Miller House

Meeting the Family

There was a light knock on the old door of the Miller House. A teenage girl had answered the add for a babysitting job. The teenage girl and her family were new to the area. The house was grand, two stories of architectural glory.

The door opened to reveal a woman in her mid thirties. She was in the process of buttoning up a sweater. "Can I help you?" The woman asked.

"I am Stephanie Shepard." The teenage girl said.

The woman suddenly smiled wider "come in. Come in. I will give you a quick tour of the house. Oh you can call me, Gwen."

Stephanie stepped inside and was even more amazed at the decor. Gwen noticed the awe in the younger girls eyes and smiled brightly. "This house was built in 1879. It has since been passed down from family member to family member. It's the oldest son who gets it. My husband is the oldest son." Gwen said as she led the girl towards the kitchen. 

"This is the kitchen. You do know how to cook right?"

"Yes I do." Stephanie answered looking at the large kitchen.

"Excellent. Everything you will need will be in the cupboards, pantry or the fridge." Gwen said while finishing doing up the last button on her sweater. Then she reached up and pulled her hair into a high ponytail.
"If you follow me once again." She said walking past Stephanie and heading towards another door way.

Stephanie quickly followed. Entering the new doorway, she saw an amazing space. A large screen television hung from one wall, a full leather sectional couch with matching recliner chairs, a rocking chair next to a marble coffee table. "We have satalight so you can watch whatever you like. Now come with me I will show you where the kids sleep."

Gwen led Stephanie up a set of stairs. "To your right is the washroom and the master suite. Over here." Gwen turned to her left and stood in front of the first door. "This is Leland's room. We have a monitor set up that you will have. He usually sleeps through the night so no worries." Gwen opened the door slightly to reveal a small crib and a change table. In the center of the crib laid a baby wrapped in blue. Stephanie remembered the add saying the kids were ages six, four and eight months. The two women back up slowly and closed the door. "This door is Reese's." She said turning around. "That door," she pointed to the other door next to Reese's. "Is Sasha's room." Gwen walked down the hall a couple more steps. She stopped in front of a door beside the babies. "This will be your room." She said opening the door. The room was nothing special but Stephanie loved it all the same.

Gwen looked at her watch. "Darn. Come I will introduce you to Reese and Sasha. They should be back in the house by now." With those words she once again turned and this time headed back down the stairs. Stephanie stepped on the first stair and could help the shiver that suddenly took over her body. Her first missed the step, and she stumbled down three stairs before she caught her footing. Thanking her lucky stars she followed Gwen back into the living room. There she saw the most cutest little girl and handsome little boy. When the kids saw their mother they ran at her. "Mommy mommy look what we found." The boy said. That's when Stephanie noticed the boy had his hands closed. As he held them up he opened them to reveal a frog. "Oh Reese please go put him back outside."

"No mommy we want to keep him." The boy, Reese, said pouting. Gwen bent down to her son. She had a slight smile on her face. "But honey you don't want him to be away from his family do you?"

"No." He said as he closed his hands carefully. "Come Sasha. Let's go let him go home."

"Wait. This is Stephanie. She is going to watch you guys while mommy and daddy go out."

Both kids looked at Stephanie. "Melody likes her." Sasha said as she took her brothers arm and dragged him out the door.

Stephanie stood there watching them walk back outside. "Melody is Sasha's imaginary friend." Gwen said nonchalantly.

"Thank you so much for coming. Here is the baby monitor for Leland." Gwen's husband said handing the monitor over. "It works up to fifty feet away."

Gwen laughed lightly. "We figured that out when we had to run after Sasha. She was sleep walking out towards the creek."

"Don't worry though. She hasn't done that for a couple months." Gwen's husband added. He must have seen the panicked look on Stephanie's face. She didn't know what she would do if one of them disappeared.

"Love we have to go. We are running late." Gwen's husband said. "It was nice meeting you Stephanie. And we will see you Sunday night."

The kids ran back inside just as their parents were putting on their shoes. "Bye mommy. Bye daddy." Each kid said as they hugged their parents. "You too be goo for Stephanie." Gwen said.
"We will mommy." Reese said smiling. He looked at Stephanie an evil grin spread across his face. "We will have lots of fun."

"Good. See you later." Gwen said as she walked to the car with a wave of her hand. Both adults got into the car and they drove off. The whole time Reese stared at Stephanie with that same grin. Suddenly Sasha snapped her fingers, Reese blinked and the grin was gone.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>