Babysitting the Bad Boy's Brother

the problem with young people

"Thank you so much for getting back to me on such short notice. I was panicking to find someone after I learned that Connor's usual sitter cancelled, and I saw your ad on the facebook page." The short lady with kind brown eyes smiles as she leads me from the front door to the kitchen. The house is a decent size, the same size as mine, but with a different layout. "Where in the neighborhood do you live?"

"I live one street over," I tell her with a smile, "I'm actually one house down from being right behind you, actually."

Did I just say actually twice?

"That's wonderful! Wow, small neighborhood." She grabs a list from the counter and hands it to me. "So, Claire is it?" I nod and she continues, "This is my cell phone number and my work phone number. If it's an emergency and you can't get ahold of me for some reason, I also wrote Connor's brother's number as well. You likely won't need to call him, I'm usually pretty easy to get ahold of. Are you allergic to any animals?" She starts talking again before I can even form a reply. "Good. We have a cat, but he usually sticks to himself, so don't worry about him." She says, absentmindedly waving her hand through the air beside her. "Hmm, what else?" She taps her finger on her chin as she looks off into the distance deep in thought. "Oh, right! Connor's bedtime is at nine thirty. He's going to try to get out of it, but if he does, tell him you'll call me if he doesn't get straight into bed. For a seven year old, he sure is stubborn. I'll be home around midnight. I pre-ordered a pizza to arrive at seven. Feel free to help yourself to the TV or anything in the kitchen. We have a TV room upstairs, and that's also where the bedrooms are. I would prefer it if you stayed out of the third story of the house. My other son's bedroom is up there and it's an absolute pig sty. You'll get nightmares for weeks."

She stops talking suddenly and looks at me, waiting for a response. I smile and nod my head, unable to form words due to that overload of information I just got.

Damn it. I should have taken notes. I mentally remind myself to bring a notebook next time. She talked so quickly that I'm barely even able to process her words and file them away in my brain.

Bedtime nine. Food seven. That's all I need to know. Probably.

Finally able to compose my thoughts, I give her a big smile. "That sounds great. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'm sure Connor and I will have lots of fun."

"Absolutely, he's very well behaved." She reassures me as she walks over to the stairs and yells up. "Connor! Come down here please!" Not a second later, I hear footsteps pounding across the floor and making their way down the stairs. A cute little boy with blonde hair and big blue eyes emerges with a smile on his face. Oh my god. Are those dimples? This is the cutest child I have ever seen in my life. Aw aw aw. I just want to pinch his little cheeks and smother him with kisses he is that adorable.

"Hi mommy." He says in the sweetest tone as he looks up at his mother. "Who's this?" He motions to me and smiles at me.

"This is Claire. She'll be watching you while mommy is gone tonight." She says sweetly.

He looks at me and I give him a small wave. "Hi Connor. It's nice to meet you."

"You too. We're going to have so much fun!" He says, grinning. His voice is adorable.

"Well, I should probably go. Call me if you need anything. And Connor? Be good." With that, she exits the room into the garage. A minute later I hear the garage door closing, signalling that she is now in fact gone.

"What would you like to do?" I ask him as I walk over to where he is standing.

He looks up at me with a mischievous expression. Any traces of the sweet boy I met before are now gone, wiped off his face completely.