✅1️⃣ Trusting the Babysitter

Epilogue - Taking a Risk

"Adam!"

He turned around sharply, not sure who was calling his name. His expression started to reset itself into some veneer of frustration, knowing that any delay in completing the day's errands made it less likely he would escape the rain. But then he recognised Claudia Cartwright, and he couldn't help smiling a little. The last time they'd talked had been a week before, on a truly memorable babysitting date, and she had made him do some truly humiliating things. But she was a smart girl, into some of the same hobbies he enjoyed but with much greater passion, and he was glad to have found a way to spend a little time together.

"Hey. Haven't seen you since– wait, is that..."

Claudia was trotting quickly closer, holding her bag over her shoulder in a way that seemed to highlight one of the patches stitched on. It was like the kind of badges he'd more often seen stitched onto the sleeves of some uniform in a war movie, but he recognised a stylised lizard skull surmounting crossed antimatter rifles.

"I got gold," she said with a smile. "Thanks for your help with that. Not platinum, but you can't win them all. I had more important things to do that weekend."

"Like making up with your sister?"

"Yeah. She's not been so bad, but I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. And, well, I had to explain everything to Mum. Like how I came home after my match and found Lori giving you highly inappropriate orders. Mum was mad, and Lori's going to have a lot closer supervision from now on. And no more cupcakes."

"Don't think I'll get anymore babysitting jobs there."

"You never know. I told her that you did a good job once the drugs wore off. And she's let me have a little bottle of the herb, in case my sister goes back to doing any of that stuff. So I can bake it into different things, and it won't be so easy for her to avoid it. And so I can get in touch with Adrianne Duprevich – did you hear she got a scholarship and she's started doing lab work for Dennier-Pfalz-Furchtengöber already? Best internship ever, I guess that's what comes from focusing on your studies and nothing else. But yeah, I've called Adrianne and she's going to look into any possible side effects for me, make sure I know just how safe that stuff is."

"You're not using it every time she gets mean?"

"I haven't had to so far. She knows I've got it, and she knows she won't get any more cupcakes. If she's bad, I could get my own back when she's least expecting it. And if she's good, she still hopes she might get a chance to play with a baby babysitter again. She loved getting the chance to torture you, you know? And now the only way she can do that is if I'm playing along."

"You think any future babysitters would put up with that treatment? You'll never get one to come back."

"I could ask you. Would you do it if I ask really nicely?"

"Come look after your sister?"

"Or let me look after you. I mean, we had so much fun together. And they just announced the next tournament week, I want to get some practice in first. You know how much it would help, knowing my wingman is going to do exactly what I say?"

"Well if it's gaming, I'm up for it any time. If it's Lorelei torturing me, I still don't know. I'd need some incentive to go along with that. And nobody's ever putting me in diapers again."

"How about I don't tell you?" A mischievous grin highlighted the sparkle in her eyes. "It could be a surprise, not knowing what I've got planned until you show up. And if I'm any judge, sometimes you would rather not have a choice."

In that moment, Adam knew there was only one thing she could have done to convince him more. And then she did.

So, what did you think? If you enjoyed the story, I'm thinking about working on a sequel, Testing the Babysitter. I'll start on that, as well as cleaning up the pacing in a couple of places on this one, if there's interest from readers. When it's time to start working on a new story, I usually go to the books Plot Bunnies or Plot Babies, and look at which of my ideas has the most votes or comments; so you know where to look if you want to help me start a new project.

As I've finished posting this now, I'll be starting to publish something else in a week. If you'd like to help choose one from all the half-written stories I've got on hand, please leave a comment, or send me a message on Patreon. And if you've enjoyed the story, I'd really appreciate any support you can offer to help me keep on writing

patreon.com/kittyangel