61 - James

"What are we doing tonight?"

Emily turned her head, surprised at the intrusion during her lunchtime. Alison took the seat next to her with her lunch tray, kissing the top of her head as a greeting.

"We?" Emily smiled in confusion, following the girl with her eyes.

Alison pulled an odd look and shook her head lightly at herself. She hadn't realized she had begun talking about the two of them as if they were attached by the hip. God, Hanna was right. They really were one of those couples. The blonde recovered quickly, remarking lightheartedly, "Yeah, it's the weekend, isn't it?"

"They're one of those couples," Hanna 'whispered' loudly to Spencer, who snickered into the rim of her tea thermos. Alison decided to overlook that comment though she still found herself sporting an eye roll. She comprehended that the girl was right, there was no need to rub it in, though.

Emily, on the other hand, completely ignored the interaction in favor of staring adoringly at her girlfriend, which was completely not uncommon. "Well," she started as she shook out of her daze, grabbing her apple and rubbing it on her sweater, "I kind of have to babysit tonight."

"I didn't know you did babysitting," Ezra mentioned, and Alison turned to look at him in dismay. Was everybody suddenly a part of their conversation? "Could you watch my little brother? I'll pay you," he pleaded with his eyes wide, and even though his friends laughed, he was completely serious.

"Nice try," Emily chuckled humorously. "Last time I met Wesley, he thought I was a Native American and dared me to play the 'Wild, Wild West' game with him. What the hell does that even mean?"

"You don't want to know," Aria shook her head, a horrified expression covering her face as her boyfriend patted her arm in sympathy, silently apologizing for his younger brother.

"So you can't tonight?" Alison pouted, getting back to the original topic.

Emily gave her a sad smile, "I promised the parents two weeks ago, so I can't. Unless you want to come with."

Alison's laugh was amused and heartfelt as she stared at Emily in shock. "Me?" she asked, unnecessarily pointing at herself. Emily nodded warily, not understanding the blonde's recoiling manner. "No thanks," she dismissed, not even bothering to entertain the idea.

"What? Why not?"

"Em, I'm terrible with little kids," Alison groaned as if it was too obvious to even admit out loud. "No matter what, I always end up bickering with them about something as stupid as how to use Legos or the fact that they think the earth is flat, and then I end looking like the five-year-old and not them."

"Okay, that's oddly specific," Emily frowned at her girlfriend, who only shrugged nonchalantly in return. "Besides, he's not a little kid, he's a baby. Babies rarely ever speak, so your whole argument is gone, Ali."

"You've been lawyered," Toby muttered and smirked, exchanging a high-five with Emily since they only used their handshakes on special occasions. Alison rolled her eyes and sighed. Nerds.

"Come on, please? I promise, it's fun. Right, Spence?" Emily queried, seeking confirmation from her friend.

"When did you two babysit together?" Caleb questioned from across the table, opening his carton of chocolate milk.

"Last year. From what I remember, it wasn't really on purpose," Spencer began describing as she looked back on that particular night. "I went to Emily's house to drop off some notes for a test, and there she was, holding the cutest baby I've ever seen."

Emily jutted her bottom lip forward and nodded in agreement, and Alison had to try her hardest not to 'aww' at her own girlfriend. She grumbled in her head that it was embarrassing how much of that couple they were becoming.

"And at first, I was scared the baby would hate me, but she was the sweetest thing on the planet," Spencer shared with a fond smile, a very un-Spencer move, getting Alison to raise her eyebrows in surprise.

It made the blonde think; if Spencer, who was a lot like her in character, and, for a fact, shared the same phobia-slash-dislike towards kids as she did, could pull off a night of babysitting with Emily, why the hell couldn't she? She was Alison DiLaurentis, dammit. She could do whatever the hell she pleased. After all, this looked a whole lot like a challenge suddenly, with all of her friends staring at her expectantly, and Alison DiLaurentis never backed out of a challenge.

She turned to Emily with renewed drive. "What time should I be there?"

X-X-X-X-X

When Emily opened the front door to her house to discover a fidgeting blonde on her step, she quirked an eyebrow but asked no question and hurried her inside, seeing as it was freezing outside.

Alison took off her warm jacket and offered a hug to the brunette, who flinched when the blonde's freezing fingertips touched her skin. The blonde chuckled at her, looking around. "So, where is it?"

"He is in the living room," Emily rolled her eyes, taking hold of Alison's now-slightly-warmer hand and leading her to said room. They approached the wooden crib and Emily instantly moved to hover above it, Alison trailing slightly slower behind, stopping next to her. They both watched as the tiny boy reached out with his hands, as if wanting to touch the cloud-shaped baby mobile above him. Alison's eyes widened for a second, because it was, indeed, the cutest baby she had ever seen.

"Ali, meet baby James," Emily grinned adorably, extending her finger to the toddler, who wrapped his petite fingers around it and squeezed.

Alison took a second to stare in wonderment as the little creature. He had blond hair and blue eyes like Alison, and a joyous smile took over his lips when Emily tickled his chubby stomach. The sound of his laughter reached Alison's ears and she just about melted. She might've not gotten along with kids, but she decided that maybe babies weren't so awful. Maybe.

"How old is he?" she asked out of interest.

Emily beamed fully at once as she watched Alison looking at the baby with a small, gentle smile, "He's a little over eight months."

"Parents leave their children for babysitters at that age?" Alison asked in astonishment, raising both eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah," Emily assured, "the baby I watched with Spencer was James' cousin. She was six months old at the time."

"Wow, you've really conquered the whole babysitting market in Rosewood, huh? Captured the hearts of many babies?" Alison giggled teasingly, nudging Emily's side.

Emily laughed, bumping her right back, "Laugh all you want, but I enjoy doing this."

"I bet you do," Alison confirmed and nodded, suddenly earnest. She sighed, holding Emily's arm at her side and turning to watch the baby who was watching them with curious eyes. She smiled slightly, "He really is kind of adorable."

"Told you." Emily replied, getting comfortable and leaning into Alison's side.

Alison tilted her head curiously, "So what do we do now?"

X-X-X-X-X

"Emily, he's running away!"

Did Alison ever say that she didn't think babies were all that bad? Yeah, scratch that. The blonde wanted to scream at the top of her lungs when her pinky got caught in the white TV stand dresser, but she didn't. It wouldn't have made a difference anyway, since the baby had escaped from her nevertheless. Luckily, Emily, who was still determined to catch the speed-crawling toddler, took hold of him near the stairs and lifted him to her chest.

Alison hissed in pain, "Oh, fu-" Emily gave her a stern expression which, frankly, chilled her to the bones, "-shoot?" she corrected, and the girl nodded once in approval, placing the baby on the couch.

"Uh oh!" James exclaimed with a guilty expression that looked like he just stole the last cookie in the jar.

Alison narrowed her eyes at him, "'Uh oh' is right."

Emily frowned in concern. "Are you okay?" she gestured for Alison to come closer to the couch and the blonde was pleasantly surprised when she was pulled down to sit sideways on Emily's lap. She wrapped the arm that was closer to Emily around the brunette's neck and watched as Emily examined her foot. She sighed comfortably when Emily started massaging the pained limb, because of course Emily would make her go weak without even trying to.

They turned in shock when James let out a pleased, "Mm-hmm," and fixed his gaze on them with a coy grin.

"Who said girls mature faster than boys? Look at him, he's eight months old and he's already acting like a horny teenage boy," Alison noted cynically, dropping her foot and plopping down between James and Emily.

"Alison! Don't say words like that around him," Emily panicked, "this is the age where he starts repeating everything like a parrot."

"Are you going to let her call you a parrot, James?" Alison asked playfully, shaking her head. She smirked smugly in satisfaction when James puffed his cheeks and shook his head, mimicking her.

Emily opened her mouth to protest when her phone beeped in her pocket. She gave Alison a look that said 'this isn't over', and went to open her message.

"It's James' parents, they just reminded me to warm him his milk," she informed Alison who looked at her in puzzlement. "Can you watch him for a second?" Emily asked as casually as possible, knowing what would be her girlfriend's reaction to the request. "If I don't give him milk at specific times, he starts crying really loudly and I don't want to have the neighbors complain. It has happened before. Really, he's that loud."

Alison's eyes were wide and terrified as she nearly shouted, "What? No!"

"Please? It'll just be a second."

Not waiting for further confirmation, Emily swooped down to steal a kiss from Alison and then went off the kitchen.

"Emily!" Alison called in disbelief.

Emily only turned back halfway to the other room, pointing her finger accusingly at the blonde, "And don't say words like you-know-what around him."

"Words like," Alison glanced at James and then back at Emily, mouthing, "'horny'?"

"Ali," Emily pronounced in a warning tone.

"Okay, okay," Alison chuckled, lifting her hands in defeat. Emily stalked off to the kitchen, keeping a suspicious eye on her girlfriend as she crossed the threshold. Once she was out of sight, Alison loudly exclaimed, "Gee, James, now that Emily is gone, I can finally teach you all of the dirty words that I've been dying to a say to a toddler!"

"Alison, you're gonna pay for this!" Emily shouted from somewhere in the kitchen, and Alison laughed so hard, that James started gleefully laughing along with her too, even though he had no idea what was going on.

When the chuckling died down, Alison glanced awkwardly down at James who only stared at her blankly. "So," she drawled, biting her lip and not quite knowing what to say to the curious baby, "who do you like more, mom or dad?"

James looked up at her vaguely for a few seconds, then blew a raspberry right in her face. Her face was left in astoundment for a moment, before she allowed herself to chuckle in amusement, shaking her head lightly.

"Oh, you are toast," Alison playfully threatened and James squeaked in delight, then quickly crawled on his hands and knees to the end of the couch and climbed his way down, attempting to escape. As he trotted enthusiastically, he only made it to an armchair across the room when he was picked up easily by Alison, who smirked and said, "Gotcha," before bringing him to the couch. She didn't know what type of baby-friendly spirit came over her at that moment, but she lifted his shirt and tickled his stomach as he laughed in pure bliss.

When Emily walked back into the room with the bottle of milk shaking in her hand as she feared the worst, she nearly gasped at the sight of Alison drawing James' hands to her mouth and kissing them with a gracious smile, and James putting the tiny limbs on Alison's cheeks and pinching them as the blonde wrinkled her nose playfully. As she watched from behind the wall, her heart warmed endlessly as Alison pretended to bite James' arm and he smiled his childish grin at her, his other little fist tangling absently in her blonde hair.

Emily sighed in enjoyment, smiling softly at the pair. If only Pepe were there, it would've been a parade of the cutest creatures in the universe.

She walked up and sat behind Alison, wrapping both her arms around the girl's stomach and putting her chin on her shoulder. Alison turned her head slightly to look at her with a tender expression, and Emily closed her eyes as she kissed the blonde's cheek affectionately.

They stayed quiet for a few seconds, just watching James as he yawned, beginning to feel tired. No kidding, Alison thought as she shook her head fondly at her new friend. He really couldn't expect to run around all day and not get tired.

Finally, Emily broke the silence. "Who knew Alison DiLaurentis was the baby whisperer?" she mumbled against the blonde's neck as the girl held the tip of the bottle to James' lips, watching as he grasped it and drank greedily.

Alison simply giggled, "He's irresistible, I guess."

"He loves you," Emily remarked in a barely audible voice, but Alison heard her clearly. "You think you're not good with kids, but you're a natural."

It was adequately silent for several moments again, and James was rightfully content with being the center of attention. He reached out his small hand and touched the tip of his index finger to Emily's nose, then giggled hysterically like it was the funniest thing in the world and did it again, much to both girls' amusement.

"There's going to be one like him for us in the future, you know," Alison took the bottle away from James when it looked like he didn't want more. She ducked her head shyly and quietly added, "I hope so, at least."

Emily tucked a strand of blonde hair behind the girl's ear. "There is going one like him for us, Ali. I know it," she said in a determined, low voice, dropping a kiss on the back of Alison's neck.

Alison shivered pleasantly, and tilted her head back, dropping the back of it on Emily's shoulder. She huffed and groaned at the same time, "God, I'm so tired."

She lifted her head back up when Emily started massaging her shoulders daintily. The girl was so good to her.

"What made you tired?"

"Uh, watching babies is tiring," Alison answered in a matter-of-factly, as if it was obvious. "More like, watching James over here is tiring. It's like he has some kind superhuman mega baby strength or something, with how quickly he moves."

Emily snorted, "Dork."

"Well, you know what they say -- takes one to know one." Alison shrugged, smiling in amusement.

Emily chuckled, "Whatever. It's not that tiring, by the way."

"Well, you weren't here when he dashed away and pretended to be crawling in the Baby Olympics. Seriously, what do they put in his milk? Red Bull?"

Emily only laughed and rolled her eyes, "You're just exaggerating."

"Emily, are you calling me a liar? 'Cause-" Alison halted mid-sentence when Emily tapped her on the shoulder repeatedly, "what?"

"Look," Emily whispered, pointing at James. The baby was now fast asleep, but what had left Emily so breathless was the way he was grasping three of Alison's fingers with both his hands, holding them to his chest as he snored silently, his chest rising and falling in slow, steady breaths.

"He looks so peaceful," Alison commented. "I didn't even notice he grabbed my hand."

"Yeah, he's so calm. He's the opposite of you, you know. You always kick me when you're sleeping." Emily muttered lowly.

"I do not!" Alison whispered heatedly, smacking Emily on her thigh. "Ow," she let out when James, who was apparently looking for something to occupy his mouth with while he was asleep, brought two of her fingers up and bit down on them with his miniature teeth. She pried her hand out gently out of his grasp, and for a dreadful second it looked like he was about to wake up, but he didn't.

"Amazing how Karma always comes at the right time," Emily said in a tone that was way too serene in the blonde's opinion, considering the little bastard had just bitten her.

"Karma's a bitch," Alison answered back almost-automatically as she held her 'wounded' fingers with her other hand.

"What did I tell you about these kind of words?" Emily whispered accusingly.

Alison only leaned back on the couch and scowled, crossing her arms together.

Her resolve melted in a mere second when Emily delicately lifted James to put him in the crib and he began crying. The brunette rocked him in her arms and against her shoulder, and hushed him by patting on his back, as though she had done it a million times before. He yawned against her shoulder and she kissed the side of his head before placing him down in his crib. She draped his blanket over him and watched for a few moments as he settled down and properly fell asleep.

She turned to catch Alison watching her, who to her surprise, had her eyes glazed over. She came over to the girl's side, sitting down next to her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked softly.

Alison simply couldn't describe it, 'it' being the feeling that took over her at that moment. She was proud and hopeful and emotional and touched all at the same just from watching the way Emily behaved around a baby. So, instead of explaining it, she only shook her head wordlessly, planting her face in the crook of the brunette's neck and snuggling into her side, "I really love you, Em. More than I thought was possible."

Emily grinned sheepishly and blushed when she felt Alison nuzzling the side of her neck. She intertwined their fingers, replying, "I know you do, Ali. I know, because I love you, too."

Moments passed in comfortable silence while Alison played with their fingers and Emily kept a dutiful eye on the baby, who was fast asleep with an elephant pacifier in his mouth.

"We really are becoming one of those couples."

Alison groaned in agreement to the brunette's statement, her head hitting the back of the couch. She sighed out loud.

"Yup."

X-X-X-X-X

"So, did you get arrested for ripping the baby's head off last night, or what?" Hanna tactlessly asked as per usual when Alison opened the door for her.

The queen bee rolled her eyes in response as she swung the door wider and Hanna stepped in, "No. But thanks for having faith in me, Han."

Hanna shrugged as she pulled off her stylish scarf, "Sure thing. You're the one who said you were terrible with kids."

"Apparently, babies are a little easier."

"Said no one ever," Hanna snickered tauntingly in response. "So you're basically saying that they're alright until they learn to speak?" she smirked cheekily as she and Alison headed to up the stairs to the latter's room.

Alison made a contemplative face, mulling over the statement. Finally, she uttered, "Yeah, pretty much," and opened the door of her bedroom for the girl. Hanna took off towards the bed and jumped like a squirrel, landing on Emily who groaned at the sudden hit and pushed Hanna away.

"Paws off, Marin," Alison instructed coolly, taking a seat next to Aria on the white armchairs on the other side of the room.

"What were you saying, Ar?" Emily questioned, shifting back to her previous position before Hanna jumped on her, watching as the bubbly blonde finally settled in a normal manner on the bed.

Aria huffed at being interrupted, but nevertheless turned back with a sweet smile to Emily, who always seemed so genuinely interested in anything she had to say.

"I was saying," she said particularly loudly as she shot a pointed look at Hanna, who only lifted her hands in defense, "the city hall's been talking about organizing a 5k for charity. I know because the mayor's assistant is my mom's yogalates buddy."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that," Spencer piped up as she entered the room upon returning from ordering pizza.

"That the mayor's assistant does yogalates with Ella?" Hanna frowned in confusion. Alison and Aria laughed easily in reponse.

Spencer rolled her eyes fondly, taking a seat on the edge on the bed, "No, Han. That the first ever 5k in Rosewood is taking place soon. Apparently, the mayor's uncle started a charity and the mayor wants to support him, so they're doing a 5k here and the towns all around us are invited too."

"What charity?" Emily asked.

"I didn't get a chance to hear, but I'm pretty sure all the profits go to some animal shelter, and the charity is going to bring all sorts of animals so that people can do the 5k with them and then think of adopting them. Basically, look forward to seeing the town square filled with dogs, rabbits, cats, stuff like that," Spencer shrugged.

"Oh yay, it's gonna be so cute!" Aria enthused, and Emily smiled softly in agreement.

"I could own a rabbit," Hanna said out of nowhere. Four pairs of eyes passively blinked at her. "I mean, think about it," she started, like it was the most logical thing in the world. "I could teach it how to bounce down the stairs and bring me food, or I could put a watch around its neck so it'll be like the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland."

The girls laughed lightheartedly, and Emily spoke up, "Hanna, need I remind you that your mom is allergic to all kinds of animal fur?"

Hanna deflated and pouted, "Oh. I forgot about that."

"Don't worry, Han, we could convince the guys to get a rabbit and then you can play with it whenever you want," Alison faux-assured in a gentle tone, trying not to burst into laughter right in her friend's face.

"I guess."

"Guys, what movie are we watching?" Spencer smoothly changed the subject.

"Now you've made me want to watch Alice in Wonderland." Aria chuckled.

"Agreed," Emily mumbled with a small smile on her face, and the rest hastily consented to the idea.

As they got ready to watch the movie, Emily couldn't help but notice the tremendous déjà vu she was experiencing. She glanced at the back of Hanna's head, who sat casually on the floor with her back against the bed's footboard, and then at Aria and Spencer as they took their places on the white armchairs near the window, and finally, at Alison who was by her side in a similar position as her with her back against the headboard.

"Woah," she uttered quietly to herself in wonderment.

"What?" Alison questioned, her eyes still facing the screen as she tried to work the remote. When it wouldn't budge, she banged her hand several times against the plastic rectangle, making the other girls snicker.

"Nothing," Emily smiled warmly, intertwining her fingers with Alison's.

Thirty or so minutes into the movie, the doorbell downstairs rang, indicating that the pizza was there. Hanna, Spencer and Aria only hummed in acknowledgment, too invested in the movie to care, which was surprising for Emily, considering Hanna had been the one who offered the option of pizza in the first place.

Alison and Emily stood up and trotted out of the room, having popcorn thrown at them, courtesy of Hanna, as they stepped in front of her and accidentally blocked the screen. They traveled down the stairs, leaving their friends in their little Alice in Wonderland bubble.

"Ali, I'm not letting you pay for all the pizzas," Emily objected to Alison's offer in a matter-of-factly voice as she wrapped her arm around her girlfriend's shoulder while they headed for the door.

"We only ordered two, Em, I think a can handle it," the blonde assured sarcastically.

Emily gripped the handle with her free hand, opening the door, "Sure, but you're not-"

Emily's jaw dropped slightly and Alison turned to look at the intrusion. On the other side of the door, stood Ben Coogan in his work uniforms, which included a shirt and pants with the symbol of the pizzeria, and, of course, a propeller hat, except the blades of the propeller were mini triangle-shaped plastic pizzas. Alison had never tried so hard not to laugh in someone's face.

"Emily," he addressed in a voice that was two tones too dreamy in Alison's opinion, as he stared - more so, ogled - at her girlfriend with his eyes dazed. Given, it was a pretty sunny day for the spring and Emily had innocently decided to come over to her house in a tank top and shorts, so Ben's reaction was the same one she had when she first opened the door for her girlfriend. Except that it was Ben, and he wasn't supposed to look at Emily like that.

"Ben," Emily greeted as she offered him a polite, small smile.

Next, his eyes switched to Alison, but not before tracing over the arm Emily still had around her shoulders. The blonde smirked internally, grabbing the hand that was now dangling around her shoulder with her own hand, just because she could. His eyes scanned her body as well, although for a distinctly lesser amount of time and in a non-interested manner.

"Alison," he said her name, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Ben," she sneered with such disdain, it was almost comical.

The boy's eyes lingered on Emily's arm that didn't budge even the slightest from Alison's shoulders, making the two of them a bit uncomfortable. Finally, he cleared his throat, "Right, well, here's your pizzas," he handed Emily the two cardboard boxes and she thanked him. "That'll be $24.80," he informed.

Alison quickly pulled out the money from her pocket, dropping it in his hand before Emily could even protest. She turned to Emily with a victorious grin and a challenging cocked eyebrow. Emily narrowed her eyes and shook her head, informing Alison that she would get her punishment later. In response, the blonde's smirk turning devilish, as if to say, 'Bring it on.' The brunette only smacked her arm and Alison chuckled throatily.

Ben watched the whole exchange with a perplexed frown, which, in Alison's humble opinion, made him look constipated. He had this vying urge to clear his throat again, just to remind them that he was still there, but before he could do exactly that, Alison spoke.

"Babe, can you take these up to my room, I'll be there in a second. I just need to give Ben his tip."

Emily eyed her in growing suspicion, but uttered, "Sure," nevertheless and proceeded to carry the squared cardboard boxes down the hall, heading towards the stairs.

"It was great seeing you, Emily," Ben called out to her in a tone that resembled desperation.

Emily turned her head to give him a faint smile over her shoulder as she walked away, "You too."

Alison glanced at Ben, and followed his line of sight to what she assumed was Emily's ass. She gritted her teeth as she turned back to him.

She waited until she heard the sound of Emily's footsteps on the stairs to continue. "Here's a tip for you, Ben," she said lowly as his eyes cut to her in surprise. "Stop gawking at my girlfriend like you still have a chance. Because you don't. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you won't get punched in the face. Emily did it last time, but it could be me this time around."

His mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried to think of a comeback, but with no success. "You're not going to give me any more money, are you?" he sighed in finality.

This time, Alison didn't even try to contain her laughter as it bubbled in her stomach. "Nice hat," she mocked, and then slammed the door squarely in his face.