Free Doorstep daddy by Linda Cajio Page B

goodness."
    "But it's not fair," Jason whined.
    "Life's not fair, so we have to make the best of what we're given. Cleaning a dirty room is a positive thing." She turned him toward the stairs. "Come on, Jay. I'm dying to play Go-Go Karts and I need a second player. Mark's no good. He keeps trying to eat the joystick."
    "All right." Jason trudged up the steps, defeated by his desire to beat the heck out of her at the game.
    "Carrots," she murmured, going back into the kitchen. "Who says kids don't want 'em? As long as you use the right kind of carrot, they do."
    Richard had left two days ago with the soccer player and was due back late tomorrow. She'd wondered more than once how she'd wound up here, and knew it was her big mouth.
    "Poopies!" Mark announced.
    "Okay, big guy," she said, scooping him up and rushing him to the potty she'd brought with her.
    Mark was duly praised for a good job. The kid was easy, she thought. He announced his intent beforehand, giving her plenty of warning. What more could one ask?
    She heard the front door slam and hurried out of the foyer powder room. She whipped open the front door to find Amanda cutting across the huge yard. Callie had been treated to two days of observing the puppy love between Richard's niece and her nephew. It had been painful to watch, because she had a bad case of puppy love herself. If she wasn't careful, her puppy love could turn into a rottweiler that would eat her alive.
    "Hey!" she called to Amanda. "Did you forget to tell someone you were going out?"
    "I'm going out!" Amanda called over her shoulder, still walking.
    "I have a problem," Callie muttered to herself. This was the third time in nearly as many days that Amanda had not so subtly indicated that Callie's presence was unwanted and unappreciated. She shouted after the girl, "Could you come back here a minute?"
    "I'm late!"
    "Okay." More loudly she shouted, "You left your bras in the laundry room and - "
    Amanda yelped in frustration and came running back to Callie. "Shut up!"
    ' 'No, I will not shut up if you leave me no choice by continuing to walk away," Callie stated sensibly. "Look, I know you feel you don't need a baby-sitter, but you're not old enough to be left alone, so here I am. Also, your uncle's doing the very best job he can, but he's not your mom and dad and neither am I. Life hasn't been fair to you, but taking it out on me or Richard doesn't help you. I think you're mature and bright, certainly mature enough and bright enough to use some common sense. I'm not asking you to help me while your uncle's gone, because you deserve to be a teenager, not a mini-mom like I was." Like I still am, she thought. "But I need to know where you are at all times, who you're with, how long you expect to be gone and anywhere else you'll be going while you're out. And I need phone numbers. It's not too much to ask, so it should be a piece of cake to cooperate with me. You get what you want and I get what I need, okay?"
    Amanda's expression was sullen, but she hadn't interrupted. "I'll be at Joey's. Do you need the phone number?''
    "I don't believe his parents are home." She knew her sister and brother-in-law played golf on Sunday afternoons."
    "So?"
    "So my nephew is not allowed to have guests over then." Well, he wasn't if she had anything to say about it. This might be puppy love, but sweet innocence could quickly turn to intimate innocence. A little subtle supervision never hurt "Tell him he's caught and you are both to come here. Now, I have to go back inside before your brothers burn the house down." She softened her voice, "Amanda, honey, I just care about you, okay?"
    "Sure." Amanda whirled and headed for Joey's I house.
    Callie groaned. "Please spare me, Lord, from teenagers and toddlers - and kids in between. That ought to I cover it."
    Inside, Mark was still in the powder room, splashing water in the bowl. And not the sink. It could be worse, I she admitted.
    "Water, Callie!" the boy happily shouted.