The Bad Boy's Nanny

Ch. 4 - Chuck E. Cheese's and Mini-Golf

When I went to check on Jonas in the morning, he seemed fine. He didn't have a temperature or anything, so I decided to take his word for it and not take him to the doctor.

We spent the day inside due to the stormy weather. Around dinner time, the storm cleared up and the kids finally convinced me to take them out to eat. Because he had to deal with the expired milk yesterday, I let Jonas pick the restaurant. That was a bad idea.

We ended up eating at Chuck E. Cheese's. I feel like I just had expired milk. Ethan got lost in the ball-pit, Rose started crying when she lost whack-a-mole, Beth was scared of the mascot, and Jonas was told he weighed too much to go on the playground.

Afterwards, I just wanted to go home. They convinced me to take them mini-golfing. Let me just say, Crystal has an award-winning puppy dog face. I caved in an instant.

By the eleventh hole, Jonas is getting heated. Probably because he is in last place as of now with a pitiful score of 104. "This game is rigged," he mutters after his ball ends up in the water again.

"Don't hate the game; hate the player," Addison jokes and ruffles her brother's hair.

"Maybe you'll make a great comeback in the next seven holes," I say to cheer up the cranky teen. "You're only 62 strokes behind Ethan."

Jonas mutters something under his breath before picking up his ball from the water and placing it at the start again. The rest of us already got the ball in the hole, so we're just waiting on Jonas. Twenty-four strokes later, we go on to hole twelve.

"I'm tired!" Crystal announces after her twelfth hole-in-one. "Can we go home?"

"Aw, is little miss perfect shot afraid she won't be able to keep her score?" Jonas asks in a patronizing voice, crouching to be at her level.

Crystal rolls her eyes. "No! I said I was tired. Can we please go home, Ivy?"

"Well, we can take a vote. Those in favor of staying to complete the game.."

Jonas raises his hand and holds up Ethan's hand as well in a desperate attempt to stay.

"Those in favor of going home.."

Everyone else raises their hand, including Beth.

"Sorry, Jonas," I apologize. "The democracy has decided."

"Whatever. I'll stick to soccer," he mutters and storms off to return his club and his ball.

The rest of us follow him and return our things. I tip the man who sadly had to stay extra late in this dingy glow-in-the-dark place. We were the only people here and probably the only reason he had to stay here.

After I buckle Beth into her car seat and make sure Ethan is clicked in as well, I move to the front seat of the mini-van and pull out of the parking lot. Jonas sits in the passenger's seat, claiming he has radio rights.

"Don't you think the winner should get shotgun?" Crystal asks from the back of the car.

"Maybe if the winner wasn't two feet tall!" Jonas shoots back and a cheeky grin.

Crystal sticks out her tongue before turning to engage in conversation with her twin.

"How long have you played soccer?"

"I've been playing since I was four. Not going to lie, I was the best one of the team. I started playing travel soccer around age seven. I stopped being the best one on the team. I have to practice really hard each time try-outs come around."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. This year, it is imperative I make the Eagles. Since I'll be going to high school soon, I need to impress the varsity coaches in order to make the team."