Premature Metamorphosis

Chapter 1

Evelyn wouldn't call herself an overprotective mother, she was just... the normal amount of protective. What mother wasn't! It was normal to want nothing more than to wrap your kid up nice and safe and stash them away somewhere where nothing could ever possibly hurt them. It was also normal to wait six years before finally letting your child have a babysitter, and even then, under very specific conditions.

Okay, maybe she was a little overprotective but... that was not a crime!

Ideally, she'd rather just look after her son herself — he wasn't trouble per se, but he was quite particular, sensitive even, and she'd rather be there to make sure he was okay than out drinking or doing whatever else would require a babysitter.

But, with her husband Caleb starting a new job — finally being able to take his passion for wood carving professionally! — and her semi‐frequent trips away to help out or just meet up with friends or family who all seemed to live an inconvenient distance away, it just so happened that Caleb's business trip and her trip to go help her sister, Lilith, with her difficult work situation ended up overlapping, leaving their son without a parent available to look after him for the week.

Evelyn's first thought had been to cancel her flight and rearrange with Lilith but then Caleb had suggested leaving Hunter with his younger brother, Philip. He reasoned that sure, she hadn't been on board with the idea of a babysitter looking after their kid, but this was Philip. This was family. Philip knew Hunter and (at least to some extent) would know how to look after him: would know that he only ate his food once it was at room temperature because he burned his tongue on hot food one time two years ago and had remained weirdly fixated on the idea of it happening again, would know that he was very specific about the way his collection of various bird plushies were organised and would throw a fit if anyone even so much as touched then, would know that he would get overwhelmed if someone ate with their mouth open and tended to have pretty big reactions over it, even if he didn't actually intend to. Would know that he was a really sweet kid and that he wasn't trying to be 'difficult', he just needed someone to be patient with him.

When Evelyn had remained hesitant, Caleb had even suggested calling every few days (or more likely, every day) to check in if it would help lessen the anxiety, and with enough persuasion and negotiation, she eventually agreed.

Like most children tended to be, Hunter had been ecstatic when they'd told him he'd be getting to spend a whole week over at his uncle's house. A week in advance, he'd already been planning all the sweet treats and late nights he'd be able to milk out of his stay. It was safe to say, any anxieties he'd had about being away from his parents for so long were quickly overshadowed by the excitement.

Philip, despite his seemingly cold and distant nature, was always spoiling his nephew: sneaking him extra sweets even when Evelyn had told him it was too close to bedtime for any more sugar, bringing him little gifts whenever he came to visit, offering to take him to the park or the zoo or wherever else he wanted to go.

It seemed like he had been trying to make up for lost time. He and Caleb had only gotten back in touch a few years ago now — family issues had torn them apart. Evelyn didn't know the full story, only bits and pieces: without their parents in the picture, Caleb had been forced to take on the parental role, Philip had been a bit too clingy, even possessive at times, and he didn't approve much of Evelyn, Caleb needed some distance, contacts were cut — and in the time he'd had back into his brother's life, he'd been dedicating a lot of it into forming an unbreakable bond with his nephew.

Even if Evelyn wasn't the biggest fan of the guy, she could still put that aside and appreciate just how much he loved and cared for Hunter and how much he was willing to do for him.