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edmundspevensea · 11 months

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐁

in which kent needs some backup in babysitting, and y/n becomes his knight in shining armor.

warnings; babysitting, kids, date nights, two of the gaudreau kids do not actually exist (exist simply for the plot), ohio state / michigan rivalry, kent is a big softie

Kent Johnson really thought he could do it.

When Johnny had called and asked him to babysit that day, he really thought he could manage, so he said yes. Nick had babysat the three kids, all under the age of five, once before, and he said they were absolute angels. If Nick approved of it, how bad could it be?

Bad.

An hour in, Noa was cuddled into his chest, sobbing because Luca had hit her after they argued over a toy. Before Kent had the chance to scold him, he had run over and attempted to climb on top of the refrigerator. Oliver had grabbed a ton of clothes from his dresser and left a trail of them throughout the house.

It was total and utter chaos. He couldn't call Johnny or Meredith. They were on a date, and Kent could hear the desperation in Johnny’s voice when he called. So he did the next best thing he could think of.

After Noa had calmed down, Kent had managed to pull himself out of her grip. Next, he grabbed Oliver and placed him down next to his sister. Finally, he made his way over to the fridge and grabbed Luca from behind, placing him on one of the stools at the kitchen counter.

Before they left, Meredith had explained that if Kent needed backup, your number was on the counter. He pulled out his phone and began dialing the 10 digits. He had heard that you had met a few of the guys last season, back when he was still with the Michigan Wolverines. As he patiently waited for you to pick up, his green eyes scanned the kids carefully. Oliver and Noa were now at it, and Luca was repeatedly banging his head on the counter.

Finally, he was met with, "Hello?"

You were the kids usual babysitter, except for in the summer when Johnny was mainly off and you were home on summer break. Due to the fact that you had just moved back to campus to start the new school year at Ohio State, Meredith had called you to see if you were available to watch the kids. Unfortunately, you had to work, but the Gaudreaus' completely understood and went to look for someone else.

You had just gotten off of work and were walking back to your dorm when your phone began ringing. You groaned, not even bothering to check the number, and picked up, "Hello?"

You were met with an anxious voice, which sounded oddly familiar to you, "Uh, hi. I, uh... Luca, stop, you're going to hurt yourself! Sorry, I'm babysitting for Johnny and Meredith and I sorta, uh... need some help."

You chuckled to yourself. The boy sounded somewhat panicked and you knew the kids well enough to know that they were trying to break him, to see if he was worthy of being a future babysitter for them.

"I'll be there soon, give me 15 minutes. In the meantime, ask them what they want for dinner. When I get there, we'll order it," you replied, smiling to yourself.

You could faintly hear a sigh of relief before the boy spoke again, his voice growing fainter by the second as you assumed that he had dropped the phone, "Oliver, underwear does not function as a hat."

Hanging up, you allowed yourself to laugh once again before heading to your dorm to get changed into more comfortable clothes. After quickly leaving a note for your roommate, you hopped in your car and began driving the route to the Gaudreaus' home.

Luckily for you, the Gaudreaus’ house wasn’t too far from campus, so the drive wasn’t terrible. As you were driving, however, you couldn’t help but think that the boy's voice sounded oddly familiar. You simply couldn’t place your finger on who it would be, though. You had met some of Johnny’s teammates at the beginning of the season, but the voice on the other end of the phone didn’t sound like Jack Roslovic, Sean Kuraly, Boone Jenner, Zach Werenski, or Elvis Merzļikins, so you were unaware of who it could be. As some soft music played through the old speakers of your beaten up car, however, you didn’t let it bother you too much.

Within 15 minutes, you arrived at the familiar home of Johnny and Meredith. Hopping out of your car, you could see the living room light on inside of the house, and you took in the sight of a fairly new Honda CRV in the driveway, covered in a Blue Jackets bumper sticker and a University of Michigan bumper sticker. You cringed at the sight of the latter, and laughed a little bit to yourself as you looked down at the Ohio State Buckeyes hoodie you were wearing before making your way to the front door. You laid down a few solid knocks on the black painted door as you waited patiently to be let inside.

Within seconds, the door swung open to reveal a a tall blond boy, his hair disheveled and his sage green eyes wide with both panic and relief. The poor boy had three kids hanging on to some part of his body, the two boys wrapped around each one of his legs, with Noa managing to wrap her arms around his neck as she hung down his back, and you recognized him as Kent Johnson, “Thank God you’re here,” he whispered out softly, gaining a chuckle and a small smile from you, before he composed himself just enough to introduce himself to you, “I’m Kent. Thank you for doing this.”

“Y/N,” you laughed, reaching out to shake Kent’s hand before drawing back after realizing he was using them both to support little Noa from falling, “can I come inside?”

“Oh my god, of course,” he apologized, doing his best to move out of the doorframe with Luca and Oliver attached to his legs. You watched in amusement as Oliver was gently dragged across the floor just enough so that you could step inside of the house. As you did, you almost immediately noticed the pile of toys and clothes scattered across the living room carpet. The kids had gotten Kent good. Luckily for you (and Kent), you had handled this situation many times, and immediately sprung into action as you shut the door behind you.

“Who left the pile of toys out, and who was messing with the clothes?” you asked Kent, who looked at you with his beautiful green eyes. He explained that Luca had made the mess of toys and Oliver was playing with the clothes. As the boys had heard their names, they both had finally noticed your presence, shouting your name with their excited voices and untangling themselves from both of Kent’s legs before running up to you.

“Hi boys,” you greeted them kindly, watching as Noa grinned at you but continued to stay comfortably in her place on Kent’s back, “Do you guys want to play a fun game for me?”

This peaked the not only the boys’ attention, but Kent’s attention as well. Luca and Oliver both nodded at you as Kent watched you with curiosity. You smiled at the blond as you wrapped one arm around both the young boys in front of you, focusing your attention back on them, “Okay then, this is what’s going to happen. You boys have to pay close attention to the directions in order to play, alright?” you paused as you waited for a response from the boys. When both of them nodded their heads, you continued, “Kent’s going to grab two buckets from the other room, and when he gets back, we’re gonna see who can put all of the toys and clothes away the fastest. The winner gets to pick the movie after dinner, okay?”

Luca and Oliver both nodded excitedly as you watched Kent disappear from the room, reappearing 30 seconds later with two bins. You told Luca to go by the toy pile and Oliver to go by the pile of clothes as you placed the two containers in front of each of them. Sitting down on the couch with Kent and Noa next to you, you and Kent each pulled out your phone to time the boys. Kent was in charge of timing Luca and you were in charge of timing Oliver. You had assigned the responsibility of telling the boys when to go to Noa, who wanted to be involved somehow. As soon as she had yelled, “3…2…1… go!” you and Kent had started the timers and the boys were off.

As the boys moved as hurriedly as a three year old and two year old could, you turned your head to Kent, “What did they say they wanted for dinner?” you asked, moving to wrap an arm around Noa as the young girl cuddled into your side.

“The boys were very enthusiastic about pizza,” Kent replied, and you nodded. This was a common occurrence. You also knew that Noa wasn’t as enthusiastic about pizza and would prefer some other meal. Turning to her side, you told her that you and Kent were going to order pizza for dinner and asked her what she wanted instead.

“Could I get ‘ghetti?” she asked, and you nodded, knowing that she meant spaghetti. She thanked you quietly as you heard Kent yell out, “done!” and you looked up to see that Luca had finished putting his toys away. He cheered happily as Oliver finished putting the clothes away shortly afterwards, and you and Kent both clapped happily to reward the both of them.

“Good job, boys!” you spoke, getting up from the couch to give each of them a high five. Kent followed shortly behind and you grabbed both the bins, instructing Kent to put Just Dance on the TV as you carried the toys and clothes into the boys’ bedroom. You could faintly hear Kent asking the kids which song they wanted, all of them unanimously deciding on Rasputin, before you made your way back into the kitchen.

You sat down on a barstool at the Gaudreaus’ kitchen counter, opening your laptop that Meredith had graciously gifted to you for your 19th birthday in order to order some dinner. Kent sat down next to you, remote still in hand, and you smiled at him, “I’m about to order dinner. Do you want to look at the menu to see if anything sounds good?” you asked, sliding the laptop over to him as he nodded.

“Thank you,” he smiled gratefully and began to look at the menu. You couldn’t help but admire him as he scrolled through, his radiant green eyes focused hard on the menu in front of him. You tried not to stare, but a wisp of his blond hair fell over his eyes, and as he moved his hand to brush it behind his ear, you couldn’t help but notice that he needed a haircut. He was already attractive, but maybe that could make him more attractive.

You quickly looked away as Kent spoke up about some cheese ravioli and parmesan garlic breadsticks, pretending to focus on the three kids dancing in the living room. Luckily for you, he didn’t seem to notice as he slid the laptop over to you and smiled at you, allowing you to order a large half-cheese, half-pepperoni pizza, Kent’s cheese ravioli and garlic parmesan bites, your buffalo wings, and of course, Noa’s spaghetti. When you were done ordering, you softly spoke about the food being here in 25 minutes, but we’re cut off by Noa, “Y/N?” she asked sweetly, and you closed your laptop to look up at her.

“Yes, sweet girl?” you answered, your eyes meeting her own.

“When I done eating my food, can I paint you nails?” she asked, her voice soft, and you laughed a little bit.

“Yes. While your brothers pick out the movie, you can paint my nails.” you replied, but she wasn’t done.

“Yay! Y/N?”

“Yes, Noa?” you asked curiously, waiting for her next question.

“Can I paint Kenny’s, too?” you smiled at the adorable toddler in front of you, looking over at Kent. His eyes went wide for a little bit before you whispered that you had nail polish remover in the bathroom, and he physically relaxed before telling her that she could paint his nails too. Noa was satisfied with that answer as she returned to playing Just Dance with her brothers.

You couldn’t help but laugh as Kent turned to you, relief still evident in his eyes about you storing some nail polish in the bathroom. He thanked you kindly and as you acknowledged his words of gratitude, you asked him a simple question, “She likes you, you know?”

Kent smiled at your words, “I’m glad to hear that. I was a bit worried earlier when she originally avoided me like the plague.”

You let out a soft chuckle at Kent’s words, “She does that when she thinks a boy’s cute. Take it as a compliment.”

“I will,” he laughed, his nose scrunching slightly as he did so. Turning to meet your gaze, Kent turned the conversation over from himself to you, wanting to get to know you a little better, “How’d you get into babysitting for Johnny?” he asked curiously, running a hand through his dirty blond hair.

“My parents are good friends with Meredith’s, so we’ve known each other since I was born. She used to babysit me, actually,” you responded, finding it a bit funny and pretty interesting to see how everything had come full circle.

“That’s cool,” Kent complimented, continuing shortly after, “so are you from Columbus?”

“No,” you replied, watching carefully as Luca and Oliver attempted a particularly difficult move to the beat of the song they were currently dancing to. As you realized they were okay, you turned back to Kent, “I grew up in Cincinnati, but I’m a full time student at Ohio State, so when Johnny came here from Calgary, Meredith reached out to me.”

Kent nodded in acknowledgment, and opened his mouth to speak again, but you cut him off, “Enough about me. Where are you from?”

“I’m from a town in British Columbia called Port Moody,” he answered, “It’s about half-an-hour outside of Vancouver.”

“How’d you end up in Columbus?” you asked again, folding your arms across the counter.

“The Blue Jackets drafted me 5th overall while I was playing at Michigan—”

“And you lost me there,” you teased, shutting down his conversation as soon as he mentioned what college he had attended. You knew he had some ties to that team up north when you caught sight of his bumper sticker, so you knew it would eventually come up in conversation, but you decided to tease him about it anyway. You got up from your seat and began making your way towards the refrigerator to prepare three cups of milk for the kids, but you had to hide a laugh when Kent looked at you with very blatant confusion spread against his face.

“What?” he asked, internally panicking and wondering if he did something wrong. Truth is, Kent had thought that you were extremely beautiful and a very sweet girl, and he wanted to get to know you. Getting to know you wouldn’t be easy if he had done something to offend you, however.

“I don’t affiliate myself with Wolverines,” you commented, and Kent suddenly knew that it wasn’t that serious.

He smirked at you, “Well, you better get used to it, because you’re gonna be stuck with one for the next few hours.”

As you carried the three sippy cups of milk to the table, you knew that you had the last laugh, “You know, I could always leave. Last time I checked, Johnny and Meredith asked you to babysit, not me.”

A small smirk made its way across your face as you watched Kent’s eyes widen with panic, remembering the rough times he had experienced with the three kids before calling you over, “Fine. You win.”

“That’s what I thought,” you smiled teasingly, handing him a couple forks and knives as the doorbell rang. He rolled his eyes playfully and set the silverware down on the table before making his way to the front door to grab the food, leaving you with the job of wrangling the three toddlers. Noa obeyed your commands pretty easily, making her way over to the table, but you had to pick up both of the boys and place them into their high chairs as Kent passed out all of the food. You made sure that Noa got her spaghetti as you instructed Kent to cut up two pieces of pepperoni pizza for Luca and one piece of cheese for Oliver.

“Y/N,” Kent called you as he placed the plates of pizza in front of the boys, “Do you need anything to drink while I’m up?”

You smiled gratefully at the boy’s kind offer, “A glass of water would be great, Kent. Thank you so much.”

He nodded and shortly after, a glass of water was placed down in front of your wings. Kent then sat down and began to dig into his cheese ravioli. For the most part, dinner went pretty smoothly. There were a couple moments where you and Kent had to intervene in order to stop Luca and Oliver from throwing their food at each other, and Noa was constantly asking Kent what color he wanted his nails to be, but it went well overall. Soon enough, everyone was done eating and Luca, being the winner of the little competition held earlier, was eager to go and pick out a movie.

“Alright bud, give Kent and me one moment, okay? We’ll clear the dishes and then you can go and pick out the movie you want to watch.” you smiled at Luca, and he seem satisfied with that answer. You grabbed the boys’ plates and handed them over to Kent, who had already made his way to the sink in order to wash them. As he did that, you grabbed the plastic containers of empty spaghetti, ravioli, breadsticks, and wings to throw out and wipe the table down.

“Y/N?” Noa asked you, and you turned to look at her.

“Yeah?”

“When can I paint your nails?”

You smiled at her, “You can paint them when Kent takes the boys over to pick out a movie. After you’re done with me, you can paint his while I make some popcorn. Does that sound good?” she nodded, “Alright then.”

Kent seemed to hear the conversation as he moved back over to the table, scooping up both the boys in his arms to bring them over to the TV. You laughed as both Luca and Oliver squealed excitedly, rolling your eyes playfully at the little grin plastered across Kent’s face. Your smile grew as little Noa tugged gently on your arm, wordlessly asking you to sit down so she could paint your nails. You immediately obeyed, your eyes radiant as you watched her open her container housing the nail polish. When she asked you what color you wanted, you told her navy blue in honor of her dads (and Kenny’s, as she called him) team.

Soon enough, your nails were (messily) done. Despite that, you grinned as you gave her words of praise, telling her what a good job she had done. After thanking you, she ran over to Kent and her brothers, gently yet excitedly tugging on Kent’s arm. He smiled at her, telling her that he’d be over at the table in just a couple minutes, and she made her way back. A few minutes later, as Kent walked over, he let you know that Luca had decided to watch “Brother Bear” before making his way to Noa, who grinned happily at his appearance. You nodded and placed the popcorn in the microwave, politely asking the boys to go change into their pajamas so you could all settle on the couch and watch the movie as soon as possible. They didn’t give you any trouble as they ran off to their shared bedroom.

10 minutes later, Noa excitedly ran over to you, her hand around Kent’s arm as she dragged him over to the living room, “Look, Y/N, you and Kenny match!”

You looked at her confused as Kent put out his free hand so you could get a good look at his nails. As you did, you realized that he had asked Noa for the same color nail polish you had, and the both of you now had navy blue nails. You smiled first at Kent and then at Noa, “We do match, don’t we? That’s awesome, Noa! Now, you wanna do me a favor?”

She nodded. You smiled at her again, “You wanna go change into your pajamas so we can start the movie?” she nodded her head again, racing off to her room.

As all three kids were in their bedrooms, you and Kent were left alone. The two of you made some conversation as you took the popcorn out of the microwave, placing it into four different containers, but it was nothing too serious. Kent placed the DVD into the DVD player and gathered some blankets for the five of you, and soon enough, the kids were out of their rooms, ready to watch the movie. You brought over the four containers of popcorn, handing one to Kent for you and him to share, and one to each kid as you all settled onto the couch. Noa was settled into Kent’s side as Luca settled into yours, and Oliver settled between the two of you. As soon as everyone was ready, Kent hit play on the movie.

Within 20 minutes, Luca and Oliver were both fast asleep, and within 45, Noa had joined them. Slowly and carefully, Kent had taken Noa to her room and placed her in her bed as you first took Oliver, and then Luca. You made sure the boys were still fast asleep before gently shutting the door to their room and meeting Kent back out in the living room. The remote was in his hand and as you placed yourself next to him on the couch, he asked you, “So what do you wanna watch?”

Turning to meet his gaze, you crossed your arms, “What’s wrong with Brother Bear?” you interrogated him, and his eyes widened a little bit.

“Nothing’s wrong with Brother Bear—” he panicked, but you cut him off before he had the chance to work himself up too much.

“I’m kidding, Johnson. Put it on whatever you want.”

He nodded, but was now too scared to change it from Brother Bear. You laughed slightly as you noticed, but didn’t pay too much attention to it. Instead, you turned to him as his gaze focused back on the movie, “Can I ask you a question?”

He looked over at you quickly, propping his head up on his elbow, “Depends how personal.”

You mirrored his actions as you peered into his shining green eyes, nodding slightly as you did so, “Johnny told me you gave up number 13 for him when he came to Columbus. How come?”

Kent shrugged nonchalantly, “He was my idol growing up, the one player I looked up to. I modeled my own game after his and knew that as soon as I found out he was coming to play for the Jackets, that I was giving him that number.”

You smiled softly at him as he answered you, “Well, he hasn’t stopped talking about you since last August. I hope you know that he looks up to you just as much as you look up to him. You’re a good guy, Kent.”

He smiled gratefully at you, thanking you wordlessly, but soon followed up with a question of his own, “That reminds me. Before I was rudely interrupted earlier, I had a question for you.”

“Shoot, Johnson.”

“Do you ever come to any of our games?”

“Sometimes,” you replied, “whenever Meredith brings the kids, I’m usually there. Unless the game is on a Thursday, because my classes run late that day.”

He acknowledged your reply, following up with another question shortly after, “How come I’ve never seen you before? One would think that I’d remember a girl as beautiful as you.”

You blushed at his compliment, laughing shortly after, “By the time we get down to the locker room after the game, the kids are exhausted and only want Johnny, so him and Meredith are able to tackle everything pretty easily. So, Meredith lets me go after the game ends.”

Before Kent had the chance to ask his next question, he was interrupted by the door to the garage opening. Johnny walked in, Meredith on his trail as they smiled at Kent. When they noticed you, their eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but they greeted you kindly anyway.

“Kent, thank you so much for doing this for us tonight,” Meredith thanked him, and the boy next to you simply nodded as a way to say “no problem.”

Johnny acknowledged you next, “And Y/N, thank you for helping him out. Is he worthy of being asked again?” Johnny jokes, and you laughed.

“No problem. Work was slow tonight so I was able to get off early. And yes, I’d say he’s worthy. I think sweet Noa even has a little crush on him,” you joked, and Meredith laughed as out of the corner of your eye, you could see Kent blush.

“Well, thanks again, guys. You’re free to go now if you want to head home,” Johnny told both you and Kent, and you both hopped off the couch to say your goodbyes to the couple in front of you.

When you were done, Kent came over to you, “Can I walk you to your car?” he asked sweetly, and you nodded.

“It’s parked right next to yours, but yeah, I’d like that,” you replied as Kent held the front door open for you, closing it after he exited behind you. He nodded nervously as the two of you made the short walk to the driveway, but you didn’t notice how anxious he was. As you reached your car, you thanked him, “Thanks for this. I had a fun time with you tonight.”

He nodded, running a hand anxiously through his dirty blond hair, “Uhhh, Y/N, if it’s possible, could I get your number?”

You smiled softly at how nervous Kent was, but nodded anyway, “You already have it, from when you called me earlier. But it’s there if you want to text or call me.”

“Oh, right,” he chuckled, opening your car door so that you could hop in. You smiled graciously at him as you made your way to the driver’s seat. As you were about to shut the door, Kent spoke up again, “Y/N?”

“Yes, Kent?”

“I, uhhh… well, earlier I was going to ask you if I could swap out the Ohio State sweatshirt you’re wearing for a Michigan sweatshirt, but I already know that that’s not going to happen…”

“Damn right, Johnson.” you interjected.

“So, uhhh…” he continued, making nervous eye contact with you once again, “instead, I was wondering if next time you come to a game, and maybe the next time after that, if you would switch out your Gaudreau jersey for a Johnson jersey?”

You smiled softly at him, falling for his adorable charm. Luckily for Kent, that proposal wasn’t out of proportionality. You already knew that you were going to say yes, but decided to tease him a little bit instead, “I’ll consider it, Johnson.”

He smiled widely at you, seeming satisfied with your answer, “Goodnight, Y/N.”

“Goodnight, Kent,” you replied, watching as he made his way into his gray Honda CRV. Little did you know, he already had Johnny’s contact pulled up, ready to leave him a little message before pulling out of the driveway and heading home.

thanks for asking me to babysit tonight.

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