"Hey, Nicky!" Jaime said when I picked the phone up Saturday morning.

"Jaime," I grumbled into the phone, wondering how on earth she was so awake and full of energy at this early hour. "It is 8 in the morning and I have been sleeping for one hour. This better be super important," I hissed.

"It is, I promise," she said in a hurried voice. She sounded like she was running around. Probably chasing after Taylor.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Remember how you offered to babysit Taylor if I ever needed you to?" she asked.

"Yes..." I mumbled, closing my eyes and leaning back into my pillows.

"Well, I kind of need you to," she said. I didn't say anything. "Nicky? Please? It's just, the babysitter went and caught a cold and she said she would be able to babysit still, but I don't want her spreading her germs to Taylor. The last thing I need is for my child to get--" she started babbling.

"Ok, I'll do it," I said, just to stop her from talking.

"Perfect! I'm coming over now," she said.

"Now?" I asked, opening my eyes wide.

"Yes! I'll be there in 20 minutes tops," she said. "Thanks, Nicky baby!" she cooed and then hung up. I groaned and sat up, rubbing my tired eyes.

Today was going to be a long day.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you SO much. You have no idea what a life-saver you are," Jaime said, bustling into my apartment before I invited her in. I shook my head slightly. Typical Jaime.

Taylor was holding her mother's hand. She was dressed in a bright orange sundress, her silky hair a darker shade of blonde than usual.

"Her hair looks darker," I said, smiling down at Taylor.

"I know! It's so exciting! It's changing colors," she told me.

"How?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I guess if I remember correctly, my hair was blonde when I was a little girl, too, but then it turned dark brown," Jaime told me. I nodded. I squatted down in front of her.

"Hi Taylor! Remember me?" I asked. She put her finger in her mouth shyly.

"Aww, come on! You don't remember me?" I asked her.

"Tay, this is Nicky, remember? She's the one that gave you Mr. Loopy," she said.

"Mr Loopy?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's that pink bunny rabbit toy you gave her," she replied. I snorted.

"She named a pink rabbit Mr. Loopy?" I asked. Jaime laughed.

"Kids and their imaginations," she said with a shrug. She nudged Taylor with her leg.

"Say 'hi', Tay. Nicky's a nice person," she instructed.

"Hi," Tay said in a quiet, shy voice.

"Hello," I said, pinching her cheek. I stood up, then, and faced Jaime.

"Ok. So she already ate breakfast, but she always drinks apple juice at 10. I have that in her sippy cup in her food bag. After she drinks that she gets pretty hyper and wants to play. I try to get her to take a nap at around 12:30, so I suggest occupying her with some vigorous activity to get her tired. She takes about an hour long nap before she wakes up. Then you have to give her lunch. That's in the square plastic tupperware in the box. It's just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with some carrot sticks. You can give her orange juice or water with that. Oh, and there's a cookie in there that you can give her if she behaves. I should be back to pick her up around 6, but in the mean time, there's some fruit in her bag, too, which you can give her to eat. I usually feed her dinner at 6," she explained.

I let out a long breath of air.

"Is that a lot to remember? I can write it down for--" she started, but I shook my head.

"It is a lot, but I think I got it," I said. She smiled at me.

"Thanks again so much. It's just I have to go to work and Makayla cancelled on me. I didn't know who else to go to. I don't really trust my daughter in anyone else's hands," she said as she shouldered her purse.

"Well, I'm flattered that I'm so trustworthy. You have nothing to worry about," I assured her. She smiled gratefully again and then squatted down to face her daughter.

"Ok, Mommy has to go to work now. But Nicky here will take good care of you, ok?" she said. Tay looked at her mother with her big blue eyes, a sad expression on her face. "Will you be a good girl?" she asked. Taylor nodded her head slowly. Jaime smiled at her and pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her head.

"Bye, Tay! I love you!" she said.

"Bye, Mommy!" Tay replied, standing with her shoulders drooping. I gave Jaime a sympathetic smile as she looked at her daughter with loving eyes. Jaime was a really good mother.

"Bye, Nicky. Thanks again. If you have any questions or don't know what to do, you have my cell-phone number," she said. I nodded and waved to her as she walked out, blowing a kiss to her daughter. When she finally left, I closed the door.

"Well, it's just me and you now," I said to Tay.

And then she promptly started crying.

"Please stop crying. Please, please, please, stop crying!" I begged the little girl.

After about twenty minutes of trying to calm her down, I was still unsuccessful at getting the four year old to stop crying. I was starting to get hysterical myself and felt my own tears start to form because of the massive headache I had. I hadn't even had a chance to drink coffee yet so I was still half asleep.

"Tay! Look! It's Mr. Loopy!" I exclaimed, pulling her stuffed bunny out of her bag for the fifth time. I had pulled out each and every one of her little toys and none of them seemed to get her attention. She was too busy bawling her eyes out and shouting for her mommy.

"UGH! TAY! STOP CRYING NOW" I yelled.

At the loud volume of my voice, the little child stopped her sobbing promptly. She looked at me, her blue eyes wide and watery, biting her lower lip. I guess I had scared her, but at least she wasn't howling at the top of her lungs anymore. Sighing, I took her hand and led her to my bathroom. Hoisting her up to the sink, I turned on the tap to cold water and washed her face of the salty tears. Then I wiped it dry and blew her nose into a tissue. I squatted down in front of her in the bathroom.

"Does your head hurt?" I asked her.

She nodded, still biting her lower lip.

"Well so does mine. So how about if you promise to stop crying, I promise I won't yell at you. Good deal?" I asked her.

She put her finger to her mouth and nodded her head. She still looked scared and I felt guilty for yelling at her. Taking her hands in mine, I tapped her chin.

"And, as a bonus, you'll get a cookie after lunch. Doesn't that sound tempting?" I added.

At the mention of the word 'cookie', Tay's eyes immediately lit up. She dropped her hand to the side and grinned widely, showing me a few missing teeth. I chuckled. It was so easy to buy over little children.

After Tay's little crying episode, I sat her down on the couch in my living room with my laptop propped open in front of her. I had pulled up some old 90's cartoons on the internet and she was watching them, completely engrossed. While she was doing this, I went into the kitchen and made myself some coffee. As soon as the liquid caffeine went down my esophogus, I felt instant relief. I really was a caffeine addict.

I went back into the living room and sat next to Tay.

"What's this show called?" Tay asked me. She had gotten considerably more friendly after I bribed her with the cookies.

"Powerpuff Girls," I answered.

"I don't think I saw this before," she said. I smiled at her grammar.

"I don't think they play it on TV anymore," I told her. She looked at me with wide eyes.

"Why not?" she asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know why. But it was pretty popular when I was a kid," I answered. We sat as the Powerpuff girls went into battle against MoJo JoJo. "Which one is your favorite?" I asked her.

"I like the blue one," she replied, pointing at the screen.

"Bubbles? Yeah, she's a cutie," I said.

"What about you?" she asked me.

"I personally liked Buttercup, but only because she's misunderstood," I said.

"What does that mean?" she questioned.

"Misunderstood? It just means that other people don't really get you," I explained. Tay's round blue eyes looked intrigued.

"I like this show," she told me. I smiled.

"Well, I'll keep that in mind. Maybe I can find a whole bunch of episodes and we can watch them together," I suggested. She grinned happily, clapping her hands.

"Yes! Yes!" she exclaimed.

I chuckled and checked the time. It was nearly 10. Time for her juice.

I reached over and pulled her bag towards me, extracting the sippy cup with the amber colored liquid in it. I handed it to her and she grabbed in willingly, her eyes still glued to the laptop screen.

I pulled my phone out and checked my texts, which were very few. Since I didn't really have any friends, I rarely texted or received texts. The only ones I did have were from classmates asking about homework assignments or from Jaime. Currently, Jaime had sent about three texts asking how things were going. I responded telling her that things started out rough, but now they were fine. Then I told her I had just given Tay her apple juice.

"Hey, Tay. Will you sit here for a few minutes? I'm going to change my clothes, all right?" I said. She nodded, not taking her eyes off the screen. I ruffled her hair and got up to go change my clothes.

I had had just enough time to take a quick five minute shower before Tay and Jaime had gotten here this morning, so all I had to do was change out of my pajamas. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a long sleeved black shirt. I threw a multicolored scarf around my neck and braided my hair messily before walking back out.

To my relief, Tay was still sitting on the couch. She was swinging her legs back and forth, her juice almost done.

"It's over!" she announced. I pulled the laptop towards me.

"You're right," I said, exiting out of the window. "What do you want to do now?" I asked her.

She shrugged her shoulders. I figured it wasn't a good idea to have her watch a computer screen for too long, so I decided to take her to the park. It was a nice day out and she would be able to work up an appetite and exhaustion by running around a bit.

About thirty minutes later, we were at the park. There were several kids with their mothers running around already and Tay immediately took off when we got there, shooting towards the twisty slide and climbing up in the wrong way. I chuckled and went to sit at a park bench that only one other person was sitting on. I glanced at the person and then did a double take.

"Oliver?" I asked. He looked up at me from the book he was reading.

"Oh, hello, Nicky," he said.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I offered to watch after my nephew," he replied.

"Funny. I offered to watch after Jaime's daughter," I told him.

"Really? Which one is she?" he asked. I pointed to little Tay running around on the woodchip covered playground. "Ah. She looks nothing like her mother," he said.

"I actually think she looks exactly like her, except her hair is lighter and her eyes are blue," I said.

"I guess you know her better than I do," he said, turning his attention back to his book.

"Who? Jaime?" I asked. He nodded. "I hardly know her at all. I wouldn't say--" I began.

"It's all right to let people in, Nicky," he said, interrupting me politely.

I frowned slightly, sinking back into the bench. How was he able to read me so easily when no one could?

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other errands to run. See you soon," he said, closing his book and getting up.

He went to the playground and took the hand of a young boy wearing a pair of khaki shorts, a light blue button down, and a sweater vest. I watched after him as he walked away, wondering what if was about Oliver that made him so fascinating and knowledgable.

I looked back at the playground and started panicking. Where was Tay?!

Bolting from my seat, all sorts of horrible scenarios ran through my mind. I frantically looked for the little child and called out her name. Where was she? I looked away for a few minutes and she was gone! I couldn't have lost Jaime's child!

Relief flooded me when I saw her standing by the swings, holding onto one chain of the only unoccupied swing. The other chain was held onto by another child that looked a little older, but very familiar. As I got closer I realized who it was.

Liam.

"Tay!" I exclaimed.

"Nicky!" she cried back, not letting go of the swing, but motioning for me to come closer with her little hand. I walked up, standing next to her.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is," I sneered at the devil child that was grabbing onto the other chain of the swing.

"Aww, great. It's you again," he replied back bitterly.

"What's going on Tay?" I asked.

"He's trying to take the swing from me!" she cried.

"Why are you bothering this little girl?" I asked.

"I got here first," he said.

"Nuh-uh! I did!" Tay said.

"No you didn't, you little pip-squeak," he retorted.

"Hey. Don't talk to her like that," I warned.

"What's going on?" I heard a new voice say. I looked up to see Liam's older brother, Caleb, approaching us.

"I just wanted to go on the swings and I've been waiting for someone to get off and this one was free and when I got here to go on it, this little monster tried to take it from me," Liam explained. Caleb's eyes met mine.

"Oh, great. It's you," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Ok, what are you? Five?" I asked.

"Good one," he replied. Now I rolled my eyes.

"Why don't you take your kid and get out of here. Obviously my brother got here first," he said.

"How do you know that? Because he told you? What if he's lying again?" I asked.

"Ok, you need to let that go," he said.

"You need to let this girl sit on the swing," I replied.

"You need to chill. If he says he got here first, he did," he said.

"If he said he saw a pig fly, would you believe him then, too?" I asked. He glared at me and I glared right back.

"This is ridiculous," he said.

"You're telling me," I said.

"Why is it that whenever I see you, you're always breathing fire down my neck?" he asked.

"For one thing, I've seen you a total of three times. Secondly, I'm not the one breathing fire," I replied.

"Are you always this snappy?" he asked.

"Are you always this douchey?" I retorted.

"Are you--" he began and then stopped, his attention diverted. My focus was averted, as well, and we both realized that the kids were missing. I looked around and found the two children chasing after each other, laughing and shouting.

"What--?" I started.

"Kids," he sighed.

I looked at Caleb and he looked back at me. We stood staring at each other for a few moments. The sound of children laughing and running around filled the air around us. There were sounds of swings creaking as they swung back and forth, the woosh of a child gliding down a slide, and the crunch of the woodchips as they were being crushed.

As I looked at Caleb, I noticed faint blue-ish rings around his eyes and an overall hollow look about his face. He was pale and his hair hung around his face gauntly. He looked weary and stressed. I wondered if he had slept the night before.

"Are you all right?" he asked suddenly, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"What do you mean?" I asked, thinking I could be asking him the exact same question.

"You're really pale and you have wicked dark eye circles," he replied. I shook my bangs into my eyes and looked down.

"I'm fine," I said, my voice getting softer. I heard him step closer to me. He lifted my chin up so that my eyes met his. He studied my face intently. I noticed how green his eyes were. They were discernable from far away, but up close, they were a dark, forest green. I also noticed that he had slight freckles on his nose, but they weren't very visible. I looked into his eyes and realization fell over me. I stepped away from him.

"I have to go," I said, feeling a familiar tight pain in my chest. And without another word, I turned on my heel, going to Tay and telling her we had to go back home. I needed to get away from there fast before I lost it. I couldn't lose control now. Not after I had worked so hard to steady myself.

Jaime came to pick Tay up around 5:30. When she arrived, Tay and I were sitting at the old coffee table. I was showing her how to make origami doves.

"How was she?" Jaime asked as we packed all of Tay's stuff up.

"She was shy at first, but I think she just needed some time to get used to being around a stranger," I replied.

"So she wasn't a handful?" she asked.

"She was, but she wasn't anything I couldn't handle," I answered. She sighed.

"Well thank God for that," she said. "I really owe you one. Thanks so much for watching her," she told me.

"It's no problem. Bring her over whenever you feel like taking a break," I said. "I think we're friends now, right Tay?" I asked.

"Right!" Tay replied. Jaime laughed.

"I'll get her out of here now. But thanks again!" she cried. "And here's your payment," she said, pulling out forty dollars. I pushed her hand away.

"You don't need to pay me, Jaime. I was doing you a favor," I said.

"But I stole your Saturday from you. This is the least I can do," she replied. I shook my head.

"No, I don't want it," I said.

"Nicky..." she said.

"Jaime," I replied, giving her a look. She puffed her cheeks out and then let out a sigh.

"Fine," she said. "But next time, I'm paying you," she said, taking her daughter's hand.

"We'll see about that," I replied, opening the door.

"Bye Nicky!" Tay exclaimed, waving vigorously at me.

"Bye, Tay," I replied. Jaime gave me one last fleeting smile before diappearing down the hall.

I shut the door after her and then leaned against it, sliding down to the ground. I held my head in my hands and sighed. It had been a really long day.

_____________________________________________________________________

A/N: I started hinting at the fact that Nicole has some sort of problem other than being poor in this chapter. I hope you caught onto that.

What's going on with Caleb?

Who liked Tay?

Leave me a comment below!

And don't forget to vote!

XOXO