Though the Monsters

Chapter 14

Adventures of a Babysitter

            Hadlee sat back on the couch in Jethro's apartment while Jethro made popcorn. Harrison had finally gotten the chance to teach him how to dim the colors and sounds a bit so that movies were easier to pick and they could relax and just enjoy themselves.

"Jethro you okay in there?" Hadlee asked, turning her head to look back towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, I just couldn't find the kernels for a minute but I got them now." Jethro replied.

"Okay," Hadlee said as her phone began to ring she recognized the number as the tower and quickly hit accept. "Hello?"

"Hadlee hey it's Reidy." Reidy's voice greeted her.

"Hey Reidy, is everything okay?" Hadlee asked, sitting up a bit straighter.

"Um, I don't know to be honest. Can you get down here like, now?" Reidy said a confused and strained tone to his voice.

"I mean, yeah I guess. Give me like ten minutes. I'm at Jethro's so I'm close." Hadlee replied.

"Great, I'll see you soon." Reidy said and the line went dead.

Hadlee stood up and slipped her tennis shoes on.

"Jeth, we gotta go love." She said, walking into the kitchen.

Jethro was midway through pouring the popcorn into a bag when she walked in. He looked up and furrowed his brow.

"Where do we have to go?" He asked.

"To the tower, Reidy just called and asked me to come down right away." Hadlee said.

Jethro stood still for a moment, processing Hadlee's words. But he quickly put the bowl aside and picked up his keys.

"Okay, let's go." He said and the couple headed out the door.

~~~~~~~

Jethro and Hadlee walked into the tower with little to no knowledge of why they'd been called in on their day off.

"Okay Reidy, I'm here." Hadlee said walking up the steps.

However, when she looked up she froze. Callie and her father were sitting at the desk.

"Umm, Callie, Mr. Thomas?" Hadlee asked.

Mr. Thomas cleared his throat and stood.

"Hi Hadlee." He said.

"Um, how can I help you?" Hadlee asked.

Mr. Thomas ran his fingers through his hair, he looked stressed and tired and Hadlee was slightly concerned. She kneeled down in front of Callie who was standing very close to her father's leg and smiled.

"Hey Callie, do you remember me from Bronte beach?" Hadlee asked and Callie nodded giving a small wave. "I need to talk to your daddy for a second so can you stay up here with my friend Jethro for a few minutes. Maybe he can find you a coloring book, how does that sound?"

Callie smiled and nodded.

"Okay," Hadlee said standing up. "There's a coloring book in the cabinet under the sink Jeth. Mr. Thomas how about we step outside for a moment."

Hadlee led Mr. Thomas outside and propped the door open slightly with a broom.

"Is everything okay Mr. Thomas?" Hadlee asked, looking at the older man.