"Alright," Cassandra said to Baird. "I finally got him down for a nap. So he should sleep for 75 minutes. I have a dinner prepared for him in the blue container in the fridge. If he wants a snack, there are some grapes and carrot sticks. They shouldn't ruin his dinner. Bed time is 7pm. "

Baird was rolling her eyes over Cassandra's head at Stone who was trying very hard not to laugh at his wife going over the same babysitting instructions she'd given to Baird countless times. Not that he wasn't as protective as Cassandra was over their only child, but Eve had baby sat little Joey so many times that she could practically recite Cassandra's instructions.

"You have our numbers and the doctor and Jacob's sister in case anything . . . ."

"Cassandra!" Baird said. "It'll be fine. I know what I'm doing here. Joey and I will perfectly fine."

"Right, yes. I'm just. . . ."

"I know you are," Baird said with a soft smile. "I promise, it'll be just as fine as it always is. Do you have an ETA?"

Cassandra looked over at Stone.

"We've done all the legwork and research so it's just a matter of retrieval. It's a bit tricky, which is why it's gonna take the both of us. But I'm thinkin' no later than eleven. And even that's pushin' it."

"Alright, sounds good." Baird nodded.

"I should go say goodbye," Cassandra said.

"And you'll wake him up, sweetheart, you just got him down. It'll be okay." Jacob took his wife's arm. "C'mon, sooner we get out of here, the sooner we're back."

"Right, yes," Cassandra turned to their Guardian. "Thank you, Eve."

"No problems. Good hunting."

Baird chuckled once the door finally closed behind the couple. It was the same every time. Cassandra and Stone tried not to take missions together but everyone knew they worked better together. And in this case, they needed their particular skills working together to retrieve an object long thought lost.

The couple hadn't been gone more than a half hour when Baird's phone buzzed. She rolled her eyes, assuming it was Cassandra.

It wasn't. It was Flynn and he needed her help. While it wasn't life or death, but he was in trouble that he couldn't get out of by himself. Baird sighed, this wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't for little Joseph. She could take him with her to the Annex and leave him in Jenkins' care. But despite Jenkins' soft spot for Cassandra and her child, both she and the Stones needed Jenkins to run the Library side of their missions. And he didn't like to be distracted when he was doing that. So he was out as a sitter.

That left . . .Jones . . .Stone was going to kill her. He'd banned Jones as a sitter a year ago when Cassandra caught Joey stealing cookies and the truth that Jones had taught him how had come out.

But this was an emergency and she didn't want to call Cassandra and Jacob back now.

She sent a text off to Jones and after having a conversation that involved her taking the flack from Stone and money for pizza, the young man was agreeing to come sit.

He arrived twenty minutes later, Baird pacing in front of the door.

"Okay, Joey's dinner is in the fridge in the blue container. There are grapes and carrots if he wants a snack. He's sleeping but he'll probably be up soon. Emergency numbers are on the table. So is your damn money. I've gotta go."

"Right, you're welcome by the way."

Baird rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Ezekiel," she said in a slightly mocking tone as she closed the door shut behind her.

"Really is the hostility necessary?" he called to the closed door. He wandered over to the table where a generous amount of money had been left.

"And I have a coupon for the pizza too, easiest night ever."

"Zekiel!"

Ezekiel Jones hit pause on the television and sighed. Maybe this babysitting gig wasn't as easy as he'd assured Baird it was going to be. Joseph Stone was a four year old bundle of energy, every bit as excitable as his mother was and, unfortunately for Jones, not easily fooled or distracted. While his parents had not banned television and movies, Cassandra being adamant that no child of hers would have the restrictions she'd had placed on her, the child really wasn't interested in them. He could already read, which was to be expected for the child of two geniuses, but reading meant that he would have to stay in one spot for more than a second. Which was not happening this evening much to Ezekiel's chagrin. He'd tried everything to get the kid to settle for even ten minutes and Jones was exhausted.

"Yeah kid, what is it?"

"I finished!"

"Of course, you did," Ezekiel mumbled. He'd decided to get into Cassandra's good graces by having the kid pick up his toys. That had bought him almost ten minutes of tv time. But Ezekiel should have known better, the kid was still Stone's son. Which meant he wasn't that messy to begin with. Ezekiel sighed, the child practically bouncing in front of him. He needed to keep the kid out of his hair and tire him out. All hopefully before Stone and Cassandra came home from their mission. He was lucky they hadn't checked in yet. But then again, he was quite certain that the Stones hadn't been informed of the change in babysitters.

He stared at the child and then inspiration struck. "Hey, how would you like to earn some money?"

The child's eyes, blue like both parents, widened like his mother's did.

"How about I give you a quarter for every lap you can make around the house?"

"I can do a lot!" Joey boosted.

"Well then you'll be flush." The child looked at him strangely but Ezekiel merely sighed and rolled his eyes. "Go, do your laps."

Joey took off and Jones flopped on the sofa, hitting play. I'm a genius.

The back door opened discharging Stone and Cassandra along with the large blue crystal they'd been sent to retrieve.

"Ah, Mr. Stone, Ms. Cillian, your mission was successful?" Jenkins asked, coming into the room and setting his pot of tea on a table in order to retrieve the crystal from Cassandra.

"Yep," Cassandra said. "Wasn't too bad as far as these things go. But I can't wait to get home and kiss my baby."

Jacob smiled affectionately at his wife. "We were on the run almost constantly. She didn't get a chance to text Baird and see how Joey was doing."

"Oh about that," Jenkins said and then froze, realizing that perhaps he shouldn't have said anything.

"Is Joey alright?" Cassandra asked, her face paling. Jacob, fear crossing his own features, grabbed her hand.

Jenkins had the grace to look sheepish for a moment before going back into his usual demeanor. "Nothing like that. Mr. Carsen was in need of assistance, so Colonel Baird went off to take care of him. You were off on your mission and she didn't want to distract you. I'm sure she . . ." Jenkins took a deep breath. "Found a suitable caretaker for young Joseph."

The color came back into Cassandra's face and she dropped Jacob's hand in relief.

However, Jenkins could tell that Stone's color was rising and that the historian knew exactly who was babysitting his son. "She got Jones didn't she? Jones is watchin' Joey?"

Jenkins grimaced. "Perhaps? I didn't ask . . .although I have not seen Mr. Jones this evening."

Cassandra sighed, even after all these years Stone and Jones still didn't quite see eye to eye. "Ezekiel wouldn't let anything happen to Joey."

"I know," Stone's face softened as she took her hand in his. "I just . . .he's not a good influence."

"He's only four, it's not like Ezekiel is going to be teaching him how to hack or break into museums."

"He taught him to steal cookies! Have you forgotten that?"

"They're just cookies, honey. I'm sure Joey's okay."

Stone hmphed but didn't say anything, just let his wife tug him toward the street door.

"Good night, Mr. Jenkins," Cassandra called over her shoulder as they exited.

Jenkins just sighed and took the crystal into his lab.

Ezekiel was feeling very proud of himself. Joseph was fast asleep, having worn himself out running laps around the house. He'd managed to finish watching his mini marathon. The house was looking in order.

"I am awesome. Best thief in the world. Kick ass Librarian. And now best babysitter ever!"

Stone and Cassandra still weren't home so he walked over to the fridge and grabbed a leftover slice of the extra cheese, double pep pizza he'd ordered for dinner.

He wandered back over to the sofa and started another episode.

The house was quiet and mostly dark when the Stones pulled up.

"See?" Cassandra teased, hopping out of the truck. "The house is still standing."

"Yeah? You might wanna check your jewelry after he leaves," Stone groused.

She just shook her head at him and unlocked the front door.

"Ezekiel?" she called. The house was quiet and she was a little concerned. Stone grumbled behind her, but they followed the sounds of the television to the living room.

Ezekiel was asleep in front of the tv, but he woke up when Stone not so gently nudged his foot with his own.

"Oh, hey guys. The kid's fast asleep."

"Really?" Jacob sounded skeptical. "He was really hyped up today."

"Did you feed him pizza?" Cassandra asked.

"What do you take me for?" Ezekiel tried and failed to look indignant. Especially in the face of a mother with her hands on her hips. "Okay, yes . . . but I gave him grapes too!"

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Next time, proper food okay?"

"Next time?" Jacob scoffed. "Oh that ain't happenin'."

"The kid's fine! Go see for yourself."

Cassandra headed for the stairs. Stone stood and stared down the younger man for a few moments. But Stone's desire to see his son won out and he followed his wife upstairs. The door was open when he got there and Cassandra was fussing over their son. Joey was curled up, his stuffed pony in his arms, his other favorite stuffed plush, a black cat, beneath his head. Cassandra moved the cat and pulled up the blanket, tucking it around the little boy. She placed a kiss on his forehead, running her hand gently through his mop of dark curls. The boy cooed a little but didn't wake. Jacob smiled at his wife when she straightened up and took his place above the pillow, leaning over to place his own kiss on their sleeping child.

Quietly they filed out into the hallway.

Jacob had the quiet awed expression he often got after seeing Joey after a long day. "I still can't believe sometimes how lucky I got to have the two of you."

"Our little miracle," Cassandra said with a soft smile.

Jacob gave her a soft kiss but a noise downstairs reminded them that Ezekiel was still in their home. They found him in the kitchen gathering the remains of his pizza.

"See? He's in one piece."

"So, how did you get him settled?" Cassandra asked. "Plus the house is so clean . . . ."

"Well, being the excellent babysitter that I am . . . ."

Stone grunted and rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," Ezekiel continued. "I played a few games with him. One was the picking up his toys game."

Cassandra giggled. "Oh, we play that too."

"Yep, he knew that one. And when that failed, I offered to pay him a quarter for every lap he did around the house."

"Ezekiel!" Cassandra sounded shocked but Jones wasn't sure if it was for the bribe or for the running. Stone, on the other hand, looked impressed despite himself.

"Hey, it worked! He got exercise, he didn't get hurt and he wore himself out enough to go to sleep. By the way, you owe him $12.50."

"We owe him?" Stone was incredulous. "It was your bet!"

"$12.50? That's 50 laps around the house!" Cassandra exclaimed.

And then Stone looked impressed. "That's my boy."

"I know! You've got yourself a track star there, mate." Ezekiel held out his fist and Stone was in a good enough mood now to fist bump back.

Cassandra just shook her head and then went to hug Ezekiel. "Thank you, Ezekiel, for everything."

"Hey, any time," Ezekiel's face softened. "You know I love that rug rat. Well, night."

Stone walked Jones out and then turned to his wife when the door shut behind their babysitter and sighed. "Well, that didn't go so bad."

"See? He's not such a bad influence after all."

"Maybe, but now we owe Joey $12.50!"

Cassandra chuckled. "Oh, Ezekiel made the bet, he's going to pay Joey." She held up a black wallet with a smirk. "I lifted his wallet."

Jacob laughed so hard and loud that Cassandra shushed him out of fear he'd wake Joey.

When he'd quieted, Jacob looked at her. "Now, I wonder who the bad influence is on our child."

Cassandra giggled. "I learned that from the best. Or so Ezekiel claims to be. He'll be proud. In fact," Cassandra giggled again when her phone buzzed.

There was a text from Ezekiel. Nice one. Take the money for the kid. I'll be trading your necklace for my wallet in the morning.

Cassandra's hand went to her neck where she discovered that her necklace was indeed gone.

"That sneak!"

Stone looped his arm around her waist. "He'll never change. Come on, let's go to bed."

"I wonder if he stole any cookies . . . ."

The End