Bailey’s head dipped forward once again, snapping her out of her catnap.  She sat up and had another swig of very strong coffee.  She didn’t have time for napping, not if she was going to give her kids the best Christmas ever.  But she was so tired, there was no use fighting it anymore.  She’d just close her eyes for five minutes, then she’d get the kids ready to go to the sitter’s before she rushed off to her day job.  Just.  Five.  Minutes.

Two bed-headed children tiptoed into the kitchen about an hour later.  It was unusual for mommy not to have come in to wake them up already.  Hannah was so loud that Jack climbed into her crib to calm her down.  Then he gave her a boost so that she fell head first on to his bed.  It was a game that they liked to play, but usually they didn’t get the chance before Mommy came in.  Hannah’s diaper was sagging, but that was something that Jack refused to deal with.  It was time that she was potty trained anyway.

They found mommy in the kitchen, her head on the table next to her coffee cup which had emptied its contents all over the floor.  Bailey didn’t move when the kids entered the room.  Jack picked up her hand, lifted it up, and let it drop.  It was official, mom was either asleep, or dead.  Jack was relieved when he heard a little snore escape.  He knew his mommy was tired.  He’d woken up to hear her crying in the night again after she got home from her night job.  He wasn’t sure what was wrong, but he knew that she needed help. 

Jack figured that as the big brother, it was his job to take care of his sister.  He grabbed one of Hannah’s bottles out of the fridge and handed it to her.  Normally Hannah was picky about the temperature of her bottle.  She thought about making her displeasure known today, but then changed her mind and popped the bottle in her mouth.  Jack dragged his stool from the bathroom to reach the Cheerios down.   Even with all the noise he made, Bailey didn’t move.  She must be really tired today.

Jack put the television on for Hannah, making sure to put on her favourite channel.  He dumped some cereal on the floor in front of her.  That should keep her busy for a few minutes. 

When Hannah was watching the Wiggles, he took the phone out of the charger and pushed the special number his Mommy had told him was for emergencies.  “Un’ Kiss, mommy won’t wake up,” he whispered.  “OK.  No, she’s not hurt.  She’s snoring.  Yeah, we’re fine.  OK.”  He put the phone down and sat down with Hannah to wait for help to come.

Chris tried not to panic when he heard his cousin’s son on the phone saying that his mommy wouldn’t wake up.  He thought about calling an ambulance, but if there was one thing he knew, it’s that Bailey would kick his ass if an ambulance showed up and scared her kids.  Jack was pretty calm for a 5 year old.  He was pretty mature too.  Jack was an old soul and seemed to know more about what was going on than even Chris did.  Chris put his shoes on and grabbed his keys as he was heading out the door and he may have driven a tad over the speed limit on his way across town.  Or quite possibly more than a tad. 

It was one of those times that Chris was glad that he had insisted that Bailey give him her spare key when she moved in.  He tried to quell the negative thoughts he was having about Bailey’s ex as he ran up three flights of stairs rather than wait for an elevator.  His anger at Kevin would only get him riled up and he’d lash out and say something stupid.

He tapped on the door and called Jack’s name before he unlocked the door and let himself in.  Luckily Bailey had not put the safety chain on when she came in earlier. 

“Un-Kiss!”  Jack ran into his arms. 

Chris squeezed Jack and gave him a pat on the head before putting him down.  “Dude, we’ve gotta work on that.  It’s Uncle Chris.”

Jack giggled.  “Aunt Karly likes how I say it. 

“Sure,” Chris muttered as he looked around the room.  “You can say her name perfectly.”

Hannah toddled up to Chris and held her arms up to him.  “Whoa, baby-cakes, you’re losing your drawers!” he exclaimed as he scooped her up.  She screeched with laughter as Chris zerberted her belly.  “Let’s check on Mommy, then we’ll take care of Princess Saggy-Pants here.”

Chris peaked in the kitchen and shook his head.   Bailey was out cold.  She’d be fine there while he dealt with the kids.

“Lead me to the diapers, Sir Jack!” he said in a silly voice.  “Then stand back!  I think this one might blow!”

Jack laughed some more.  His Uncle Chris was such a goof.

Chris had Hannah laid out on her change table, one hand on her tummy.  “What’s your mom been feeding you, kid?”  He made a funny face and Hannah kept giggling.  He held out his hand.  “Diaper.”  Jack handed him a clean one.  “Wipes.”  Jack passed Chris a wipe.  “More wipes, more wipes!  Whoa, stay still there, Miss Hannah-Banana.”  He turned her back over and slapped the diaper closed as quickly as he could and then put her on the floor so she could move about freely without him having to panic. 

“Jacky, can you get dressed?”  Chris made eye contact with him while he was cleaning up the mess he’d made while changing Hannah.  Surely there must be an easier way to change a toddler, but that was something he hoped he didn’t have to do too often.

“Kay, Kiss!” Jack smiled.  “Can I wear whatever I want?”

“Sure thing, kiddo.”  Chris found some clothes for Hannah and proceeded to wrestle her into them.   Was it possible for kids’ clothes to be any more complicated?  He certainly didn’t think so!  After she was finally clothed, he sat back and wiped the sweat off his brow.  Then he caught an eyeful of Jack and burst out laughing.

Jack was stumbling around with his head in the sleeve of his sweatshirt.  “Come here, bud, let me give you a hand”.  Chris sorted him out and took a look at his ensemble.  “Wow, that’s a colourful outfit, Jack.”

Jack beamed and nodded his head, “Yep!  I like all the colours.”

Well, Chris wasn’t going to argue with that.  “OK, let’s go check on your mom.”  He held a hand out to Hannah and she gripped his finger in her chubby fist and led the way.

Before they got to the kitchen, the phone was ringing.  “Jack, where’s the phone?”

Jack ran ahead and brought the handset back to Chris.  He answered it, and was able to reassure the kids’ babysitter that they were OK.  Luckily he was the emergency contact for the kids, so she knew who he was and was happy to have the day off, especially since she’d still be paid.  Chris found the numbers for Bailey’s jobs and called her in sick for both of her shifts for the day.  Her second boss threatened to fire Bailey if she didn’t show up.  “You want to fire a single mom who has been working her ass off for you doing double shifts, you go right ahead,” he shrugged.  “She’s been offered a better job anyway.”

He went to the kitchen and mopped up the spilled coffee.   Then he got down and put Bailey’s arm over his shoulder.  “Alright, Bay, help me out here.”  Bailey roused enough to stumble with Chris’s assistance to her bed. 

She mumbled something about having to go to work, so Chris told her everything was fine and tucked her in.   He scrawled a note for her so that she wouldn’t freak out if she woke up while he took the kids out.

Chris got the kid’s car seats out of Bailey’s rattletrap car and put them into his SUV, then got the kids strapped in.  Hannah’s seat seemed more complicated and by the time he figured out all the straps and buckles, he realized that he hadn’t brought the diaper bag.  They all trooped back up to Bailey’s apartment, checked to make sure the diaper bag was fully stocked, then did it all again.

They went out for breakfast and Chris made a few more calls while keeping an eye on the kids.  Hannah ended up wearing more of her pancakes than she ate, but she looked so darn cute, it didn’t really matter. 

He cleaned them up as well as he could, then they were off to the toy store.  He loved the toy store and figured the kids would too.  They had fun checking out the toys, especially when Uncle Chris set off a few of the Elmos at the same time, then walked away from the display.  Chris spoiled them a bit.   There was no way anyone was going to pry the teddy bear out of Hannah’s arms once she’d picked him up.

From there, it was a quick trip to the grocery store and then home for lunch and naps.  Chris wasn’t sure who needed a nap more; him or the kids.  But, a nap wasn’t in his future, at least, not in the immediate future.  As soon as he put his key in the lock, the apartment door swung open and he was met with Bailey’s angry face.

He could tell that Bailey was biting back the words that she really wanted to say because the kids were there.  She worked hard to keep her temper in check and she did a pretty good job considering that she looked like she wanted to strangle him.

“Mommy!” Jack grabbed her around the knees as Hannah tried to climb out of Chris’s arms and into her mother’s. 

“Hi baby!  Did you have fun with Uncle Chris?”

Both kids started to talk at once.  Chris put down the bags he was carrying and said, “I’ll be right back.”

“You were sleeping, Mommy, so I called Un Kiss!”  Jack was so proud of himself as he showed his mom his cool new toy.

Chris made a couple more trips down to the car, bringing in the groceries and the rest of the toys.   He could hear Bailey down the hall and assumed she was getting the kids ready for lunch.  He started unpacking the groceries and putting them away.  He’d probably put them in the wrong places, but the fact that it would drive Bailey nuts made him laugh.

Bailey and the kids came in the kitchen.  She got them settled at the table and moved around him while she made them lunch.  She made a plate for Chris too, so he guessed he wasn’t too far in the dog house.

They were both pretty quiet during lunch, but the kids kept the chatter up.  Chris had the feeling that he wasn’t out of the woods yet.  His feeling was confirmed after the kids gave him hugs and kisses before they went down for their naps. 

His heart melted a bit when Hannah whispered, “Lub Kiss” when she had her chubby arms around his neck.  “Love you too, Hannah” he rubbed noses with her and kissed her forehead.  “Have a good nap, sweetie.”

He puttered around the kitchen, tidying up lunch and waited for Bailey to return.  She didn’t take long.

“So, cuz, how you feelin’?”

“Did you really tell my boss that I had another job offer?” she asked incredulously.

“Yeah, I did,” he said unrepentantly.  “He was a jerk.  You’re work hard for him and he treats you like garbage.”

“Yeah, cause he’s my boss.”  She snapped.

“You shouldn’t be working for a jerk like him!” Chris retorted.

“Well, I don’t any more, genius!  Any suggestions about how I’m going to make rent this month without that job?  And don’t you dare tell me not to worry about it.”

“I told him you had another job offer, and you do.  I want you to come and work for my foundation.  The pay will be better than both of your jobs, plus there will be benefits.  You won’t have to work overtime, and you’ll be able to sleep instead of trying to keep the crazy schedule you’ve been doing.  You’ll have more time with the kids and you’ll be helping other kids.  And don’t think that I’ll go easy on you, missy!  It’s a real job and I think you’ll be a good fit.  You know what it’s like to be like the kids we help and you know what it’s like to try to raise kids on a tight budget.  You’ll be a great addition to the team.  What do you say?”

“Chris!  I don’t know what to say.  I want to be mad at you, but I never could stay mad at you, you big lug.  You always knew just what to say at the right time.  I swear, you always had Grandma on your side just because of that.  OK, I’m in.”

He smiled before giving her a huge hug, “Yeah?  That’s awesome!  Why don’t you take the rest of the month off?  We’ll pay you your salary while you get everything worked out with your other jobs.  I’ve booked you in for a spa day with Karly before the holidays so you can both relax.  She’ll call you with the details.  I’ll watch the kids.  I think I’ve proven today that I can handle it.”

She smiled at him, “Yes, I think you have, Un Kiss.  It sounds great.”

“Awesome,” he said again and kissed her forehead.  “Awesome!”