My wife, Amy, had left to go see her sister for a few days, apparently her and her husband were having some marriage troubles and she wanted to be there to support her. That left me at home to watch our two little girls Sarah, who was three and Paula, who was five. They were good girls and helped Daddy as much as three and five-year old girls can. My wife was supposed to be gone for a week but maybe longer, it would depend on what happened with her sister.
I didn't mind her going, I try to be supportive as I can when it come to her family because I knew she was close to them all and I wanted it to stay that way. So when she said she had to go I encouraged her to, assuring her that me and the girls would be ok while she was gone and not to worry about us. So she left on the first plane that she could get tickets for.
The first couple days were easy - it was late Friday night when she left and so me and the girls had the weekend to spend together. I tried to make it an "adventure" for them so they wouldn't know anything was wrong. That was one of the main reasons that me and Amy didn't want to girls to go along. Marriage difficulties can be harder on the kids than on the parents because the little ones don't understand why Mommy and Daddy are fighting so. And we didn't want to expose our girls to the chaos and upheaval that these situations always seem to produce.
So the three of us had a good weekend planned and we enjoyed ourselves quite a bit. I took them to the movies and to the zoo. We had a picnic/tea party in the park and went to the local toy store to get them each something. We had a grand old-time and it kept the girls minds off missing their mother. Things were going all right but Monday was approaching and I would have to go to work. So I had to figure out what I was going to do with the girls. I couldn't take that much time off - I didn't have that much leave on the books, and we didn't even know how long she would be gone. And my construction job wasn't exactly "kid-friendly" either, so bringing the girls to work with me wasn't a possibility.
Amy and I had a neighborhood girl, Lisa, that we used from time to time to baby-sit the girls when we needed her. She was 18 years old and very responsible. We knew her parents and we knew how she had been brought up and we were very comfortable with her watching Sarah and Paula. So Sunday afternoon I called her to see if she would watch them for me while I was at work.
"Hello, Lisa? This is Mr. Davis. I was wondering if you would be available to watch Sarah and Paula while I am at work from the next few days. Mrs. Davis, Amy, had to go see her sister for some family issues and I have to go to work Monday. You would need to watch them from about 7:00 am to 6:00 pm or so every day. Of course we would pay you your regular rate plus something for extra hours as well." I said.
"Oh Mr. Davis, I would love to watch Sarah and Paula, they are great and we have so much fun. But unfortunately my family is going to the lake for the week. In fact we were just doing the packing. I'm sorry." Lisa said.
"Oh no! I was sort of counting on you to help me out. I am in a spot here, but I understand. You go and have fun with your family, Lisa. I'll figure something out." I said, trying to keep from showing how big a mess I was in.
"Well, Mr. Davis, if you want I have a friend who might be interested. Her name is Becky and she is really good. She is very dependable and trustworthy. If you'd like I can call her and see if she would be willing to watch the girls."
"If you are willing to vouch for her, Lisa, then I will talk to her about it. I trust you and if you say she is ok then yes call her up and see if she'll do it. I am in a real pickle here and don't see many other options."
"Ok, Mr. Davis I will call her and see if she will do it. I'll call you back as soon as I find out."
"Thank you, Lisa." I said and hung up. I sat down on the couch and tried to think. If this Becky didn't want to or couldn't watch the girls I would simply have to take the time off, even if it meant losing a good chunk of my paycheck in the process. A week's pay was a lot to lose but I had no choice. I could only hope that Amy came back at the end of that week or we would be royally screwed!
About 20 minutes later the phone rang. "Hello, Mr. Davis?" the girls voice on the other end said.
"Yes, this is Mr. Davis."
"Hi. My name is Becky. Lisa said you might be needing a babysitter?"
"Oh yes, Hi Becky. Yes I do need a babysitter. You see my wife is out-of-town for the week and I will need someone to watch our two girls during the day while I am at work. The hours are from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm or maybe a bit later depending on how soon I can get home from work. I will need you all week until Friday at least and possibly part or all of the following week. I am not sure when my wife will be coming home just yet." I said.
"Yes Lisa told me something about the girls. They sound very nice. And she says nice things about you and Mrs. Davis too. Sure, I will watch the girls for you. And whatever you are paying Lisa is fine with me too." Becky said.
"Oh thank you Becky, you're a lifesaver!" I said, much relieved. Ok that crisis had been averted. I could go off to work knowing my girls were being looked after.
The next morning I got the girls up early, telling them that they were going to have a new friend come over and watch them while I was gone. They were a little disappointed that their friend Lisa was the one to watch them, but excited to meet someone new. About a quarter to seven the doorbell rang and I answered it.
I opened the door and what stood on the other side about knocked me over! Before me was the most beautiful 18-year-old girl I had ever laid eyes on! About 5 foot 3 inches tall, she had dishwater blonde hair down to the middle of her back, sparkling emerald-green eyes and a warm, happy smile. She was built like every schoolboy's wet dream too, with a young, tight 34C-26-36 body that just begged to be explored! I stood there for the longest time, looking at her with thoughts running through my mind that a man of my age shouldn't have been thinking!
"Mr. Davis, are you all right?" she asked, finally breaking through to me.
"What? Oh yes, I was just um, thinking about something at work." I said, trying hastily to cover my lack of attention. "Please come on in."
She came in and sat down on the couch as I explained some of the rules of the house and where things were located, the number I could be reached at, you know the usual things you tell a babysitter.
"I don't want any boyfriends over, I don't want my little girls exposed to that kind of behavior." I said.
"Oh no problem, Mr. Davis. I don't have a boyfriend right now." she said.
"And no smoking in the house. If you need a smoke break, do it out on the porch and when the girls are asleep."
"Not to worry, Mr. Davis, I don't smoke. Never have. I was a cheerleader in school and smoking wasn't allowed in the cheerleader squad."
I covered a few other things and then, satisfied with her answers, I took her into the dining room where my girls were eating breakfast.
"Here are the girls. There's Paula here who is the oldest, and Sarah, here who is our youngest." I said.