Warning** G!P Lauren
***
I saw an online advertisement on social media where a neighbor was offering up her seventeen year old daughter to baby sit. As a single mother with twin five year olds, I was thrilled to see the advertisement. Finally, I thought to myself, I can have a social life. A babysitter for the weekends when I had the kids would allow me a small amount of time to rebuild my life after a nasty divorce.
Camila was a cute and bubbly young lady. She came with her mother to check out my offer. As we sat at the dining room table, I explained the situation and what I was looking for- a part time weekend nanny, to perhaps spend the night on Friday and Saturday evenings and a half day on Sunday. I gave them all of my personal information so they could run a background check on me - just to alleviate any fears that I might be a child predator or an unsavory character.
The first few weekends went great. Camila only needed to walk a few block to the house and she was great with the kids. The first weekend, I stuck around to see how she would relate with the twins and how they would relate to their new part time nanny.
As Camila left on Sunday afternoon, I asked if she wanted to come back the following weekend and she cheerfully replied, "Why would I not come back? You're all great!"
I called this girl Tori that I knew from work and asked her if she wanted to share dinner and perhaps go out to a club or a movie afterwards. To my surprise and great relief, she agreed. I was nervous leaving the twins alone with Camila and several times, I called to check in with her.
"They're playing," she would respond, or, "We just got in from the back yard," and finally, "They are asleep."
"How is your date?" Camila inquired.
"It's going great," I replied. "Don't wait up for me."
I gave Camila the spare bedroom and it became her sanctuary from all the hustle and bustle of taking care of the kids.
It had been almost a year since the divorce. I was lonely and sad, but content that I didn't have to deal with Maia anymore. She had moved on. I felt bad for our kids, but I figured over time, they would come to understand the truth and why their parents weren't together. Right now, I only wanted to make sure they were cared for and that they knew I would be there for them on my weekends. I also wanted to find another soul mate, someone who might share in the joys of both motherhood and putting up with me.
The house was quiet when I got home. I peeked in on Camila and she was curled up in a ball on her bed. She had on a long pink t-shirt and not much else. I pulled a blanket from the closet and covered her. She hummed and turned over on to her other side.
I crawled into my own bed and pulled the covers over myself.
I woke up to the smell of bacon being cooked. I wandered, sleepy-eyed, into the kitchen. The twins were watching cartoons on the television in the living room and Camila was standing at the stove, still in her nightshirt, which barely covered her cute butt.
"Do you want something for breakfast?" Camila asked, as I sat down at the dining room table. I wanted to say, 'Yeah, you," but I knew better.
"Whatever you're offering, I'll take," I replied.
To my surprise, Camila turned and looked at me, spatula in one hand and her other hand on hip, one foot resting on the top of the other and said, "Could you handle whatever I might offer?"
I'm pretty sure it was a typical teenager tease, but there was something in the way she said it and the way that she looked at me, that made me wonder. It also made my down area take notice.
