I squeaked and tried my best to hide behind Zenya, when Mr.Jack narrowed his eyes at me.

"I got yourself a better babysitter Jack. What were you thinking, trying to get rid of her?"

It's not him. It's me. Please stop. I wanted to cry out.

"What else should I have done, after everything she did?"

I nodded too. That was a very good question.

"She did nothing bad on purpose. Sure, she should have called and let us know where she was. But I think that was just an honest mistake."

"A mistake? Did you not see what they are saying about my son?"

"How's Shortie at fault for that? Those humans were idiots, Shortie shouldn't be punished for what they did! We should be thinking about Bear, not anyone else."

Mr.Jack raised his eyebrows in confusion when Zenya said Bear but she ignored him.

"Who do you think I'm thinking about? I have already asked David to go through a list of candidates with better qualifications."

My heart sank, it would be easy for them to find someone with better qualifications since I had none.

"Someone like what you brought home so far? Jack, it's five people in three days. Bear isn't even eating properly."

My eyes widened at that. What's wrong with my Bear?

"Why? What's wrong with him? Was the milkies too hot? He doesn't like it when Milkies is too hot. Did you take him to a doctor?" I almost lunged at him. To hell with what he thinks of me.

Zenya raised a hand to point and me and him. "See what I mean!"

Mr.Jack kept looking at me for a long time as if he was looking at my soul. I hope whatever he saw in me was good enough at least for me to check on Bear and make sure he was okay.

"Fine," he said after forever. "But she will be supervised all the time while she is with Espath. She will not be allowed to bring him outside under any circumstances"

I should have been relieved. I get to have my job back and take care of Bear but I didn't want the job if it was like this.

"No," I said. Both Zenya and Mr.Jack looked at me all surprised. Heck, even I was surprised at what I was saying.

"I don't want the job if that means Bear will be cooped up inside just because you can't trust me. I'll just help you find another babysitter that Bear likes."

The words almost never left my mouth, but I knew it was the right thing to say. There was no reason for Bear to suffer because of me.

"You are not in a position to negotiate here Ms.Short." The man sounded really annoyed at me.

"I'm not trying to negotiate here Mr.Jack." I hoped he would believe me. I turned back to leave the room. I really hoped they would be able to find an awesome sitter for Bear and I would go back home and cry myself to sleep again tonight.

"Well then. The only time you'd be able to take Espath out is if you have permission from me and have my security escorting you." I looked back at him in surprise. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Did he really say that?

"I .. I ... Thank you so much Mr.Jack. You won't be disappointed in me this time."

He didn't reply, just raised an arm to dismiss me and Zenya and I. As soon as the door closed I hugged Zenya with everything I had in me.

"Thank you! Thank you! So much!"

She chuckled and hugged me back.

"You are welcome. See there was a reason why I hired you in the first place. Come on now! Bear was being cranky without you."

I couldn't contain my excitement on the ride back to the apartment. I bet Principal Miller would have a heart attack when she sees me.

"I apologize for my brother for how he talked to you last time. I heard he was nasty."

I shook my head. I more than deserved all the things he said.

"It's just when people said things about Bear, it reminded him so much of the whole Gina situation?"

"What's the Gina situation?" I was curious. I never hear them speak of Bear's mother. All that I knew about her was what Natira told me.

"When Gina got pregnant, people weren't exactly nice to her. She was called a lot of names for you know being with an alien."

I knew what she meant. I was called the same thing when those people thought Bear was my child.

"This might seem cold. But Jack didn't want Gina to have the baby because he knew the humans will not be able to accept him. Gina would have been harassed wherever she went. Then when she died giving birth, Jack never forgave himself. That's why he didn't bring Bear out with him anywhere."

Poor Gina, poor Bear, and poor Mr.Jack. People resented aliens for causing them to lose their freedom. I have heard interspecies couples being harassed by mobs before. Since aliens have more rights than we do, it's a serious crime if they got caught. That's why those cowards hide behind a keyboard.

I turned to Zenya. "Thank you for telling me this Zenya. I'll be more careful in the future."

She smiled in return.

"Thank you for standing by Bear that day Shortie. I was so happy to hear you defend him."

I was only telling the truth. I love Bear. Bear was the best baby I ever met. And now that I know how much his mother loved him, he is even more precious to me. I will not let anything happen to him ever again.

I was detained at the entrance by the guards until Zenya came to sort it out. It still took a phone call to Mr.Jack for them to let me in. My face was taken out of the authorized list of the apartment and Zenya had to scan for me, cause an alarm rang when my face was detected. They were really prepared in case I ever tried to sneak in.

Mrs.Miller tried to stop me before Zenya told her that I was hired back. You should have seen the look on Mrs.Miller's face.

I rushed over to Bear's room and almost cried when he took one good look at my face and started to laugh. It was incredibly lonely without him the last few days and I never want to be away from him ever again.

As Bear laid in my arms all happy, suckling on his bottle, I promised myself that I would become the world's best babysitter for Bear so that he would know nothing but love no matter what the nasty world outside would say.