest?" she snorted.

Felice nodded feebly and led his daughter to a bench, one where a young man was sitting and sketching. Marisse was immediately intrigued.

"Whatcha drawing?" she yelled loudly and hopped into the seat next to Jack to get a better look.

Startling upright at the sudden voice, Jack turned wide green eyes to find the girl bouncing next to him. "Huh?" he finally asked.

She leaned over further to inspect the picture. "Your drawing. What is it?" Marisse chirped cheerfully.

Felice immediately moved to pat Marisse on the head. He gave Jack a huge smile before speaking. "Don't mind my daughter, buddy, she's just curious."

Jack offered a half-smile to the man and his daughter. "No worries, sir. I don't mind." Slightly hesitant, though, despite his words, he angled the tablet towards the girl. "It's that fountain over there," he explained, pointing with his free hand.

Marisse stared at the tablet intently for a second, then at the fountain, then back at the tablet. Her childish face formed a little "O" and she beamed at Jack. "Jeezus! You're damn good at this, ain'tcha?"

"'Aren't you', 'Risse. Try to stick off the slang, hon," Felice corrected gently.

"Yeah, whatever." Marisse stuck out her tongue at her father and grinned at Jack once more. "I'm Marisse! Who're you?"

"Jack," he answered simply, tilting his head to study her. "Pleased to meetcha."

Marisse smirked and turned to Felice. "He said 'meetcha'. Even Jack uses slang, Pop!"

Felice sighed and chuckled. Smiling, he extended his hand to Jack. "I'm Felice Ina. Thanks for being so tolerant with Marisse - hope she didn't yell in your ear too loudly."

Jack shook his head, amusement in his eyes. "Nah, the hearing always comes back, huh?"

"Not after living with this kid for eleven years!" Felice cried and tugged Marisse into an affectionate hug.

Marisse flushed. "Pooooooppp, not in public!" she groaned. Quickly squirming out of his arms, she hopped closer to Jack to peer at the tablet again, almost obnoxiously close. "Where didja learn to draw, Jack-O? How long did it take ya?"

"Drawing long as I can remember," he answered softly. He looked down at the tablet in his lap and absently corrected a line with a quick stroke of his pencil. Then he seemed to remember there was a second part to the question and he looked up again. "And it took all that time, I guess."

Marisse tilted her head upward to stare at Jack, her dark eyes huge in admiration. "Wow, really? That's so cool! You got any other artwork in this thingie that I can see, Jack?"

"Um, well." Again he hesitated and looked down at his sketchpad. "It's not all that good."

"Oh, shut up," Marisse made a face. "I bet they're great, Jack-O!" she added.

Felice moved to stand behind the bench and look at the picture Jack was sketching. "That is a very well-drawn fountain, Jack." he commented with a smile.

"Uh, thanks."

"C'mon, Jack," pleaded Marisse. She gave him her trademark, nearly irresistible puppy-eyes. "Lemme seeee?"

Caving to the complete adorable-ness of the girl, Jack sighed, shrugged, and handed over the sketchpad. "There ya go. I warned you."

Marisse eagerly searched through the sketchpad, but was careful enough not to smudge or rip anything. Her eyes grew huge as she studied each picture carefully. "Jeeeeezus. You draw so well! Best I can do is stick figures!"

"I draw a good cat!" Felice beamed.

Jack smiled up faintly at the older man, ignoring the vague sense of deja vu that was itching somewhere deep in his brain. "Yeah?"

"Aww, he's lyin'. He can't draw anything, period." Marisse snickered. Happily she handed back the sketchpad and half-grinned. "Only thing Pop is good at is bein' a doctor. You draw -really- well, Jack!"

Her father smiled faintly at the young artist before ruffling Marisse's already messy hair. He too was hearing a faint voice nagging in the back of his mind, but nothing he couldn't ignore. "Do you live near here, Jack?"

Jack shook his head. "Not really but this place is good to sit in," he explained. He had gone slightly pink around the ears from Marisse's lavish praise and ducked his head a bit in hopes of hiding it.

Marisse giggled. "Drawin' is cool and all, but do you play any sports, Jackerino?"

Again he shook his head. "Nah."

Marisse looked mortified. "You jokin', man? Oh, jeeze, we gotta grab you and take you to my house to teach you box ball or hockey or somethin'. Not healthy to not exercise, y'know?"

Felice laughed nervously and pinched Marisse's cheek. "'Risse, that isn't any of your business."

Marisse pouted. "Aww, Pop, I'm just sayin'. And you could use some exercise too, Pop."

He grinned at that and shook his head slowly. "I don't know how she is my child. My idea of exercise is changing channels."

"I have to get up to do that," Jack volunteered, a half-smile playing around his mouth. "My remote's busted. That count?"

"Don't think so," Felice grinned. Tilting his head at Jack, he scratched his head and shrugged. "Hey, Jack? Marisse seems to have taken quite a shine to you and you seem like a dependable kid. Think you could do me a favor, buddy?"

There was a pause as Jack studied the other man, a faint frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. Finally, he nodded, despite his inner misgivings; the guy seemed nice enough and anyone who loved their child -that- much couldn't be a bad person. "Depends but yeah, maybe."

"Great." breathed Felice. "I sort of have to leave short-notice tomorrow afternoon, and I wasn't told about it until this morning. Some boring old doctor convention that I really don't want to attend, but," He paused to shrug. "What can you do, right? I haven't been able to find a baby-sitter for Marisse here yet... you busy tomorrow?"

Jack's eyes widened at this sudden information download and the usual sleepy look fled from them in near-panic. "Me?" he almost choked. "Uh, no, but... Well... Geez..."

Felice looked instantly apologetic. "You can say no, that's okay. I just really don't have the time to go hunting for a babysitter. I have to pack and all, and her mother is out of town for the week, so she can't stay with her-"

Bitterly, Marisse added, "Why would I -want- to stay with her anyway?"

Sighing, Felice continued. "Anyway, you seem like a great kid, but it's understandable if you don't want to. Hell, personally, I wouldn't want to baby-sit some kid didn't know."

"It's not that but..." Jack frowned slightly and rubbed at the back of his neck. "You don't know me, sir."

Felice laughed nervously. "I know. And don't call me sir, buddy, it makes me feel old. Felice'll do. Anyway, I know, but then again, I don't know many people here! Marisse is the social butterfly of the family." He paused to grin at his daughter, who rolled her eyes and shook her head. "And I would take her, really, but I'm carpooling with some doctor associates of mine. Anyway," Felice shrugged and pushed his glasses up his nose. "It's understandable if you don't want to. Marisse, hon? We got to run. Not literally, mind you, I'm not jogging anymore."

Marisse sighed and cocked her head at Jack. "Okay, Pop. Nice meeting you, Jack-O!" she said with a smile. She offered her hand to Jack for a shake.

With a faint but warm smile, Jack accepted and shook, her smaller hand disappearing in his. As he released his grip, though, a thoughtful look had appeared on his thin face. "Felice?" he asked softly, a touch of uncomfortable within his voice. "How long is it?"

Marisse answered before Felice had the chance to. "You're considering, Jack? Oh, sweet!" she cried and began to bounce around with excitement again.

Felice laughed and shook his head. "One day. I leave Saturday afternoon, come back Sunday afternoon. That all right?"

Jack nodded slowly. "I don't work but..." He paused again, the frown tugging at his mouth once more. "Sure you don't want to check on me? I can give ya a reference." A sudden warm smile erased the frown as he indicated Marisse. "She's something special, y'know?"

"I know. Believe me, I know." Felice replied softly. He took a moment to stare at his energetic daughter affectionately before speaking again. "References would be wonderful, Jack. Think you can get 'em to me today?"

"How 'bout right now?" Pulling his sketchpad onto his lap again, Jack scribbled down Jace's home phone number. Then he tore off the sheet and handed it over. "This is the number of Mr. and Mrs. Kellen. Pretty much the best I can do unless you wanna call my real job. They've kinda taken to me." He shrugged. "Their daughter's my best friend."

"Sounds good," Felice replied. Pocketing the number he grinned and flashed Jack a thumbs up sign. "I'll call them today. Thanks, Jack, thanks -so- much. I'll make sure Marisse doesn't torture you too much."

"I don't torture anyone!" Marisse protested. Bouncing off the bench she smiled. "See you tomorrow, Jackie Boy?"

"Uh huh," he returned. Then he held out the sketchpad to Felice. "Uh, might be an idea to get your number, too, huh? Or you get mine?"

"Oh, sure, sure," Felice took the pad and scribbled down his number. He once more looked apologetic. "Sorry, I'm new to this whole baby-sitting thing. Usually if both Marisse's mother and I are out, we send her to her grandmother's, but her grandma hasn't been too healthy lately and I don't think she could handle it currently." Felice put the pencil back on the tablet and handed it back. He then pulled the paper that Jack had given him out of his pocket and handed it to Jack. "Your number, please?"

"Sure thing." Quickly, Jack scrawled his own number below the Kellens' and wrote his name above it. Then, as if by afterthought, he scribbled "Kellen" above the other number. Handing it over, he half-smiled. "Good?"

Felice tucked the paper into his pocket again. "Wonderful. Thank you so much again, Jack." he said gratefully.

Marisse grinned broadly. "Maybe you can teach me to draw when you come over? That'd be so cool, man."

"We'll see, kiddo," Jack replied gently. "Never tried teaching anybody before, though."

Marisse beamed. "I bet you're awesome at it, Jack-O."

Felice grinned and gently pulled Marisse of the bench. "C'mon, kid, you'll see Jack later." He turned to look at Jack, beaming much like his daughter. "I'll call you later with the details. Sound good?"

"Sounds great." Jack returned the warm reception with one of his trademark lop-sided grins.

"See you later, Jack! Good luck with that fountain." Marisse pivoted on her heel to smirk at her father. "All right! Start jogging, Pop!" she ordered and set off at a blazing pace.

Felice seemed reluctant to follow. With a heavy sigh and a pitiful glance at Jack, he soon was tagging along after her, begging her to wait up.

Watching them go, the smile never quite left Jack's face. He was uncertain how it had happened but it seemed that his weekend would be spent in the company of that little fire-cracker. Oh, well. It wasn't like he had something else planned, right?

Later that day, a heated battle was going on in the Ina household. Marisse, clutching the phone as if it were an anchor to life, hopped away once more from her father's hands and shouted her demands loudly once more. "I wanna call Jack! I wanna give him the details!"

"But Marisse, honey," Felice said with exasperation, although he couldn't hide his grin. "You don't even know the details." he chuckled.

"Aww, you could tell me, Pop." Marisse pleaded but ended up handing the phone to her father and settling down with a disgruntled frown at the kitchen table.

Tossing a grape at his daughter (as Marisse had been munching on them), Felice dialed Jack's number. The phone rang twice before Jack answered.

"Hello?" A vaguely sleepy deep voice almost yawned the word.

"Hey, Jack! It's Felice Ina. You met my daughter and me in the park?"

"Uh-huh. Of course. How you doing, sir? Uh, I mean, Felice."

"I'm well, thanks. Yourself?"

"Just fine, yeah."

"Glad to hear it," Felice was obviously beaming on the other line. "Anyway, I called to tell you the details about the trip. I gotta get out of here by one o'clock in the afternoon, Saturday. Think you could make it here around twelve-thirty?"

"'Course. Just need the address and I'll be there whenever." He paused. "And should I bring anything?"

Felice grinned. "Sure, if you want to bring something to read or your sketchbook. But knowing my daughter, you'll have your hands full."

"Hey!" Marisse interjected angrily.

Laughing, Felice gave Jack his address. "Hey, Jack? Marrise is a good kid, so don't worry. She won't cause any trouble, I promise. Oh! And I called that Kellen family, got very nice references. You said you're good friends with their daughter? So long as you don't throw any crazy parties, you can bring her along, if you want. Don't want you getting bored crazy!" Felice added as an afterthought.

A faint chuckled echoed down the line and Jack's voice came over amused. "I promise. I'll see about Jace, though. Don't know if she'd be up to handling a kid right now."

Felice nodded. "Marisse is pretty endearing though. She grows on you. Anyway, she's welcome if she wants to come." Then, with a smirk filled with mischief, he dropped his voice and continued. "She cute?"

"POP!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Felice instantly apologized, more to his daughter than to Jack, and laughed. "Okay, I come back Sunday at around noon. That okay?"

"Sounds fine to me. I have the weekend off 'cause of a fluke shift a week ago."

"Great. See you Saturday, Jack?"

"Yeah, sure thing."

"Ah - wait, don't hang up. Marisse wants to say hello," Felice paused and handed the phone to his daughter.

"Hi-ho, Jack!" she chirped. "You bringin' your girlfriend, bud?"

"My girlfriend?" Jack chuckled softly. "Nah, kiddo, she's just a friend."

"Good," Marisse commented dryly. "'Cause kissin' and stuff is gross, if you ask me. Okay! See you later, Jack!" Marisse giggled and, after exchanging good-byes with Jack, hung up.

Jack slid out the van, shouldering a worn knapsack before stepping back to allow the motorized lift room to lower Jace to the road next to him. Then he poked his head back into the van and smiled one of his charming lop-sided grins. "Thanks so much, Mr. Kellen, Mrs. Kellen. The bus woulda been murder to get out here."

"Anything for you, Jack," David said magnanimously. "And for my no-good daughter, too."

The redhead gave her father the halfhearted middle finger, wheeling herself next to her brunette best friend. There were deep bags underneath her eyes.

Emily rolled her eyes. "He just wanted a chance to see where Felice Ina was living these days, Jack." A smile came over her face. "Oh, I remember him from college. David and I were sweethearts, but - "

"But that -didn't- stop him from flirting with you every time we met."

"Oh, Davie, he was -sweet.-"

"And exotic and Italian."

"Embarrassment meter," Jace muttered. "Rising."

Leaning over, Jack whispered in her ear, amusement clear in his low voice, "Hey, I can top it. He asked if you were cute, Jace."

"-Barf-," Jace immediately responded. "Euuuugh. Transferring from mother to daughter. I'm a taken woman! Besides, I don't look -anything- like my mom."

"You look like your father," Emily said with approval.

The aforementioned man snorted. "Worse luck."

"You wanted to blame me on the milkman, Dad?"

"With that nose? You're -not- the milkman's."

"The milkman was a woman, anyway, David," Emily reminded him mildly.

"You two always have to embarrass me in front of Jack."

Jack rubbed her shoulder lightly with one long-fingered hand. "No worries, Jace. They haven't shown me the baby pictures... Yet."

"-Don't give them ideas!-" The redhead looked completely scandalized as David devolved into hooting laughter. "Can we -go- now? I'm going to go ring the doorbell. -You- can say bye-bye to my parents. They prefer you, anyway." She rolled off.

"Marisse, for god's sake, turn off that damn music! I think I heard the doorbell but now I can't tell!"

"Aww, Pop!" whined Marisse but she turned her music lower.

The doorbell sounded again, and Felice dashed off to catch it. Opening the door with a grin, his eyes immediately fell upon the red-head. "Jack, you dyed your hair." he mused and then laughed. "Are you Jack's friend?"

Before Jace could answer, Marisse had squirmed her way out from between her father and Jace and stood dead in front of her, studying her with a childish intensity. "Okay, she's cool." she noted. Then she grinned wildly. "I'll allow you in!"

Sighing, Felice grinned and looked towards the car that had the rest of the Kellens in it. Giving it a slight wave he moved away from the door. "You and Jack wanna come in? Or your parents?"

"I refuse to allow my parents to come in." Jace cocked her head and studied the child. She despised sprog, especially ones who resembled her at a young age. It never seemed to daunt them, though. She attempted to reverse slightly to hide behind her friend. "Jack?"

Coming to her immediate rescue, the lanky artist smiled lopsidedly at Felice and Marisse. "Hey, there."

Felice beamed at Jack. "Ahoy! You two come inside and Marisse'll show you around. I'm going to go swap embarrassing stories with your parents." He mock-cackled and marched off to talk to the Kellens.

Marisse looked calm despite Felice's threat. "Aww, he doesn't have any embarrassing stories to share. I spend most of my time at my Mom's, anyway." With a huge, trademark Marisse grin, she grabbed his hand and dragged him inside. "Come on! I wanna show you my room!"

"Lead on, kiddo," Jack replied with an easy grin, allowing himself to be dragged. He pulled back long enough, though, to make sure Jace could maneuver into the house. "You okay, Jace?"

Jace looked back from where David was giving Felice an embarrassing high-five, then nodded, carefully wheeling herself into the house. "Go get drooled on by the ankle biter, Jack. I'm all right."

Concern flashed over Jack's face and he hung back a second longer, despite Marisse's insistent tugging. "You sure?" he murmured. She nodded. "Um... Okay, but if you-"

Marisse dropped Jack's hand for a bit and flicked the rim of her baseball cap up. "Aww, Jack, you bring along your friend, dummy! I want to show her my room too. What's her name, anyway?" Marisse bounced behind Jack and held out her hand for Jace to shake. "I'm Marisse!"

"Jace." The redhead shook Marisse's hand cautiously, her grip strong. "Do you always eat so much sugar or are you naturally hyperactive?"

"Both," Marisse replied with a smirk. She looked up towards Jack and nodded. "Before you go to my room, you wanna get a bite to eat? 'Cause I haven't had lunch yet and I'm kinda hungry, y'know?"

At that moment Felice returned. "'Risse? I'm gone. Carpool is here." he sighed.

Marisse face immediately fell. "Aww, one sec, guys." Moving to stand near her father she grinned. "I want a souvenir."

"I'm not going that far!" Felice laughed and pulled out his wallet. He handed Marisse some money and nodded. "In case you drag Jack and Jace to a film." he clarified and then stooped to kiss and hug his daughter good-bye.

Marisse blushed. "Not in public, Pop!" she cried. But she kissed his cheek anyway and waved good-bye.

Felice grinned at Jack and Jace once before walking off to meet his carpool.

Marisse then shrugged and grinned. "Screw makin' lunch, I got money, I'm orderin' pizza. You guys want anythin'?"

Jack shrugged. "So long as it's not anchovies," he answered. "I'm easy."

"No green peppers," Jace suddenly said, incredibly absently, eyes ten million miles off. "We... I hate the little buggers."

Immediately shifting slightly closer to his friend, Jack rested his hand on her shoulder lightly. Only a moment later, he grimaced, though, and removed it, jamming it into his pocket. He had unthinkingly used the scarred hand on her scarred shoulder; the shared pain had left him reeling. Shaking his head slightly, he refocused on Marisse. "So what do you like, kiddo?"

Marisse didn't seem to notice Jack's grimace as she ran over to the phone and dialed Pizza Hut. "Olives." she grinned in reply and stopped in mid-dial. "That okay with you two?"

"I can handle the olives." The redhead rubbed one arm lightly, staring at the goose bumps from Jack's unthinking electrocution as if they held some mystical meaning. "Don't worry about Reilly's eating habits. He'd eat pond scum and trashcans if he didn't know what they were."

Jack shrugged. "Greens and iron, right?" he replied flippantly, his eyes still straying to study Jace worriedly.

Marisse blinked at Jack. "You mean pizza is healthy? Damn, just ruin it for me, why don't you?" Giggling, she finished dialing and ordered the pizza. Putting the phone back in it's holder she nodded towards them. "It should be here in forty-five minutes or so. Wanna watch a movie?"

"Little kids say 'damn'?" Jace asked mildly, looking up at the brunette. "Jack, are we babysitting this hell spawn or just waiting until it gestates?"

Jack shrugged, his universal body language of choice. "Felice didn't leave instructions on that so we'll wing it, right?" He shot the redhead a faint smile before refocusing on Marisse. "Movie, huh? What do you suggest, kiddo?"

"What's gestates?" Marisse asked before returning to Jack. "Well, we don't have a lot of movies here - they're mainly Disney and other lame crap that I haven't watched for a couple of years. There is a rental store nearby if you wanna go." she offered slyly. With an even bigger grin, her face turned into a look of earnest. "Can we rent 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'? Plllleeaaaseee!? I heard it was the -funniest- movie!"

A tiny furrow appeared between Jack's dark eyebrows. "You dad lets you watch that stuff?" he asked dubiously.

"Uh," Marisse stammered for a second. "Yes?"

Jace exchanged a look with Jack, one eyebrow arching maliciously. "I suggest 'Care Bears: The Movie'."

"Or Kiki's Delivery Service?" Jack returned innocently.

"You two freakin' suck," Marisse grumped and crossed her arms across her chest. "How about... aww, crap, now I don't know what to rent." She scratched her head and thought for a second. "Either of you like 'Ghostbusters'? Oh! Oh! 'The Exorcist', come on, pleeeaseee?" she begged and threw her arms around Jack's waist. "I'm beggin' you here! I wanna see that movie sooo bad!"

Jack glanced at Jace. "Haven't seen it," he murmured. "It bad?"

"'Let Jesus fuck you,'" she muttered underneath her breath. "Let her see that and she'll be chanting -that- for weeks. I know I did. Dad walloped me. Ghostbusters works, though."

Nodding, Jack turned back to Marisse. "Ghostbusters wins the gold, kiddo," he announced. "The first one, right?"

Although looking disappointed that she had not gotten to see either of her "adult" movies, Marisse nodded. "Yep," she grunted. But her face soon spread into its normal grin and she bounced towards the front door. "C'mon, you slow dummies, let's go!"

"Freak," Jace grunted non-commit tally, following the small girl. "Reminds me of me. C'mon, Lumberjack. Shall we?"

"Oh, you bet. I'll be rear guard."

Marisse grinned and threw the door open, breathing in the fresh afternoon air. "Shibby. Let's get the hell outta here, huh?" She beamed and bounced down the sidewalk, stopping here and there to give the two friends catch up with her. "Ghostbusters" was a fun movie and all... and maybe she would be able to slip in "Dude, Where's My Car" somehow...

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