Summer's POV
"Thank you so much Summer for coming here on such short notice," Mrs. Harding said to me. She had a striking resemblance to Zak, which wasn't necessarily bad nor good. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it with both of hers.
"I wanted Zak to babysit Emma, but you know how boys are. Always thinking their cool for their little siblings," Mrs. Harding said in a playful tone while rolling her eyes. I weakly smiled. Thinking of Zak was still painful. I didn't like him anymore, but anytime we looked at each other, the tension would immediately rise.
"So her bedtime is at 7:45. Dinner is in the fridge, and I promised her that we could make cookies tonight. But I forgot that my friend was coming into town, so I have all the ingredients laid out with the recipe. Hopefully it won't be too much trouble. Zak will be here if you need any help."
I nodded, mentally taking note of all the things she said. Baking cookies sounded fun, but I didn't know how it would be with Zak around.
"Anything else?" I asked.
"Oh! I'll give you my phone number in case anything happens. She'll probably want you to read her a bed time story, so you can just let her pick anyone out. Once Emma's asleep, you and Zak can just watch TV or something."
I guess Zak didn't tell his parents about everything that happened between us, or else I wouldn't have been babysitting Emma.
"Sounds good," I said, more cheerfully than I felt.
"Thanks again. I'll be home by 10:00. Have fun!" Mrs. Harding said. She gave Emma a quick peck on the cheek and headed out with a wave.
Emma looked up eagerly at me. I looked at the time. It was 6:00.
"What do you want to do?" I asked.
"Umm, do you want to play family? Emma asked.
"Of course!" I lied. "Where should we go!"
"Follow me!" Emma said, taking my hand. She dragged me up the stairs into her room. It was bright pink with princesses everywhere. I thought back to when I was her age. I always adored superheroes, so my room was decked out with DC and Marvel. Being with seven brothers kind of influences you when you're six.
"Okay! I'm going to be the big sister, and you can be the mommy!" Emma suggested. She grabbed a teddy bear from her bed. "Mrs. Lollipop will be the baby. And . . . Zakie Poo will be the daddy!"
I felt my cheeks reddening. Not only did I not want to be with Zak, but if he was going to be the daddy, things would get pretty awkward.
"Are you sure you want Zak to be the daddy?" I asked. "Why don't you let . . ." I searched around the room for a stuffed animal. ". . . this hippo be the daddy?"
Emma snatched the hippo from my hands.
"Polly's a girl," Emma said in a 'duh' tone.
"Oh right! How silly of me!" I said, nervously laughing.
"Let's get Zakie Poo right now!" Emma said. She ran out of her room and across the hallway to a closed door. She drummed her knuckles on the door.
"Oh Zakie!" Emma said.
"What is it?" Zak responded.
"Do you want to play family with me and Summer?"
For a few seconds, there was no answer. He obviously felt the same way about me as I felt about him.
"Umm, I'm kind of busy right now," Zak replied.
YOU ARE READING
My Seven Brothers
Teen FictionSummer Tuckerman is the only and youngest girl in her family with seven older brothers. After their parents abandoned them four years ago, Summer's oldest brother, Adam, became in charge of the Tuckerman children. Join Summer, along with her annoyin...
