31 Days of Halloween

The Babysitter

Sitting behind her desk, gazing out the plate glass window overlooking the city, Lena Collins thought about events from the past few days. Fighting with her husband, Rob, they were stressed and tired, the new baby, finances, everything seemed to happen at once. This morning's blow up – harsh. Reaching for her desk phone, she knew what she had to do.

"Rob, look, I want to apologize for this morning. We need to find a way to fix us before it all gets out of hand."

"Lena, let's not get into it right now. I'm getting ready to head to a meeting and don't want to be frustrated," her husband replied.

"Okay, before you go, can we get a babysitter tonight and have a date night? Just the two of us. I think it will do a lot of good."

"Yeah, if you can find a sitter you trust to stay with Aubrey, that sounds good. I'll see you at home. I love you."

"Love you too."

Searching through her contact list, she found the number for the one sitter she knew she could trust her baby with. Having such short notice might make it difficult, but there was always a chance. She had to do something so they could begin to heal their marriage.

"Hi, Tina, it's Lena Collins. I was wondering if you might be free to babysit Aubrey tonight? I know it's short notice, but it would be greatly appreciated."

"Hi, Mrs. Collins. I don't think it would be a problem, I'll be at home all night. Is there any way I could get a ride over? Oh, and what time will you need me? So I can tell my parents."

"I can swing by after work around five and pick you up, and it would be no later than midnight. If that's okay with your parents? I'll also pay you extra for the short notice."

"Great! I'll see you around five."

"Thank you, so much!"

Shooting a quick text to Rob, she got back to work.

Five o'clock rolled around quickly. Lena grabbed her bag and jacket and raced to her car. She had to pick up Tina and get home to get herself ready. Hopefully, Rob would be in a good mood. Pulling into an apartment complex down the street from her office, she saw seventeen-year-old Tina waiting on the steps. Having used her as a babysitter one time for a couple of hours, she knew she would call on her again. This was a perfect opportunity.

"Hi, Tina, thank you so much for accepting. It means a lot, this is kind of important tonight."

"No problem, Mrs. Collins, anytime."

Rob was getting out of his car as they pulled into the driveway.

"Hey you, go get changed, we're getting out of here for the night. We need it," her eyes lit up as her mouth upturned in a smile.

The first few drops of rain began to fall from the darkened sky, a small storm coming in wouldn't ruin their night out.

"Where we going?" he asked. Lena was happy to hear the playful tone in his voice.

"Well, I thought maybe we could go out to dinner and then see a movie, anything outdoors would be a little rough in the rain."

"True."

"I'm going in to talk to Mom, I know she will be glad we didn't ask her to stay. I feel bad enough as it is, leaving Aubrey with her every day, but you know, what else do we do? Anyway, get ready and as soon as Mom leaves, I will too."

"Hi, Tina. Thanks for coming over tonight," Rob smiled at the girl.

"Hi, Mr. Collins. No worries, Aubrey is such a good baby, so tiny and cute." Tina smiled back.