The Grim Reaper Effect

-T W E N T Y - F O U R-

-*-

"Kenzie!" Abby screamed, launching herself into my arms.

"Hey, Jules," I smiled at her.

Mom went and hugged her best friend, Talia, "We should get going before Lindsay gets back."

Talia nodded in agreement and waved to her daughter and I. Mom warned me not to damage her goddaughter in any way before leaving. I was officially on babysitting duty. I set down Abby and let her play with my dog. I needed to hide Garrison. One look at him and she wouldn't leave until she got to keep him, which would mean she would never leave.

I quickly hid the bear at the top of my closet behind some clothes. Hopefully, she wouldn't see him. Once that was done, I put the cookies in the oven and put on a show for her. She seemed to love SpongeBob, which made a lot of sense considering her personality.

I pulled out my phone and texted my best friends. They were both out of town with family. Kira was with her mom's side of the family and Indie was in New York visiting her aunt. Her dad promised they'd spend Christmas with her. Again, I was the only one who stayed in Greyford for the holidays. My grandpa would be here tonight, so I didn't feel bad about it.

"Kenzie?" Abby whispered.

"Hm?"

She pointed to my bracelet, "That's very pretty. Did Santa come early for you?"

She didn't look the slightest bit happy about the thought of Santa coming early and skipping over her house. I shook my head, "He would've visited you if he did! Something tells me you're his favorite."

She beamed up at me, "Really?!"

"Well," I tapped my chin a few times. "That depends. Have you been a good girl this year?"

She bobbed her small head up and down, "The best!"

"Then yeah, you're his very favorite," I assured her.

"Then where did you get it?" She was referring to my bracelet again.

"I got it for my birthday yesterday," I explained. "I got it from a good friend of mine."

She began petting Mufasa again to his delight, "I'm sorry I missed your birthday. We were out of town."

Again, her mood dropped. Abby really is sweet. She cares a lot about people and being good. The minute she feels like she did bad or hurt someone's feelings, she feels bad. It wasn't a bad character trait to have. Especially since she was so young.

"Oh no! It's okay!" I smiled at her.

"Really?"

"Really," I nodded.

Just then, the oven went off and I got the cookies out before they burned. Abby could hardly wait. The second they were cool enough to decorate, she had a tube of frosting in her hand. She quickly got to work. I was glad I put down paper towels because she got frosting everywhere. I would be mopping the floor after she left. Once she finished, she grabbed a cookie and ran off to watch TV. I told her I would join her after I finished my cookie.

I was exhausted. I had to take care of her alone. Lindsay was with her boyfriend and Tanner was out with his friends. My parents were both out, which left me alone. Already she had tired me out. It didn't help that I hardly slept last night and got up early this morning. I crunched on a cookie, hoping the sugar would give me some sort of energy. I was so tired, I hadn't even heard someone knock on the door.

"Kenzie!" Abby called from the living room. "There's a guy here for you!"

I rushed to the living room, totally alarmed. Abby answered the door herself, which made me nervous. Literally, anyone could be at the door and she just answered it without me. I was relieved she wasn't kidnapped, but I still felt irresponsible. I was even more relieved when I saw it was just Griffin.