Babysitting

To prepare for the Christmas date/dinner, Sherry raided a few shops for a cute dress for a few days but ultimately went to Charlotte crying for help.

"Lotte." She cried over the phone. "I need a new dress."

"Don't worry. I got you covered. Janine and I actually knew about the date long before you so I already finished making the dress. I'm actually heading over to your place right now to bring it to you." The goddess Charlotte did not disappoint. In a few minutes, the doorbell to Sherry's house rang.

"I'll get it!" Fiona yelled and rushed to the door. "Oh, hey, Charlotte! Long time no see!"

"Long time no see. Sherry's babysitting again?" Charlotte smiled and pat the head of Fiona who was not that much shorter than her. She lamented over her fate of soon being overtaken in height by this much younger child and cursed her parents for not giving her taller genes. She was surrounded by so many tall people as well, Dylan was tall, Sherry was tall and even Janine was tall! Why! Why couldn't they give her some of that height!

"Hey, Lotte. You came." Sherry popped out from her room and greeted Charlotte.

"Hey, Sherry, here's your, your, your hair!" Charlotte's outstretched hand that was holding a tote bag fell to her hips as she stared gapingly at Sherry.

Sherry brushed her fingers through her hair with a slight smile. "Does it suit me?"

"Yes! You look so good!" Charlotte praised enthusiastically and hugged Sherry. "It suits you so well."

Charlotte shoved the bag into Sherry's arms. "Try on this dress. I want to see if it suits you."

A few minutes later, Sherry walked out of her room in the dress Charlotte made for her. It was a classy and flowy black dress, the ends of the skirt adorned with cute little patterns sown with white thread.

Contrary to what Charlotte thought, Sherry's short hair actually suited the dress more than her long hair would've. The dark colours of her hair and the strapless dress created a strong contrast with her fair white skin, she looked unbelievably cute and beautiful.

"Wahhh, you look so good." The other kids exclaimed when Sherry walked into the living room.

"So pretty. Are you going on a date?" Diana asked with stars in her eyes.

"I'm going to eat out with Dylan on Tuesday." Sherry replied, not agreeing or disagreeing with the statement.

"How about us?" Frank asked.

"You guys throw Christmas parties with your parents every year. You won't be here."

"So it IS a date." Fiona chimed.

"We're going out for dinner." Sherry stubbornly repeated. Seeing that she wasn't going to budge, Fiona shrugged and didn't pursue the issue. She was a hundred percent sure that it was a date though.

"Since I've delivered the dress, I'm gonna leave now. Bye kids, Sherry." Charlotte put her shoes back on and waved.

"What, but you just arrived."

"I still have to go to the studio. We're shooting the magazine today. Tony finally convinced Janine to make one and actually hire a real photographer for it. She wasn't happy though."

"I thought she said she'll never give up the spot." Sherry said in disbelief.

"This is a secret but Tony actually dobbed on Janine to her dad." Charlotte whispered to Sherry. "Then uncle got angry and scolded Janine for being unprofessional and forced her to hire a real photographer."

"Ahaha, so now she's just the CEO."

"Mhm! Well, gotta go now so bye!" Saying so, Charlotte left leaving Sherry alone to deal with the children who had suddenly gained teasing material.

"Just saying but Dylan is coming over to take care of you guys on the 23rd. If you don't stop, I might just tell him to…you don't want to know." Sherry threatened with a faint smile. As expected, this was an effective card to play. The children instantly paled and zip their mouths shut.

Satisfied, Sherry went to change and soon forgot about the whole incident. Time flew by and it was the 23rd. Sherry got ready for the party and waved goodbye to the kids and Frank's dad who had agreed to take care of the kids for a bit before Dylan arrived.

"Oh, and when you see Dylan, don't tell him about my hair. I want to surprise him." Sherry said with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Okay, have fun!" The children and Frank's dad waved Sherry goodbye at the door.

Soon after, Dylan arrived at Sherry's house.

"Long time no see, kids." He greeted. "And you too, sir."

After the exchange of greetings, Frank's dad left for work.

"Have you guys been keeping up with your training?" Dylan smiled and asked the children.

George nodded in response. "We go jogging together every day and sometimes Sherry trains us too."

"I see. Do you think you can catch me yet?"

"Can Sherry catch you?" Yasmin asked.

Dylan shook his head. "No. But when she cheats she can."

By cheating, Dylan was referring to the usage of magic. Back when he was training her, Sherry was never able to tag Dylan and thus was left to suffer and a very, very long time. As a result, Sherry studied magic very hard and used it to catch up to Dylan. Of course, if Dylan used his magic as well, Sherry wouldn't have been able to touch even a stand of hair on his head.

"We can't even catch Sherry; how can we catch you." Frank grumbled.

"It should be possible after some time, after all, I've been going easy on you." Dylan revealed smugly.

"Liar, you're already so fast, how can you be faster than that?" Diana spat in disbelief.

"Want to go confirm it now?" The park was right across the street and they also had the keys. There was no problem in doing so.

"It's too hot." Diana complained, trying to shirk out of it. If they went out, Dylan would definitely make them do the stupid horse stance again. She wanted nothing to do with it.

"You've lived here all your life. It's not that hot. C'mon, let's go." Dylan urged with a refreshing smile on his face. The devilish knight was only saying so because he had Fir. If he didn't, surely he would've been complaining more about it than the kids were.

"How's this? If you can keep chasing me until the sun sets, I'll give you some fairy's drop even if you can't catch me."

!!! The children were intrigued.

"…And if we can catch you?" Yasmin gulped and asked.

"I'll naturally give you two drops."

"I'm in!"

"Let's go outside!"

"We can do this!"

"I'll do my best!"

"Hurry up, Dylan!"

They were baited quite easily. Dylan smirked and followed the enthusiastic children to the park. Once there, the children tried to ambush him but were left amazed by his beautiful evading skills. Dylan unleashed the skills he had been holding back and made full use of this 'training' session to let loose and release some stress from the constant failed attempts at enchanting the magic stones. He fully let the children understand the difference between him and them. Even so, they didn't give up. The knowledge that Dylan would continue to hold back until the day they could catch him and also the temptation of the heavenly drink they tried once before kept the fire within burning.

Due to the summer sun, the children were more tired than usual and also sweated way more. They slowed down and only gave the impression that they were trying. The four of them sat at the bench drinking water, while one pretended to slowly chase after Dylan. When that person was too tired, they would switch with someone else, and thus the cycle would continue.

Dylan was well aware of their intentions but didn't mind. He played along and instructed them as he evaded. He told the children optimal choices, what they could've done, what was smart about their choice and the downsides of their choice. The children took note of his words and implemented them into their attacks.

Then at sun down, all the children collapsed on the ground, huffing and puffing. Dylan chuckled and instructed Fir to fly over them, gradually cooling down their bodies and recovering their stamina.

"You didn't manage to capture me at all. As usual, tomorrow you will have to do the horse stance and since I promised, I'll also give you some fairy's drop."

"Yay." The children weakly cheered.

Dylan smirked and decided to just carry them all rather than force them to drag their exhausted bodies back to the house. Thus, the sight of a man carrying 5 kids, one on his back, one in front, two under his arms and one on his shoulders could be seen in the park that night.

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Author: Urghh, the chapter was supposed to be about the date already but the stupid party keeps getting in the way.

Sam: That's awfully rude of you to call my party stupid. I'm throwing a BBQ party as well, you know how good bbqs are?

Author: That's why its stupid. It's so hot in summer, why would you have a bbq in summer?

Sam: Coz they're delicious and so much more convenient when it comes to parties. Am I supposed to actually cook or something?

Author: Urgh. Not talking to you anymore.