“All right, we’re here!” Stacy chirps as they pull up in front of a building. The sign out front says “Sunny Hills Daycare”, but to Mike, it might as well say “Sunny Hills Prison”. Mike stays silent up until Stacy comes around to remove him from the car seat that she had purchased while Mike and Jim bought clothes the day before.
The moment Stacy unbuckles him, Mike pitches a fit, kicking, punching, and screaming.
“All right, all right!” Stacy says finally. She buckles him back in. “You really don’t want to go to daycare, huh.”
“No!”
“Okay.” Stacy sighs. “Fine. You can come to my work today. But only today! It’ll make me look bad if I bring a toddler in every day. Tonight, we’ll figure out what we’re going to do with you tomorrow. Okay?” Mike nods, pleased to have gotten his way. Stacy closes the car door. They drive a few blocks over to where Stacy works.
“Hi, Stacy!” greets the receptionist when they walk in. “Oh, who’s this?”
“This is Jim’s nephew, Mikey. We agreed to watch him for a while, but then our childcare plans fell through. We were able to make new arrangements, but not in time for today. Sorry.”
“No need to be sorry! These things happen.” The receptionist comes around the desk to look closely at Mike. “If you get caught up in something, let me know, and I’ll watch him for a while myself.”
“Thanks, Lisa.”
“No problem! I love spending time with kids!” Lisa looks over at Stacy. “You did bring his diaper bag along, right?” Mike feels panic course through him. They didn’t! But then Stacy lifts up a bag Mike had seen her grab out of the car.
“Of course! It’s got everything he needs, so he should be fine.”
“Excellent! I’ll let the boss know.”
“Thanks!” Stacy grabs Mike’s hand and leads him to a cubicle. She sets the diaper bag down. “Okay, Mikey, you can play right here while I work.” She indicates a free corner of the cubicle.
“What’s with this Mikey thing?” Mike whispers.
“A kid your age wouldn’t be called Mike, he’d be called Mikey.”
“Fine. But why did you have a diaper bag ready? I thought you were going to drop me off at daycare.”
“You’re supposed to bring supplies to the daycare,” Stacy replies. Mike crosses his arms. “Don’t get mad at me because I was prepared.” She sits down at her desk. “Now, find something to distract yourself with. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”