Take Care of You

Mildred Pierce

"Nope, nope and...Oh, My God! Not in a million, zillion years!" Filtering through the fifty different CV's that have been sent to me has proven to be the most tedious task. Not one decent person who I would even consider letting in my house, let alone to look after my daughter. Since her mother has been admitted to a rehabilitation centre, over one hundred miles away in Nottingham, it has been a top priority of mine to find a decent babysitter for our three month old.

"Son, you need to at least carry out some interviews with these people. They might sound unsuitable on paper and in reality they are wonderful," mum calls from the kitchen, as she's attempting to make a shepherds pie for us for dinner. "It's all about the personality and whether they bond with our Lou Lou." She's been staying over here the past couple of days since Louisa has been suffering from an extreme bout of colic. Meaning that I am surviving on barely two hours of sleep per night, I have a screaming baby joined to my hip pretty much every hour until I put her down in her crib; and I'm trying to do my job from home and maintain the house. It's fair to say, I'm not exactly winging fatherhood at this stage.

"I would love to look after her myself. But with work and everything I can't always be available," she suddenly emerges, standing by the door frame with Louisa in her arms. A bright orange stain lingering on her Peter Rabbit baby grow.

"What have you been doing to her?" I huff, leaving my laptop and taking Louisa into my arms. A toothless grin crosses her face as I smother kisses all over her cheek, the sound of her giggle makes my heart melt every single time. All the sleepless nights, the constant worry and the inability to have at least one meal in peace, is so worth it for her. There is no better job in the world than being Louisa's father.

"Nothing, I was just feeding her dinner. If you are going to be so pedantic, then you can do it yourself!" She scoffs, returning to the kitchen in a schoolgirl strop.

"Nana's just a big, mean witch," I chuckle in Louisa's ear, as she carries on giggling.

"I heard that!" Mum bellows.

I carry Lou back to the dining table with me, placing her on my lap as I scroll through some new CV's that have just pinged in my inbox.

I flick through the first one. An inspiring model, looking for a part time job to fund her future career. No, thanks. A full time administrator, who is hoping for a weekend job in her spare time. Jesus Christ, no! I am considering quitting my graphic design job and running a day care centre here myself. Nearly losing the will to live, I scroll down to the last applicant and click.

I am a mother to five grown up kids, in my spare time I read to patients in the local hospice as they receive end of life care. I want to apply for the position to give back to the community, by helping out a fellow parent in need.

Fucking BINGO! I hit print and scan the page for her name and number.

"Mum! We have a winner!" I shout out to her, as I start dialling the number and put it on loud speaker.

"Oh, splendid!" She smiles, walking back in with an enormous glass casserole dish filled with a delicious smelling dinner.

"Uh, hello," a soft voice suddenly answers.

I quickly plop Louisa into her high chair and turn up the volume on the phone. "Hi there, is this Mildred Pierce?" I ask, trying to find her name again on the paper.

A chuckle from the other end, "Mildred Pierce? Have you got Joan Crawford on the brain or something?"

I join in on the laughter, "I'm so sorry, Mildred Gabriel. I found your CV online and I was just wondering if you were available to come along for an interview?"