Babysitting Bradfords Part III

“We can talk about this,” Jason mumbled against the duct tape, trying not to panic as he threw a hopeful glance at the in-law apartment’s closed door as Devin and Charlie’s voices came closer.

He glanced back to find the twins sitting in front of him, looking bored as they watched him. When he heard Charlie and Devin head upstairs, he threw another panicked look at the door only to look back at the twins in time to see their lips pull up into pleased smiles and…

Oh, God, he couldn’t remember if he told his wife that he loved her, Jason realized as his life flashed before his eyes when the twins, as one, took a bite of the candy bars they’d found in his bag while they continued to stare at him. He didn’t know what he was thinking when he volunteered to babysit, but if he made it out of this alive, and it was looking less likely with every passing second, he was never going to do it again.

“Where are they?” he heard Charlie say as his gaze flickered towards the closed door, praying that they made it in time. Jason held his breath only to whimper when he heard them head to the kitchen, calling the kids’ names.

He was going to die.

“Let me go,” Jason mumbled against the tape, noting the way that the twins’ lips twitched as they took another bite, slowly devouring it as they continued to watch him.

Christ, they were more terrifying than Jonathan and Sebastian, Jason thought, shifting to get more comfortable only to wince when the tape they used to secure his hands behind his back pulled at his skin. As the twins watched him, he tried to pull his hands free, but there was no give. He needed to get out of here before until it was too late. He needed to…

Figure out why they pretending to be asleep?

Frowning, Jason looked between the twins, who were now curled up on the floor in front of him with their eyes closed, and the door to find Devin and Charlie walking in and-

“Aw, look at them,” Charlie said with a watery smile as she took in the twins curled up on the floor in front of him.

“Help me,” Jason mumbled against the tape, wiggling to get their attention, but Charlie only had eyes for the twins.

“He must have exhausted them,” Devin said, chuckling as he leaned over and picked Abby up, kissing her forehead as he shifted her to one arm so that he could pick Dustin up with the other.

Once he had them in his arms, he headed towards the door, throwing, “Thanks for watching them, Jason,” over his shoulder before heading back to the living room.

“That was really sweet of you,” Charlie said with a warm smile and a heartfelt sigh as she leaned over and-

“It’s a trap!” Jason hissed as soon the tape was pulled off.

“What’s a trap?” Charlie absently asked, not really looking all that concerned that they’d tied him up.

“They’re evil!” he whispered harshly, sending a panicked look to the door, praying that they couldn’t hear him.

Chuckling, because clearly, she didn’t know what the twins were capable of, Charlie finished pulling the tape off. As soon as he was free, Jason was on his feet, putting some distance between him and the door that Devin just carried the twins through.

“Who? Dustin and Abby?” Charlie asked with a warm smile and a soft chuckle as she cleaned up the small mess the twins left behind.

“Yes!” Jason whispered, making her frown.

“Why are you whispering?” Charlie asked, throwing him a questioning look as she headed to the kitchen to throw away the trash.

“Because they’ll hear us,” he said, swallowing hard as he glanced back at the door that led to the living room.

Rolling her eyes, Charlie said, “It was really sweet of you to play with them.”

“Play with them?” Jason asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Mmmhmmm,” Charlie murmured absently as she focused on picking up the toys the twins left around the small in-law apartment.

“Play with them? They tackled me, tied me up, forced me to go downstairs by poking me with those damn Harry Potter wands that you bought them, tormented me, debated whether or not it was worth demanding a ransom for me before silently staring at me, freaking me the fuck out!” he snapped even as he watched that door, making sure that they weren’t coming back to finish the job.

“Are you feeling okay, Jason?” Charlie asked, worrying her bottom lip.

“No, I’m not feeling okay,” he snapped as he waved frantically in the direction the twins went. “Your children manhandled me!”

“You look tired. Are you tired?” she asked, throwing him a pitying look as she picked up the Nerf gun that they’d taken turns shooting him with.

Narrowing his eyes on her, he pointed at her. “You know what? I’m telling my wife!”

Sighing, Charlie said, “You should get some sleep.”

“So your children can finish the job?” Jason demanded, shaking his head in disgust as he moved towards the door. “Think again, sweetheart, because I’m not going to…going to…” he said, his words trailing off when movement from the living room door caught his attention to find the twins standing in the doorway, watching him.

“They wanted to say thank you,” Devin said as Jason stood there, swallowing back a whimper when Dustin’s lips twitched.

“We had a fun time, Uncle Jason,” Abby said, smiling sweetly.

“A really good time,” Dustin seconded with a glint in his eye that had Jason throwing a panicked look at Charlie to find her smiling fondly at the children that had taken great joy out of tormenting him.

“They were also wondering if you wanted to come back next week to watch them again,” Devin murmured absently as he took his phone out of his back pocket and checked something.

“We didn’t get to play operation,” Dustin said as his lips twitched into a smile that could only be described as evil.

Jason threw Charlie a panicked look, wondering if she saw it too only to find her frowning in confusion. “I don’t think we have the Operation game, guys,” Charlie mumbled absently as terror tore through him as he glanced back at the twins and-

Yeah, he was done here.

With that in mind, he did what any Bradford would do in this situation.

He reached back and opened the door, refusing to take his eyes off the twins that were watching his every move with looks of anticipation that had him stumbling back and shouting, “I’m never playing with you again!” before he got the hell out of there.