Her Own Wings

Liz, 12 Years Old

She wanted to start earning some of her own money so she could start buying things for herself, things her parents wouldn't, or couldn't, buy for her.  Liz decided that an easy way to earn money was by babysitting for her parent's friends. 

"Sir Father, Mother, I'd like to babysit to earn some money.  Can you talk to your friends and see if anyone needs a babysitter?"

A couple weeks later, Sir Father came to her to talk to her about his friend, Michael.

"My friend Michael has two sons.  The oldest, Daniel is four, and the baby, Caleb is six months old.  Lori, Michaels wife, is away at basic training, she joined the Coast Guard.  he needs you to babysit for a few hours.  I told him you were interested.  He needs you to come over at three today, ok?"

"Ok, thank you, Sir Father."

That afternoon, she jumped over the fence in her backyard, crossed the street and was there, ready to babysit.   There was an empty lot behind her house.  The lot was too small for a house, so it was left as small field.  Michael lived across the street from the empty lot.
Liz knocked on the door when she got there, and heard Michael's voice, the baby crying and the TV blaring.  She was nervous; this was to be her first time babysitting.  She was about to knock again and Michael opened the door.
"Hello.  Thanks for offering to babysit.  It's nice to be able to get out for a little while and not have to take the boys."

"Thanks for letting me come over.  I'm a bit nervous, never babysat before.  But, I know I'll have fun."

"Come on in, Liz.  I have a bottle made for Caleb in the fridge.  Just heat some water in the microwave and then set the bottle in the hot water for three minutes, shake it up, then it will be perfect for Caleb.  You can test it by turning the bottle upside down and dropping a couple drops on your wrist.  If it's warm, but not hot, it's perfect.  If it's too cool, set it back in the water for a couple minutes."

"I also put a plate of food for Daniel in the fridge; when his movie is over, heat it up for him.  Oh, you are welcome to watch TV in my room after the kids are asleep; the TV is nicer there.  I also have a bottle of wine in the fridge, feel free to help yourself to a glass.  I also left a little 'something special' on top of the TV in my room for you."  As he said this last statement, he gave her a wink, and then left her there with his sons.

"Daniel should go to bed at seven, and I should be back around eight.  Any questions?"

"Nope."

"Does $6 an hour sound ok to you?"

"That sounds great, thank you!"

"Ok then.  Bye Liz."

Michael walked over and gave his son, Daniel a quick hug, and then passed the baby, Caleb off to her.  Daniel was watching a movie.  She looked down and saw that Caleb was almost asleep.

"Daniel, I'm going to go put Caleb in his crib, I'll be right back."  She went upstairs and found Caleb's room and put him in his crib.  She walked around for a moment to make sure she knew where Daniel's room was, as well as the bathroom, and then went back downstairs.
She sat on the couch near Daniel and watched the end of his movie with him.  When his movie was over, she warmed up the dinner Michael had left, got Daniel eating and then went up to check on the baby.  Seeing he was sleeping soundly, she ran back down to watch Daniel.

He was still eating his dinner, but he had started playing with it, and said, "Liz, I wanna go play outside."  She looked outside and saw a bunch of toys and decided it would be OK to let Daniel go play outside.

"Sure, Daniel, as soon as you finish your dinner you can play outside for a bit.  Then it will be time for you to go to sleep."

"Ok." Said Daniel.  He kept playing with his food and she was getting frustrated because he wasn't eating.