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“Michael, have you seen my purse?” Amanda shouted from the kitchen.
Michael was standing in front of the mirror in their bedroom, fiddling with his tie.
“Aw, shit…”
“Michael??”
“Daaaaad!!!”
“No, I haven’t seen your purse, baby!" he shouted back.
"Dad?" Tracey stood in the door frame with an unhappy look on her face.
Michael had finally managed to put on his tie and turned towards his daughter. "What is it, Trace?"
„Why can’t I come with you?”
Her father crouched down with a smile and looked her in the eye.
“Baby, you know it’s your mother’s and my wedding anniversary. It’s a very special day for both of us, and we want to remember the day we got married. Besides,” he added with a grin, “are you not looking forward to seeing Julie again?”
The seven-year-old started smiling at the thought of her beloved babysitter. “Oh, right! I almost forgot! We’re gonna have so much fun!”
“I bet you will. How’s your tooth?”
Tracey felt the inside of her mouth with her finger. “It’s still there.”
“You should pull it out already. You’re acting like a drama queen over that thing.”
Suddenly, she got angry. “No! Leave me alone! I told you I won’t pull it out!”
“But why not?”
“Because! Because I don’t want to. That’s why!”
She stopped pouting, turned on her heel and ran out of the room. “I think now I can give back mom’s purse!”
Michael tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
Tracey stopped in the hallway and looked at her father with a sheepish grin. “I might have hidden it in my room. Or maybe not. It wasn’t me. I just happen to know where it is.” She turned around and disappeared in her room.
Michael got up with a shake of the head and went into the kitchen. Amanda was on the phone with someone and Jimmy was sitting at the table.
“Hey, when’s dinner ready?” the fidgety child asked and looked up at his father with expectantly glowing eyes.
“I don’t think it will take much longer, Jim,” Michael replied and gently ran a hand through the five-year-old’s blonde locks.
Amanda violently shook her head. “Okay then… get well soon. … don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault. Thanks for calling.” She hung up with a distressed facial expression.
‘God, no. Please,’ Michael thought and braced himself for the worst as he asked “what’s wrong?” in a cheerful tone.
His wife sighed deeply: “Julie had a car accident of sorts, and-“
“WHAT???” They both turned towards their son, who looked at them with wide eyes, terrified. “Is she okay?? She’ll still come over to watch us, right?”
Amanda pulled him into a hug. “Yes, Jimmy, Julie’s alright, don’t worry. She just… broke her leg.” She paused for a moment. “Which means she won’t be able to babysit tonight.”
“…Oh.” The devastated look in Jimmy’s eyes was heartbreaking.
“…and we won’t be able to go out,” Amanda added, glancing at her husband.
Michael did not know what to reply, his facial expression puzzled.
“Mom, I found your purse!” Tracey excitedly bolted in with the purse in her hands, but stopped when she noticed the awkward atmosphere. “What happened?”
Amanda took a deep breath. “Tracey, sweetie, Julie can’t come over to babysit tonight. She broke her leg in a car accident earlier.” The seven-year-old, in disbelief, remained silent. “But apart from that she’s fine! I just talked to her on the phone,” her mother reassured quickly.
Tears began to form in Tracey’s blue eyes. Amanda pressed her to her chest and Jimmy anxiously bit his lip when Michael suddenly had an idea.
“We could ask Trevor to watch them!” he triumphed, but when Amanda glared at him he realized his suggestion was not as good as it seemed at first.
“Oh, great idea!” Jimmy beamed at him. “Uncle Trevor’s so much fun!”
Michael turned towards his wife. “Amanda, I think we-“
“No.”
He cringed. “Come on. He loves the kids, you know that. He wouldn’t harm them, ever.”
“Why should he?” Jimmy demanded.
Amanda scowled whilst trying to calm her crying daughter. “And you know exactly that he’s a deranged, psychotic-,” she quickly stopped when she realized their children were listening. “I mean, he probably has other plans, anyway. I’m sure he doesn’t have time to babysit.”
Michael smirked. Amanda had already lost this argument. “Well, I’ll give him a call, then. Maybe he’s free tonight.”
Ignoring the puzzled look on his wife’s face, he made his way to the bedroom, dialing his friend’s number. “And make sure not to burn dinner!”
It took an eternity for Trevor to pick up his phone.
“Mikey! I thought you was on a date with Amanda! Isn’t it your anniversary today?”
“It is, and we were planning to go out, but then something… unexpected intervened. How drunk are you right now?”
“What? How drunk am I?" the Canadian shouted into the phone. "I’ve had one fucking beer! I spent the whole fucking afternoon trying to talk some sense into the shithead who messed up my trailer with graffiti! I didn’t have time to get drunk!”
“You tried to talk? Or do you mean, like, talk?”
“You know exactly what kind of talking I’m talking about right now, Mikey.”
Michael snorted. “Alright, then… anyway, if you didn’t have time to get drunk, can I ask you a favor?”
“Depends. What do you need? I ain’t gonna suck your cock or anything.”
“Good Lord, T! I wanted to know if you could watch the kids tonight.”
“The kids?” Trevor sounded confused. “What happened to that gorgeous babysitter of yours?”
“What the f-… heck, Trevor? She’s seventeen!”
“So what? Seventeen-year-olds get involved with men much older than us, M!”
Michael shook his head. “Anyway, she had an accident earlier today and she can’t babysit tonight. But I know Amanda really wants to go on that date.”
“And she’d actually be okay with that? Amanda, I mean.”
“Well, not really, but… she knows I trust you, and the kids trust you. I think she can put up with it.”
“In that case, sure. I’d love to watch your spawn.”
“Great, man. Get over here ASAP.”
Michael hung up and took a deep breath as he went back into the kitchen. Jimmy was helping Amanda set the table and Tracey was sitting on a chair, still in tears.
“Great news – Uncle Trevor will be watching you tonight!”
“Really?” Jimmy started fidgeting with excitement. Even Tracey smiled again. Amanda set down the pot with the boiled potatoes with a silent groan.
“So we can go out after all,” her husband further explained and wrapped his arms around her waist.
Amanda sighed deeply. “Alright then.”
After a while, there was a knock on the door.
“Uncle Trevor!” Jimmy yelled excitedly with a full mouth and made a run for the door.
“Jimmy, wait!” Amanda shouted, and Michael laughed.
The door was ripped open: “Well, if it isn’t James!”
Their son’s squeals of delight could be heard from the hallway and Trevor entered the kitchen, with Jimmy dangling off his arm.
“Hello, everyone!” he greeted the rest of the family, a smug grin plastered on his face.
“Hello, Trevor.” Amanda replied, exhausted.
“Thanks for watching the kids tonight, T,” Michael said relieved.
“No problem,” Trevor declined. “Now, have fun on your date. Oh, and Happy Anniversary!” He earned a slap on the back of his head from Michael.
Amanda took a deep breath. “Alright. They’re having dinner at the moment. They have to be in bed by eight. And make sure they brush their teeth properly. I don’t know when we’ll get back home. It might get very late.”
“Noooo problem! They’ll be as mild as doves!” Trevor replied with a conspiratorial wink at his new protégés. Tracey giggled and her brother nodded, giddy.
“Okay! Let’s go! We’re already late!” Michael exclaimed with a clap of his hands. He grabbed Amanda’s purse while his wife tightly embraced their children.
“Be good now,” she murmured.
“We will,” Jimmy snickered. Amanda finally got up and followed her husband through the door.
“Enjoy your date,” Trevor said with a sly grin and his friend smacked him on the back of his head once again.
“And finish your dinner, you hear me? You too, Tracey!” Michael warned. “Stop acting like a baby over that tooth!”
Having said that, the couple shut the door behind them, leaving Trevor in charge.
“What was that about your tooth, Tracey?” he wanted to know.
“It’s really loose,” Jimmy explained, scratching the remains of his dinner off his plate. “She doesn’t want to eat because she’s afraid it’s gonna come out and she’ll swallow it or something.”
“Well, it is really loose!” his sister retorted. “See?” She opened her mouth and wiggled an upper incisor for Trevor to see.
“It is,” the criminal endorsed. “You should pull it out.”
“What? No!” Tracey put a hand in front of her mouth and shook her head violently.
“But then it won’t bother you anymore. And you have to finish your food.”
She remained silent with the hand on her mouth.
“I have a loose tooth, too,” Jimmy stated. “But it’s not really that wiggly.”
“Let me see,” Trevor demanded. Jimmy moved it a little.
“Not really wiggly? Are you kidding me?”
“It’s not really wiggly! It’s not like Tracey’s!”
“No, it’s not like Tracey’s,” Trevor agreed. “Tracey’s is dangling by a thread.”
“I don’t wanna pull it out!” the seven-year-old whined.
“Show me once again. Move it back toward your tongue. Stick your lip up so I can see it.”
When the girl did as told, Trevor lifted an eyebrow in surprise.
“It’s basically already out, cupcake! I can see all the way down inside it. You just have to pull!”
“Nuh-hu!”
“I wanna see!” Jimmy proclaimed. “Wow, you can actually look inside! Ew, is that dried blood? How does it even stick to the gum?”
Tracey closed her mouth again and gave them the evil eye.
“Well, Jimmy, should we pull yours first?” Trevor smirked. “Yeah, I think we should.”
“No!” Jimmy giggled and turned away.
“Tracey, this is probably the easiest tooth you will ever pull out,” their new babysitter tried to convince her. “I don’t think you can ever have one looser than this.”
“Nuh-uh.”
“We could tie a string around it and do that doorknob thing,” Jimmy suggested. “That’s what I wanted to do with my first loose tooth.”
“Well, why didn’t you do it?”
“I went down a slide and accidentally knocked it out with my knee,” the five-year-old grinned.
Trevor snorted. “Tracey, how did you lose your first tooth?”
The girl thought about it for a moment.
“We once went sledding when I was four,” she recalled. “Dad unintentionally pushed me over a small hill and I crashed. And then my tooth was gone.”
“Augh. Did you find it?”
She shook her head. “Nope. It was gone.”
“What a shame. Pull your tooth now so it won’t get lost.”
“No!”
With a sigh, Trevor reached for a tissue on the kitchen counter and handed it over to Tracey.
“It won’t slip if you touch it with a tissue. Come on.”
The child only whimpered.
“How did you lose your first tooth, Uncle Trevor?” her brother asked curiously.
“Well… I guess I don’t remember,” he answered simply. It was a lie, of course. You couldn’t just forget the experience of getting beat up by your drunken father and losing a tooth in the process. But he figured telling the children something like that would not be very helpful.
“Everyone remembers their first tooth coming out!” Jimmy insisted.
“Well, I don’t,” Trevor retorted. “Come on now, Tracey. You have to finish your dinner.”
“I’ll eat it if you won’t,” Jimmy warned his sister. She simply shrugged.
Trevor groaned and sat down on the chair next to her.
“How many teeth have you lost, Jim?”
“Four,” he answered proudly. “The ones in the front.”
“What about you, Tracey?”
“Umm… eight? No. Seven. This is my eighth.”
“Not yet. Not until you pulled it out.”
Tracey did not say anything. She fiddled with the tissue.
Jimmy grabbed her plate and pulled it towards himself, but stopped when Trevor glanced at him.
Just at that moment, his phone rang. Michael was displayed on the screen.
“You behave,” he warned before answering the call.
“What is it, Mikey?”
“We just wanted to check if everything was okay,” Michael replied.
“Of course it is! We’re having so much fun without you.”
“Great. So what’re you doing?”
“Trying to convince your daughter to pull her tooth.”
“And failing,” Jimmy yelled loudly enough for Michael to hear.
“And failing,” Trevor repeated.
“Well, good luck on that one. We tried to make her pull it out before and she refused.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to make her do it.”
“Ha, you think? Have fun then.”
“We will. Enjoy the rest of your date!”
Before Michael could say anything else, Trevor hung up.
“What did they say?” Tracey asked.
“They wanted to know what we were doing.”
“And you told them we’re failing at making Trace pull out her tooth.”
“Well.” The Canadian stretched a little. “That was actually a lie. Because we’re not actually failing.”
He turned towards Tracey.
“Either you pull it yourself or I’ll hold you down and Jimmy will do it,” he threatened. “You wouldn’t want Jimmy to pull your tooth, would you?”
Tracey pulled the corner of her mouth up a little and shook her head.
“See? Alright. We’re doing this now. You don’t have to be scared. Jimmy and I will help you, okay?”
The seven-year-old nodded lightly and sat up straight. Jimmy leaned forward over the table and looked back and forth between his sister and his babysitter with wide eyes.
“Alright. So, you have to take the tissue and pinch down on your tooth real hard.”
Tracey’s lips were quivering as she put the tissue in place and gripped the tooth with her fingers.
“Pinch down like this.” Trevor tweaked her thumb. “See? That’s how hard you’ll have to pinch your tooth.”
“Hnghng,” Tracey made an approving sound.
“Good. Now Jimmy and I are gonna count down from three. When we reach one, I want you to pull, alright?”
The girl whimpered, and then nodded.
“You ready?” Trevor darted a glance at Jimmy. The five-year-old nodded excitedly and started fidgeting in his chair.
“You ready, cupcake?”
Tracey only whimpered.
“Good! We’re gonna start counting!”
The seven-year-old was starting to tear up. Her hand was shaking and her breathing got a little faster.
“Three!”
Now Jimmy was starting to get anxious, too. His heart raced like he’d just run a marathon.
“Two!”
Tracey squinted her eyes. She really wanted to do this, although she was scared. She did not want to disappoint Trevor.
“One!”
The girl hesitated for a second, then she pulled. After a moment, she opened her eyes. The tissue was empty.
“You chickened out,” Trevor explained when he saw the dumbfounded look on Tracey’s face.
“You have to be faster. You can’t be too slow. Try once again.”
“Get behind it with your fingernail,” Jimmy advised. “Then you won’t slip.”
“We’re counting! Three! Two…”
Tracey started to smile. She was not actually afraid anymore.
“One!”
She pulled, slowly.
“You have to be faster, Tracey!”
“I shush heark ik pop,” the girl mumbled through the tissue.
“Pull it out, then! It’s basically out, you just have to pull!”
“Pull it out already!” Jimmy impatiently squirmed in his chair.
Finally, his sister jerked it out. And when she looked into the tissue, she found a small white tooth, and a little bit of blood.
“You did it!” Trevor cheered and ruffled her soft hair.
Tracey beamed at him and revealed two rows of white teeth – minus the one she had just pulled out.
“Gee, you should see all the blood coming out of there,” Jimmy said and scrunched up his nose. “Disgusting!”
“Thank you, Uncle Trevor,” she smiled.
“My pleasure! I think you should thank your brother as well, though.”
“Never!” Tracey playfully stuck out her tongue at Jimmy.
“You’re welcome,” the five-year-old smirked.
“Now, was that as bad as you thought it was gonna be?” Trevor asked.
Tracey shook her head.
“It’s half past seven now. It’s been, like, twenty minutes or something. All that fuss about nothing!”
“Now you can finally finish your dinner,” Jimmy scoffed. “It’s gotten cold by now.”
“I don’t mind.” Tracey started to eat.
“And you have something to put under your pillow for the tooth fairy,” Trevor remarked.
“Oh, right! I completely forgot about that!”
After two hours, Michael and Amanda returned from their date.
“Helloooo! We’re baaaack!”
“You might wanna be quieeeet! The kids are asleeeep!” Trevor mocked. “So, did you have fun on your date?”
“We suuuure did! Did you have fun watching the kids?” Michael retorted.
“Of course I did! Oh, and Michael: Make sure the tooth fairy will be paying Tracey a visit tonight.”
Both Michael and Amanda stared at Trevor in disbelief. “You didn’t.”
“Sure I did. Go see for yourself if you don’t believe me.”
Having said that, Trevor shut the door behind him, smiling to himself.